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Samsung Galaxy Note. First Look
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Review of GSM/UMTS-handset Emporio Armani (Samsung Night Effect/M7500)Live images of the Samsung Emporio Armani
Table of Contents:
Sales package:
PositioningTo get a better idea how the Emporio Armani phone is different from its close sibling, Giorgio Armani, that launched a year ago or so, we will need to take a plunge into how this fashion brand positions its numerous branches. The average consumer with no interest in fashion will hardly tell the difference between various collections, to him it all will seem way too far-fetched. But much like the world of gadgets, the fashion industry too has got a plain and clear-cut segmentation, including luxury and mainstream brands. Let me put it to your tech-savvy ears this way - there are lots of low-end stuff and then there are some higher-end things out there. This way, Armani, as a fashion house, offers up a bunch of collections (or lines), each one with strictly defined positioning and target audience.
Based on this brand breakdown, it's easy to conclude that effectively Giorgio Armani and Armani Colleczioni target pretty much the same higher-end segment, whereas the mid market is taken care of by Emporio Armani, and Armani Jeans along with Armani Exchange are the most affordable brands of all, geared towards the mass market. The interesting thing about Emporio Armani is that it also includes a wide array of accessories, such as eyewear, watches and other things that are quite popular and sell very well worldwide. Apparently, any co-branded product should have this very segment as its primary target, and it may seem strange why Samsung didn't release such a product in the first place and preferred to go with the top-of-the-line Giorgio Armani brand. But the reason is pretty simple - at that time they were more concerned about LG's Prada phone and had to reciprocate with something of the same caliber.  Going for almost 1000 Euro, the first co-branded handset delivered by Samsung and Giorgio Armani wasn't a bestseller by any means - the LG Prada offered a comparable feature pack for almost twice as little. Interestingly, Samsung's original intention was to roll out two editions of this phone, one under the brand of Giorgio Armani brand, and the other one with no branding at all and almost three times lighter price tag. But the other party was against this plan, simply because it meant they would have to fuse two completely different audiences together and therefore make this phone much less fashionable. And that's how the idea of the Emoprio Armani phone came to life.  What is Samsung's gain in all this? Basically, they are aiming at the mass market, where their sales have always been strong, which allows these two brands to bring their philosophies together in one product. Also, they place a special emphasis that it's not a "one shot" product, but rather a result of a long-term partnership between Armani and Samsung that will give birth to more ideas and offerings in the future. For example LG hasn't ditched its partnership with Prada, however exorbitant price tags won't go anywhere any time soon. Over at Samsung, however, they have decided to thrive exactly on the field where their competition is weak and put Armani's diversified brand tree to good use with a mid-tier device - the Emporio Armani phone. In fact, all phones brought about via this collaboration may be labeled under Samsung Armani series that will be getting two reinforcements every year - one EA solution and one GA-branded phone. Next announcement is scheduled for May 2009 and will feature a Giorgio Armani device. As far as Samsung's phone classification is concerned (we will bring you a comprehensive article on this some time next week), Giorgio Armani offerings are way up in the State-of-Art group, whereas Emporio Armani handsets are in the Hip&Trendy segment. However, the Night Effect (which is another name of this phone) sways more towards the Multimedia segment, which is where things get tricky, since what many call the Emporio Armani handset is so much more than a glammed up candy bar with a few feats on offer. The fact of the matter is that inside Samsung it's also called the GT-M7500, and was originally designed as the senior solution in their latest and greatest music-minded Beat line-up. So far they have announced the M3510 and M3200 in it, while the M7500 has drifted into the range of fashion-savvy handsets, and, more importantly, hasn't lost any of its music-related smarts along the way. That's why it will have to go up against the Nokia 5310 (while it's a pretty dated phone, its price hasn't gone down all that much) and Nokia 5320 (quite different positioning and more expensive) solely because of its more advanced music department. But thanks to those bits of glamour they have tacked on to the Night Effect, it's doesn't really clash with other music-minded phones in terms of positioning.   