Samsung E590 Review
Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: This funky little phone has been designed by
Jasper Morrison, and is not only a great looker, but is very well equipped
with a 3 megapixel camera, MP3 player, FM radio, Bluetooth, tons of
onboard memory and a memory card too. It offers fantastic value for
money, and the only things we dislike are the joystick control and the
below-average battery life.
Review: February 2008.
 The
Samsung E590 is an unusual, funky little phone. Designed by Jasper
Morrison, the British furniture designer, it has a distinctive look
with offset buttons on the keypad and a square LCD display. Available
in a choice of black and silver, it's an attractive phone for someone
who wants to look a little different to the masses. It's also extraordinarily
lightweight, weighing just 66g, and is slim with a thickness of 13.5mm.
But the E590 isn't just about looks. Despite its light weight and low
cost, it packs in an amazing array of multimedia features. First up
is the 3 megapixel camera with autofocus - definitely one of the best
cameras in this price range, although missing a flash for some strange
reason. The E590 is strong on music, with both a music player and an
FM radio. The music player supports most popular formats (MP3, ACC,
ACC+, WMA formats & OMA Digital Rights Management) and has a music
library tool. It's compatible with Bluetooth
wireless headsets too.
Another impressive feature of the E590 is the amount of memory included:
a whopping 90 Mbytes of internal memory (enough for 20- 25 songs) and
the ability to expand this to 2 Gbytes (enough for 500 songs) with a
microSD memory card.
This is easily the largest memory of any phone in the budget price range.
The phone also comes with a voice recorder, embedded games and wallpaper,
good connectivity options (Bluetooth & USB), and is triband.
Why then, do we only give the phone 4 stars? There are two things that
we dislike about the E590: the fiddly joystick and the poor battery
life. It's not surprising to find that a phone this compact and lightweight
with so many features isn't going to have the longest battery life,
and it doesn't. But if you can live with these two faults, you'll find
the Samsung E590 to be one of the cutest and best-featured phones in
the sub-£100 price bracket. And at this price, you really can't
complain!
Features of the Samsung E590 include:
- 3 megapixel camera with autofocus, digital zoom, flash and photo
effects
- Video camera
- Display: TFT LCD, 220 x 220 pixels (1.8 inches), 262,144 colours
- MP3 player (MP3, ACC, ACC+, WMA formats & OMA Digital Rights
Management), FM radio
- 64-voice polyphonic ringtones
- Speakerphone
- Voice memo recorder
- Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, E-Mail (POP3, IMAP4,
SMTP), vCard / vCalendar
- Document viewer
- Embedded & downloadable Java games
- Embedded wallpaper
- Personal organiser functions: Calendar, Scheduler, To-Do List, World
Clock, Alarm, Stopwatch, Calculator
- Memory: 90 Mbytes plus microSD memory card (up to 2 GBytes)
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB 2.0, SyncML(DS)
- WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE
- Triband
- Offline mode
- Size: 94 x 42 x 13.5 mm
- Weight: 66g
- Talktime: up to 4 hours
- Battery standby: 200 hours
Samsung E590 User Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 44 reviews:
Reviewed by ANGELO GELAN from PHILIPPINES on 28th
Jun 2010
WELL, THIS PHONE IS HIP AND I LIKE IT, OF COURSE ITS NATURAL THAT EVERY
PHONE AND UNIT HAVE DEFFECTS.. BUT I LOVE THIS PHONE AND I FEEL CONTENTED
WITH THIS CUTE LITTLE THING :)
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Jess from Uk on 9th May 2010
very good had this fone for at least 5 years before broke would recomend
loved it would buy again. very good for texting . very good for music
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Reviewed by Jack from Beds on 3rd Feb 2010
Love itt.. got it a like 6 months ago for about £18 and it still going
strongg :D
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Reviewed by ricwilliam from Philippines on 23rd
Jan 2010
I LOVE ITS ANIMATED THEME. I am referring specifically to the one that
changes day and night. at around 6am til 5pm, it will show a background
with daylight. afterwards, about 5:01pm til 6am, background appears
as if it nighttime.. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THIS THEME IS CALLED??
thank you very much..
