The New S5620 Monte From Samsung
It is often quite a task for a mobile phone to stand out amongst the many touchscreens that are available in the mid to lower end of the market. However the Samsung Monte looks set to do that with a spec list that seem more akin to a phone certainly worthy of a higher price.
At first glance, the first thing you notice about the Monte is its looks. As is true of most Samsung handsets, they are well designed. The shape and design immediately catches the eye, but sometimes these sleek lines are not only there to look good. The curved back panel for example means the handset sits perfectly in the hand, and weighted at only 92 grammes, it almost feels as if its not there. The screen on the Monte looks really good too. This Capacitive affair responds nicely to the slightest touch, and thanks to the 320 x 420 resolution coupled with the impressive capability to display 262 thousand colours, images appear crisp, however the image does suffer slightly in sunlight and the viewing angle is reduced. Above the screen is a front camera to enable to making of video calls, a feature often overlooked on many models.
Social Networking has become somewhat a key feature on many modern phones, with the younger generations relying on such types of communication more and more. Samsung have acknowledged this by putting shortcuts on the homescreen directly to some of the main sites, with Facebook and Myspace actually having there own dedicated app. WiFi connectivity is a wise addition to support the EDGE and 3G connectivity whilst on the go.
A 3.2 mega pixel camera give good, if unspectacular results on the Samsung Monte. Despite lacking some relatively important features such as a lens cover and autofocus, some neat additions such as smile detection and geo tagging help off set some of the original disappointment. The snapper is also capable of shooting video footage, but at a fairly basic 15 frames per second, ample enough however to capture the moment. The addition of a microSD card slot means memory can be easily expanded up to 16 GB, meaning plenty of room for not only photos but also for other multi media material. The handset also features Bluetooth and a micro USB port, meaning the easy transfer of data and communication to other handsets/devices.
All things considered, the Samsung Monte has done a very nice job of filling a distinct gap between the low/mid price phones and Smartphones. An excellent user interface and great connectivity means it will obviously appeal to people always on the go, especially social networking lovers.