All in all, it's really difficult to think of some other solutions that can come close to the Samsung Emporio Armani positioning-wise. The Alcatel Elle probably qualifies, although I doubt that Elle can stand comparison to Giorgio Armani in any way. As far as the higher-end of the market is concerned, they haven't gone beyond luxurious editions of mid-range phones, such as the D&G-version of Motorola's RAZR. As a rule, when a fashion house and some phone maker meet, the price of such phones rockets up outright. Samsung, however, have chosen a different route, and much like Nokia (with their 50-Euro worth 7070 Prism) have made fashion-conscious phones available to a wider audience. But at the end of the day it's important to make a difference between Prism Collection, which is Nokia's very own affair and isn't nearly as glamorous, and the much-hyped Armani brand. Back to the table of contents >>> Design, Size, ControlsWhere to begin? Usually, when reviewing a phone's design it's relatively easy to pinpoint some defining features and build the whole story around them. Probably, the Night Effect will go down in books as the epitome of this approach, since the phone's name (Night Effect) identifies its main attraction very well.  In fact, this name has a story behind it - it's named after Emporio Armani's Tokyo store that is designed to dazzle all visitors during the night time with a couple of bright light effects that are very much in line with Tokyo's night style. If you ever happen to visit the Ginza district, don't even think about seeing it at noon, as it won't seem different from any other shop around it.  With that said, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the Night Effect's main highlight - its side plates glow with a variety of colors. By the way, I haven't mentioned this anywhere yet - the Samsung Emporio Armani is housed in a no-frills candybar design. On the left there is a sizable logo of Emporio Armani and a milky white plastic strip which is the LED that can glow in red, blue or green. You can customize the color and brightness of the backlight in the menu, or should you deem it too garish you can always opt to disable it.   All in all, there haven't been that many phones with light effects of this caliber - the Nokia 3200, an affordable candybar, had some, and the Motorola v80 also excelled on this front in its days. The Night Effect, however, is no match for the v80 in this sense, as it doesn't offer light waves or something like that; it simply glows with one particular color, be it when playing music, receiving a call or a message.            Video, Night Effect's looks, size, light effects in action (wmv, 39,1 mb) >>> In contrast to its gaudy light effects, the phone's candy bar shapes are pretty ascetic, which makes for an unusual mix. The colors of the Night Effect are in tune with Armani's palette - it comes only in black or white.  It's hard to say which color scheme I like better - both look fabulous and leave a very good impression overall.    The only place where you'll find Samsung's branding is the phone's back cover, but even there it looks pretty inconspicuous and unpretentious. On the other hand, Armani branding is literally all around the phone's casing - check out the images below to get a better idea how far they have gone with this.     Unlike the vast majority of Samsung-branded phones, the Night Effect has a piece of reinforced glass on top of its display, instead of a plastic screen. Furthermore, the display itself is quite different from what you will run into on other offerings - they have dumped TFT in favor of an AMOLED screen (more on this later). The Night Effect's casing has got no metallic accents whatsoever (except for the keypad's slab), which makes it a lightweight at 91 grams. However, it proves to be somewhat bigger than other phones of this breed at 114.9x47.4x12 mm. On the bright side, it feels great in the hand and seems neither fragile nor cumbersome, which is definitely a plus.  Samsung Emporio Armani vs Sony Ericsson T650i:   Sitting above the display is the forward-facing VGA camera and ambient light sensor. Housed on the left is the microUSB socket (covered by a plastic flap), which makes it fully compatible with Nokia's phone accessories. The 3.5 mm headphone jack is nestled on exactly the same place but on the right-hand spine. Also there are three music-minded keys and the volume rocker along with the camera shortcut. Around back is the 3 Mpix camera lens     We were pretty content with how the Night Effect was built - it didn't feel wobbly or flimsy in any part, and soft touch coating made it a lot more pleasant to hold. While it did pick up fingerprints and ear grease, it managed to keep them indiscernible.   