If looks could kill, then Samsung’s D 415 phone would be an assassin. I recently got hold of a working model of Samsung’s newest GSM phone, the D415. The phone has been optimized for the T-Mobile network, and is a dual band phone, which in all likelihood will work pretty everywhere in the US though I think it is a better option for those who live outside of US. The vital 850 HZ frequency support is missing which makes its reception horrible stateside. That perhaps is the only strike against this otherwise handsome device. (I am surprised that Samsung USA would release this phone with little support for the old 850 Hz band. I compared it with my lowly e105 and found the signal strength to be lacking in some parts of San Francisco.)
It is a “slider” phone, where the keyboard slides out and back behind the screen. Oh did I say the screen is generous and so bright that you almost wish that it was the screen of your Power Book. The phone has a stubby antenna, has a cool silver exterior and has an uncluttered interface. The icons have been given a makeover and are simply beautiful. As beautiful as that cool chic on Alias reruns! A trendy, multi-functional camera phone with a unique, slide-up design that will take and send pictures and audio clips, as well as capture 15-second video clips. The screen is a large 262,000 color display and it can take and send 30-second audio clips. It has a built in PIM, which is great if you are a PC user. (Sorry Mac guys, no luck when it comes to Apple & Samsung talking to each other.)
Samsung has made Slider its new area of focus. The Wall Street Journal today quoted Samsung executive Sang Jin Park as saying: The clamshell business is getting busy. At CommunicAsia we will introduce a slide-up model. We’re trying to lead in design. Mr. Park said the range of new mid to high-end phones to be unveiled this week will also include smartphones and phones that carry higher-definition megapixel cameras.
Samsung, in my opinion has cracked to code when it makes to great phones. Powerful antenna, lots of features like VGA camera, and screens which just sing to you. And the South Korean giant tops it off with an interface that takes it cue from the other great consumer products company, Apple. Anyway it would be out in July, and price is well not known at this point. So ask me if I personally would buy this phone and my answer would be perhaps not – I chose signal strength over any of its generous features.
External antennas are evil. Plus I can’t imagine why anybody would intentionally recreate that horrible slide-up mechanism originally found on the Nokia 7650. ‘Nough said.
This reviewer needs to do some homework before he/she lead readers down a misinformed path. The author says that the phone gets poor reception in SF since the phone cannot use the 850mhz band.
Wake up buddy, T-Mobile California is ONLY 1900mhz, and his e105 that gets better reception supposedly doesn’t have 850 either! As a matter of fact T-Mobile doesn’t operate 850 ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!!
850 is only used predominantly in the midwest by AT&T and Cingular. There are a handful of small, select and remote area that you could roam to w/850 but the chances the average T-Mo customer will is slim to none. I have been to these areas with a standard T-Mo phone and my Treo 600 which also has 850. There was no noticeable difference!!
In conclusion, DON’T LISTEN TO THIS REVIEWER! There statement about the phone ‘having horrible reception since it is missing the vital 850 band’ is just plain wrong! A quick call to T-Mobile by this author would of confiimed this as well-
JO – thanks for your rant. i am sure that might be the case, but need to get rude. i am actually using both the phones and yes there is a perceptible difference. In case you did not know this, that T-Mobile uses the Cingular frequencies in California, including San Francisco.
T-Mobile uses the Cingular frequencies in California, including San Francisco.
It’s true that T-Mobile uses what used to be Cingular’s network in California, but that’s irrelevant; it’s still 1900 Mhz. As an earlier posted said, 850 Mhz GSM is used only by AT&T and Cingular, and only in a few midwestern markets. T-Mobile uses only 1900 Mhz in North America, as do AT&T and Cingular in most of their markets.
The presence or absence of the 850 Mhz band has no effect at all on reception quality at 1900 Mhz. It’s quite possible that reception is inferior to that of another phone, but if that’s true it would be due to some other design element… most likely a poor antenna.
