Samsung Blue Earth GT-S7550 Mobile Phone

[Humberto]

Introduction

In a convenient form and attractive design, the Samsung GT-S7550, better known as Blue Earth, comes in Ocean Blue color in our test. From a market price of less than 230th - € (without contract, shipping) depending on the manufacturer, Samsung is the first to visit the ecologically design form of mobile phone. With a solar panel on the back for recharging via solar energy, a housing made of recycled plastic and PVC without plasticizer, the Blue Earth is a very modern product, which comes with also the possibility for memory expansion via Micro SD card that scores up to 16 GB. Additional features include an FM radio, a 3.2 MP camera, HSDPA and WLAN. What makes Samsung's environmental activist, we will verify in the following test.

Samsung GT-S7550 Blue Earth Mobile Phone with solar panel

Processing Features

1. First optical impression / special features to support the design - Touch screen mobile phone into high-quality plastic with handy forms.

2. Housing material / surface quality - Smooth, high quality plastic surface appears from recycled PET bottles.

3. Housing Dimensions - With a weight of 119 grams and dimensions of 108 x 54 x 14.2 mm, it is very good in the hand and can be stowed away in almost every pocket.

4. Quality of the keypads / precision of the touch screen - Accurate response of the touch screen with Vibe Tonz - Effect (slight vibration when touching the touch screen confirmation).

5. Goodness (sharpness / resolution) of the display - 3.0-inch TFT display with 16 million colors and a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels. Perfect color and sharp display.

6. Implementation of the folding or sliding - NA.

7. Quality of the battery compartment cover - The battery compartment lid is made of plastic, the solar panel is integrated. The lid can be easily opened and closed and fits perfectly.

8. Scope of the supplied accessories - Manual, stereo headset, battery, charger, no USB cable, no PC software. We point out that in the sales package may vary depending on the respective network provider equipment.

9. Processing Result - This beautiful mobile phone is made of high quality appearing plastics and was deliberately omitted in which the plasticizer. There is also the housing made from recycled PET bottles. With the handy sizes and acceptable weight, it sits fine in the hand. The touch screen scores with uniform response. The TFT display of 16 million colors provides sharp and clear image. The accurately fitting battery compartment lid made of plastic with an integrated solar panel also scores points for the Samsung. Sadly lacking in the accessories a microSD memory card, for example, competition from Nokia usually sets in memory. Even lacking a USB cable.

Back of the Samsung Blue Earth GT-S7550 Mobile Phone


The battery compartment lid is made of plastic, the solar panel is integrated


Very weak solution for the solar panel


The Silent-key


Headset and USB port


The speaker is positioned at the back, below the solar panels

[Humberto]

Business Features

1. Supported networks - Quadband, GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900, and UMTS (WCDMA 850/2100).

2. Data - Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, Bluetooth with stereo audio streaming (A2DP), USB, WAP 2.0, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA 3.6, WiFi, GPRS (Class10).

3. Reception and voice quality - The Samsung GT-S7550 has a good reception quality, even if the network coverage is not so perfect. The vocal sound playback at medium volume and is lifelike and enjoyable.

4. Voice quality of the speakers - The voice playbacks at medium volume level and can be still well understood. At higher but somewhat distorted, but still within tolerable level.

5. Battery life (with normal use) - 4 days - excellent.

6. Storage capabilities of Contacts - SIM: Name, phone, mobile, email, group, location; Phone: First name, last name, display name, mobile home, mobile business, e-mail private, groups: office, family, friends, caller picture, ring tone, vibration, birthday, memo, to add more fields: mobile home, mobile business, personal landline, business, Fax, Etc.., e-mail private, e-mail the office, home URL, URL, business, DTMF, group, nickname, company, occupation, home address, business address.

7. Profiles - Normal, energy saving, Mute, Car, Meeting, Outdoor, offline, all profiles can be preset and can be easily adapted to their own needs.

8. Calendar settings - Creating an appointment: Schedule: Title, start date, start time, alarm: off, on time, 30 min before, 1 hours before, 1 day before, 1 weeks in advance, adapt, details: Set end date, end time, details, location, alarm, vacation setting: on / off ; Repeat: Off, daily, every week, every month, every year; Repeat until (date); delete events: Create date, options: remembering events in her absence, memory status (300), Go To, day view, week view, energy-Day List delete: today, this month, all the information before today, all data, calendar settings: Week beginning: Sunday, Monday; view format: month, week, day, in the absence of memory, events, memory status.

