Babel Machine

Samsung R800

INTRODUCTION:

Alltel is not that large carrier but doesn’t falls short of keeping the trend which is the touch screen, the Delve is between the Samsung Instinct from Sprint and Samsung Behold from T-Mobile. The outer look a lot like the Instinct and physical keys beneath the display resembles the Behold. Also known as the SCH-r800, the Delve has a line-up of many features sleek design with touch screen and multimedia features.

DESIGN:

As mentioned before the Delve is very close to the Instinct they are the same size measuring 2.17 inches wide, 4.57 inches tall and 0.49 inches thick also weighs 3.63 ounces. It has the same black and silver colour scheme, same rounded corners and is very comfortable, firm and feel in your hand. The Delve is different from Instinct by adding three physical keys beneath the display. Same as the Behold it has dedicated button for back and End and Talk keys. Fortunately these keys are much larger than those on Behold.

The display on Delve is 3-inch same size as the Behold but smaller than the Instinct and Apple iPhone`s.  It is vibrant and bright and supports 262,000 colours which are 240×240 pixels. You are able to change brightness, the vibration to what intensity you refer and also itsbacklighting time. The Delve also comes with the stylus.

KEYBOARD:

There are separate keyboards one for numbers, letters and symbols, the virtual keyboard has the same look as the Instinct and the Behold. Keyboards are very responsive but are a bit cramped. The difference between Delve and Behold you are able to use handwriting recognition on half or full- screen mode. It works very well but many would use the QWERTY keyboard instead. Messages can also be typed on the standard alphanumeric. On the downside the Delve lacks in an accelerometer this means you are unable to rotate the phone to switch the keyboard.

The Delves dialler interface is a relatively big key with many shortcuts. Here you access your group list, contacts and the favourite menu with the touch of just one control. You also have shortcuts to add contacts and message sending. There is a back control onscreen this erases mistakes while dialling

CAMERA:

It has a six resolution 2 megapixel camera resolution of 1,600x 1,200 down to an ID picture size. There are four picture quality settings for editing, adjustable ISO, exposure metering, an auto focus self-timer, white and brightness balance, three different shutter sounds and five differing colour effect you also have the option of silent mode. You are able to use mosaic, night shooting mode, a choice of 24 frames and multi-shot. Unfortunately the Delve doesn’t have a flash but none the less we had good pictures quality with very bright colours. The self portrait mirror and camera lens is on the back of the phone.

The camcorder is two resolutions (176×144 and 320×240) also have sound when you shoot a clip. The camcorder has fewer options than the camera with good assortment. Videos for sending as multimedia messages usually capped at 15 seconds in standard mode you can video for 10 minutes. It has an internal memory of 150MB themicroSD card holds about 8GB. The menus is same and easy as the Behold

The Delve can be personalized with wallpaper and greeting using the HTML browser you will be able to download more ringtones and option from Alltel Shop. There is one game in the Delve “Collapse Chaos” you will be able to purchase more from Alltel.

CONNECTIVITY:

The Delve offers Bluetooth, speaker-independent commands and voice dialling, Alltel’s TV on Demand, PC syncing, USB large storage, email, and voice recorder. Also GPS support directional application, regrettably the Delve don’t offer Wi-Fi, a necessary feature for phones with HTML browser.

MUSIC:

The Delve music player is similar to the one from Behold, the interface is straightforward this supports album art. Features are not a lot but you do getplaylists , repeat and shuffle modes, and an equalizer with six settings. You are able to transfer files using many different means (a memory card or aUSB cable), you can play files out of the iTunes library using Alltel’s Nutsie application. You can listen to the player in the background while you using other options also select the airplane mode to listen to music while aloft.

FEATURES:

The Delve can take 500-contacts in the phonebook also has room for the email address and five numbers. You are able to group your contacts add a photo and a polyphonicringtone or if you like you can setup a recording of you own choice as a ringtone . Other features include vibrate mode, calendar, alarm clock, memo pad, multimedia and text messaging, world clock, a calculator, a speakerphone, tip calculator, stopwatch and a unit and currency converter.

PERFORMANCE:

At the testing of the dual-band Samsung Delve SCH-r800 using Alltel’s roaming facility the quality of the call was pretty good. The voices came through sounding natural and we liked the clarity there was no interference or static. An advantage is that through a call you still have immediate access to its memo pad, the speakerphone and voice recorder.

At the other end the caller thought we sounded great. It was easy to make out that we used a cell phone but with no or little background noises most of the reports we positive. Speakerphone calls was good theBluetooth headset had satisfactory calls.

The Delve r800 supports Alltel’s 3G EV-DO network but we wasn’t able to access during roaming. But with 1 x RTT connection, browser was quite responsive. Scrolling through the pages just using fingers was easy. The interface and browser controls are very similar as the Behold.

GOOD:

The Samsung Delve r800 is an attractive phone with a sleek design and an easy-to-use touch interface and it’s very responsive. Features are fairly plentiful and the photo and call quality are fair.

BAD:

THE Samsung Delve lacks an accelerometer and Wi-Fi, the volume level also could have been just a little louder.

CONCLUSION:

The Samsung Delve r800 is a sleek and attractive great multimedia phone has good performance. But it lacks a few important features however it’s an excellent addition toAlltel’s line-up.