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Reviewed by Ads from Thailand on 1st Nov 2009
I am an animal with phones never had a single phone last more than six
months with hot weather and cheap calls they just cant cut it ..Normally
.. Had this one for 11 months and it wont break and I still love it
.. The problem is I cant buy another one, I would if I could and in
fact would buy another five just to last me a few years . It makes calls
it does it for ages on one charge and it takes great pics and if you
drop it it bounces and you pick it up and carry on the conversation
. Never ever seen a Nokia do that
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Reviewed by BrianB from Philippines on 9th Sep
2009
Really enjoy having the E590. It's very compact, equipped with most
things I need: MP3 player, FM tuner, microSD slot, JAVA. The tininess
is simply awesome though I have to say I drop it more often than I care
to remember. It has scratches and tiny dents but still works fine. Battery
life is the poorest feature.
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Reviewed by Andrew from UK on 6th Sep 2009
With a money back offer and a £20 HMV voucher thrown in I effectively
got this phone for free on PAYG with Orange. Great little phone, not
the most amazing battery life but for what it cost me I would say its
great value for money. This is not my first Samsung phone so I am already
used to the quirks they build in to their handsets and being a long
time Nokia hater I think the pros of this phone outweigh the cons. For
the people who think battery life is poor try a Blackberry or Nokia
N anything. 4 stars it is because I am saving 5 for when I finally find
'the phone'.
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Reviewed by L.E.H. from U.K. on 24th Jul 2009
I have had this phone for almost 18 months. The first 3 months it was
in for repair because the joy stick stopped working. Not a good start!
Battery life is poor, I am having to charge it up every 3 to 4 days.
It appears to have a mind of its own and switches itself on in my pocket
very often. Thats even if I have locked it. The phone may be great for
all the gadgets it has on it but as a basic phone it is very poor. I
wont buy another Samsung thats for sure.
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Reviewed by Pat from Philippines on 7th Jul 2009
I think most of the bad reviews here are those who got defective units...awesome
phone!!!
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Reviewed by erick from united kingdom on 24th
May 2009
This device is remarkable value and provides a great amount of features
including a very good camera particularly with daylight shots a video
recording function ideal for online video sharing and software to allow
it to be a good personal organiser. Not to mention that it comes with
a radio and a good music player. And all housed in a practically built
design. I have owned this device for seven months now and can strongly
recommend it.
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Reviewed by Sophie from UK on 26th Apr 2009
This phone does look really nice. I don't have problem with battery
at all, I have it on through the night and it lasts 4 days plus. I don't
use the MP3 player on it because I have an IPod for that. It has an
auto keypad lock option which is good. The sound quality is good, and
the camera is fine, although I was a bit bummed about not having a flash,
but I don't think it makes any difference on a mobile. Downside was
that you can't customise the text tone, and in the messages section
there is an outbox AND a sentbox, and no messages save in either of
them?!? I like the joystick and the menu's were nicely layed out. Really
good phone for the price, and I would defo reccomend.
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Reviewed by winstonbadoy@yahoo.com from philippines on
1st Apr 2009
fantastic! i like it! im gonna buy it! simply unbelievable! got to go!
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Reviewed by Matthew French from England on 19th
Mar 2009
Its ok, just boring...
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Reviewed by Arbgun from Philippines on 15th Mar
2009
An excellent phone for its price. No problem with the joystick yet but
the battery life is wee bit low. Software aint bad but i like Sony Ericson
better. Other than that, its ok
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Reviewed by Aj from England/UK on 26th Jan 2009
Ive had this little cutey for about 5-6 months now, and i have to say
it looks lyk a toy but its packed with features, so i have to say OUTSTANDING!
I dont know y ppl complain abt the camera, its 3 mp and has great video
camera and photos! The only problem i have is battery life!Well thats
my fault rely, it lasts about 5 hrs with music on full blast, well its
not a music phone is it! also the music player has 4 albums(playlists)
which only hold 30 tracks in each playlist, i have 400 songs but i cant
put em all in the playlist, other than that id say its a tuff, packed
but still compact and well worth the money!!
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Reviewed by Good Phone from UK on 18th Jan 2009
I have had this phone for one and a half years now and love it! The
only fault I can think of is due to the design of the 'joy-stick' type
centre button- it has started to go and this would be the only reason
to replace it- and why it hasn't lasted as long as my previous samsung.
However it has withstood MANY drops and survived. The style is unique
and great!