9. Notes function - Edit 100 characters per memo, T9 input: T9 ABC, T9 abc, Numeric, symbols, spelling, writing language: English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Portuguese, Suomi, Norsk, etc.; message: send print send: message, email, Exchange ActiveSync, Bluetooth options: Delete, Bluetooth, Memory Status: 100 memos; Unfortunately, the Blue Earth has only 100 characters per note.

10. Built-in voice recorder (Dictaphone) - Save Record: Preferences: Standard name: rename Voice memo (or) at your convenience, Recording Time: 1 min, 2, 3, 4, 5 min, 60 min, a limitation for MMS, voice memo: remove; sending options: via: Setting message, email, Exchange ActiveSync, Bluetooth as: callsign for voice, call sign as a video call, caller ring tone, alarm, details: name, format, size, routing, date created, city; The voice recorder surprised with positive results. The recordings at the Blue Earth can be described as really good, because the play is very natural and there is dynamic sound. Also noise or scratching can be heard in the background, barely.

11. E-mail functionality - Connection type: POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP. Setting the e-mail accounts is done in a few steps. However, the types of servers have to be entered by hand and can not be downloaded automatically, as many another mobile phones. Retrieving emails can be done very fast. Annexes are also after a short download time, immaculately presented, if they are not too large.

12. Internet functionality - The loading of the web site takes little time. Even with elaborately designed pages, it manages the Samsung Blue Earth, presenting a clear view. Depending on the Page (Pictures quantity, etc.) it requires little time, but still pretty fast.

13. PC synchronization - The needed USB cable and software are not included. As usual with Samsung, the synchronization of the GT-7550 runs from errors of data.

14. Additional Features - Google, Photo-Contacts, Eco-Walk: Creating energy profile, music recognition, communities: Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, YouTube, Picasa, My Space, Friendster, Exchange ActiveSync, stopwatch, games and more: Rolling dice, Google Maps, Asphalt4, Brick Breaker, Diamond Twister, DJ Mix Tour, Party of Iceland, PyramidBloxx (when the games are, unfortunately) to demo versions, timers, wireless, photo browser, downloads, world clock, calculator, task of translation; uTrack (for finding the Mobile phones in case of loss or theft).

15. Business Results - The quad-band mobile phone provides WAP 2.0, EDGE, HSDPA and Bluetooth for a speedy transfer of all types and 4 days of battery life is commendable. Calendar, profiles and contacts meet the usual standard for nearly all normal requirements that are more than adequate. The notes function possess only 100 characters and does not scores point for the Blue Earth. The voice recorder provides good results. The email account is easy to set and retrieving the messages depending on the size and attachment, is done very quickly. Finding and opening web pages with elaborately designed pages hardly takes time. Uncompromising and accurate synchronization takes place, also with Outlook. However, neither USB cable is included or some software in the package. The S-7550 has a rich selection of games (but unfortunately only to demo versions) and various other features, which enhance the Samsung as well.

Memory expansion via Micro SD cards supports up to 16 GB (unfortunately under the battery compartment cover)

[Humberto]

Multimedia Features

1. Camera equipment - 3.2 MP camera with 4x digital zoom; mode: camera, scene, video camera, recording mode: Single, series, Panorama, Laughing recording, mosaic, border, Self-timer: Off, 2 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec; Settings : Resolution: 2048x1536, 1600x1200, 1280x960, 640x480, 2048x1232, 400x240, White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Glow, Fluorescent, Cloudy, effects: None, Black and White, Sepia, Negative, watercolors, Metering: matrix, Mittelbetont, spot, image : Very Fine, Fine, Normal; guides: on / off, check: on / off, shutter sound, tone 1, 2, 3, Off; memory: phone, memory card, Brightness: -3 to +3; switch to visualizer ; Finishing options: Set as: wallpaper, caller ID, slide show, web uploads, send via: Message, Email, ActiveSync, Bluetooth, edit;: Effects: Filter, Style, Warp effect, partial blur adaptation;: Auto adjust, brightness, contrast, color; Insert Full Resolution Sample;: frame, picture, clipart, emoticons, text, files: open, save as.

2. Camera quality - In daylight and normal lighting conditions (indoors), the camera of the GT-S7550 made pleasing results. Colors are displayed on the screen in all their colorful splendor, and also when one looks at the images later on your PC, like the perfect color rendition. The sharpness is neat - but here goes even further. We recommend that you keep quiet and dont move when the cell phone camera shots, because otherwise the result is slightly blurry. In the darkness, it can capture only a little light on the subject. In total darkness it is not able to achieve any results. Unfortunately, it lacks a photo light or flash.

