Samsung Memoir Cell Phone Review - Hardware
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Marianne Schultz Published on April 10, 2009 Comment on this |
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| Text entry was pretty fast on the Memoir, though there are some quirks when using the full QWERTY keyboard in landscape orientation. The Memoir's buttons are all great, offering very good tactile feedback, but we hate the proprietary charging/USB/accessory connector that severely limits our headphone options without a separate adapter. | |
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Text Words Per Minute (7.83)
To see how easy it is to type on a device, we time how long it takes to enter a set of standard text using the fastest text entry method available. On the Memoir, the fastest method of text entry was surprisingly the virtual keypad in portrait orientation with T9 enabled - the QWERTY keyboard in landscape gave a larger area for our fingers to cover, which took more time, and it offers no predictive text entry or spelling correction to ensure error-free entry.
Entering text in landscape mode takes longer
We averaged 39.17 words per minute in this test on the Memoir, a very respectable score putting it in line with the Motorola ZINE and the HTC Touch Diamond, though the iPhone 3G out-performs every phone here with its result of 61.50 words per minute. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
T9 and Auto Complete (10.0)
The Memoir offers both T9 predictive text entry, allowing you to press fewer keys to enter a word since it guesses what you're trying to type the more letters you enter. Possible words pop up in a drop-down menu below the text you're entering and you can even stop typing entirely and simply select the word you want if it appears in that menu list. The Memoir also learns what words you use the most, moving these to the top of the suggested word list so you can select them more quickly.
Entering text with T9 on
One-Handed Typing (7.81)
To see how easy it is to enter text with one hand, we run the same test as in the Text Words per Minute section above using only - you guessed it - one hand. Normally, we find that it takes a little more time to enter text with one hand instead of 2, resulting in fewer words per minute, just as you'd expect. However, this was not the case with the Memoir - we found it just as easy to enter text with one hand, yielding an almost identical words-per-minute result of 39.03. The only other device where we experienced something similar was the HTC Touch Diamond. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
Keypad Backlighting (7.0)
The Memoir's Send, End, and back buttons are backlit, and this backlight operates in tandem with the screen, with no separate controls or settings. The Memoir does have an ambient light sensor that will adjust the lighting level of the screen and the button backlight as well. The buttons are illuminated evenly with no issues.
D-Pad/Joystick (0.0)
The Memoir does not have a D-pad or joystick.
Touch Screen (5.0)
The Memoir has a resistive touch screen that will respond to presses by your finger or another object, such as a pencil tip or stylus. We found the Memoir's touch screen to be less responsive than we'd like, particularly in comparison to the iPhone 3G's fantastic capacitive touch screen, making it less than fun to navigate through long lists and web pages.
In portrait mode, you have a virtual keypad available through which you can enter text in multi-tap or T9 predictive text modes. In landscape mode, you have a full QWERTY keyboard with no predictive text or spelling correction features. While the Memoir's interface is generally finger-friendly, there are some areas where it's rather painful to navigate. One example is the browser - if you're at the bottom of a long web page and you want to move to the top, what look like scroll bars on the bottom and right do nothing to help you move upward more quickly, requiring you to drag endlessly upward to get to the top. We think the Memoir's interface could use some tweaking to make better use of the touchscreen and the text entry options.
Jog Dial (0.0)
The Memoir does not have a jog dial.
Soft Buttons (0.0)
The Memoir does not have any soft menu buttons.
Volume Control (9.0)
The Memoir's volume up and down rocker is curved so that each end is raised prominently from the surface, making it exceptionally easy to find them by feel alone without ruining the look of the phone and are a far cry from the dismal buttons on the HTC Touch Diamond. The Memoir's volume rocker offers excellent tactile feedback and travel and we are well pleased with them.
Power and Standby (0.0)
The Memoir's End button doubles as the power on/off button, and as mentioned in the Making/Receiving Calls section, we think it has great tactile feedback and travel. A long press on this button turns the phone on or off and a short press while in an application brings you back to the home screen. We never turned off the Memoir accidentally with this button - it should present no problems at all to users in day-to-day use.
Other Buttons (4.0)
The Memoir has a few other buttons we need to mention. The first is the lock button below the volume rocker on the right side. This button sits almost flush with the side of the phone, making it a bit hard to press accidentally, which is nice. However, it can be a little bit of challenge to press it to wake up the phone as well, which is bad.