Normally we don't go over sales packages in detail, since most phones simply have nothing to brag about on this front. But the Night Effect is a bird of a different color, plus the way it's packaged is somewhat unusual. The phone rests inside a rounded black box with the EA logo embossed on the top; all in all it feels more like a carrying case for some CDs. Having opened it you will find another case with the USB data cable, wired stereo-headset and wrist strap in it (every item except the USB cable has got the EA logo on it).   Back to the table of contents >>> DisplayThe Night Effect is actually one of the first phones to feature a reinforced glass with an antireflection coating that makes the display easier to read in the sun and doesn't hurt the picture quality along the way. Another new feature of this phone is an AMOLED display installed instead of a standard TFT unit. These displays usually have a much shorter lifespan, but rest assured they won't fail you for at least two years of hardcore use, which should be enough for all consumers without exception. There aren't that many AMOLED-equipped phones other there; although is another maker that has found a good use for these screen in their 8800 Arte collection and the latest and greatest all-in-one phone N85. While S40-based phones (in other words, all 8800-branded handsets) that come bundled with this type of display fall flat in terms of brightness and can only boast decent viewing angles, the Nokia N85 is a totally different creature, offering decent picture quality and punchy colors. So AMOLED alone can't make much of a difference and you shouldn't buy catchy ads touting this screen's quality solely because of its type. Samsung Emporio Armani vs Samsung M3510:      Samsung Emporio Armani vs Nokia N85:    The Night Effect comes bundled with a 2.2-inch QVGA display (33x46 mm), which is a pretty decent size for a feature phone. Plus the picture quality is sublime and the screen offers vibrant and juicy colors no matter at what angle you read it. The display can accommodate up to 9 text and 3 service lines. All fonts are reasonably large and solid, especially in the Messaging menu and dialing screen. Back to the table of contents >>> KeypadThe Night Effect's keypad is housed on one solid textured metal slab that is completely flat and has got no separators on it whatsoever. However, all thanks to sizable buttons, deep travel and overall softness of the numberpad, it's a breeze to text with. The navigation pad is nothing to complain about either. All keys are lit in bright what, plus this backlight can be customized in the Settings menu.     Back to the table of contents >>> BatteryThe handset utilizes a 960 mAh Li-Ion cell. The maker rates Night Effect's cell as being good for up to 260 hours of standby and 3.5 hours of talk time. Within European networks the phone lasted around 3.5 days (at one hour of calls total and three hours of music). At the same time, in Moscow it managed to stay online for 3 days at around 1.5 hours of calls. It takes the handset 2 hours to charge from empty to full. No higher-capacity cells are available for this model.   We managed to get 15 hours of non-stop music from the Night Effect (we kept the radio module on) with the highest volume settings and bundled headset plugged in. Back to the table of contents >>> ConnectivityBluetooth. The model supports various profiles, such as Headset, Handsfree, Serial Port, Dial Up Networking, File Transfer, Object Push, Basic Printing, A2DP, Dual Profile Bluetooth. EDR-enabled Bluetooth 2.0 is onboard. Wireless headsets are handled by the Night Effect with ease. USB-connection. In the menu you may select one of three modes: Media, Mass Storage, Samsung PC Studio. When connected to a PC via USB, the Night Effect automatically recharges itself.  While in the USB Mass Storage mode, the Night Effect shows up on the desktop without requiring you to install any additional drivers, so right after plugging in it's ready to work. Data connection speeds top out at 950 Kb/s. You won't be able to use the Night Effect's Bluetooth connectivity along with USB - it will require you to disable Bluetooth regardless of its status (connected and transferring data or not), which is very awkward. There is also EDGE class 10 connectivity for GSM networks. Back to the table of contents >>> Memory, Memory CardsThe phone ships with 140 Mb of onboard memory - this storage space, give or take, is available to the user right out of the box. The memory card (hot-swappable) is displayed as a separate section, but you can also view both memory card and internal storage at the same time. The Night Effect also comes with a file manager, enabling you to copy files to/from the memory card. In our test the handset had no problems handling a 8 Gb microSD memory card.
