First of all, I want to explain what I need/want in a cell phone, so you will know which features I value the most. I use my cell phone mostly for talking, so sound quality and reception are the most important. I've found that I use the camera function only occasionally, and can even live without it. I also text only occasionally.
This is my 4th Samsung phone in a row. In the past, I've used the Samsung SGH-d415, then the Samsung SGH-x475. Then, I moved onto the Samsung SGH-E635.
In the past, I had some bad luck with the Motorola v180 before moving onto Samsung phones. I also owned a Motorola RAZR and a Sidekick II somewhere in between, but found them to be disappointing. It wasn't a matter of simply not liking the phones, because each phone looked good and had some outstanding features. But I always found something about each of them to be distractingly unusable.
Because I've had such good results with using many Samsungs in a row, I felt confident about the Samsung C417. I knew it would be solid, and not present me with any serious problems. I was right.
* THE FEATURES
The Samsung C417 is the new "basic" phone in the Cingular lineup. It doesn't have any special features except the "basics," like a camera and WAP browsing. It also has Bluetooth connectivity (for headsets and hands-free devices), and a speakerphone.
It comes with a charger, a wrist strap, but no headset as with my previous Samsung phones. I guess it's because more people use Bluetooth headsets now. However, the headset jack is the standard size, and is compatible with my older headsets. Also, the power charger is compatible with my older Samsung chargers, which is convenient.
* THE LOOK: Exterior
The Samsung C417 has a very slim profile, which rivals the RAZR. It has a very easy-to-read grayscale external display that indicates all the necessary information with an efficient layout (time, date, calls/messages, and power/signal level).
The Samsung website says that the phone comes in black/grey and red/silver. The red/silver is available exclusively at Best Buy (but apparently also available on Amazon.com). I've got the black/grey one.
The C417's main screen is nice and big, but I'm not too impressed by the resolution. It's perfectly fine, pretty and bright. But it doesn't quite match the high resolution wonders of the high-end Samsung screens with their incredible fluidity and clarity. It is, however, a perfectly fine looking screen, and I have no problems with it.
The C417's slim shape took me a little time to get used to, but I've come to really like it. My previous phone, the Samsung SGH-E635 was smaller but thicker in my hand and gave me something to grab onto.
Like with my previous two Samsung phones, the C417 has little "doors" for the power/headset ports. These "doors" provide the function of protecting these ports from dust/dirt/debris, and also makes the phone look better. But you do have to dig them out with your nail. For me, it's not a big hardship, but it might be a drawback for some users.
* THE LOOK: Interior
The dialing layout is very traditional and well-designed. The keys are flush against the surface, which I thought I wouldn't like, but found them to be perfectly fine when using it. (I prefer it over the RAZR's keypad.) I've been using slider phones with a smaller keypad area, and one of the advantages of a bigger surface area is that the keys are roomier, and it's definitely more comfortable to use.
The interface and menus are well laid-out and after using a series of Samsung phones, they are very familiar to me. Just hit "Menu" (the left soft key) and you can navigate easily to find what you need.
The right soft key on the menu screen is for IM, which you can't program to do something else. I think this is a drawback, because not everyone uses IM on their phones (e.g., me). I would have prefered to be able to access my phone book instead.
However, you can access phone book, messaging, and other functions directly from the main screen by using the navigation keys. (E.g., pushing the navigation key "down" would take you to your phone book immediately.) The navigation keys are not labeled with any icons.
The Recent Calls list can be accessed by pushing the "talk" key.
* THE CAMERA
Despite the less-than-the-best screen, I'm pretty wowed by the camera, which takes pictures in 640 x 480 VGA resolution. It's even got a zoom and a self-timer. I've found that the pictures look surprisingly decent. Again, it's not the best cell phone camera in the world (Samsung just released a 10 megapixel cell phone camera), but it's a perfectly fine cell phone camera for those quick snapshots when you run into a C-list celebrity.
* THE SOUND: Talking
The earpiece sounds great. I use my cell phones primarily for talking, so call-sound is really the most important thing. I've had no problems with this so far.
The reception is also fine. I've been using T-Mobile for the past two years or so, and I know that in my area, (Los Angeles) T-Mobile uses Cingular towers for their reception. So I expected to have no difference in reception by switching to Cingular. I do know that reception can vary with devices, but thankfully, I've had no device-specific reception problems with the C417, either.
* THE SOUND: Ringing
My previous quibble with all Samsung phones was that they never had a plain-vanilla "Riiiing!" sound built-in. Maybe Samsung was listening to my complaint! (Well, I'm sure I wasn't the only one.) In any case, I was happy to see "Basic Ring" listed in my list of ringtones! Hurray! Also, the ringing sound is nice and loud, which is also very important.
Another way that Samsung listened to my complaint - that the toggle keys on the side of the phone controlled the "Key Volume" from the main manu, which I thought was kind of useless. Now it controlls the ring volume when the phone is idle, and controlls the earpiece volume during a call. Perfect!
* THE PHONE BOOK
There is nothing remarkable about the Phone Book, but I think it's very well laid-out, and lets me enter all the information I want about each entry.
I previously complained that while you can store several numbers under one entry, there is no way for you to change the label on a number unless you re-enter it. This was something I was able to do with my LG TouchPoint 1100 back in the day, but no phone since. I've since realized that this feature has been done away because it's not something anyone needs to do that often.
Another thing I complained about previously with the Samsung X475 is that there wasn't a way to assign individual rings for each entry. They'd already fixed that by the time I got the Samsung SGH-E635, so no problems there.
* CONCLUSION:
Over the years, Samsung phones have just performed well for me. They look good, sound good, and the user interface is usually the most intuitive and efficient. Motorola introduced the awesome flip-phone concept back in the day, but I think it was either Samsung or LG that came up with the external display, which is essential. I've found that Samsung phones are simply the most user-friendly and well-designed, with the Motorola phones always a step behind. I was excited about the popular RAZR, but even that disappointed me with the actual performance.
I also like that the Samsung C417 has improved on most of the quibbles I had with my previous Samsung phones - such as the Basic Ring, the toggle-keys, etc. I've found all my Samsung phones to be good to excellent, and with each improvement, they are getting closer to The Perfect Phone for Me.
I am happy with the Samsung C417. There is a part of me that thinks I should make the move onto a Blackberry or a Treo and be able to do a whole lot of things with just one device. But I'm still in the mindset that a cell phone should really just be used for talking, and that written communication should be done with my computer (while photos should be taken with my camera, and my music belongs in my iPod ...) Anyway, you get the idea.
So on that count, the Samsung C417 is an excellent basic "talking machine," as far as that goes. The two "fancy" features that you might not expect from a basic phone (Bluetooth, speakerphone) are the two features that only enhance this thing called "talking" that people do. And when it comes to some of the other functions that I occasionally use (texting, photos), the Samsung C417 provides perfectly good results.
If you don't need the best cell-phone-camera out there (for that, check out the Samsung SCH-A990 available with Verizon), or an MP3 player, but use your phone for texting and talking, the Samsung C417 is a great option in the current Cingular lineup.
Samsung has taken the most popular features Bluetooth Wireless Technology, a VGA camera, instant messaging and a speakerphone and added a beautiful 2-...More at eBay
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