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Reviewed by Bima otong from Indonesia on 21st
Dec 2008
Cool! The features hardly incomplete. Only I can't costumize the message
tone and the Java can only be installed thru' WAP. Anyway, it's worth
the price!
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Reviewed by David Hutton from UK on 14th Dec 2008
Great phone. BTW - their is NO KEY LOCK issue. You just hold down the
bottom left button for around 3 seconds (has a lock symbol on it). The
phone will then give you a choice to lock by pressing the top left button,
and underneath it prompts yes. Hope this helps.
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Reviewed by Matt from England on 27th Nov 2008
Great phone worth buying value fr money better than any sony ericcson.
Never crashes, brilliant features for as little as £60 from orange but
is unlocked so it can be on any network. Tough as well I have dropped
it so many times and it is only slightly brusied if it was revamed it
could of been a bestseller. Never understood why it never was originaly.
Definatly choose Samsung E590
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Reviewed by not-telling-you from uk on 19th Nov
2008
Best phone I ever had. Lost it recently and having looked around at
what else is out there have just ordered another one. Does the job (phoning
people), and you don't need a team of sherpa's to carry it around with
you. To address some complaints listed below: If you want something
to take excellent pictures buy a camera. I didn't honestly find the
battery life that bad in my first one, but I did plug it in every other
night as a matter of course. Keypad is quite compact but the raised
keys were easy enough to use, even without looking. Substantially better
than a lot of phones out there (some of the Sony ones must be for under
5's or something). BUT: The joystick is a little bit on the... little
side. ot the end of the word, but got to be said. Finally, my only real
complaint with this phone is that the keypad doesn't seem to have a
manual lock - you've just got to wait for it to lock itself. This means
that if you stick it in your pocket you'll often have a string of meaningless
numbers on the screen that you need to clear. Even more annoying is
when you've accidentally activated the WAP in your pocket untold hours
ago! Seems a bit of a shame. All said though, 'tis the bee's knees.
I'd take a half star off for the key lock issue, but it won't let me
so it gets the 5.
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Reviewed by Aaaaaaaaargh! from UK on 14th Nov
2008
The worst phone I have ever owned. OK, the good news, it's very small.
The bad news - where to start? Incomplete texts, low battery life, incredibly
fiddly menu navigation, doesn't save sent texts by default, unable to
customise text tones, and so on. First and last Samsung I bought, will
stick to Sony Ericsson in future.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by teenfoneaddict from lesta on 8th Nov
2008
cute little phone perfect for music and camera with the 3 megapixels
and memory, although joystick can be very annoying and a problem after
a while. texting keypad is quite small so watch out if your fingers
begin 2 ache. alos, the photos dnt come out in full size and dial display
is rubbish! although cute memory!:)
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Reviewed by D3NINA from INDONESIA on 6th Nov 2008
BEST HANDPHONE I'VE EVER HAD
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Reviewed by manny from philippines on 27th Oct
2008
Wanted a tiny, 3 mp, music fone and this one's perfect. This is the
first fone I've had that I totally forget is in my pocket, that I panic
and grab my pants pocket thinking I forgot it somewhere.
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Reviewed by creativology@yahoo.com from indonesia on
18th Oct 2008
excelent
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Reviewed by Shotta from Creppa on 6th Sep 2008
A LOVELY PHONE VERY NICE AND HAS A GREAT CAMERA
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Reviewed by Dani from Indonesia on 2nd Sep 2008
This is best buy phone,but u cant find the best picture,there is no
fullscreen wallpaper,themes n u must download 4 game n aplication
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Reviewed by firma from indonesia on 13th Aug 2008
its very cheap with the best future..i cant find the way to change mesage
ringtone..you have t0 d0wnl0ad if y0u want have game 0r aplicati0n
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Reviewed by Dukki from Serbia on 21st Jul 2008
Nice thin phone, for summer in the pocket. Good camera (better is digital
Canon camera but..), good 4 music,... But to small font 4 sms!
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Reviewed by Luke from England on 12th Jul 2008
I bought the phone, and first impressions are that it is sexy. Looking
into its features it is full of them. For the camera problem, change
it to 1600x1200, macro on, and iso of 400
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Reviewed by Hussein from Australia on 27th Jun
2008
I came across this phone by accident (given to me by a family member).
But I'm happy i found it I've had many phone before and i love the simplicity
of the e590 and it also has a very good battery life compared to all
the other phones Ive had holds a charge for 2-3 days playing a lot of
music and games and standby gets me 3-4 days. If your after a phone
that looks deceptively simple this the one for you.