Back to the table of contents >>> PerformanceThe Night Effect's performance will hardly blow you away - it's pretty much in one boat with other latest and greatest offerings from Samsung, although it has got some distinctive touches to it. That is, it can multitask with Java applications, meaning that apart from closing an app you can minimize it and call it back to the top later on. On the down side, however, there is no task manager to be found, so you'll have to dig through the phone's menu to bring minimized applications up (you'll see a distinctive icon next to all currently running applications). Using the phone's Connectivity settings you can set up a background Internet connection to run for Java applications, allowing you to keep an IM client and some other apps in the background (we managed to have 8 apps running at a time). The Night Effect also supports all 3D JSR, including all JBenchmark tests. As far as Samsung is concerned it's a huge leap forward considering how hobbled the Java machine on their previous offerings was. Also, from now on you can install new applications not only over the air but from the phone's internal storage and memory cards as well. Java apps can't exceed 1Mb in size.    Back to the table of contents >>> CameraThe handset utilizes a 3 Mpix CMOS module with autofocus (the official press-release reads that it carries a 2 Mpix camera, but that's a mistake). The camera application enjoys the landscape layout, otherwise shooting with you would've been a pain. Various shortcuts pop up right on the navigation screen, including Macro Mode, Flash, Timer and Exposure. Since the numberpad is always exposed when shooting, you will be able to use the buttons over there as shortcuts too.   The camera supports the following resolutions:
Several shooting modes are at your disposal:
 Other settings include special effects (Grey, Sepia, Negative, Water Colour) and timer (3, 5 or 10 seconds)              The Night Effect's camera is pretty average as far as its specs are concerned, but since it's a music device we can't really berate it much - we also were pretty content with the quality it provided on a sunny day. Video. For videos the Night Effect proposes exactly the same pool of effects as for the single shot mode, plus most settings are identical, bar the resolutions, there is only one resolution available for video clips - 176x144 pixels (15 FPS). Maximum clip duration - up to 1 hour. Unfortunately, the Night Effect can't shoot videos in VGA and in 176x144 it does its job at a very marginal frame rate. Video sample (mp4, 360 kb) >>> Back to the table of contents >>> Menu, User InterfaceThe Night Effect's main menu can be shown as a 3x4 grid or a V-shaped list, with all sub-menus enjoying horizontally-arranged lists; but you can't see sub-menus in the same list like with the Samsung U900. While surfing the menus you can take advantage of last item memorization in every sub-menu and the main menu. The handset will "remember" which function you addressed last time, and will highlight it automatically next time you enter the same menu item. For example, if you had selected call list in main menu and done some operations in it, then the next time you enter main menu you will have it highlighted in first place. But that's not all; once you access it again you will see that sub-menu item which was addressed last will be highlighted too. When hovering over one or another item in the list you will see it highlighted, and the font size - increased.
Shortcut number navigation is supported, but there are more ways to navigate the menu in the Night Effect. You can bind four different applications from the list, offered by manufacturer (you will not be able to bind java applications). Unlike other phones, these shorts are now lined up along the top of the screen. There is no quick launch menu available in the Night Effect (uMenu). Themes. The Night Effect comes preinstalled with 4 themes, the default one meshes with the handset's light effects. Additionally the user can make used of the themes editor (available modes: basic and extended). In the former mode all you need to do is pick new wallpaper, tune some settings and voila, you have a new theme. But in the latter case, you will have the ability to adjust and modify every last thing, from icons color to fonts in specific menus, plus you get tips on how to make things look better in your personal theme.
 When dialing a number you will see a small image with main theme displayed and animation of the dialed number. Back to the table of contents >>> PhonebookContacts can be accessed by pressing right soft key; you will see a list that contains all entries from both SIM-card and phone's memory. The second tab comprises contact groups, so that you can switch to them in no time. If there is an assigned image, its thumbnail will be shown in the list - when scrolling though your contact list, a thumbnail will be shown only for a currently selected entry, and if there is none set, the Night Effect will use a default smilie. The field beneath the name is the default number, which can be picked manually from the list of submitted numbers for a particular contact. Quick name search by first letters is supported; there can be up to twenty of those, for any language. Once you press OK key you will go into detailed view of the selected entry. There you will see a thumbnail, if any. It can be an image, a photo or a video clip. Each entry can have up to 5 phone numbers of different types (mobile, office, home, fax other), one of them will be main number (by default it is the first one you entered). Fiels aren't fixed, meaning that you can choose their type manually (for example, submit two mobile and two home numbers for some contact). There are two lines for First Name and Last Name (search is performed only by the former), these fields get merged when displayed in the general list, and First Name comes first. For example Eldar Murtazin will be shown only in this order. Length of each field is 20 characters for any supported input language. You can also switch languages on the fly when entering a name.
