Samsung Serenata First Impression Cell Phone Review - Imaging & Software
Imaging
The Serenata doesn't have a camera, so still and video capture is rather hard to achieve.
Making/Receiving Calls
Making calls with the Serenata is a bit of a production since there's no keypad. When you open the dialing app, a ring of numbers appears and you use the scroll wheel to hunt and peck them. We feel confidant saying the Serenata is truly the rotary phone of the future.
We weren't able to check out the call log because the floor model didn't have a functioning SIM card.
Messaging
The Serenata finally answers the age old question, "How would you write a text message with a rotary phone?" Texting with the Serenata is like using a label maker that has T9. Unlike the circular array of numbers when you dial the Serenata gives you the alphabet at the bottom of the screen. The letters are grouped into threes, with the last four letters put together, just as you would see on the keypad. You use the scrolling action on the D-Pad to move between the letter groupings and type things out as you would with a T9 keypad. So to spell "Hello" you would scroll to the "ghi" grouping, hit the center button to select, then "def", and "jkl" twice. There's also an option for punctuation and another for a space.
There is no support for MMS messages, which is excusable since there's no camera. The Serenata does have an email client, but it only supports POP accounts. Between the limited email client and laborious text entry method, the Serenata really isn't a messaging device.
Organizer
The Serenata has four items in its organizational suite: calendar, appointments, anniversaries, and missed alerts. The second two items are just extensions of the calendar. The calendar itself offers about as much functionality as an entry-level phone. There is certainly nothing here to attract a business user.
Multimedia
With backing from Bang & Olufsen, is it any wonder that the Serenata is a music-oriented handset? The device definitely has the hardware for excellent sound, but the software was surprisingly basic and a little confusing. While music is playing back, only the album art is displayed on-screen. You can use the d-pad to change the volume, which is displayed as a red ring on the screen. Fast-forwarding and rewinding is done by two touch buttons in the bottom corners of the screen. We felt this was a bit confusing because there was literally no reminder that these touch buttons existed. Furthermore, . The phone can play back MP3, AAC, and WMA files.
OMA DRM and Windows Media DRM are also supported.
Software
The Serenata has a proprietary OS that's so minimalistic it could've been done on a Tiger Electronic handheld. On the good side, the phone seems to be responsive, on the bad side, you're paying $1600 for the same or worst software functionality you'd get from a phone that comes free with a contract. Basic applications are included, like simple alarm functionality and a calculator. Also, exiting applications is a bit harder than we'd have liked. If you've accessed a menu via a touch button, you can't use the back button to exit it: you have to hit the touch button again. The result is a somewhat unintuitive interface.