The camera shortcut/shutter activation button is well-done also. It has 2 distinct tactile feedback levels, letting you know when you've activated the auto-focus feature with a partial press, and then when you've fully pressed it to capture a picture or video. The Memoir's shutter button is far superior to the flush-set and hard-to-press camera button on the Nokia N96.
The last button on the Memoir is the back button, nestled between the Send and End buttons. Like them, the back button has great tactile feedback and travel, and we have no complaints about it whatsoever.
Primary Screen Gross Resolution (8.50)
The Memoir's screen has a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels, matching the LG Dare but slightly behind the iPhone 3G.
| Cell Phone | Resolution | Score |
| Samsung Memoir |
240 x 400 |
8.50 |
| Nokia N96 | 240 x 320 |
8.00 |
| LG Dare | 240 x 400 |
8.50 |
| Motorola ZINE | 240 x 320 |
8.00 |
| HTC Touch Diamond | 640 x 480 |
10.00 |
| Apple iPhone 3G | 480 x 320 |
9.00 |
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (7.86)
Measuring pixels per inch tells you how closely pixels are packed together in a screen. Pixels that are closer together will show more detail and richer color, and we measure this by taking the phone's resolution along one side and then dividing that number by the actual length of the visible area of the screen using calipers. The Memoir has 157.29 pixels per inch, putting it in the middle of the pack among our high-achiever comparison phones.
Screen Physical Size (7.43)
A screen's actual physical size sometimes doesn't match the manufacturer's claimed size, and we measure a screen's viewable area to check this. Oddly, Samsung's specs only contain a measurement for the length of the Memoir's screen on its longest side, not its diagonal length, which is the usual method and the one we use. Regardless, the Memoir's diagonal screen size is very respectable 2.97 inches, giving it a bit less viewing space than the LG Dare and the iPhone 3G.
Screen Brightness (7.60)
To measure a screen's brightness, we set it to its highest brightness level, navigate to a blank white web page in the browser, and then use a light meter to measure its output. Fortunately, the Memoir's ambient light sensor can be turned off, making it easier to measure the screen's brightness in a darkroom, and it puts out a respectable 87 lux.
The screen brightness menu
If you leave the ambient light sensor off, you have 5 screen brightness levels to choose from. Turning on the ambient light sensor eliminates the ability to choose a level.
Screen Bright Light Performance (8.0)
To see how a device's screen performs in bright light, such as outdoors on a sunny day, we shine the equivalent of bright sunlight onto the screen and attempt to navigate the menu system and use the device. Once we got around the glare of the glossy screen, we had no trouble navigating around the Memoir, aided by the black on white text scheme.
Color Depth (8.0)
The Memoir's screen is capable of showing up to 262,000 colors.
| Cell Phone | Colors (thousands) | Score |
| Samsung Memoir |
262 | 8.00 |
| Nokia N96 | 16,000 | 10.00 |
| LG Dare | 260 | 8.00 |
| Motorola ZINE | 262 | 8.00 |
| HTC Touch Diamond | 65 | 6.00 |
| Apple iPhone 3G | Not published |
0 |
Secondary Screen (0.0)
The Memoir does not have a secondary screen.
Power & Data Ports (2.0)
The Memoir has a combined power/data/accessory port with a proprietary connector. We dislike proprietary connectors a lot since it only makes it harder, and often more expensive, to find replacement cords and accessories, and the Memoir earns few points here accordingly under our scoring guide.
Headphone Compatibility (4.0)
The Memoir's power/data port also acts as the headphone port, using a funky proprietary connector. Fortunately the Memoir comes with a pair of headphones in the box. If it didn't, you'd have to spend $9.99 + tax and shipping to buy a 3.5mm adapter from Samsung's site or even more to get a pair of Samsung-specific headphones to use with it. Fortunately, the Memoir has the stereo Bluetooth profile to enable the use of Bluetooth stereo headphones with it, earning it at least a few points in this section despite its poor headphone jack compatibility.
Internal Storage (1.0)
The Memoir has 100MB of internal memory, which is enough to store a few photos and songs, but not much more. While this isn't a lot and it puts the Memoir at the bottom of the pile relative to most of our comparison phones in this area, we're happy that it has at least some internal memory for your use in case you lose the included microSD card and haven't gotten around to getting a replacement.
Expansion Slot & Format (7.0)
The Memoir has a microSD card slot and it can use cards up to 16GB, adding significantly to the Memoir's capacity to store media. The slot is hidden behind a fiddly plastic tether on the left side, but we still prefer this easier access compared to devices that hide the expansion card slot near the battery.
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