Samsung Code SCH-220 Review
The ‘Samsung Code SCH-220’ phone is the first ‘Windows Mobile ver 6.1’ phone. The phone is essentially a message-centric smartphone. The Code has a slim design, great performance, convenient keyboard and good quality of call. The ‘Samsung Code’ is available at a price of $299.99 with a prepaid monthly plan of $50, including unlimited data, voice and text.
The design of the phone is attractive with a metallic gray framework and a sleek profile. The handset has its measurements, 4.6*2.3*0.5 inches and has a weight of 3.6 ounces. It can be conveniently placed in your pocket and feels comfortable in your hand. The phone has a QVGA non-touch display of 2.4 inches and has a resolution of 320×240 pixels. The images and text are bright and crisp even though it appears slightly washed out in sunlight.
You may also customize the home screen using a variety of background images, themes, home screen layouts and many more. The home screen layout, ‘Samsung WizPro’ is extremely useful since it offers a toolbar at the bottom portion where you may scroll via some most commonly used apps like favorite contacts, multimedia and calendar.
For favoring you to navigate through the numerous menus, a directional pad is present beneath the display which also behaves as a jog wheel. It operates well as a scroll wheel and D-pad and consists of a button, ‘Center Select.’ Also, you have a Home shortcut, 2 soft keys, a back button and Power/End and Talk buttons to account for convenient operation of the phone.
The QWERTY keyboard is very convenient to use. The keys are elevated and do not feel stiff or soft when you hit them, which favors comfy typing experience. The buttons are large and you can easily type long emails and text messages. A button, ‘volume rocker’ is present to the left and to the right, you have a shortcut key which can be programmed by the user, a micro-USB port and a headphone jack of 3.5mm.
The self-portrait mirror and a camera are present at the back panel and behind the door of the battery, you have the microSD card slot. The phone features a USB cable, an AC adapter, reference material and a software CD. Since the ‘Samsung Code’ has ‘Windows Mobile 6.1’ as the operating system, it does not provide many advances like the renovated ‘home screen layout’ and the advanced ‘Internet Explorer Mobile Browser.’
But since Microsoft has provided the ‘Windows Marketplace for Mobile,’ you may access the store for downloading more applications to your phone. Also, the ‘MetroPCS’ offers a link to its own application store on the device. The phone features the complete suite of ‘Microsoft Office Mobile’ and some productivity tools which includes an RSS reader, a notepad, a PDF viewer, a stopwatch, a calculator, a measurement converter and a voice recorder.
You also have a ‘Task Manager’ which can be used to switch between applications and end tasks for optimizing the device’s performance and storage of memory. The ‘Direct Push’ technology of Microsoft is available for automatic sync with the Outlook calendar, contacts and tasks through an Exchange Server and email delivery in real time. Also, you may configure the phone for accessing IMAP and POP3 email accounts.
Samsung incorporates its authorized setup wizard which aids you throughout the process and features direct links for famous clients like AOL, Gmail, Comcast and Yahoo. Though the phone provides multimedia and text messaging, the phone is preloaded with just ‘Windows Live Messenger.’ The other features include 3-way calling, voice dialing, a speakerphone, conference calling and speed dialing.
The address book has a limited memory and space in every entry for company info, multiple phone numbers and email addresses. For caller ID purpose, you may assign a custom ringtone, a photo or a group ID. You have A-GPS and Bluetooth available. ‘MetroPCS’ features its own service, based on location by name, ‘MetroNavigator’ which will provide driving directions based on voice and tracking in real-time with the other phones that support GPS.
The Bluetooth profiles that are supported are audio-video remote control, A2DP for stereo Bluetooth, file transfer, basic printing, hands-free kits, phone book access, personal area networking and object push. But you don’t have integrated Wi-Fi, but 3G is incorporated in the phone. You have the standard ‘Windows Media Player’ which supports AAC, WMA, WMV, MP3, MPEG4 and WAV files.
Also, a camera of 2Mp is present which features the capabilities of video recording and sufficient number of options for editing like night mode, white balance settings and effect. The quality of pictures is impressive. The images appear bright inspite of the fluorescent lighting. The colors appear rich and vibrant. The call quality is quite good. The quality of speakerphone is average.
In sum, the ‘Samsung Code’ is a responsive phone. When working many applications, the phone becomes a bit slow. The ‘Samsung SCH-220’ phone has a standard Li-Ion battery of 1440mAh capacity. It offers a talktime of nearly 7 hours and in standby, it lasts for 12.5 days.
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