Samsung U900 Soul Review
Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: The U900 is Samsung's flagship phone of 2008.
It's a super-sexy super-slim slide phone that looks very "2008"
with its dual-screen touch-sensitive controls and metal casing. With
a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, 3G video calling, MP3 player, FM
radio and plenty of memory it should tick most people's boxes. The only
reason we haven't awarded it 5 stars is because some people think that
the ringtone and call volume are too quiet. Available in Graphite, Silver,
Pink or Black.
Review: April 2008. Updated March 2009.
 The
Samsung U900 Soul is Samsung's flagship phone for 2008. Is it a triumph
of marketing, or can the Soul really live up to the mega hype? Mobile
Phones UK checks it out!
At first glance, you can tell that the Soul is something different
from the usual Samsung slide design. We've watched the slide phone evolve
over the past 4 years from the compact but definitely-not-thin D500
to the superslim D900 to the wow-that-really-is-thin
U600 with its touchscreen controls that
left some users unimpressed. More recently the Samsung
G600 has been top of the bestseller lists. The reason why we're
waffling on about the history of the slide phone is because it's obvious
that the Soul is something quite different. Let's call it the next-generation
slide phone. The photos here do it no justice at all - trust us, it
looks much better in the flesh. The body is made from metal, giving
it a high quality feel, like one of Nokia's premium handsets. We absolutely
love the sleek, minimalist design and the way that the thumb rests securely
on the base of the slide. The slide moves smoothly up to reveal a flat
keypad. OK, so the keypad won't be to everyone's taste, but if you can
handle a Motorola RAZR, you'll have no
problems with this. The U900 is ultra-slim at 12.9mm thick, and is almost
exactly the same size as the old Samsung
D900.
The feature that truly sets the U900 apart from previous slide phones
from Samsung is the touch-sensitive navigation keypad. Samsung's marketing
blurb tell us that this is a "Magical touch interface". They
were clearly out to lunch on that day. Folks, we'll let you into a secret:
there's no such thing as magic. What we have here is a small touch-sensitive
screen placed below the main LCD display. The touchscreen is icon-driven
and the icons change according to the menu selected. It's very similar
to the one used in the LG Venus and the Samsung
E950. Like all touch-sensitive controls, this is a love-it or hate-it
thing. We suggest that you give it a try and put it back on the shelf
if you don't think you can live with it.
If the U900 is a flagship phone, you'd expect it to have top-end features
and you wouldn't be wrong. It's the first Samsung phone to incorporate
a 16 million colour display. It has fast 3G with download speeds of
up to 7.2 Mbps. It has a powerful camera, similar in quality to the
G600's. Let's be clear about the camera.
It isn't the best (try the Nokia N95 or
Sony Ericsson K850i for the best
camera phones), but it's a very good runner-up. We always get people
complaining that their Samsung camera phones are rubbish, and our advice
is: read the manual, and make sure that the settings are set to maximum
resolution, because by default they aren't. The camera on the U900 is
very good - so there! There's also a music player that can handle a
wide range of formats, plus an FM radio, and the usual Bang & Olufsen
power amplifier for high-fidelity audio. The headphone plugs into the
charger socket, but you can buy a 3.5mm
headphone adaptor for a few quid, or use a Bluetooth
wireless headset.
One feature worth noting is the generous amount of internal memory
(100 Mbytes), as well as the option to add a microSD
memory card. Other standard features such as email, document viewer,
Bluetooth, offline mode are all present. Just one gripe - it's triband,
not quadband - which is inexcusable these days. Duh.
Now that we have accumulated a large collection of user reviews (see
below), we're surprised to find that not everyone agrees with our review.
We were anticipating complaints about the user interface (touchscreens
always attract critics), the camera quality (Samsungs always get this
- see above for advice on camera settings) and battery life (superslim
phones tend to have shorter battery life than conventional phones).
Surprisingly, none of these factors have really been complained about.
The number one complaint about the U900 is that ringtones and calls
are too quiet. But for every reviewer who has complained about the audio
being too quiet, another has stepped in to say that they have no problems
with volume! So what's going on here? Are there two kinds of U900 out
there - one with loud ringtones and one with quiet ones? Or are there
two kinds of users - ones who like their ringtones to be loud and others
who aren't fussed? We don't know the answer to this, but what we can
say is that a substantial minority of users think that this phone is
too quiet, so take this into account before you buy. One of our users,
Lauren, offers this tip for making the ringtone louder:
- 1. Go to your menu and click 'settings'.
- 2. Click on 'Phone Profiles' and you should come up with -Normal
-Meeting -Driving -Silent etc. Make sure your phone is on 'Normal'
mode and then click options.
- 3. When you have clicked on options go to edit and then go down
to where it says ringtone volume. Turn that up to were you want it
and there you have it, the volume is adjusted.
Thank you, Lauren! Hope that people find this helpful.
Apart from that, we can say that it really is a fabulous phone, and
we love it to bits. We've reluctantly downgraded our rating from 5 stars
to 4 stars. But really this is just to take into account popular opinion
(this website is democratic after a fashion :)). For an upgrade to the
Soul, check out the new Samsung Tocco
Ultra, which extends the touchscreen controls to the entire screen.
Features of the Samsung U900 include:
- 5 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, face-detection autofocus,
image stabiliser and Power LED flash
- Video camera (MPEG4 / 3GPP) / 3G video calling
- Display: TFT, 16 million colours, 320 x 240 pixels
- Music player (MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+ formats, OMA, WM digital
rights management)
- FM radio
- Bang & Olufsen power amp
- Ringtones: MP3 ringtones / 72-voice polyphonic tones
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
- Voice memo & voice mail
- Speakerphone
- Java games
- Document viewer
- Offline mode
- WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, 3.5G (HSDPA 7.2 Mbps), web browser
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB 2.0
- Memory: 100 Mbytes plus MicroSD memory card slot
- Personal organiser functions
- Triband GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G
- Size: 106 x 50 x 12.9 mm
- Weight: 112g
Samsung U900 Soul 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 103 reviews:
Reviewed by james from uk on 14th Sep 2012
this phone was great in 2008 but now in 2012 its still not bad! lasted
this long now with only a few problems with the phone which was that
the volume is not high enough, ringtones were added to song playlist
unable to move them or delete them and internet problems.
but still has great camera, not bad battery life, average memory.
Rating: 
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Reviewed by scott from uk on 8th Jan 2012
useless camera and the audio didnt last long befor there was no sound
and no camrea to boot all together well just an old piece of junk now
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Moriah kim from Philippines on 3rd
Jan 2012
Its not a year since i got this and its "ribbon" keeps on getting broken,
ive already made it fixed like 3 times in less than one year. but over
all its nice :3
Rating: 
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Reviewed by Nicol from U.K on 19th May 2008
Wicked phone. Really good.
Rating:
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Reviewed by jonas woodward from england on 19th
May 2008
I personally think that the samsung u900(soul)is the best phone out
yet and most certainly will be untill they make a new version of the
u900 all in all the phone has the best details in everything from the
camera to the super clear music. the samsung u900 is also the most futuristic
phone with its touch sensitive screen under the main one that changes
as you move to different applications. this phone is deafenately the
phone of the year.
Rating:
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Reviewed by hueycln from England on 19th May 2008
I've had the SOUL for a few days now and the only complaint I have is
the volume of live calls and the atrocious speakerphone! Battery cover
and ring volume are both fine. The case does scratch very easily (grey
version) so wrap it in bubble wrap!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by giddy from UK on 19th May 2008
Aesthetic - 4.5/5 love the design and personally find the weight perfect.
Functions 4/5 bought this to as a phone, not a camera or music player,
and find it fit for purpose (this is not to suggest that the camera
and music player is below standard). Also i've used it for minimum internet
usage, so far so good (downloaded opera mini on it, good stuff). Calls
3.5/5 Calling volume is weird, for one of my friend she's deafeningly
loud when it's on max volume (i.e. 7) and i've to switch to 4 or 5 to
have a comfortable conversation. But for another i need to switch it
to the max to hear her properly. After 3 weeks of usage still loving
it. Think this will stick with me till the end of my 18months contract...
