Samsung’s positions on the front of WM-based PDA phones look more challenging, however a number of persistent flaws among these products is to stay as ell. The solutions issued by the company in this market sector look quite competitive and balanced, comfortable and technologically advanced as well; The i600 and i710 models can be good samples of this, appearing rather successful phones yet sporting little demand on the actual market. This can be explained by the powerful PR influence of the RIM (Research in Motion) and HTC (HighTech Computers) companies a strong market presence of which can be felt respectively in USA and Europe. Samsung are trying to change the situation since the portfolio expansion is on the company’s priority task list and is vital to their corporate welfare. Even given the small demand on a limited number of markets, Samsung are trying to supply this demand with an adequate range of products. It was largely due to the wide product range that let Samsung occupy the second line in the world’s top phone manufacturers chart once again, and the Samsung guys don’t look like they are planning to lose the position in the predictable future. For instance, the new i780 has been recently announced, being the world’s first WM smartphone sporting a 320x320 display, let alone the high overall functionality.

But let’s get back to the Symbian and S60 platforms. The Samsung possesses a license entitling the use of the S60 hardware platform in their mobile products, though on the other hands the release dates of the respective devices are bound to the release dates of Nokia products sporting the OS version. Every sold Samsung smartphone counts to the financial benefit of Nokia as well, since Samsung are paying them royalties for the use of their platform. The third and the most grave factor is that Samsung are likely to appear promoting not their own solutions but rather increasing the ranks of customers loyal to that very specific platform, thus catering to Nokia’s interests in a big way as well.

Samsung i550 General Specifications

Communications:	GSM 900/1800/1900, WCDMA 2100, EDGE class 10, HSDPA 3,6 mbps
Storage:	150 Mb of user memory, microSD expansion slot
Communications:	USB2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (A2DP supported)
Camera:	3,2 Mpix (up to 2048 x 1536), AF
Screen:	2.6”, 240х320, 262000 Colors
Battery:	1200 mAh capacity up to 6 hours up to 260 hours of standby
Dimensions and Weight:	115x53x13,8 mm, 110 g
Estimated price:	400 euro

The smartphone market, as the most dynamic and rapidly expanding one, poses a great deal of interest to all of the manufacturer companies, and Samsung’s activities in this sphere have been on a peak during the recent months. As it was already mentioned, the critical factor crippling Samsung’s smartphone strategy is the delay in development ending up with new models having morally aged prior to their release dates. Even nowadays this process can be observed in a number of occasions. The i520 model announced at the last year’s decline looked like a real winner and had no direct rivals by that time, as you might probably remember it was a stylish slider sporting a touch keyboard based off the latest platform build (S60 3.1), but it hasn’t been until September 2007 that it entered the market as a publicly available product. Its marketing perspectives now doesn’t look that bright, it’s sure to be phased out and replaced with more forward-looking products over a short period of time due to the estimated low demand. A simplified version, teh i400, was announced at the S60 summit in Madrid, the planned market entry in June failed - the sad dilemma that the product is facing now is either being sold an insufficiently low price resulting in low revenues or suffering from a severe lack of customer demand. That’s clearly understood by the manufacturer - that’s exactly why a large number of new Samsung devices are planned to be introduced to the market in the nearest future during Q4. Even the slightest mistake in advertising, positioning or marketing may lead to an even bigger between Samsung and Nokia on the smartphone market, and filling this gap would become a task next to impossible. A few new smart handsets aimed at winning Samsung new market positions were announced, comprising i450, i550, i560 and i570, each of them having exclusive features unique solely to that particular model.

The first a music-oriented double slider with large stereo speakers providing for an unmatched sound quality and volume, the last one is a slider featuring a QWERTY keyboard, and the two remaining models i550 and i560 are basically the same device (in terms of functionality) but utilizing different form factors - a candy bar and a slider correspondingly. The i560 model hasn’t been officially announced yet but its announce is expected in the nearest future; the solution offers a wide range of features brought together inside a compact body offered at a reasonable price, thus making a product without any direct competition (save for one peculiar device we’ll dwell upon later). As a specimen of the new generation of Samsung smartphones, the i550 deserves a much closer look to let you get acquainted with all of its merits and advantages.