All entries, regardless of language, are sorted out in the following way - all contacts with headings made in a local language (Russian, for example) go first and then those with names in English. This is rather convenient and handy list sorting system. Taking into account fast language switch option during the search, it's clear that no language will spoil the experience of working with this phone. The list can be sorted by first or last name. But let us return to the information entered for a contact. Apart from phone numbers, e-mail address (there may be several of them), a little text memo, address and other fields can be submitted on top of all that. Any music file (including MP3) can be picked as a ring tone for a contact. Three caller groups are provided by default with the possibility for creating any number of additional groups, setting a personal melody and image for each (by default there are three groups). SMS alerts are not customizable. The phonebook is capable of holding up to 1000 contacts with filled in data fields. Even if all the available blanks are not used, the cap won't get any bigger and will still make one thousand. It is possible to specify in the settings where all new numbers should be kept by default. There is also an option for moving entries from the SIM-card, although the reverse action is denied. According to the developers, PC (MS Outlook in particular) is best for data synchronization with the Night Effect. Any contact in the form of SMS/MMS, mail message or other text file can be quickly sent through Bluetooth to another device. There are no problems with sending, and the phonebook entry gets beamed to another device, where it is read without any trouble. The phonebook may contain a business card as well, though its structure copies all the fields found in a regular contact in the phone book. There can be up to eight numbers in the fast dial list; separate numbers tied up with a single contact may appear on this list as well. The chosen entry (not of the phone number type) is displayed on the buttons as the subtitle. In case the contact you have picked has an image attached to it, then you won't see the entry's name, which may get annoying when you have two different numbers of one contact mapped.
You can create any number of caller groups, assign up to 20 contacts and customize them with a picture and tune. On an incoming call, caller ID picture occupies not the entire screen, but only a part of it. However, it still takes up a considerable area. This isn't great, given the display's stellar specifications.
Back to the table of contents >>> Call listEach of the given lists contains up to 30 phone numbers. There is a combined list of all the last calls with an icon indicating call type. Pressing the navi-pad horizontally, you can switch quickly between the lists. The date and time of the calls with a special note on duration are displayed in the extended view for separate entries. Calls from/to one number are grouped up, so that the number standing next to the call specifies total number of calls made. In order to access duration data you will need to call up detailed information on desired item. As always, the overall time of the calls and their cost can be viewed in this menu (in the case that the service has been enabled). The combined list also displays phone numbers you sent or received messages from.
For individual numbers you can arrange a black list, which will reject all calls coming from these contacts. Back to the table of contents >>> MessagingMuch like other makers, over at Samsung they have forgone that artificial division into SMS-MMS types - you just start composing a message, and only then, depending on the contents, it is attributed to SMS or MMS. The menu still holds an option for switching message into MMS mode (for example when you need to send only text, but to an e-mail address, without calling up the bundled client). The phone memory can hold up to as many as 500 messages; the handset supports EMS standard compatible with Nokia Smart Messaging. T9 text input comes in handy and is easy to use. While choosing recipient, you can either select a telephone number from your contacts or pick one from the call lists or groups. All messages are manageable, this means you are at liberty to move a certain number to your black list, in order to make sure all messages coming from that phone number will be deleted automatically; possibility for moving messages to any own folder is also at your disposal. For e-mail you can move not only addresses to the blacklist, but unwanted subjects as well.
There are no size restrictions set on received messages, though an outgoing message's size is limited to 295 KB. As for additional services available with the Night Effect, message rejection and message retrieval type options are onboard. All messages are stored in general dynamic memory, the same goes for e-mails. Also there is a useful function for sending SOS-messages - when activated, should you find yourself in an emergency, after pressing the volume key four times, the message "I am in emergency. Please help me" will be sent to contacts submitted earlier, all incoming calls from these numbers upon sending the emergency message will be picked up automatically. Recipients (not more than 5), as well as number of Repeats may be set up manually, while text of the SOS-message is not customizable.
The bundled mail client is standard in all its components - 5 accounts and the maximum of 100 incoming messages; attachments are also handled by the phone, though there are also several caps - there's no way you can receive a file more than 500 Kb big, or send one with size exceeding 300 kb. Received files can be viewed via the bundled browser. The Night Effect doesn't support html in emails, which breaks formatting of most letters you receive, so they become really awkward to read. The mail client found in Samsung-branded phones is now falling behind those embedded in Nokia's and Sony Ericsson's solutions. Back to the table of contents >>> OrganizerThe phone's memory can store as many as 100 events of one type - meeting. There are other event types as well, like anniversary and holiday, with the maximum capability of 50 events for each type. The Night Effect can also hold up to 20 high-priority events and the same number of private entries. Day and time as well as end time of an event are indicated for each entry. Alert signal and its duration can be adjusted to your liking; repeatable events are available for setting up (repeat time is also manageable as well as the exceptions). The weekly and the monthly calendar views are very convenient with each type of the event having its own color.