Rating:
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Reviewed by GARRETT from U.A.E on 19th May 2008
YOU CAN ASSIGN YOUR MP3 RINGTONE FOR YOUR MESSAGE (SMS), THIS MY REPLY
TO THE Q. IN THE WEB. CHECK FIRST IN THE SETTING BEFORE YOU COMPLAIN
IN THE WEB. THANK YOU
Rating:
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Reviewed by laddo from England on 19th May 2008
Reading all the reviews with interest. Agree that the volume when talking
is poor (big disappointment), but have no problem with Battery cover,
battery life on mine is surprisingly very good, the ringtone volume
is easily loud enough, really love the feel and look of the phone. I'm
a fan of heavier, more substantial phones especially when they are as
slim as this U900. Not bothered about how the music player sounds on
speakphone tbh as I never want to play music on anything other than
the headphones where it sounds great!!! Quick question, does anyone
have any suggestions on what settings to change the default camera settings
to make the photos even better, especially in low light? Would be v
useful if you could advise... thanks
Rating:
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Reviewed by lorraine from england on 19th May
2008
A tip on getting the back cover off, put a little pressure in the middle
of the back cover just over where the battery sits and then push forward.
I spent hours trying to remove the cover and eventually took it into
the retailer who removed it in nano seconds. Samsung note.. the ringtone
volume does need to be louder, i have missed so many calls even on its
highest setting. Overall a slick and sexy phone. I'm happy with it.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Andrew from England on 18th May 2008
I just got the phone today and before this i read that it was hard for
people to remove the back cover but i did it with ease, maybe samsung
changed this. I am very haapy with the phone and is better than id expected.
The sounds is loud enough, and I love the fact that you can totally
personalise your theme so no two souls can d the same. Camera quailty
is very clear. I am now in love!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by robster from uk on 18th May 2008
Why all the fuss about sound quality of this phone??? I've had this
phone for two weeks now after upgrading from a sony ericsson W850, and
although the W850 was louder (perhaps due to a larger built in speaker)
and it could handle MP3 playback through the inbuilt speaker more easily,
i have found when you change the MP3 ringtone on the SOUL to something
with less bass and more mid/high tone sounds, the ring back is very
loud. Try it you'll see!!! Other than that this phone is very good although
there could be a few more themes to upload from the website unlike sony
ericsson which has loads of themes to upload free.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Micheal from England on 18th May 2008
This phone is fantastic. i dont understand the any reviews saying the
camera isnt good, the photos it takes are crystal clear, and the back
comes off easily, you just push and slide it off. Although somtimes
the sound during a call can be a little too quiet somtimes, but usually
its fine. A really good phone and feels fantastic quality when you hold
it, defiantly worth a buy!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Lexx from UK on 18th May 2008
Your phone rating is wrong....... Most people find this phone below
average as I do... Long live the Nokia 95 and all the other Nokia's.
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by neovia from uk on 17th May 2008
The trouble with this phone is there are a lot of irritations and that
means people either love it or hate it. It looks cool but it's a bit
too wide. It's heavy and feels too big when it's open. The 'magic touch'
screen works well but doesn't offer any more functionality than a 5
way navigation pad and it takes up a lot more room. The icons change
but it isn't a big deal because a lot of the time they just indicate
up down left right. You may think it would more useful when using the
camera but there are keyboard shortcuts for flash, macro etc. that are
more convenient. You still need to use the soft keys for certain options.
It could have been better used, e.g. as an alert for messages and missed
calls but apart from the key icons its only used to show battery charging
and a pattern when switching on and off. After a couple of weeks I have
decided that the concept is just a gimmick. Other annoyances: ringing
and voice are a bit quiet; you have to open the phone to see if you
have any messages or missed calls; the phone has to be open to use the
camera and it feels awkward; the small cover over the plug for charging/connecting
to pc/headphones is plastic and flimsy; the display is very configurable
but can't create anything like the preset themes; there are no free
games, you have to pay for the full version of the 3 games loaded; zooming
photos is ridiculously slow (when you have worked out how to do it –
it's the volume key); the screen is definitely hard to see in sunlight;
you can't configure the soft keys and the configuration of the 'magic
touch’ keys is limited to certain options; the Google shortcut
visible at the bottom of the 'magic touch' in the pictures and reviews
isn't available (at least not on Virgin). I think mobile-phones-uk has
got carried away a bit by the hype and I expect a star to be dropped.
If you are considering this phone make sure you are happy with the touch
pad and test the volume against your current phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Brett from UK on 17th May 2008
Great looking phone, and I did not take to long to get used to the opperation
of it,I have used sony ericsson for years. Compact and lightweight and
packed full of the features we have come to expect from top end handsts.
Although the center OK button on the touchscreen failed after the first
few hours I can only hope this is a one off and not going to be a repeat
of sony ericssons center button failings.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Matthew from uk on 16th May 2008
Just got this phone, the sound fine, photo's just as good as any other
top end camera phone around at the moment. Didn't have a problem with
getting the back off, i asked the cashier in the orange shop to do it
as i never plan on opening the back up again, build quality is fantastic
and overall miles better then the sony ericsson i've just changed from,
well done samsung!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Ian from Continental Europe on 16th
May 2008
I posted a 3-star review here a few days ago, but here's an update with
a WARNING. Samsung Soul U900 is defective, it's not capable of accepting
anything higher than 2GB cards, even though the official manual says
up to 8GB. I called Samsung hotline who told they knew about the problem,
and that I should try different brand names (mine is Kingston, that
I bough specifically for this phone). That's obviously ridiculous. So
beware, if you are considering this phone as a music phone, because
you won't put any substantial music volume on it. This is an absolute
shame for Samsung, that a 'flagship' phone with 'magical'(wtf?) features
screws up like this. Also, in the meantime, a colleague of mine who's
bought the same phone is having an issue with U900 turning itself off
when not used (3 times in 1 day) and restrats while being used. Maybe
Samsung ought to employ fewer designers and more engineers. Chinese
knock-off phones seems to be more reliable than what these Korean guys
m ake and sell at a premium price. Shame.
Rating: Reply
Reply by Laura from UK on 7th Nov
2008
I have recently brought this phone and it''s amazing. Mine holds the
8GB memory card just fine :) you just have to know how to use the phone
and put everything onto your memory card (Y). Personally I think this
is the best phone Ihave ever purchased and would reccomend it, so don't
be put off by all the negative stuff that people have put on here young
phone buyer :). Peace Out.
Reviewed by Mark from Wales on 16th May 2008
I had this as an upgrade and initially I wasnt that impressed, yes the
metal finish and look when its off is stunning (almost like a mirror
effect on the touch pad and screen)and the slide is as good and the
previous samsungs i've had. But my problems started as soon as I took
the back off for the battery, even tho the protective sticker shows
you what to do, you feel like your goin to break the phone just to get
the cover off, its difficult to get off not impossible, you've got to
be firm and know where to put your thumbs and where to push (ooohh err
missus). Then when all was in place ie battery, sim etc I powered it
up, yes the screen is awesome and the touch pad admittedly brought an
ooooooohhhhhhhh and corr thats cool!!! to my lips, expecially when you
use it (haptic feedback is good). After setting up the layout of the
touchpad and ringtones etc I tried using the phone, this was a problem
as, over a period of 2-3 days the crashed and restarted 20 times, which
was a real pain in the preverbial and put me off the phone. Maybe it
was one of a bad batch, i dont know. But after being an N95 fanboy I
didnt like the placement of the camera, yes its almost as good as the
N95, but having to have the slide open to take pictures was a pain,
so was having to wait for a message to send before closing the slide
(so used to the nokia ie after hitting the send button you could close
the slide and leave the phone send the message. The web browser was
definitely not as good as either the viewty or N95 and they have slower
download speeds, maybe it was down to the network i use, who knows.
