Samsung Memoir SGH-T929
Of the hundreds of cell phones that we have tested and reviewed, the Samsung Memoir SGH-T929 can easily be counted amongst the potential contenders for the top slot. We sincerely believe so because this latest cell phone from Samsung is fully loaded with a wide array of essential features, tools and applications. The Memoir SGH-T929 comes with an 8 megapixel camera, offers two highly efficient web browsers, has a widget-based user interface and supports high resolution 640x480 video shoots. The 8 megapixel camera in the Memoir SGH-T929 works so well that you will hardly ever feel the need to use your Point and Shoot digital camera.
On the outside, the Samsung Memoir SGH-T929 appears to be a fusion between a conventional cell phone and a Point and Shoot digital camera. On the front, the device sports a 3 inch touchscreen with a resolution of 240x400. The back looks more like a Point and Shoot digital camera, as made evident by the autofocus lens and the in-built flash. The camera button is on the side and is most convenient when you are shooting pictures in the landscape mode. On the side panel, you will also find the volume controls, touchscreen lock button, and media card and charger ports.
Voice quality on both the earpiece and speakerphone is decent and the device works well even when paired with third-party Bluetooth headsets. The voice clarity, as heard on the other end, is however not as good as we were expecting. In our tests, we noticed that the microphone onboard the Samsung Memoir SGH-T929 tends to attract background noise. Voice dialing however, works perfectly fine; ringtones are adequately loud even in noisy environs; and you can use your music files as ringtones. Talk time was around 5 hours, which certainly cannot be called excellent, but is passable.
Internal phone memory is 188 MB onboard the Samsung Memoir SGH-T929, which we think is significantly less considering the fact that images and videos shot by the 8 megapixel camera take up plenty of space. However, we don't think this is a major problem since you can always add more memory using a micro SD card. We tested the external memory with a 16 GB micro SD card and the device worked perfectly fine with no hang-ups whatsoever. Audio files such as MP3, AAC and WMA on the micro SD card played exceptionally well on both the wired and Bluetooth headsets.
Entering data on the Samsung Memoir SGH-T929 is quite easy and you can choose either the virtual keypad or the full QWERTY keyboard. Initially, the keys on the virtual QWERTY keyboard may appear small, but when you use the same, you will notice that they are quite responsive and accurate. Web browsing is quite convenient and you can use either the in-built browser or install the recommended version of Opera Mini. Sending and receiving emails is a lot easier since the in-built email application supports most of the popular web-based email clients such as Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and AOL. You can also view various types of attachments including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even PDF documents.
We would give the Samsung Memoir SGH-T929 a rating of 4, on a 5 star rating system. You can have it if you are someone who does not mind paying a few extra bucks as long as you are getting a top quality product that's build for reliability and performance.