Design and ergonomics

The candy bar form factor taken as a base for the device’s design might seem unusual as compared to the plethora of various sliders available on the market; this little comeback to a classic solution looks fresh and intriguing, seems like Samsung are looking for an extra audience comprised of people who can’t stand the slider form factor, and actually such customers make up a considerable number, looking for modern solutions that keep to the classics. The phone can’t be called a typical Samsung product judging by its looks only, it stands out from the rest of Samsung devices and that’s another advantage, making it more noticeable and originally looking. Some people argue that its design might be mimicking some of the Nokia and SonyEricsson devices up to the point where it invokes no straight associations with any particular brand in the minds of brand loyal customers and at the same time is equally appealing to the fans of Samsung, SE and Nokia as well - largely due to the intriguing, delusive design of the keypad and casing. The dimensions are very compact (115x53x13,8 mm), considering the screen size an analogy with Nokia E50 suggests itself - the both are comparable in terms of size (save for width), and the E50 model used to be the market’s most compact S60 smartphone (now this title is held by Nokia E51). The thickness is quite standard for a modern handset and can hardly arouse any reproaches. On the whole, the dimensions and build of Samsung i550 produce a very nice impressions due to the good balance and the easy feel it gives to your hand.

Let’s have a comparison with Nokia E61i and Nokia N95:

Let's compare to Nokia E61i:

The device comes in two different colors variants, namely black and dark silver. Both have a very strict and solid look, the materials used in the model sport a high quality. The Samsung company took after a new trend of popularizing the unusual leather-like texture applied to plastic surfaces. Such pieces are also found with the flagship camera phone of the company, the G800, the bottom part of the back panel sports the same texture. It’s interesting note that if we compare the surfaces of Nokia E65 or 7390 and the plastic of Samsung i550, the former are sure to have the upper hand in the competition - they make use of a soft-touch coating that gives the exact leathery feel while the i550 just imitates leather in terms of appearance yet it doesn’t feel like actual leather, being hard to touch and having cheaper looks. However the solution doesn’t pretend to be part of the image phone class, and the quality of materials is more than sufficient for a business solution.

The framing around the screen is manufactured from a glossy kind of plastic, shiny in the sun, it also easily collects fingeprints. The side surfaces are slightly different in color from the rest of the device parts, a dark gray matte plastic is used here. The back panel hosts the 3,2 Mpix camera module (lacking a protective cover yet sunk into the casing so it’s hard to scratch it against the table or something like that). The camera lens, the LED flashlight and the self portrait mirror are framed inside a small metal piece.

The best words describing this handset’s design would be neutral, classic and strict. Totally free of any unnecessary additions or kitsch features, this phone is designed to look equally appealing to all kinds of customers. Also considering its compactness and slim build, the device can be called an extremely balanced product.

Screen

Samsung i550 is powered by a 2,6’’ (36x48mm) TFT screen able to display up to 262K of colors. The resolution is standard - 240x320. This is the first time that the Korean manufacturer uses such a large screen in a smartphone and that looks really cool, especially as compared to the device’s relatively small size. The screen size is more than just comfortable, we couldn’t keep from comparing it with that of Nokia N95. The maximal brightness was set for the both; as you see, the two devices are quite comparable in this aspect. Nokia N95 is superior due to a slightly brighter display with more realistic colors, yet the difference isn’t that big. Nokia’s winning position can be explained through the fact that the Samsung device has its screen covered with a thick protective glass - being both an advantage and disadvantage at the same time, offering a strong protection against physical damage versus the sun glares and the somewhat bleak image. The screen offers enough space for 12 lines of text to be displayed simultaneously. The mirror backing of the screen allows for the screen information to stay legible even in direct sunlight. The overall quality of the screen is high enough not to raise even the slightest objection. The screen fonts are big and clear-cut enough as well as the phone numbers. A frontal camera for video calls is situated just above the screen.

The screen offers enough space for 12 lines of text to be displayed simultaneously. The mirror backing of the screen allows for the screen information to stay legible even in direct sunlight. The overall quality of the screen is high enough not to raise even the slightest objection. The screen fonts are big and clear-cut enough as well as the phone numbers. A frontal camera for video calls is situated just above the screen.