That surprised me as the Soul was noticably slower than both. It is
also quieter and tinnier than most mobile, maybe because of the one
speaker at the top of the handset. One way around it was using an mp3
editor on my pc, creating a ringtone from a music track (easier than
it sounds and way cheaper than buying one) and amplifying the track.
Yes, I know how to increase the volume in the profile settings and all
that, its just quieter and you only really notice the Bang amplifier
when the headphones are used. Overall yes its a beautiful piece of kit,
but still flawed. Dont get me wrong Ive had a d500 d600 and the e900
and they were good phones, unfortunately the Soul to me just didnt have
that 'soul' i was looking for. Even when I phoned my provider they didnt
have a clue or a sim update to recify the problem as the phone is so
new so unfortunately its gone back and im opting for the black N82.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Paul Mc from England on 16th May 2008
Am I missing something about this phone? 5 stars? Why because some people
say it looks pretty, is that a reason to give the phone 5 stars? The
facts…………… The O/S is not a patch on Nokia/Sony,
the camera is a poor grainy 5mp attempt, the phone is big and heavy,
the sound is average, the issues with getting the battery off the back
is frustrating . . . . .then people talk of the wonderful touch pad,
am I missing the trick here? It's a keypad, what is so ultra techno
about that? It has icons, you press the buttons, there is also a small
delay and having normal buttons next to it makes it feel strange, I
doubt Nokia/Sony will be running to the hills because of this great
"new technology" of a touch keypad with 4 icons that is slow and unresponsive.
General consensus here at work is, girls phone for people that are a
bit simple. Certainly no wonder phone by a country mile, in 2 months
it will be forgotten about.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Paul R from Oxford on 16th May 2008
I've had mine just short of 2 weeks and I'm afraid its going back. Yes
its a good phone, does all the things you want it too, and more. I agree
with some of the comments, battery cover, loudness of volume, tricky
- and somewhat pointless 'magic' screen. The main problem is... Its
MASSIVE! Weighs loads, uncomfortably big to hold. On paper its nearly
the same size as my old D900, but in reality it just feels so much bigger.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Lauren from England on 15th May 2008
I got this phone last week. I love it, when I first got it I relized
the sound was not as loud as I wished when there was a incoming call
coming through, I searched my phone to see if it had something were
I could edit the sound and make it louder when I have a incoming caller.
Alot of people have said they cannot turn their phone up but here is
how you do it 4 the people that don't know. Step One. Go to your menu
and click on settings. Step two. You should come up with 'Phone Profiles'
click on that and you should come up with -Normal -Meeting -Driving
-Silent etc. Make sure your phone is on 'Normal' mode and then click
options. Step Three. When you have clicked on options go to edit and
then go down to were it says ringtone volume. Turn that up to were you
want it and there you have it, the volume is adjusted. I find this phone
really nice to use and I love it more now that I have discovered the
sound. Hope this helps you.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Bruce from UK on 15th May 2008
Only a DOPE would take a knife to such a lovely looking piece of kit
like this! Take note Samsung. Next time have some sort of release catch
for the cover. Some of us don't like being forced to exert so much pressure
to remove the cover as it feels as if we're going to damage the phone.
That's what happened with mine..the slider got damaged. Luckily I got
a replacement from my network provider. Touch pad works like a dream,
camera is great once you change the default settings. MP3s sound great
when played through the speaker. Good phone but not without its flaws.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Grant from UK on 15th May 2008
I don't really see why people who are switching from Sony Ericsson to
Samsung are writing a review, of corse your going to hate it! your not
use to it. I myself am a complete samsung fan, D900 U600 now the U900,
i loved them all, i ahve absolutely no troubles with the phone. The
problems covered, bsttery case, sunshine, text/call tones. Why do you
need to get the battery case off and on regularly? put the sim in put
the battery in and leave it be! You shouldn't be playing around back
there anyway! As with sunshine, we've had about 2 weeks of it, and i've
not suffered at all! it handles sunshine fin! Text/call tones, i actually
think its fine, my previous phone Nokia N73 was good, but Samsungs in
general are so much louder, and i wasn't disappointed with the volume
on this phone!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Max from UK on 15th May 2008
What a letdown this latest offering from Samsung! It looks like with
each iteration they're trying hard to strip the really usefull features
and add non-essential ones: D500, D600, D900. And now U900. Gone are
powerful vibration alert and good sound quality. Gone is an easy-to-open
slide. What people say about rubbish speaker quality IS true.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Alan from England on 15th May 2008
In response to Quentin from Aus - it's a bit unfair to potential buyers
to tell them not to listen to the complaints about sound quality and
the battery cover. These are valid and common complaints..just read
through the other comments on here or on the Samsung Mobile website
for confirmation of this. To clarify, if call quality is low send the
handset back for a replacement. I did and it fixed the problem. The
battery cover is hard to remove...not impossible to remove. By all means
take a knife to it if you want. I don't know many people who would be
willing to do this with a brand new handset..especially if they've just
splashed out £119 for the upgrade! A good handset but not a 5 star phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Quentin from aus on 15th May 2008
Got the phone like 1 day ago.. man this phone is DOPE!!!!! i aint no
IT freak or what-ever but i have owned some pretty dam good phones and
the U900 rocks!! .. all those people sayin.. 'too quiet!'and çant get
the battery cover off it!' dont listen to them. for real!! yes, the
ph aint as loud as some but it IS NOT as bad..in fact it isnt even bad
full stop!just aint as loud as some of the other phones..and the battery
cover...took me maybe 10min to work it out..get blade(i used my pocket
knife) kinda slide it under the cover and pry it up as u slide the cover
down using ya thumb..not that hard once u work it out..hope that helps.
not like u have to keep puttin in and takin out the sim anyways... AWESOME
PHONE!!!..period.
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Reviewed by Amro from UK on 15th May 2008
I think samsung did much better phones before this one. i cannot see
any thing that give this one outstanding rating! speaker and hearing
sound quality is very poor, hard to open the battery cover, you have
to fight with it!!!, small screen size. I will sent mine back now!!!
and will go for other makes.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Ant from essex on 14th May 2008
I've got to send my one back (twice now) as the thin strip of metal
just above the touch pad, inbetween the soft key buttons has lifted
away from the facia. Otherwise great phone with cool features
Rating:
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Reviewed by Ian from Continental Europe on 14th
May 2008
My 2 cents: i was looking for a phone to replace my aging Sony Ericsson
K750i, which 3 years ago was roughly the same kind of 'flagship' phone
as this U900 is presenting itself to be. What i disliked about the K750i
was the size and the weight, a little brick. Hence i decided to go with
the Samsung's 'ultra' line. My wife has a D900i and the phone seems
allright, though could be a little narrower. Well boy was i wrong about
the U900. This phone is longer, wider and heavier than K750i. The only
thing it's got going for it is that it's thiner, but not really by that
much. The biggest issue by far is the weight, it's just plain HEAVY,
at 120 grams it's 20 percent heavier than my K750i and a whoping 33%
heavier than the similarly sized D900i. Ultra slim? I don't think so!
Anyway, that's the bad news. The good news is that the phone is still
pretty - for the lack of a better word - cool. The toughpad is really
a new generation kind of technology, it's fast, responsive, just works
great. The phone body is alright, mine is the "grey" color, which means
it's not all silver but it actually has black parts. The black parts
are plastic, which is strange cause the phone is bening presented as
a metal phone, but more than half of the body is made of plastic. It's
a good quality plastic though, soft with a rubbery feel to it. I'd imagine
the silver version of the phone, with the plastic parts painted silver,
must look somewhat cheap. I won't get into details on the other issues,
the phone works ok, no technical issues with sound loudness or clarity
that some have mentioned below. The music through headphones sounds
great, like on most Samsungs, way above any mp3 player average. All
things considered, it's not a bad phone as long as you're prepared to
carry some weight around. For that only 3 stars. If i had the choice
again, I wouldn't buy it, instead I'd go with an all-metal, yet tiny
and superlight SE W890i.
