Samsung SGH-T809 Review - Features

Features

Lest you think that the SGH-T809's beauty is only skin deep, this shiny mobile packs a bevy of features beneath its flashy exterior.  While not quite top-of-the-line in any one area, the T809 is a solid multimedia device sure to keep its fans happy long after the thrill of its surface beauty has worn off (as if that could happen).

Samsung includes a wired stereo headset with microphone in the T809's packaging so you can take full advantage of the built-in music player.  Fronted by a slick user interface, the player can handle mp3 and AAC files, though protected music such as songs purchased from the iTunes store are not compatible.  The player supports playlists and features a graphic equalizer that can tailor the sound to your liking whether you're listening through the earphones or the handset's built-in stereo speakers. 

While the included earphones are serviceable, I do wish that Samsung had outfitted the phone with a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack - or at least a Sony Ericsson-style adapter (third-party adapters are available but not included) - so I could swap in a pair of phones more to my liking.  Another minor annoyance is that the headset uses the same phone port as the AC adapter, so you can't use the headset for music or hands-free calling while also charging the phone.  Samsung is certainly not alone in their choice to make cell phones with one port serving multiple functions, but it's a trend I'd personally like to see put to a stop sometime soon.

The phone also includes a video player that can handle 3GP and MP4 format video files, and Java capabilities for gaming and other applications.  The three included games and instant messaging program worked well.  No email application is pre-installed on the phone.

The T809 also features many of the hi-tech features that have become commonplace in today's mid-to-high end phones:  USB and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, datebook with to-do list and alarm reminders, MIDI and mp3/AAC ringtone support, vibrating and gradually increasing ringers, and speakerphone.  Curiously, voice dial is not supported on the phone. 

Samsung's implementation of Bluetooth on the T809 is pretty rudimentary by today's standards.  All available Bluetooth functionality including mono voice calls, file transfers, and dial-up computer networking, does, however, work very well

One note of importance:  Apparently in packing all of these features and that gorgeous screen into such a slim phone, Samsung had to sacrifice a little when it came to the battery.  Battery life, while not out-and-out "bad," is noticeably less than on other comparable phones.  Even with Bluetooth off and the music player and camera used only minimally, I was usually into the red zone on the battery indicator by early in my second day of normal use.  Steady use of any of the aforementioned features meant my T809 was in need of charging after a single day.  These days I've come to expect about two days' worth of usage - including some picture taking and bluetoothing - from my phone.

Powered by a 1.3 Megapixel sensor, the T809's camera takes very good pictures with crisp colors and good white balance.  For use as wallpapers, in caller ID contacts, and in MMS messages, the photos I snapped with the camera were more than acceptable, and pictures snapped under optimal lighting conditions — particularly in natural light — looked spectacular on the handset's big LCD screen.  You're not going to print five-by-sevens from the T809 since it's just a one megapixel camera, but it's still quite impressive for a cameraphone.  A plethora of imaging controls including white balance, brightness, and ISO are built-in.

The camera also features a video record mode which is amongst the best I've seen on a mobile phone.  Take that with a grain of salt, since I've never really been much impressed by cameraphone videos, but it's still worth noting.  The T809 shoots 352x288 pixel video at 13 frames/second with sound in the 3GP format.

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