 Speaking of the organizer's shortcomings, I cannot overlook the fact that when typing date and time for an event, the end time doesn't change, which badly hurts its ease of use - other manufacturers make the due time shift automatically (by default any event takes one hour). Back to the table of contents >>> MultimediaFM-radio. You can store up to 50 radio stations in the memory; the range of available frequencies is 87.5-108 MHz. Also, you can enjoy auto-tuning, but particular channels cannot have own names attached - they are always shown as the frequency numbers. The radio can work in handsfree mode, plus it enables you to set it up as an alarm clock, but regardless of how you are going to use it, a plugged-in headset is a must, since it doubles as an antenna. The radio implementation is fine, although it doesn't pick up all stations equally well, but on balance, it is quite competent in comparison to other vendors' offerings. The radio can be minimized. RDS here displays only the station's name in the general list, no advanced options available.
Voice recorder. You can record up to several hours of voice memos with the number of files being unlimited. Basically, limitations on recording duration are set by the user himself, though length of a single recording cannot exceed 1 hour. All the files are stored in a separate folder in the memory bank. The recorder performs well during lectures, conferences and presentations - I could even say that it is a partial substitute for a digital tape recorder.  Back to the table of contents >>> MP3-playerThe integrated mp3 player, supporting random, sequential and cyclic playback, is available on the phone. Mp3 files can be uploaded onto the handset both directly over Bluetooth and through the synch application or Windows Media Player. There are no limitations placed on tags and names of music files. Bitrates are also not something that really matters - the handset easily deals with all available formats and supports WMA, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+. The title of the currently played back track is displayed as well as the number of the remaining tracks. The Night Effect also packs in a non-adjustable equalizer with 9 presets available. Among new additions is the Fade Out option, when towards the end of every track the sound will… well, fade out. Your tracks can be played through the stereo headset as well as the speakerphone. The volume bar has 14 scales on it. And of course the user can make up their own playlists. Player can work in minimized mode - in this case the display will show current track title and music controls, which is a good thing.
The player boasts the following filters: all tracks, recently players, most popular, artists, albums, genres and composers. The Night Effect also sports Album Arts support. As a music playing phone, the Night Effect holds its own against Sony Ericsson's Walkman range and some Nokia-branded offerings. It comes included with a dedicated sound processor and three separate music keys mounted on the right; the 3.5 mm headphone jack also contributes to its decent sound quality and allows using pretty much any earphones. RightMark Audio Analyzer test results: General Performance
General performance: GoodFrequency response Noise level Back to the table of contents >>> EntertainmentGames – the handset comes preinstalled with several games, which are all demos (you will have to shell out for their full versions), these are: Aspalt2, Minigolf Las Vegas, Paris Hilton Diamond Quest. There is an unlimited amount of memory assigned to Java-applications, plus you can remove any of the pre-installed games and upload new over the air (via WAP) or from the phone's memory. Heap size can't exceed 2 Mb, while the application can't go over 1 Mb.
Image editor. A basic picture editor, which allows transforming images by using a variety of tools.  Back to the table of contents >>> ApplicationsWorld time . is displayed for two chosen cities.  Calculator – It divides, multiplies, subtracts and adds and does several more things - quite enough for a mobile calculator.
 With the converter you can operate with different units of measurements as well as with a number of currencies.
Countdown time and stopwatch have no bells and whistles.
Memo – standard text notes.
RSS Reader. This is a stand-alone utility for RSS feeds. However, it would make more sense if the RSS Reader was bound up with the web-browser, but this is not the case with the Night Effect. This way, RSS links are not picked up by the browser, or sent directly to the application. You will need to manually submit a channel address in this app to subscribe, or enter a web address and let the application try to find an RSS channel on it.
While uploading your news feed, the Night Effect can upload text, as well as video and audio files, and it is up to you to set the size limit (by default - 5 Mb per file). Regrettably, there are no scheduled feed updates available, thus you will need to refresh the feed manually every time you need hot news. Obviously with this application Samsung is having a first go at this field, and the truth is, it is not really functional or appealing the way it is in the Night Effect. Similar solutions found in the phone from other makers pack more punch and are easier to manage. Back to the table of contents >>> WAPThe handset comes with a wap-browser version 2.0 (NetFront 3.4), where apart from JavaScript support, fonts scaling (three types), Smart-Fit (single-column view), full-screen mode (all controls are hidden), page caching, they have embedded a new feature - on-screen 'mouse' pointer. Much like Nokia's S60-powered handsets and Opera Mini, you can view pages with a tiny navigation window displayed. The browser itself packs a lot of goods under the hood and will be appreciated by most users.