Rating:
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Reviewed by jonk from England on 14th May 2008
I bought this phone as an upgrade from T-mobile about 10 days ago. I
am still trying to get used to it and to be honest - I think I will
send it back within my two week trial period. - Mark (below) - remember
if you upgrade from TM - if you aren't sure of the phone, always best
to upgrade direct from TM as you get 14 days to decide if you want it
or not. The phone looks and feels nice. It's a bit to long when you
open it out. But my major dissaaaaaaaapointments are as follows: 1.
The sound is tinny and really low - no base whatsoever or GE so sound
on playing back your tunes is rubbish. 2. Incoming ring tone is quite
low - but eventually I did find out (took me three days as the manuel
is not helpful at all) that you can adjust the sound volume for incoming
calls. 4. Phone only rings for 15 seconds too - so I keep missing calls
- hense I have reverted back to my old Sony Walkman. If you go direct
to your provider - they can adjust the length that it rings for upto
a max of 25 secs (though it took three calls to customer services to
work that one out). 5. similarly, it took me three days to work out
how to turn of the stupid noises on the keypad as they really frustrate
you -aaahhhgg!! Even my son couldn't work it out other than hitting
the hash key or turning down the volumn which mutes the phone - but
then you can't hear a call coming in. 6. I found the internet slow and
often sticking and there is no way of seeing if it is trying to download
or just frozen temporarily for a minute. I couldn't satisfactorily access
my Facebook or Youtube accounts! I downloaded opera mini and that worked
a bit faster. 7. The touch screen is clumsy and too sensitive, if you
accidently wave your thumb over the touch screen (easily done during
a call) - it disconnects your caller. Frustrating!!! I turned down the
sesitivity to 1 but then the phone was unresponsive and it took 3 -
4 taps on the pad to make it respond. All in all I am not really happy
with the phone and unless you want a sleek looking phone with poor responces
- then stay away from this. Hense mine is going back in the post to
T-M tomorrow. I've thought of the Sony W960i but it has very mixed reviews
but I really fancy and and I'm going to wait for the N96 to arrive in
the shops before I upgrade again.. Buy carefully or on trial periods...
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Reviewed by firefox from London on 14th May 2008
This is the worst phone I have ever had !!!! I am on my third handset
in 3 weeks. The sound quality is poor and the volume, low. DO NOT BUY
THIS PHONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Anonymous from Not telling on 14th
May 2008
Tried this phone at the Carphone Warehouse. Brillitant. I am going to
get it soon and it has been worth the wait! Tried the call sound. PERFECT
what are people talking about? BAd sound??????? dont listen to other
reviews. They are nonsense
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Reviewed by Marc from UK on 14th May 2008
Got this yesterday and having massive problems playing mpegs and wmv's-
it keeps saying "unsupported resolution". Any ideas how to sort it?
Also most of the videos on Youtube don't work. The browser is very disappointing
particularly as I got this phone to surf the net! Overall a nice-looking
phone but am wondering whether I should have upgraded to the N95 or
waited for the N96!
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Reviewed by Casey burke from wales on 14th May
2008
Amazing phone no probs best phone ever nothing knoks it
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Reviewed by Amanda from England on 14th May 2008
I have sent this phone back as the call volume is absolutely rubbish
even on loudest setting, if you're somewhere quiet its ok but trying
to have a conversation outside is just impossible! To be honest I wasnt
that impressed with the phone at all and found the touch screen annoying
and fiddly. I now have the K770i and absolutely love it-great phone!
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Reviewed by Angela from UK on 14th May 2008
I had the Nokia N95 12 months ago and upgraded to the Samsung U900 -
received yesterday. With all phones there are pluses and minuses, but
I'm sorry to say that for the first time ever I am sending a phone back
and going to go on the 02 simplicity tariff for a few months until the
N96 comes out. If you have ever had a Nokia N95 (or no doubt a Sony)
then stay clear of this phone. Well I suppose I ought to start with
the plus points - very nice looking phone (aren't all Samsungs!) Can't
think of any others. Now the bad points - 1. very hard to get the back
cover off, I had to get my fella to do it and it took him a couple of
minutes. 2. Photo's - have an orange tinge to them. 3. Playing music
aloud - very poor quality / tinny sound. 4. Ringer - again very poor
quality / tinny sound. 5. Ringer volume - not very loud on loudest setting
- if kept in a handbag would be difficult to hear it ringing. 6. Magic
touch - seemed sluggish in some menus (even after changing the se tting).
Need I say more. I have never had call to give a mobile review before,
but thought I had no choice with this phone. Perhaps I have been spoilt
with the N95 (which as a few quirks, don't all phones).
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Lina from Manchester, UK on 14th May
2008
I love it! It is so beautiful, slick, nice to hold. And so many features.
Some people found it difficult to open the battery cover (I read on
some reviews here) but I have no problem at all. I sent some photos
from my old mobile through bluetooth. The photos look a lot better,
brighter, on my Soul. Fab phone!!!!
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Reviewed by Beth from UK on 13th May 2008
I received this phone today as an upgrade from 02, and am sorry to say
that I was disappointed. The phone has some sort of delay which gets
very annoying, the sound quality is poor and the volume, low. The display
however, is very impressive. Also this definitely isn't a phone to buy
unless you have very big pockets and I will now send it back and get
an LG KF700.
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Reviewed by Mark from UK on 13th May 2008
Wanted to love this phone, but hate it. The call volume is too low.
On speakerphone the audio is tinny and not loud enough. Even on loudest
setting the volume is still too low. Purchased it last week from the
Carphone Warehouse on a T-Mobile Tariff. Not allowed to cancel, so am
gutted
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by tee from london on 13th May 2008
just got the phone put of by how hard it is to open the battery cover.have
been on it for over 2hrs still o luck. what a shame
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Tom from England on 13th May 2008
Had the phone two weeks now, Superb, I do not understand when people
say the volume is bad, i can still hear fine when using in a niteclub
with the base glaring. The only downside i've found is the battery cover
is a bit difficult to get off, all together a very impressive phone
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Reviewed by Dieseldavey from uk on 13th May 2008
The phone is brill in most departments except for the volume in both
ring and hearing. How could a manufacturer let something so important
slip through there fingers?.
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Reviewed by Stewart from England on 13th May 2008
I've only had it for 24hrs so I may miss stuff that are undiscovered
at this point... Faults; 1.Slide action a little notchy compared to
Older Samsungs. 2.Ringtone very tinny and quiet. 3.The 2 softkeys cannot
be changed. 4.Led flash as opposed to Xenon. 5.Very hard to remove battery
cover. That's all I can find at the moment - Don't get me wrong this
phone is very good,but if you're like me you like perfection then this
bobile may interfere with your inner Karma. In my opinion although I've
swapped my N95 for this,the N95 is the better phone....bulkier but more
functional. My personal choice would be; N95, U900 Soul, LG viewty,
K850i, K890i.
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Reviewed by jon from england on 13th May 2008
was debating whether to get this phone after reading comments on here
but glad i didn't listen. the sound is perfectly fine both whilst on
a call and the ringing tone, much better than my previous sony ericsson
w910i. The only time i have not heard it is in a very busy place but
even then the vibrate mode makes up for it because its fantastic, really
powerfull. my girlfriend and brother both have g600 and the sound is
far quieter on their phone. The handset feels really solid and well
built and the touch panel is superb, you can set it to be as sensitive
as you like. Keypad is also great for texting alot like i do. overall
really impressed, don't listen to previous comments just get the phone,
if you don't agree then you can return it.