With that said, it’s strange that the D415 is only a dual-band device (900/1900 Mhz). The D410, a similar phone, runs on three frequencies (900/1800/1900) like most multiband phones. The absence of the 1800 Mhz band makes no difference in North America, but it limits your options when you’re using the phone in Europe and elsewhere. Perhaps the D415 is a modified version of a Europe-only dual band phone (900/1800)?
Yes, T-Mobile does share a network with Cingular in CA/NV, but that part of Cingular’s network is 1900-only. As others have said, T-Mobile USA is strictly 1900-only. In fact, all of their domestic roaming agreements are also 1900-only, so having GSM 850 in your phone would provide exactly zero benefit with T-Mobile service. In fact, it would be a minus, since it would add to cost (even if only slightly).
That’s why Samsung delivered this phone without GSM 850 – they were delivering a phone designed exclusively for T-Mobile. That kind of specialization and attention to their customers is what makes them the fastest-growing cell phone manufacturer in the world.
You guy’s are Mobile geeks and should get out and play some sport! Sport is where the love is at and that’s where it stays. I’m confident to say that i’m a jock and loving it. I have big bi-ceps, my arms are too big for my shirt and it is all because i go out and train. Girls love me and they don’t care what mobile I have. They’ll love you too if you take protein to make urself bigger and your dick smaller but ur muscles bigger……Who am I? Will this isane jock retarded message get posted on this well-equipped mobile site? When can I get my hands on that lovely SE K700 handset? Why does it only have a VGA camera? Do I choose the SE or go with the Siemens S65 with the 1.3 Megapixel camera? Will all these questions get answered? Who knows………all I know it that people have to got wake up to themselves and be realistic. Everything is beautiful in its own way…..
Does anyone know how to get access to the RnD teams at Samsung, VG or Motorolla?
Does anyone know how to influence the designers to design in functionality over glitz?
Does anyone know of a Verizon phone that shows incoming call digits big enough to read without my glasses?
i think the phone is going to be awsome but if anyone finds out the price please email me asap thanks
nope it does not have a bluetooth right now
On the issue of the 850 MHz band, T-Mobile will be rolling out that frequency in the mid-west in the near future. The D415 is now available, check your local T-Mobile store for prices.
Mike – T-Mobile Technical Support
The D415 is running for about 379.99 retail price, for new activation it is 299.99. The price may range a little from market to market but that is the price in the New York metro area.
I am using this phone and I think it is an awesome phone. Especially the screen, it rocks. The guy who has big biceps is in love with himself, don’t listen to him. You can get this phone for $99.99 (after $ 100 mail-in rebate) with a new connection at http://www.wirefly.com.
I just went to the local (NYC) T-Mo store adn, while they have them in stock, were not allowed to seel the phones without a contract. I walked around and found a place where I could just buy the phone and it cost me a total of $380.00 with tax and all. I’m replacing my brand new E715 because I was very unhappy with the battery life and I’m one to buy the latest and greatest. I got to play with the phone for a bit and it felt really solid in my hands. It’s a bit bigger than the E715, but I prefer it that way as I hate little phones (although I did love my E105). The slider went up with very little effort and the screen was definitely nice and bright. I just hope that I don’t have the same battery problems with it that I do with my E715.
John, where we you able to purchase the D415 for $380. I have the Nokia 6610 (great little phone), but I’m ready to move up to bigger and better without have to extend my contract for another year. Where can I go to purchase the phone only?
I would like to sell mine, 3 days old, in new condition with b ox and everything. I will also throw in a car charger and headset. This will be $365 shipped ups ground anywhere in us 48 lower states (or local pickup in Long beach possible) paypal verified!
I just like my old treo 600 better…
We bought two of them two days ago on Let’s Talk. They are very, very nice. We paid $150.00 after rebates. Only problems so far are that the camera isn’t as crisp as the Motorola V400, you cannot personalize it to the extent that you can the V400 and you really cannot understand, because the sound quality is so bad, any video sound that you may take. Other than that, it’s a very nice phone.