Samsung SLM Cell Phone Review - Intro
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Alfredo Padilla Published on December 17, 2007 Comment on this |
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The Samsung SLM, as its name would imply, is a slim entry level flip phone that is the first from AT&T to support their new Napster mobile service for direct downloads of Napster music to your phone. The service itself is nothing impressive, about the same as we've seen from other carrier music stores. Aside from Napster, the Samsung SLM is a solid phone with some nice features like good battery life but nothing that will wow you. It would be a good phone to get free with a contract, perhaps even up to $50 or so, but for the $130 that AT&T is currently asking for you can do significantly better. The SLM feels like a well built device, if a little plasticky. The audio quality on the phone was decent but the 2 megapixel camera was pretty poor. We were able to type over forty words per minute on the keypad but we would have liked more key travel, tactile feedback and differentiation between most of the keys. We were happy with the Samsung SLM's talk and music playback times, but the web browsing time was a little on the slow side. The SLM provides a solid suite of software for a non-smartphone device, but considering you can get a lot of smart phones at the Samsung SLM's price we recommend you go with one if you actually need solid organizer features. All in all we'd wait for the price to come down to a more reasonable level before buying the SLM.
The Samsung SLM is available for $129.99 with a two-year contract agreement exclusively from AT&T.
Tour & Design - The SLM is a small and light phone, but does feel plasticky.
Audio Quality - The Samsung SLM did generally well in our audio tests, with the biggest concern that it might clip voice received.
Imaging - The Samsung SLM's 2 megapixel camera does not capture good photos, but the interface is nice.
Making/Receiving Calls - We were able to easily make a call on the Samsung SLM.
Messaging - The SLM lacks a true email client, but we like that there is a unified interface for SMS and MMS messages.
Organizer - The Samsung SLM provides a good selection of organizer features for a regular phone, but it won't replace a PDA or smart phone.
Multimedia - We found the Samsung SLM's music player to be solid, if a little unpolished, but there was nothing special about the new Napster mobile service.
Software - The SLM's interface is pretty easy to use, but we found many of the menus to be ungainly with too many options.
Battery Life - We were pleased with the talk and music playback times, but browsing time was a little low.
Connectivity - The Samsung SLM uses AT&T's high speed 3G network and has good support for Bluetooth profiles.
Hardware - We found the keypad and controls on the Samsung SLM lacked tactile feedback, key travel and differentiation.
Other Features - The Samsung SLM can be used as a Bluetooth modem for your computer.
Value & Comparisons - At almost $130 with a contract the Samsung SLM is not a good value. Wait for it to come down to a more reasonable price.
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