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Reviewed by ghoshi from UK on 13th May 2008
trust me guys you dont want this phone its call volume is soooo low
that you cant har anything outdoors and even inside, you have to switch
off your tele and tell your friends to shut up because you are trying
to listen to a call. this is my second phone and the problem persists
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Lster from UK on 12th May 2008
Just to update, I recevied my replacement Soul phone today and the volume
during calls is still really low when outdoors. Not really useful when
that's when you need the phone the most! I'll be switching to another
model. Shame as I've had samsung phones for a long time and everything
else about this phone is great.
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Reviewed by Peter from UK on 11th May 2008
There are many comments on here saying that the phone is terrible and
I wonder whether they are Sony fanboys just trying to discredit Samsung.
The speaker volume on this phone could be a little louder, but it is
no way useless. Sound quality is fine and just the same as any other
mobile. With headset it is fantastic. Ring volume is, again, no real
problem. It's not super loud but it's not quiet either - just normal...
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Reviewed by thomas from antrim on 11th May 2008
This phone looks good, but iv'e missed so many calls because of the
poor quallity of the ring tones! The volume of the phone sucks!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by amelia from engaland on 10th May 2008
fabulos phone the best phone ever invented
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Reviewed by m19cnl from england on 10th May 2008
just got it today. outstanding phone like every bit of it. read the
- comments about volume etc don't understand what people are on about
my son herd it from two floor down.out standing once again. get one.
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Reviewed by Lster from UK on 10th May 2008
Has anyone had any luck with increasing the volume during a call? I've
already maxed the volume using the buttons on the side but can barely
hear anything when I'm making a call outdoors. Got this off Tmobile
and am getting another one sent to me to see if mine's just a dodgy
one.
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Reviewed by Alistair from England on 10th May
2008
Got this phone less than a week ago. Not overly impressed so far. Biggest
gripe is Silver version is so easily scratched. I haven't dropped it,
and only carry it in an empty pocket, but every surface seems to get
marked so easily. The sound quality is far too low when receiving calls.
Even when turned up to the max. Thought that the B&Q sound system was
supposed to be fabulous. The Touchpad takes a while to get used to.
Was pleased once i got rid of the annoying keypad sound. Not 100% sure
how to alter some features like the ringtone or text alert tone yet.
Hope that there is a Firmware update soon, especially one that fixes
the terrible low level sound quality on the speaker.
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Reviewed by Scott from UK on 9th May 2008
I've had my U900 a day but T-Mobile are sending me out a replacement.
I'm not used to Samsungs but am happy to learn what you need to do.
The major problem for me is call volume. On maximum setting I can barely
hear what the other person is saying unless I'm in the office which
slightly defeats the point of a mobile. It's wonderful having so many
extra features like music, photos, movies and the internet but any phone
needs to be able to do the one basic - allow you to make a call! Hopefully
will have more joy with the next one...
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Andy from Bristol on 9th May 2008
Great phone, lots of features looks incredibly slick. The Bad: Couple
of little problems with it. It doesn't have voice dialling, which is
a pain when trying to use hands free. The MP3 player picks up every
single MP3 on you phone meaning if, like me, you use sound bites for
ring tones/message alerts they will pop up in the middle of you enjoying
you music. The web browser is somewhat pants so I suggest downloading
Opera Mini if you intend on using it for surfing. There's a 2gb limit
on the Micro SD slot. The Camera takes a bit of adjusting to take a
good picture in low light, if you have no clue what your doing you may
mistake this for being a bad camera. The battery cover is a slight pain
to get off. (I'm not sure this a such a problem, how often do you need
to take it off?) The Good: Like I said the phone look amazing the whole
display is customizable, including touchpad (took me a good 10 minutes
to adjust everything to the way I like it). I also have an N95 and compared
to this that thing is a horrible brick. The 5mp camera takes a very
nice picture, very close to that of the N95, comparing the two I can
see very little difference except a very slight redness to the Souls
(not really noticeable especially on the handset itself). The FM radio
is good, picks up a nice clear reception, my only gripe is you have
to use the Samsung supplied headset as it doubles as the aerial. The
built in RSS reader is a nice little feature as are the image and video
editors. The screen as crystal clear and watching videos on it is a
pleasure, the only small problem with it is when you move from one video
to the next it comes out of full screen mode, which means you then have
to go back into the menu and reselect full screen, which is a pain if
your watching lots of small video clips. The network choices of the
phone are very good, as the phone uses Edge and HSDPA and I'm on the
O2 network it means that I'm within a decent speed network at all times
All in all a great little phone that looks and feels great! Dude to
change message tones its: Menu, Settings, Phone profiles, options, edit,
scroll right, message alert tone.
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Reviewed by shelley from uk leeds on 8th May 2008
i have had this phone for 2 days and i am sending it back!!! i think
the touch pad is useless unless you have nice slim fingers and the volume
of the ringtone might as well not be on. i have missed 99% of calls,
only get them if it is in my pocket and that is because i have it on
vibrate aswell. this is the first and last samsung i will be getting
going back to sony ericsson.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by louise from nottingham on 8th May
2008
a lovely looking phone but the sound is as far as i"am concerned rubbish&
the volume distorts.i"am now sending it back!!!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by zafarullah from england on 8th May
2008
i just got this phone and it has very por voice quality, both with and
without speaker phone i m taking it back to phones4u tomorrow and see
if they can exchange it for anything but samsung u900
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by David Paul Simmons from UK on 8th
May 2008
The phone on first impressions looked good & the operating system looks
good providing it continues to do what it should. However, I felt that
this phone has a major drawback which prevented me testing to my full
liking. This drawback is the fact that you struggle to open the back
for battery access or sim card. My mrs cant do this relatively simple
task & I also cant do it without tools which may damage your phone along
with the guarantee. So back to the shop they go!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by wendy ainsworhh from england on 8th
May 2008
fab phone! really inpressed with it only had it nearly a week but no
regrets so far!
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Reviewed by dude from uk on 8th May 2008
Got the soul last week and think its a top product from samsung the
only problem i can find is i cannot change the tone for recieving text
messages....very anoying as the message tone on there is very quiete
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Reviewed by me from England on 7th May 2008
Fab phone! I've always been a loyal samsung user and this phone has
progressed from their earlier offerings in to a fantastic up-to-date
phone with everything needed in a phone. Camera is great; seemingly
better than my friends LG Viewty which is generally marketed souley
as a top of the range camera phone. Music player was also very important
too me and it didnt dissapoint. Volume very good when using the headphones
and the speaker is also loud. Touch pad is classy and easy to use and
the fact that they keys around the touch pad are actually buttons helps
to lessen mistakes. Keypad buttons are easy to use and texting is easy
and quick which was importand for me being an avid texter! I havent
had a problem with not being able to see the screen outside and even
managed a dew texts whilst walking home in the (rather odd for this
time of year) sunshine we are currently experiencing! Also the phone
is incredibly stylish- i opted for the silver as it seemed more feminine
and its such a looker- Everybody wants a look and a play and instantly
falls in love. I would deffinatly reconmend!
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Reviewed by Jimmy from Scotland on 7th May 2008
I got this phone as a upgrade with vodafone as my previous handset was
the samsung u600. What a dissapointment, i'll list the good and bad
points. Good - touch sensitive keypad at front and its general look
(that's it) Bad points - Battery cover at the back a nightmare to get
off. Camera - not the best 5 mega pix out there. Pictures grainy even
when adjusted Now the main reason its going back first class tomorrow
the sound quality on calls is terrible and the ringtone even up at its
highest isnt loud meaning alot of missed calls. i honestly thought with
the Bang and oulfsen amp this wouldnt be the case but im afraid it is
... So in summmary a nice looking phone but if your looking for more
than that look elsewhere ... Samasung u900 soul ..not worth the hype
!