3. Video equipment - Mode: camera, scene, video camera, self-timer: Off, 2 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec; settings: recording mode: Normal, MMS, Resolution: 320x240, 176x144, White Balance: Auto, Daylight, glowing, fluorescent, clouds; effects: None, Black & White, Sepia, Negative, watercolors, video quality: Fine, Normal, Economy; guides: on / off, check: on / off, Record Audio: On / Off, Memory: Phone, Memory Card, Brightness: -3 to +3 joining album (Quick; Finishing options: Details: name, format, resolution, size, distribution, created date: on / around, place, length of the title, delete slide show;: yes / no; uploading to the Internet, send via: Message, Email, ActiveSync.

4. Video Quality - Pixel veil only become visible when one is too rapid in movements. With normal movements, we achieved very good results. Zooming are not heard in the background of the clip (with some other competitors, this is often the case). In the darkness, you can achieve any results. In low light, and only a very weak color, contours are barely recognizable. It also lacks the video light.

5. Equipment to the built in music player - Playable formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC +, Music Library: All tracks, playlists, Recently Added, Artists, Albums, Genres, current playlist: send by: Message, Email, ActiveSync, Bluetooth options: Set as: callsign for voice call, call sign for video call, caller ring tone, alarm, details: name, format, size, distribution, date created: on / around, place, artist, title, album, length of the title, genre, copyright, description, number of the title, format ; settings: background music: on / off, normal sound effects:, rock, pop, dance, classical, jazz, wide, dynamic, surround; Music menu: Playlists, recently played, most often played, Recently Added, Artists, Albums , genres, composers, Repeat All, one; Play: coincidence loop.

6. Sound quality of the music player - The speaker is positioned at the back below the solar panels. In the medium and low frequencies songs sounds alive and fresh. The treble has a pleasant sound characteristics. Even at higher tones or songs with more bass activity, the playback is not too distorted. With the built-in equalizer, one can improve our songs and vote freely. The included headset implements a balanced sound with good space.

7. Radio yes / no, sound quality of radio - Add FM Radio with RDS; to favorites to open Favorites, open Record: search,: pause, stop, settings: Background Music: on / off display, Sender ID: on / off; alternative frequency: on / off, radio text: a / out; Standard name: radio, standard memory: phone, memory card, FM radio; Favorites: Adding, editing, set an alarm, program information, attitudes, that in good alignment of the antenna (headset) is the reproduction of the respective channels do not criticize. The recordings from the radio are very useful and sound good.

8. Storage Capacity / position of the memory card - 180 MB of dynamic memory using SD memory cards up to 16GB.

9. Multimedia Results - The camera equipment of the Blue Earth is easy to use and has useful settings. The results of the 3.2 MP camera can be quite respectable. The results of the video footage only score points if you avoid quick movements. If a photo light / flash was available, one would certainly be able to move ahead in the dark to get good results. The built-in MP3 player can be used very easily. Play lists are fairly simple and easily applied. An FM radio with RDS is built in the GT-S 7550 also. Equipped with sufficient transmitter sites, ease of use, fairly noise-free, clear sound and fine quality of the recordings, can also positively attract attention. The mobile phone has only 180 MB of internal memory but is expandable to 16 GB. Unfortunately, the insertion of the Micro SD card is situated under the battery compartment cover.

Samsung Blue Earth comes with 3.2 MP camera


Stereo headset with good sound and 3.5 mm jack

[Humberto]

Handling / Menus Features

1. One-handed operation for the main functions available - Yes, partially.

2. Call execute (with menu "contacts") - Running a call and finding contacts runs smoothly.

3. Adding / Creating / editing contacts - No restrictions on the handling when creating, adding or editing new and existing contacts.

4. Readability of the display - On the day and at night very good readability of the display. In direct sunlight or other external light irradiation contents are difficult to recognize. However, it is, like almost all other mobile phones, on the attitude of the subject and the background image.

5. Pressure point on the keypad response of the touch screen - Smooth and precise response of the touch screen.

6. Handling the navigation elements to prospect the menus - NA.

7. Clarity of the menus - The menu has easily recognizable symbols. The design is clearly arranged and easily readable.

8. Scope of the menus - The menu has enough size sub menu. More likely, however not to be.

9. The design of the menus - The graphic design is typically with Samsung, with easily recognizable menu icons. 2 topics are available for selection.

