Samsung i520 (SGH-i520)
Expected
Q2 2007 24th February 2007
The Samsung SGH-i520 is a compact Symbian
slider smartphone, launched at the recent 3GSM event
in Barcelona.
At 99 grams, the SGH-i520 is very light
for a smartphone. There's a 2.3" 240x320 pixel
display in 262,000 colours, a 2 megapixel digital camera
(with a secondary video calling camera), stereo Bluetooth,
microSD expandable memory. It's an HSDPA phone with
download speeds of up to 1.8Mbps (where available),
and the Samsung i520 also has UMTS, EDGE and GRPS
data support.
Inside,
the Samsung SGH-i520 runs the Symbian S60 3rd edition
operating system, which means that you can expand the
software running on the handset. There's also a powerful web
browser, email client, comprehensive multimedia player
and a document viewer.
In technological terms, the Samsung
i520 is a close match for the Motorola
RIZR Z8 slider, which is also an HSDPA capable Symbian
smartphone. However, the SGH-i520 can only manage half
the download speed of the RIZR Z8.. and beating the
Z8's capable software suite will be a tall order.
Cosmetically, the SGH-i520 looks just
like many other Samsung sliders. We criticised Motorola
for not taking risks with the Z8, but the SGH-i520 shows
a significant lack of imagination and it doesn't look
as good as the Z8. We know that Samsung can design interesting
looking handsets, but the design of the i520 is pretty
uninspiring - although the "Chocolate"
style touch sensitive keys on the outside look quite
good.
Samsung claim that the i520 will
come to market during Q2 2007, however our experience
is that Samsung rarely get this type of device to market
on time and in any real quantity, so don't hold your
breath.
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|
Samsung
i520 (SGH-i520) at a glance
|
Available:
|
Q2
2007
|
Network:
|
GSM
+ UMTS
|
Data:
|
GPRS
+ EDGE + UMTS (3G) + HSDPA
|
Screen:
|
240x320
pixels, 262k colours
|
Camera:
|
2
megapixels (main)
|
Size:
|
Medium
slider 102 x 51 x 18mm
/ 99 grams
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Memory
card:
|
microSD
|
Infra-red:
|
No
|
Polyphonic:
|
Yes
|
Java:
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Yes
|
Battery
life:
|
Not
specified
|
|
|