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Reviewed by Aly from England on 7th May 2008
I do think this is either a love it or hate it phone, as you will see
from the previous posts.. personally i love it!! i have waited a while
for a phone that ticked all my boxes without weighing a ton, and thhis
is it! the volume is quite quiet however, but as im never far from my
phone, its no big deal really. Its a very good looking phone, the sensistivity
of the touch pad is adjustable, the colours and ability to design your
own backgrounds is a nice touch.. all in all im very pleased with it
and would highly recommend it....
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Reviewed by Darcie from uk on 6th May 2008
had this phone 6 hours and its going back, not impressed at all!! come
back sony erricson all is forgiven
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Reviewed by laura from England on 6th May 2008
Haven't had the phone that long but it's AMAZING! its got everything
i need, plus unlike sony i dont have to pick between two different phones
i.e. W890I (music player phone) or K850i (camera phone)the U900 is going
to be a huge phone for samsung. The touchpad is great and very different
as apose to the likes of the LG phones of late. All I can say is, 'impressive'
sexy, slim, and easy to use. Like nokia, once you've used a samsung
you've used them all, and although menu sytems are the same the touchpad
is throwing me off a little but i'm getting there, an absolute must
have phone for 2008, and all for the right reasons not just for fashion
(although that does help)
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Reviewed by Trudie from UK - Leicester on 6th
May 2008
I used to have Samsung phones, then changed to Sony Ericsson when I
upgraded as I didn't like the Samsung phones on offer. I liked the look
of this phone and it had good reviews on here so I bought it. I am happy
with the phone on the whole, it has a quality feel about it, I like
the fact that it has a 5 meg camera and yet isn't a brick like most
phones on the market at present. I must agree with other reviews though,
it's not very loud and it's difficult to adjust the volume if you are
actually on a call. Also, I can't seem to mute the keypad tone without
just turning it down to nothing, which is fairly irritating. I think
my biggest disappointment is that I cannot see the time or whether I
have received a call or text unless I actually slide the phone open.
The Samsung E770 was great as the time, text messages, missed calls
etc. was lit up on the external screen whether the phone was in use
or not... surely that wouldn't have been too much to ask on such a modern
and up to date phone...
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Reviewed by Cesc from England on 6th May 2008
No phone is perfect but this phone is a quality handset. I agree that
the camera isn't the best but it's not that bad either and will do for
most users. I'm on my second handset now as I too had an issue with
the low call volume. I called Orange and they sent a new one out to
me within 24 hours. Since I've had the new hansdset calls are definitley
a lot louder and clearer. I don't think Samsung do firmware upgrades
so if you have any problems with the sound or touchpad I would send
it back and get a replacement. Battery life seems fine to me. I made
sure I fully discharged the battery when I received it and gave it a
full charge afterwards. I'm not too fussed about being unable to see
the screen in direct sunlight. I just place my hand over the screen..that
seems to work for me! I know people can be overly fussy when it comes
to mobiles...understandable if you've paid for an upgrade or new handset.
Me? Well...my needs are basic. I can make good quality calls, text easily,
play music if required and take a few quick snaps. This phone performs
all of the above well with the added bonus of looking gorgeous and,
in my case, being free. I've had several slide phones before and this
differs in that there is no wobble or play (if that makes sense). As
a previous poster said...it feels solid. Highly recommended.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Phil from Wales on 6th May 2008
Had the phone for a week now, and one or two things are annoying, namely
the ringing volume and the message notification volume, they are so
quiet. As has been said out in the sunshine it's difficult to see the
screen, but as we dont get much sunshine that wont be a problem. Other
than that the phone is great,and I dont seem to have any problems with
battery life, and I am using it quite a lot, it is on a par with my
last phone a Nokia 6300. All in all a very good phone......
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Reviewed by Unsure from England on 5th May 2008
This phone confuses me. Looks good and is easy to use but the problems
with it niggle enough to make me consider giving it back before I am
stuck with it for 18 months. Don’t get me wrong I am very sure
this will be a big seller for Samsung and its positives, that have been
well covered here, I agree with. However four things bother me. 1) The
battery life on it is poor (the people who say it isn’t can’t
be using it that much). 2) The camera is not that great. I take on board
that with a few button presses it can produce a good picture but my
Sony Ericson didn’t need any foreplay before it produced a good
picture! 3) The speaker on it does not compare to my old Sony Ericson.
Sounds like people are in a toilet when Im speaking to them. And lastly
4) the screen is shy of sunlight in a big way. The English spring sunshine
is enough to render this phone useless outside during the day. I have
rated this phone 4/5 as its a good phone. But how hard can it be to
make a phone that ticks all boxes?
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Reviewed by Damo from UK on 5th May 2008
Great phone and the touch area is really nice and, despite what people
may think, works very well. Only bad thing is that the volume whe you
are speaking to people is a little low, even at max setting. The hardware
is fine because speaker phone is very loud, but for some reason the
max speaker volume on normal is capped a little too low. It's not a
massive problem - maybe fixable with firmware upgrade - but would have
been nice if it was a little louder. Nice phone nonetheless. Feels solid.
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Reviewed by the cat from uk on 4th May 2008
HAD THE PHONE TWO DAYS,TOUCHPAD FROZE WOULDNT ALLOW ME TO SCROLL DOWN,THE
BACK IS REALLY DIFFICULT TO GET OFF VERY DISAPPOINTED,GOING BACK TO
NOKIA DONT KNOW WHY I LEFT.THE SOUL WILL BE RETURNED 1ST CLASS TUESDAY
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by John from England on 4th May 2008
Got this phone a few days ago and I echo the positive comments before
me. The phone is very sleek and dare I say it sexy. I have noticed people
looking at the phone when I've been on the subway/buses with envy. The
battery life is really good, and the touch pad is a really nice touch.
Thankfully Samsung did away with the touch pads for the surrounding
buttons, an error they made with the previous ultra phones - who didn't
get annoyed with that! Instead they are actual buttons, which does take
some getting used to when using touch pad at same time, but is definitely
a benefit for the handset. Sound quality on a call is good, as is the
speaker when listening to music etc, but don't expect to be bowled over
by the B&O integration. Considering the battery life, it seems that
they have concentrated on maintaining a decent level of volume without
a large detrimental impact on battery usage. The camera is supposed
to be one of the key selling points, and it is certainly a good camera.
However, if you are used to the Sony Ericsson Cybershot phones, this
will disappoint slightly. A Xenon flash would have been a much better
choice, and the position of the camera means you will get countless
shots of you thumb and fingers. There are plenty of options available
though, and you can get decent pictures, so make sure you familiarise
yourself with these and the disappointment will be kept to a minimum.
Samsung have also opted for a decent keypad layout. This does mean the
phone is slightly wider than absolutely necessary, but a few milimetres
does not make much difference, and to be able to write texts quickly
this can easily be forgiven. The major downside is of course the visibility
in sunlight. The phone loses it's sleek coolness when you have to put
a hand over the screen to read it - I guess though with me living in
England that I will not have this issue very often! The menu structure
is as per most other Samsung handsets, and I must confess I prefer the
Sony Ericsson or Nokia handsets for this. However the menus are more
customisable than ever before. Overall a very nice phone. A few small
issues which can generally be overlooked to have this gorgeous handset
in your grasp.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Ben from England on 4th May 2008
my friend just got this phone and he hates it. i have just got one recently.
it's the samsung f490. he says get the f490 now.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by mutleys music from uk on 3rd May 2008
Had this for a week now and am mostly happy. Its not complicated to
use and has some nice features as well as looking rather neat. The 5
meg camera is not so brill indoors but it is adequate for a camera on
a phone. "Buy a decent camera if you want to take pictures of good quality"
is my suggestion. Battery life seems ok on standby but I played with
the inbuilt picture editing facility, games and the other general bits
just messing about, and drained it in 3 hours. I like the way you can
design your own screen, how the menus can be manipulated and the touch
part is even neater since you can change the colours here as well. Got
it has an upgrade with vodaphone and kept my old 20£ per month contract
so even happier after seeing others charge 35£ per month for this unit.
4 stars since not perfect and should come with more memory rather than
have to pay more for a mini sd card. Need ear phones to listen to radio.