10. Possibility of assignment of shortcut keys - The GT-S7550 widgets also do not lack the rapid realization of certain content and features. It is easy to place these in order to move quickly to the desired menu item. Formed if the use of online widgets, but connection costs for Internet use by the respective mobile operators.

11. Handling Message - Add a recipient; Multimedia Add: images, video, music, sound, add photo record, video, record sound, Save in drafts folder insert their own;: template, business cards, appointment, anniversary, holiday, important, private, task Favorite ; sending options: Character support: GSM alphabet, Unicode, auto, valid for 1 hours, 6 hours, 24 hours, 1 week, maximum, message type: text, fax, voice, ERMES, X.400, Email, response path / delivery report: a on / off, keep a copy; Add Attachment: Add a card, appointment, anniversary, holiday, important, private, task, memo, add files, subject; change in MMS.

12. Photo and video camera operator - The settings are fairly easy to find and easy to set.

13. Operation of Music Player - The music player is easy to use and simply decorated. The overall handling and creating of a playlist or using the equalizer is not so overwhelmed.

14. Reading Memory - Reading from Micro SD cards is done quickly by the GT-S7550. Existing data from the memory card, as far as possible from the format and file type is shown without any problems. Unfortunately, there is a slot under the battery compartment cover.

15. File Management - Easy to create your own folders and move data.

16. Results - The GT-S7550 is easy to use and not too much less savvy for users. Running a call, adding contacts, and the readability of the display speak for the Samsung. Messages are quickly drawn on the precise responsive touch screen. The ease of use of the photo / video camera and MP3 player are further plus points. In addition, the GT-S7550 reads memory cards quickly and smoothly, and the data type of format also reflect perfectly. Unfortunately, the memory card slot is under the battery compartment cover. Moving your data is easily done and rapidly too.

Accept - Back and end keys

Overall Conclusion

By showing Housing from recycled plastic that is free from harmful additives, and a built-in solar panel on the back of the Blue Earth, a mobile phone that can occur environmentally friendly and timely, remains as the initiative of the Koreans that comes just at the right time. But even under the classical aspects of the GT-S7550, the equipment does not present itself spartan and outdated, but plentiful and reasonably modern. The 3.2 MP camera with simple operation delivers good results under normal lighting conditions. The internal music player scores with ease of use and good sound even though the speakers are rear-positioned. The representation of the radio is in good alignment with the antenna (headset almost) and completely free from noise. The recordings of the radio surprise with fine results. Web pages load quickly, thanks to HSDPA that is well presented. Emails can be easily downloaded and are great to read. Even attachments are easily downloaded and well presented if they are not too large. The response of the touch screen is evenly and quickly done. With class-processing and chic design, the phone fits comfortably in your hand. The list of cons is short. The note function allows only 100 characters per note, the memory card slot is under the battery compartment cover, and in the dark, neither camera nor video cameras can deliver useful results because it lacks a photo-video light or flash. The overall impression is very positive, in spite of these three negative points. Market prices from just under EUR 230 for around this successful product is to be considered very fair.

[alexjems41]

I have one, it's alright but the interface can be infuriating at times. e.g. the backspace is right next to "Done" on the qwerty screen, which in turn is right on top of "Send" on the create sms screen behind it. That, coupled with the non-repeating nature of the backspace key (holding it wipes your entire text) means more than a few half-written texts containing something you'd changed your mid about saying ends up getting sent.

Also the accelerometer is crap, but I've yet to use one that isn't.

There's also a few weird eccenticities, like the qwerty keypad not having an ampersand (you have to revert to numpad for that).

The lack of a d-pad means positioning the cursor in text is difficult.

The browser won't render my local bus tracker web site, but the WAP version of the same site causes the phone to crash every time. Joy.

There's no option to lock the widget layout, or line them up, so they all end up half-dragged around the place. Annoying if you're borderline OCD about stuff like that. Also depending on your provider there's often no way to delete unwanted crap (like Yahoo! on O2) from the widgets bar.

All negative points, but just niggles really. On balance I like the phone - just. It's good if like me you rarely use your phone and want something with monumental battery life on a cheapskate contract. Speaking of which, the battery life is the #1 standout feature for me. I make on average 2 five minute calls a day and send half a dozen texts, don't use the MP3 player or anything, and I get 8 days out of it easy. On that front it's like having a Nokia 3210 again.