Design
Out of the box, Samsung phones often struggle to impress. Maybe it's the egg-carton packaging that Samsung uses, or perhaps it's the gun-metal grey plastic bodies of recent Samsung phones, but the G600 and i450 have both made poor first impressions, defying their much hyped features.
Sliding the i450 open to reveal its recessed keypad did little to raise our opinion; a flat plastic layer with numbers defined by tiny raised strips. It was only when we slid the body in the opposite direction that we encountered the first of many pleasant surprises.
Similar to Nokia's N95, the i450 employs a dual-slide design with music controls under the top half. Media controls for the i450 are comprised of a single-ribbed rubber semi-circle that gives the impression of being a spinning wheel. Dragging a finger over the ridges scans the music menu like an iPod's touch wheel. Combined with the on-screen interface, this feature looks great, though we found the wheel to be too sensitive when scanning menus, and often ineffective when trying to make a selection by pressing down on the "wheel".
On the back of the i450 is a 2-megapixel camera, and on the top of the phone is a 3.5mm headphone port; a very welcome addition to any music-centric mobile phone. For some reason Samsung bundle headphones with a proprietary input — similar to the input on the charger — even though the 3.5mm headphone port is crying out to be used. The i450's paltry 40MB of internal memory is expanded by MicroSD memory cards with the slot for these on the left side of the handset.
Features
As audiophiles are probably aware, Samsung has again partnered with Bang & Olufsen in developing the i450, similar to the recently released Serenata, however, the i450 is definitely the first phone in this partnership we can actually afford.
The most surprising feature of the i450 is that it runs on Nokia's S60 operating platform and is one of a very small list of non-Nokia phones to use S60. While we've criticised the platform in the past for being drab and uninteresting to look at, there's no doubting the platform is both stable and intuitive to use. Best of all, recent users of Nokia phones will feel immediately at home with the menus and shortcuts, making a transition to the i450 very easy indeed.
In terms of Web access, the i450 is an HSDPA-capable handset, though unlike similarly featured Nokia handsets, there is no Wi-Fi. The pre-installed Web browser is the same Web 2.0 compliant browser found on all S60 handsets with feature pack 3.1 and it does a decent job of navigating most sites. If you think you might prefer a different browser, the flexibility of the S60 platform means you can download just about any mobile browser available.
Performance
We definitely think the i450 is a music phone to rival the best of the Walkman range of devices, and for this credit must go to the Bang & Olufsen audio technology it calls ICEpower. This title seems inaccurate to us as the sounds we heard were rich and warm, with thumping bass and nice clear mid tones. We tested a variety of headphones with the i450, and even connected stereo speakers to the handset, and the results were outstanding. Even the handset speakers sounded good for music playback, like a decent quality portable radio.
We were similarly impressed by the 2-megapixel camera; real proof of the great megapixel myth. Even though it may not sound like much, this pint-sized shooter outperformed many higher res cameras, particularly the 3.2-megapixel cameras we've seen on recent Walkman branded phones. This camera is assisted by a LED photo-light, which works well to fill in shadows for day-time photos, but struggles to light an image at night.
In terms of basic calling functions the i450 worked as expected with clear voice calls and a loud internal speaker. Accessing the menus is speedy, and the phone processes quickly, giving instant access to selections even when multitasking. During our tests we saw battery life cycles of between three and four days, which is about standard for an HSDPA capable mobile phone.
Overall
Shabby aesthetics aside, the Samsung i450 is an excellent music phone and sure to give the Walkman range a run for its money. Our favourite Walkman phone of late has been the W890i; a sexy, slimline phone with great music playback but with a less than attractive AU$899 price tag. The i450 trumps the W890i in price — at AU$599 through 3 Mobile — and in the outstanding quality of the music we heard. Add to this the Nokia S60 operating platform and the decent performance of the 2-megapixel camera and the i450 should be one of the first phones you check out when shopping for your next handset.
slasher17
27/06/2008, 07:53 AM
rating
10/10
this phone is awsome
Pros: awsome touch wheal, decent camera, cleare mp3 sound, LOVE THE NORMAL HEADPHONES JACK YA ;) bigger screen then most phones on the market 2.4 most are 2.0 easy to use usb program
Cons: it costs $500 au outright and....I SCRATCHED IT
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Vishwa
22/06/2008, 06:54 PM
rating
8/10
Good Phone Over All
Some Bad Points
Pros: The phone is a symbian phone. s60 9.1.
sound quality is great could have been louder. crystal clear sound. very good screen resolution. very clear. camera
Cons: The camera could have been improved to a 3.2 meg and the audio volume could have been louder.
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Bec_M
18/06/2008, 03:11 PM
rating
9/10
You can buy this phone at Optus for $500 outright
Pros: Music features, camera and of course that awesome wheel
Cons: nothing'
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*Pixie*
17/06/2008, 06:30 PM
rating
7/10
Pretty Good Phone, has pretty much what you need like with the whole music player, camera etc...
Pros: Great sound, Good phone in general tho..
Cons: Camera could be better
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BRIEJSH
03/06/2008, 05:10 PM
rating
9/10
great music phone. its truly a MOBILE THEATRE.
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yeaaah
29/05/2008, 06:22 PM
rating
10/10
Would this be a good phone to by my son ?
he usually texts heaps, listens to music and takes pictures and videos
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scooter007
02/05/2008, 09:10 PM
rating
10/10
I have this phone. Its awesome. B&O speakers are very effective than N73. The form factor of this phone is anyday better than the Nokia's tacky XpressMusic series.
Pros: B&O Speakers
Symbian OS
Suave looks
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dissapointed
01/05/2008, 05:18 PM
rating
2/10
i bought this phone and had to take it back.
it has a major problem with it...
it does not send or receive mms messages, nor does it access the internet.
Also after 2 days of owning it, the 2 gig memory card it comes with it went corrupt.
Pros: everything else seems to be good.
it is very stylish and has a navergation wheel for the music player
Cons: the memory card, the mms messaging not working or the internet
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amyloulabelle
08/04/2008, 04:26 PM
rating
9/10
haha yeah but not THAT cheap. the link they have there is just for the unlocking service, the actual phone comes at about $400 on ebay. i'll be getting it soon it looks awesome
Pros: scroll wheel! awesome technology for a phone, normal-sized headphone jack is a major bonus
Cons: agreed about the camera
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F3RR3LL
26/03/2008, 01:06 AM
rating
7/10
sounds like a good fone maybe more megapixel from camera?? its pretty cheap
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