Rating:
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Reviewed by garry roper from england on 3rd May
2008
GOT THE SOUL THREE DAYS AGO GREAT FEATURES IF THEY WORK MY PHONE BROKE
AFTER TWO DAYS AFTER LITTLE USE THE NAVIGATION PAD FAILED THEREFORE
I WAS UNABLE TO SCROLL DOWN I MAY OF JUST BEEN UNLUCKY BUT THATS FOR
OTHER PEOPLE TO DECIDE.ITS BACK TO NOKIAS FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Kate from England southampn on 3rd
May 2008
I have this phone it is brilliant have to say is one of the best phones
i have bought in a long time. The only problem i have had is not with
the phone but with the company and this is the deal is ment to be £35
a month but that is not including the 17.5%, so dont be caught out on
this one like i did wih orange!
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Reviewed by Cheryl Ann Carter from United Kingdom on
3rd May 2008
Only got my phone yesterday, it looks stunning!!!feels new a little
different from what is about at the moment and I was glad I waited 6
months to upgrade..Just 1 warning write down your sim card number before
you install it, I needed the sim number to register the phone & had
real problems getting the back panel off, its a really snug fit, had
to use a knife to prize it apart and scratched the back panel "gutted"..but
its amazing really easy to use, looks minimal but classy, sylish....i
feel blessed...need to explore more..but fab so far, the touch vibe
magic pad is great!!!
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Reviewed by Mr Dan from UK on 2nd May 2008
It’s a great looking phone, and that’s it’s hook.
It’s not the best for features, usability or even build quality.
But if you can forgive these misgivings, it makes up for it in sheer
sexiness, almost as if to say “ who cares I’m not perfect,
I look great”. The bits you love about it are gimmicky and will
likely wear off before long, but it covers the basics enough it doesn’t
really bother you that much. If you’re tempted by it, make sure
you’re prepared to be a little disappointed as it’s not
quite as great as most reviews make out..but what it lacks in usefulness,
it makes up in attitude. Grr
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Reviewed by Neil from England on 2nd May 2008
I had an LG Venus prior to getting this handset. The U900's touch pad
is a lot more responsive than the LG. Build quality is superior, the
camera performs well for my needs - there is no shutter lag as with
the Venus. Battery life is good also. The negatives are that you can't
see the screen in direct sunlight. Removing the battery cover took ages
- it was wedged in really tight and I thought I was going to damage
the phone when removing it. Finger-prints get everywhere too. Overall
a very nice phone that does the job. And, seeeing as it didn't cost
me a penny, I have no reason to complain. Give it a try..you may be
pleasantly surprised!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Rampant Rabbiter from UK on 1st May
2008
I got this phone a few days ago after falling in love with the pictures
and the amazing reviews. After years of being faithful to Sony Ericsson,
and then Nokia, I decided to give Samsung yet another go with this phone.
I have previously owned several Samsungs - The D500, D600, D800 to name
but a few - and after the initial novelty wore off, I flogged them for
either a Sony or a Nokia. I had hoped it would be different with this
beauty. Unfortunately, it wasn't. However, just because I failed to
be completely bowled over by this phone does NOT mean that I will put
it down, because it is - without a doubt - a very impressive handset.
It's crafted beautifully. It has a real solid feel to it, and the slide
mechanism is perfect. I have to say that Samsung really have mastered
the slide phone. The keypad is surprisingly easy to use, and is of equal
quality to the rest of the phone. The touchpad works brilliantly, despite
my initial doubts as I have never really gone in for the whole touchscreen
thing after a disastrous experience with an LG Viewty...but let's not
go there. The combination of the middle touchscreen and the rest of
the keys being conventional works a treat. You can't press the other
keys accidentally when you're navigating around, as this happened frequently
with previous touchscreen Samsung phones - so I read, anyway. The screen
is big and bright...but still lagging behind the quality of a Nokia
screen. Sorry, Samsung. Nokia really have it sorted for top-quality
screens that also perform great under direct sunlight. This is where
the U900 falls down - the screen becomes illegible under direct sunlight.
Still, that alone isn't enough to give the phone a poor review! The
menu is greatly-improved (in terms of user-interface) compared to previous
Samsung phones. I mean this in the way that it looks more aesthetically
pleasing. It's prettier! My phone came with three themes - Spazio (multi-coloured
menu icons), Monolythic Purity (steel-look that blends with the phone),
and Elegent Noir (black and jade). All themes were lovely, but Spazio
was my favourite as I'm a sucker for pretty colours! However, there's
still no great changes to the overall functionality of the phone. The
5mp camera does not - in my opinion - perform that great. The pictures
are slightly grainy, and it's difficult to get a decent shot unless
you're perfectly still. It also wasn't a great idea for Samsung to make
the camera operable only when the slide is open. This makes it awkward
when taking portrait shots, and generally makes it an awkward camera
to use full-stop. For all the fancy features that have been built into
the camera (and which I never tested, to be honest), I think it would
have been a far better idea to use the same camera design seen in the
D600. The camera could then be used when the phone is closed, and would
be much easier to use, not to mention give a much steadier grip when
in use. But then again, it's a phone with a camera...and with my 12mp
Kodak digital camera, it wouldn't really have mattered to me how the
camera performed. But for those to whom it does matter...there's room
for improvement. Photos taken on the highest (5mp) resolution looked
worse than photos taken on my Nokia 6500 Slide on maximum resolution
(3.2mp). All the other features were really nothing to write home about.
Music player and radio looked good, though I never tested them. What
for? I have an iPod.Texting was another area I just can't get along
with in Samsungs. Finding symbols is difficult, unless you only use
the standard set found by pressing key 1. If you need any others, it's
a real complicated process to go through. I also could not understand
why when going in to write a text message, it defaulted to the box where
you write the message instead of defaulting to the recipient box. I
thought there would be an option to write the text out and then select
the recipient...but there wasn't. Instead, I had to either select 'Add
Recipient' from the menu, or scroll all the way back up through my message
to the recipient box and add it there. Sounds trivial but it seemed
totally impractical to me. Also, when sending long texts, the phone
cannot be used until it has finished sending the entire message. I definitely
prefer Nokia and Sony's method of simply showing the symbol in the top
of your screen that a message is being sent, while still allowing you
to use the rest of the phone. Seems so much more useful. I also didn't
like the lack of shortcuts and personalisation. After a couple of years
of Nokias now, I really love the Active Standby function, giving you
unlimited ways of adding shortcuts to your screen, and also the 'Go
To' option, which I access via one of my soft keys on the standby screen.
There are various applications and features I frequently want to access
without having to navigate my way through the menu each time, and I've
found that all Samsungs are very limited in this respect. So after a
day of playing around, enjoying the novelty of the touchscreen pad and
trying to fall in love with the phone...I just didn't. I have to say
that I'm a Nokia girl at heart now, and I've reverted back to my trusty
6500 Slide. I've yet to find a phone that beats it for build-quality,
functionality and intuition. A few touchscreen keys does not make a
phone intuitive. But this is just my opinion, and it does not mean I
don't like the phone. I can appreciate it and I do believe it is a great
handset that will tick most people's boxes...but not mine, I'm afraid.
It's already been sold on eBay...hopefully to someone who will love
it in a way that I couldn't!
Rating:
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Reply by Mobile Phones UK from UK on
1st May 2008
Welcome back, Rampant Rabbiter! You must have owned more phones than
me! Thanks once again for a really helpful review.
Reviewed by John from UK on 1st May 2008
A bit of balance is needed here, I think. My last 2 phones have been
SE K750 and K800. Saw bad reviews on the K850 so thought I'd try this.