Controls and interface slots

Extra controls include the rocker button used to control the sound volume or the zoom ratio while in the camera mode. Unlike most regular phones by that manufacturer, the Mute and Reject functions are activated with the two soft buttons and not with the sound volume controls. Mute, quite expectedly, mutes the ringtone of the incoming call, and Reject just refuses the call entirely. There’s also an option allowing for a preset short message to be sent to a person every time you refuse an incoming call from them. That’s a really handy function that first appeared with Nokia phones. When you’re busy and can’t answer any calls, you don’t have to bother yourself writing messages with excuses or explanations if one of your partners gets his call dropped by you - the phone will do the job automatically.

The microSD memory card slot is found just beneath, protected with a plastic gag. As stated by the manufacturer, the maximum memory card capacity that the phone can stand is up to 4 Gb. The right edge hosts the charger/headset slot, also blocked with a protective gag - well not a gag technically, but rather a sort of a movable latch that is hard to damage by accident. Many future models by Nokia are going to implement the same type of ‘gags’ since they’re very comfortable to use. The camera mode button is located just nearby, it’s easy to use due to its protruding a bit over the casing surface.

First found among all Samsung products, the upper edge of the device features the 3.5 mm headset jack. The jack location is a sure plus since it doesn’t make an obstacle if you keep the phone in a pocket, a case or just in the hand, much unlike the troublesome side edge location. The profile switch button is found not far from it, it’s deeply sunk into the body so stray strokes are almost improbable.

Keypad

The numeric keypad looks quite common, resembling in appearance those of some of Nokia and SonyEricsson phones. The button are thin and coated with chrome. The symbols are marked near the buttons. The keypad’s ergonomics provides no ground for objections, the buttons are comfortable to push and the considerable gaps between them eliminate the possibility of stray keystrokes. The backlighting is white.

The navigation button block raises a number of questions - first of all, the buttons are crowded and not as easy to use as the keypad. In addition to the standard set of keys found with most S60 devices, i550 sports additional buttons for launching the music player, the browser and the navigation program. There’s no way to customize these controls. There’s no Pencil button, similar to the many of Nokia smartphones the pound key is used instead.

The navigation button is in fact a trackball which surprisingly proved to be very easy to use, it didn’t even take a minute to get used to it. The only minor flaw is its high sensitivity - it actively reacts to the slightest move of the finger. The ball also features a bright blue backlighting. The trackball saves a lot of space as compared to a regular navigation button, yet at the same time it doesn’t hurt the ergonomics (more likely it even makes it even better)

Battery

The device uses a Li-Ion, 1200 mAh battery. There’s no support for an enhanced battery though even the default one is just enough for the majority of users, the capacity is high enough as compared to the rest of the solutions available on the market. The moderate duty cycle (an hour of talking, two hours of listening to the music and radio and an hour of menu and application work) lasts as long as two days before the device requires recharging, that’s a very fair result for a smartphone with lots of additional features. A full recharge cycle lasts for two hours and a half.

Samsung i550 Battery

	Samsung i550	Nokia N95
Moderate duty	2 days	1 day
Multimedia cycle, video(3GP)	3:25	2:10
Multimedia cycle, audio (MP3)	12:20	10:30

Communications

Besides the three GSM bands (900/1800/1900) there’s also support for EDGE (Class 10) and the third generation network support DCDMA 2100 as well as HSDPA with a maximum speed of 3,6 mpbs. Thus Samsung i550 sports great communicative telecom qualities, the only thing that’s actually missing is the support of the fourth GSM band. Wireless communication capabilities include Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR. The Bluetooth functionality is at a high level, it neither lags nor it brings any bugs or crashes, options include the activation status (on/off), the recent devices list, the Bluetooth visibility status, the visibility period setting, device name and the rest of standard parameters. All the services are quite typical of a S60 smartphone as well.

The following profiles are supported:

Wire communications include USB 2.0, but the actual data transfer speed isn’t as high as it sounds. The Mass Storage mode is fully supported, as well as synchronization with Media Player and PC Studio. One of the modes can be simply selected as the one used by default, or be specified upon every PC connection.