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Reviewed by Gary from UK on 23rd May 2008
I have had this phone a few months now and it is pretty good. It does
feel a tad small in my big hands and i hear what everone says about
the joystick. No way can you play the games with it. The camera is pretty
good and the music player is cool. The playlist limit of 30 songs in
four playlists is a bit of a faff. I got it for £30 quid on orange so
bit of a bargin. I would recommend this phone.
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Reviewed by Alinafe Sozela from Malawi on 30th
Apr 2008
This is a nice phone{battery is the only problem i have with my phone
but am still using it becouse it has all i wanted from it_MP3_RADIO_CAMERA
and internet.etc. I would love to have a good battery so that i have
nothing to worry about.
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Reviewed by Bobby from UK on 15th Apr 2008
Well had this phone for a while, really is a nice little phone. Bought
it for £30 from the CPW and I must admit that the features it packs
for it size are amazing. The screen is great, music player is good,
even the camera isn't too bad. Small enough you even forget about it
in your pocket. The speaker seems loud enough and the vibe alreat is
quite strong. The only problem with it is the battery life, but even
then I get about 3 days standby out of it, which to be fair isn't too
bad because either way you'll most likely have a charger with you if
you go away for more than 2 days.
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Reviewed by cow girl from usa on 13th Apr 2008
thiz is very poor style its not maching thiz life plz destroy it and
do not make thiz types of mobiles again
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Reviewed by thp from England on 4th Apr 2008
Superb phone.. my wife loves it now though only bad sides are playlist
can store only upto 30 songs.. and only 4 playlist.. else all is good
in the phone..
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Reviewed by Andrew from England on 3rd Apr 2008
Damn good phone, almost all the features of a Sony-E K800i for less
than half the price (carphone warehouse on orange, £30, though my shop
had it listed at £50 until I asked, and it was indeed only £30). Compared
to the £70 K800i it's a bargain, so you lose a flash, and a lens cover,
but what you gain is a smaller, lighter, sexier phone. The Earphones
are not bad, and the sound quality is okay for a phone, the camera is
decent for a phone camera, 1600x1200 works best I've found. The lack
of a flash is no big deal, as my experience is that flashes on phone
camera's suck anyway (you need a decent strobe flash, timed with the
picture as found on decent digital camera's for that to work). So yeah,
a phone, a 2 gig memory card, and £10 credit, all for almost £20 cheaper
than the k800i by itself.
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Reviewed by Jeremy from England on 1st Apr 2008
i have just bought this phone in silver from the carphone warehouse.
I love it, so compact and with wicked features. Only 2 let downs, the
camera despite being 3 mp is blurry, but not bad, and the box comes
with no software.......... Otherwise really good even the battery life
has been good so far
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Reviewed by Lucky from England on 23rd Mar 2008
Great phone especially for a low price at £29.99 from carphone warehouse.
The camera is also very good and the phone is easy to use.
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Reviewed by Iain from England on 19th Mar 2008
This is a cracking phone for £29.99 from Carphone Warehouse. Compact
and light so that it does not bulk up your pocket, good sound and camera
and easy to follow menu and functions. Love the design it's just that
little bit different and the joy stick is no way near as bad as I thought
it would be. I looked at a lot more expensive phones than this one before
I bought and have to say I feel I have fallen on a bargin. Throughly
recommended.
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Reviewed by martyn from uk on 8th Mar 2008
Awesome phone for £29.99 from Carphone warehouse.Small,light and easy
to use.Sound is great,camera brilliant.You really can't go wrong for
the price. Excellent design too.I don't find the joystick fiddly :)
Has everything you need on a phone..buy one,you really won't regret
it.
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Reviewed by JB Cunningham from N Ireland on 5th
Mar 2008
A great little phone - now at Carphone Warehouse at £29.99. As good
if not better than Sony Erisson 800 which cost much more; and even has
more features.
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Reviewed by ADE from ENGLAND on 3rd Mar 2008
its a good phone but hate the joystick
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Reviewed by Francesco Mastellone from Italy on
28th Feb 2008
The camera is rated at 3 megapixels, but the photos are so blurry it
may very well be compared to a 1.3mp camera... As the reviewers said
though, can't complain for the price!
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