My view is this - if you can draw negative comparisons against your
old phone then people need to know about it. There are lots of positives
to talk about and I would agree with all that has been written before
in that sense, but I'm already noticing things missing from this phone
that I've had on other phones I've owned. This is disappointing given
that we are all looking for continuing advancement. Things that come
to mind are: the camera picture quality is disappointing for 5.0mp -
the SE 3.2mp is much better; and it has no auto flash so you cannot
just pick up and shoot if lighting is poor. I cannot seem to make a
call using the loud speaker so that I can hear the recipients phone
actually ringing - it is not until the call connects that you have the
option to switch to loud speaker. I'm not one for keypad tones and whilst
you can turn these down to zero, you cannot isolate them - if you turn
them down to zero, the camera shutter sound, for example, is also silent.
In the settings menu, there is no option for sound settings alone, all
of the sound settings have to be dealt with through other settings (profiles
etc). 4 shortcuts are available from the touch screen plus the menu;
no shortcuts button as on the SEs with as many shortcuts as you wanted.
When texting, I've been used to writing my text and pressing "send"
on the SEs which then takes you into recent contacts. With this one,
you specify the recipient(s) first, no big deal I suppose. The standard
earphones are pants, the mp3 quality seems poor, lacking bass, but may
be improved with a better headset perhaps. There is no graphic equaliser
to help improve things. For some reason (and this may be standard to
Samsung) the ringtone changes from your profile ringtone when the earpiece
is plugged in. Fingerprinting is awful on the screen and screen visibility
in high daylight is poor. Thats it. The look and feel are great, the
touchscreen works well and its sensitivity can be adjusted to prevent
accidents. Great looking phone, extremely cool, but are there better
cameras, mp3 players and other features on other phones? Oh yes.
Rating:
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Reviewed by lyndey from uk on 1st May 2008
phone looks great but sound is rubbish cant hear it ringing theres no
volume control i miss all my calls and have to end up phoning everyone
back im a bit gutted because the rest i could live with but its not
worth it and mine will be going back
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by tony from Uk on 1st May 2008
i hate this phone. it is useless
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Gordon from UK on 1st May 2008
Dubbed as the flagship phone for Samsung in 2008, the Soul seems to
have a lot of expectation riding on it. Although I have only had this
phone for a few days, I can see many plus points, but also a fair few
minus points too. Visually, this is by far one of the best phones that
will be available this year, the touchpad with softkeys and keeping
the keypad is all good, as it will suit most phone users with no major
quabbles. Screen is very clear for texting and calling, and with it
being slim and sleek, you are definately going to get noticed with this
sexy piece of equipment. The down side? Well, there are a few things
that I have noticed, which would cause a few minor niggles; the sound
quality is good, but not as good as the previous D600, nor is the alarm
very loud (even when set to highest volume), as standard the phone only
has 128mb available so you would need to purchase an additional memory
card, although there are extra features, samsung don't offer much in
the way of tones and wallpaper etc like most other phones (my previous
being the nokia n73, but even the samsung d600 had a good selection
of extras); some people may not like that there is no zoom option on
the camera and finally, when you are on a call, it can be quite easy
to disconnect the call as the soft keys seem to be a little sensitive.
Most of the minor issues can be lived with, but with the exception of
it being thinner than some of the previous models, Im unsure as to whether
this U900 is the better of the Samsung phones. I have yet to decide
whether I should send it back, as although it has it's little quirks,
it's still a very nice phone and I feel, is far better than most available
today, with the only major competitor being the Nokia N95 Black (if
you want the chunkier phone). Samsung are heading in the right direction
and fixed a lot of the older menu problems, but seemingly forgetting
to update or upgrade some of the existing good points to make it even
better. A good upgrade for anyone currently using a Samsung, otherwise
if you prefer other makes, you may need to have a play around before
deciding if this phone is really for you.
Rating:
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Reviewed by KJF from Scotland on 1st May 2008
Had the D500, then the D900 but have now shot down the alphabet for
this! It has to be said, this phone is beautiful. The touch pad works
really well (you can change the colour of the icons too!) and the keypad
looks great with the brushed effect. One thing I wasn't sure of before
I got it - the soft keys next to the touch pad are proper click buttons,
not touch sensitive, so you really are getting the best of both worlds!
The menu now has 12 categories compared to my D900's 9, but they're
still intuitive enough. The music player is much improved and is now
very similar to Windows Media Player (which the phone can sync with)
- you can arrange by artist,album etc. The supplied earphones aren't
great and the connection is different from my old phone, which means
I'll need another adaptor. There were also no free games, only 3 locked
ones (including a Paris Hilton one - deleted straight away!). However,
these are just minor niggles and don't change the fact that this is
an excellent phone, which I thoroughly recommend. I can only wonder
where Samsung will go from her...
Rating:
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Reviewed by love it from uk on 30th Apr 2008
love it wow wow wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Sarah from UK on 30th Apr 2008
I got ths phone yesterday on upgrade on orange, they wanted £200 for
it on upgrade but i managed to get it free as they are offering it free
to new customers, great phone, glad you can finally personlise ur message
tones with samsung :) all round good phone & looks great
Rating:
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Reviewed by Craig from UK on 30th Apr 2008
Got this phone as an upgrade. After reading reviews, I was expecting
an amazing phone. Basically the samsung OS hasn't changed since I had
the SGH-500, yes it has prettier pictures and a touch sensitive square
that really doesn't add much to the usability of the phone. Instead
of being slick it all just appears second rate to me. Camera is also
grainy like earlier samsungs. It's a revamped slimmer SGH-500, nothing
inspiring. There is nothing on this phone that made me think "oh that's
neat". I played with it for an hour and put it back in it's box and
is now on ebay! Also, try getting the battery of the back, you need
the patience of a saint!
Rating:
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Reviewed by john from uk on 29th Apr 2008
just got this phone on an upgrade after using sony ericsson for years
not a great lover of samsung but this phone is definately the best on
the market at the moment good allround phone get one
Rating:
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Reviewed by joe from uk on 28th Apr 2008
got this fone on 25th the day after release so i have had a few days
to have a play with it and what can i say? WOW!!! This fone is amazing,
its got everything you could want in a fone and more, it looks the business
and certainly will catch a few eyes! You can make this fone your own
with changing coulours themes etc. I also considered the iphone but
im sorry this baby wins hands down. well done samsung!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Ju from uk on 27th Apr 2008
Had it a few days now and it is perfect in every way,get one.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Jim from UK on 27th Apr 2008
Had a play with it in store then bought it online, can't wait for it
to get here, definate replacement of my ancient nokia 3510i
Rating:
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Reviewed by Sam from UK on 27th Apr 2008
The document viewer is rather slow. Hope Samsung does something about
their firmware.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Alan R from UK on 26th Apr 2008
Just got it today as an upgrade from my excellent Nokia N73. But!!!!!!!!this
phone is something else. Its light and feels like a mobile should. I
have had a play around with the colour changes etc. Its a very tactile
phone. I considered N95/LG Viewty/Apple. The U900 won easily. Well done
Samsung.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Charlotte S from UK on 26th Apr 2008
Got this phone on the 25th April, the day after it was released here
in the UK. Its an amazing phone, the camera is great! The Magical Touch
pad is a lovely quirky little feature - which to me makes it stand out
from others i'd seen! And i love how you can change the colours of the
touch, and even create your own themes to match! Great phone!
Rating:
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Reviewed by tracie stubbs from uk on 25th Apr
2008
WOW... Got this phone today, just upgraded from samsung D900i and what
can i say.. I was worried about the touch screen but it is so easy to
use.. plus you still have your keypad.. The camera is 5 mega pixel better
pic already.. Music sounds fab and it still has it privacy settings..
Well done Samsung..
Rating:
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Reviewed by adam from uk on 25th Apr 2008
good phone
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Reviewed by James from London on 25th Apr 2008
just got it
Rating:
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Reviewed by Emma R from uk on 24th Apr 2008
I got this phone today (it isnt out till tomoro) its very simialar to
my old phone D900 but the camera and screen are amazing, it touch screen
part is good and better than buttons i love it :] Get it!
Rating:
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