Contacts, Calendar, Notes and Messages can be synchronized with the PC, the synchronization is possible in either direction between the PC and the smartphone.

The biggest drawback is the absence of a Wi-FI module, that delivers a really big hit on the functionality aspect of the handset. Wi-Fi is now considered a standard features for mid- and hi-end smartphones and the vast majority of Nokia phones come with Wi-Fi capabilities. Just like Wi-Fi, the IrDA is nowhere to be found as long as we are speaking of Samsung i550. The one and only possibility for wireless data transfer is Bluetooth. The list of features that are not included is crowned with the absence of a TV-out, just as weird considering the presence of one in almost every other phone by Nokia.

Performance

The performance of Samsung i550 keeps on the same level with other Samsung smartphone based off the S60 platfrom, utilizing the TI OMAP 2430 hardware just like Samsung i520, i400, i450, i560, i570 and so on, almost no difference can be observed in this aspect. The current build of the hardware platform is rather powerful, the same is used in the hi-end Nokia products (N93, N95, E90) while mid-end handsets are based on the single-chip Freesale hardware. The latter is slightly quicker at carrying out some typical tasks, however this difference can hardly be noticed in practice. The applications launch almost instantly, we haven’t witnessed any lags or long load times - the performance of i550 stays on a high level, if you tried a Nokia N95 then you tried an i550, as long as we speak of performance.

One of the latest versions of the Symbian OS is used to power the phone - 9.3, S60v3 FP1. There’s no support for Fast Boot, but even the standard boot time isn’t too long - 20 seconds.

	Nokia 6120 classic	Samsung i550
Jbenchmark 1.0.1 Score	5797	6012
Text	1650	1450
2D Shapes	1472	1424
3D Shapes	707	591
Fill Rate	385	346
Animation	1583	2201
Jbenchmark 2.0.1 Score	688	591
Image Manipulations	405	436
Text	761	584
Sprites	566	580
3D Transform	366	990
User Interface	915	489
Jbenchmark 3D HQ	198	179
Jbenchmark 3D LQ	396	340
Triangles ps	59710	62483
Jbenchmark HD Gaming Score	168 (5.4 fps)	141 (4.7 fps)
Smooth triangles	107684	96300
Fill rate, KTexels	3410	2159

One of the latest versions of the Symbian OS is used to power the phone - 9.3, S60v3 FP1. There’s no support for Fast Boot, but even the standard boot time isn’t too long - 20 seconds.

The size of free user memory amounts to 86 Mb, the total RAM size is 116 which is quite all right for a modern smartphone. Similar to the rest of devices based on the third revision of the S60 platform, the applications are terminated upon pressing the power off button, minimizing is done by pressing the Menu button. The heap size and the maximum Jar size are unlimited. The integrated memory is as much as 150 Mb.

User interface

From the software point of view, Samsung i550 is nearly identical to similar Nokia products, as we have already noted the platform was licensed from the Finnish manufacturer. There is no observable difference between this one and, say, Nokia 6120 - save for a number of additional minor functions. Samsung i550 was developed at the R&D Suwon centre and is based off the Quallcomm MSM6260 chipset, the software part is exactly the S60 Feature Pack I, that’s the latest platform version for any existing or announced phone on the market. The difference between this revision and the previous ones are very minor, including the OS-level support for the A2DP Bluetooth profile, HSDPA, an updated S60 Web Browser, the Freescale CPU support. As it was mentioned, there are to product lines based on the S60 platform: the ones utilizing the Freescale chipset which are known for a low development cost and fast performance yet lack functional variety and the more sophisticated TI OMAP 2420/2430 that comes with a 2D/3D graphics accelerator. The interface performance as well as the time taken to perform all the typical tasks is comparable for both chipsets, though Samsung refrains from implementing Freescale even in inexpensive products.

The build is quite standard for the majority of S60 devices, nothing very fascinating a new here on this side - save for the unexplained absence of the two additional viewmodes, the only two that were left are the standard List and Grid. The drawing and animation time is close to instant. The menu icons aren’t animated. The upper right corner of every menu item depending if it’s a subfolder shortcut or an end function, a semi-circular symbol is displayed if the corresponding application is run in the background.

