Samsung Memoir (SGH-t929) Cell Phone First Impressions Review - Value & Comparisons

Pricing & Value
Without a officially announced price, we can't peg the Memoir's value in and of itself and compared to other competing devices. Its nearest competitor in T-Mobile's line-up, the Motorola ZINE, is currently available for $99 with online discounts and a rebate with a new 2-year contract. We'd expect that the Memoir will be priced a bit higher than that, but hope that it won't go beyond the T-Mobile G1 at $179 with a 2-year contract, a solid device that offers more capability with its open-source Android operating system. At the time of this first impression review, rumor has it that it will be priced at $249 - a bit more than we'd expect, even for an 8-megapixel camera phone. We'll update this review when firm pricing is available.

UPDATE: Since Mobile World Congress, we obtained a Memoir in order to do a full review, complete with all of the scientific tests we subject every phone to - you can read it here.

Comparisons

Motorola ZINE - The ZINE blew away every other phone we've ever reviewed in terms of still image resolution, but put out incredibly poor results in terms of video resolution despite its 5-megapixel sensor. It does have Wi-Fi, so it has an edge on the Memoir in this area, though it does lack GPS. It does everything else more or less capably, though it has a horrible keypad and controls. In the end, we would still recommend a dedicated digital camera coupled with a low-cost or free cell phone with a new contract. If the Memoir performs even better than the ZINE in still image resolution, and we have to imagine that it will perform better in video resolution no matter what, and does everything else reasonably well, the Memoir could earn our vote as the cell phone to make you ditch your dedicated digital camera.

Nokia N82 - The N82 is another cell phone with a great camera and it outperforms the Motorola ZINE in terms of video resolution. Running the Symbian operating system, it offers incredible extensibility right out of the box and qualifies as a full-fledged smartphone. Though we haven't tested the Memoir, we'd expect it to perform better than the N82 in still and video imaging, but it won't hold a candle to N82 in terms of all-around functionality. The N82 will be your best bet if you want full organizer, synchronization, and messaging capabilities beyond the camera functions.

iPhone 3G - The first-generation iPhone was a ground-breaking device, and the iPhone 3G and later firmware updates only improved the concept. Just about every other phone manufacturer has since put out a touchscreen competitor to match the iPhone and the Memoir is not Samsung's first attempt at this. While the Memoir's interface does look nice, it does not seem to offer the same level of intuitiveness and sheer coolness that the iPhone does, but its camera specs far exceed the iPhone's measly 2-megapixel camera, which can't even capture video. If you're looking for a true camera phone, the Memoir wins the battle on paper, hands down. If you want a slicker all-around experience and the ability to choose among over 15,000 3rd-party applications available in Apple's App Store, the iPhone should be your pick.

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