The Go-To mode first appeared with S60 devices by Nokia and it made its way to Samsung products as well. From five to eight different applications depending on the screen resolution and orientation, listing today’s calendar events, mp3 player current stats - that’s what the Go-To mode offers. Some of the phones based off S60v3 Feature Pack 1 use an updated, more functional version of the Go-To mode, the main difference being the ability of the user to customize which applications should submit their current stats to the display. So far only the latest business-class phones by Nokia make use of this feature, namely the ones comprised under the E-series trademark, and our Samsung i550 apparently doesn’t fall under that category.

The Go-To mode can be turned off should the user decide so. By default the Go-To mode presents a line of icons granting quick access to a total of 6 applications that can be viewed simultaneously, the number of shortcuts is limited and you can’t scroll along the shortcut panel. Both preinstalled and 3rd party applications can be given shortcuts on the panel, that comes in very handy for such user-installed applications like mobile ICQ clients and so on.

In addition to the Go-To mode, Samsung i550 possesses an exclusive expansion not found in any of Nokia’s phones: just at the bottom of the screen there’s the Google Search toolbar. Anything typed in it will immediately bring up a browser window with the Google Search results for the word you typed.

Different products based on the FP1 revision may vary in menu contents and icon arrangement which isn’t a big matter after all since the user can customize the order of icons and menu elements to his liking any moment he wants.

Similar to the rest of S60 devices, the S60 offers a voice control option with a zero learning curve both for the user and the device itself. The phone adjusts itself to the user’s voice automatically; if the phone is used by a number of people and not a single person, this voice adaptation can be turned off. The voice navigation capability has been widely enhanced in the i550 model, the dedicated Voice Signal application sports quite a few voice control functions and a lot of settings:

The settings include:

Upon launching the application you have to speak out the desired action: phone call (contact name or number), message (contact name or number), find a contact or launch an application. In the latter case a list of recently launched applications is displayed, which can also be navigated through with voice commands.

The application’s functionality appears to be more advanced as compared to similar applications that come with analogous Nokia smartphones, a lot of additional info on the subject is available at www.voicesignal.com

Let’s move along then. Two themes are preinstalled on Samsung i550, as well as any number of custom themes compatible with the S60v3 platform. Each preinstalled theme comes with an exclusive screensaver, but the user is free to set a custom screensaver choosing from the default date-and-time, a text message or an animation. The latter type of screensaver needs the playback and backlighting duration to be specified, it stands to reason that both values should better be set equal.

Phonebook and Call Service

The contact book is among the most powerful features of S60-based smartphones. Almost no difference can be observed on this front as compared to earlier versions. Some slight changes in the information field layout and visual effects are the only thing that makes a difference in this FP1-based firmware. The number of contact records is only limited to the amount of free user memory, which is quite typical of almost every smartphone. There are three types of fields for phone numbers, video calls, IP-phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail address, web address, mail addresses and a single type of field for pager number, first and last name, note and date. Only one Name/Last name and Birthday record can be set per contact, but the rest of the fields can be ‘cloned’ as many times as you wish. The mail address field includes seven subfields. The Symbian’s field renaming feature is quite expectedly included in the phonebook service. Not only the phone number, but as well the e-mail address, video call number, SMS, MMS and PPT contacts can be set as standard. The PhotoID service stays same with previous versions, so you might want to look for a 3rd party application since Nokia sticks to their purposely limiting this functionality. The very word ‘thumbnail’ is just enough to ascribe the deal. A contact can be associated with a VideoID clip that would play every time this person calls you over the phone. The priority is given to the VideoID should a contact have both a picture and a video associated. The ringtone will be completely replaced with the video soundtrack, which to some would appear annoying. Only .mp4 files can be used by the VideoID function.

The integrated voice synthesizer can pronounce the name of the person who are calling you. First a ringtone is played once, then the name is pronounced and the ringtone follows again in an endless loop. The only thing you need to use it is to activate it. The same synthesizer is used for voice dialing - so you don’t have to leave voice marks, only the contact name needs to be spoken out for the dialing to start. The accuracy of recognition is rather high, in most cases it works without any need to repeat things twice. However in a very noisy environment you might happen to be forced to. There’s nothing much special about the quick dialing option.

The call logs are organized just as in the previous versions: Incoming, Dialed and Missed calls are displayed on the three respective lists, no uniform list comprising the three kinds is available, unfortunately. Switching between the lists is done by pressing the navigation button sideways. The maximum period of time for which call information can be stored is one month, which can be further customized to ten or one day. A number of filters can be applied to the call log, each call event can be viewed separately with all the detailed information.

Messaging

Samsung i550 supports SMS, MMS and E-mail messaging. No outstanding features were added to the traditional functionality, which can hardly be seen as a sad thing since everything essential is already present as part of the platform: templates, T9, drafts, expansion storage (SMS and MMS alike). Text input is quite usual, switching between languages is done from a context menu or with the , button, the rest of the functions operated with the dedicated Edit button in the 6120c were associated with the # button in Samsung i550 - the caps lock, numeric/alphabet switch, text copy/paste.

Switching between received, sent and other kinds of messages is done by pressing the joystick or the navigation button sideways, it’s quite comfortable and eliminates the necessity to get back to the messages menu every time now and again, the tabs representing each category of messages are shown in a row at the top of the screen. Messages can be sorted by date, sender, subject and the type of the message itself. You can move messages between folders and create an unlimited number of custom folder inside the My Folder directory.

The delivery notes are stored separately, they can be discarded both one by one or by the whole stock. The user can specify if they want the delivery notes to be sent both for MMS and SMS messages or any one of the two kinds.

The MMS service is comfortable, the maximum message size is limited to 300 Kb, an image, an audio clip (talk record) and a video clip can be attached to the message. MMS options include the image size setting - original, small and large. The message text can either precede or follow the multimedia content. The address field isn’t just limited to a single line of text, it also optionally contains

Upon creating an MMS message the context menu offers to compose a slide show. Should the user agree, a total of four templates are displayed - Image (image slides), Video (video snapshot slides, Thumbnails (pairs of two), and Headers (each slide is shown with a text header). The templates are easy to handle, allowing for creation of impressive animated messages.

The e-mail client supports the SMTP/POP3/IMAP4 protocols. Upon creating a new mailbox a special wizard is launched, automating the process to the point where it becomes totally easy even for an inexperienced user. Some of the fields are filled autmatically, tips are displayed during each step, the only thing that is directly required from the user is to specify the mailbox and server type.

The following e-mail protocols are supported:

E-mail Samsung i550

POP3	+
IMAP4	+
SMTP	+
SSL	+ (3.0)
TLS	+ (1.0)
OTA E-Mail Settings Configuration	+
Push E-mail	EMN OMA 1.0

Scheduled e-mail checks are supported, three modes for downloading mail to the smartphone are available: headers only, full messages or full messages with attachments. The volume of downloaded information can also be limited to a specified number of incoming messages, or alternatively, all of them can be downloaded upon every e-mail check.

Voice messages are supported: the text field is substituted with a large icon, the activation of which will bring up the voice recorder interface and the recording begins immediately. After recording the message, the maximum length of which is limited to two and a half minutes, the icon changes its looks. If you want to record the message again, you can delete the previously recorded one from the message by pressing the C button.

PIM

The personal information manager comprises a number of applications including: Measures and Currencies Converter, Notes, Voice Recorder and Calculator. The converter and calculator are quite standard applications found on many phones based off the same platform: the convertor acts in full accordance with its name, converting a selected currency or measure into another kind, the calculator is very primitive and only supports the very basic arithmetic.

The alarm clock has quite a number of settings as compared to what we had with pre-FP1 devices. Besides a one-time signal, the alarm clock supports a schedule on a weekday basis, the signals can be one-time and recurring, it’s possible to set a signal to be played once a week or daily, on a specified weekday only, on workdays or on weekends. Although the application doesn’t allow to configure a signal to be played on a manually selected number of days, limiting the user to the options listed above. There’s an option to set any weekday save for Sunday as a workday. Any custom ringtone can be used for an alarm clock signal.

The calendar supports four viewing modes: by month, week or day (hour-based schedule is available in this case), or as a task list featuring completion deadlines. Stats on the number of completed and unfinished tasks can be displayed on the screen during standby. Customizable default values include the calendar signal, the starting weekday and the default viewing mode.