Unlike the previous models, which used Picsel Viewer for browsing office documents, the Night Effect employs the bundled browser for these purposes. What we really like about it is that the user can perform local search within a document (any language). While it is a tad sluggish compared to Picsel Viewer, it is still pretty easy to handle. Personally, I couldn't make up my mind on which solution I liked better - both of them have their strengths and weaknesses.
Back to the table of contents >>> Alarm ClockThe handset comes equipped with four alarm clocks, each of them can go off on certain weekdays. You can also pick one of the five tunes, or turn to MP3 tracks. In settings it is possible to enable auto power-up when any event triggers.
 Back to the table of contents >>> File Manager (My files)That's the place to search for all files such as music, pictures, video and sounds. Any uploaded file gets stored here. The disadvantage is that files sometimes are not displayed in the list immediately - in that case you will need to leave the menu and enter it again.
 Files and folders can be viewed either as a list or thumbnails. You can mark any number of files. The handset supports Move, Copy and Delete operations, as well as various types of sorting (by type, name or size). Memory card's file structure is a slightly different story, as it can be accessed through the main menu, where each item features "Memory card" option.                  The Night Effect's new feature is support for ShoZu that allows uploading any type of multimedia content to blogs - all it requires you to do is submit your logins and passwords to the services you use and then the handset will do the rest, enabling you to release, say, videos or photos right to you personal blog. Back to the table of contents >>> SettingsTraditionally this item boasts a standard set of options inside like password protection of selected sections (messages, short messages, organizer, etc.), backlighting duration and brightness, dialing display settings (no custom animations are available, one is assigned to the default theme - Living World).
Profiles – the Night Effect comes with a fully functional system of profiles, including Flight Mode. Every profile is customizable - you can pick ring tone, incoming message alert and adjust the volume level.
Mobile Tracker – submit a phone number, where notifications will be sent to in case SIM-card was changed - that message will contain number of the SIM-card being used with the handset. This section is protected with password, so that no one other than you or someone else who knows the password could disable the Tracker. Should your device have the SIM-card switched once, the specified number will receive one message instantly, and one more each time a new card is plugged in. A fetching feature which can prove to be of much help in case the handset is lost or stolen.
Apart from the standard set of wallpapers for the standby screen, you can make up animated wallpapers of your own, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to create one. All you need are 9 snaps, then you adjust time spans between different frames and transition effects (there is a slew of them available, like Butterfly, Paper place etc). And the animation you get is pretty amusing; it will work on the standby screen as long as the display is on.
Setup Wizard – - on first boot the phone will offer to customize all core settings as you please
 Back to the table of contents >>> CompetitionAre there any other offerings out there that can give you just as much fashion for this little money? Apparently, there are none and we won't see any in the foreseeable future. As far as functionality goes, Samsung position the Night Effect as a direct rival to Nokia's music-minded 5310, but it'd be at least unfair to compare these two phones head to head, since the latter has been around for a very long while and doesn't offer state of the art feats anymore. At the same time, the Samsung Emporio Armani is a significantly improved and refurbished version of the Samsung U800 Soul in terms of core features, while on the music front it's pretty much in one line with the Samsung M3510 (the least sophisticated phone in the Beat line-up). An argument can be made for the Motorola ROKR EM30 as well, since it holds its own against the Night Effect in the way of music quality and feature pack (while being nowhere near as fashionable as the Samsung Emporio Armani) Samsung Emporio Armani vs Samsung M3510:      Samsung Emporio Armani vs Motorola ROKR EM30:    Samsung Emporio Armani vs Samsung U800 Soul:   And again, I think I shall repeat what I said at the beginning of this write-up - had the Night Effect lacked the Emporio Armani branding, it wouldn't have been much different from the rest of the heap. But EA elevates it to a whole new level, plus its functionality isn't thin on the ground as it's usually the case with fashion-savvy phones. Back to the table of contents >>> ImpressionsThe reception quality put up by the Night Effect is in line with other Samsung-branded devices. The ringtone volume is quite decent, as it can be heard in various environments. The silent alert is average strength-wise, no significant improvements have been made here, but compared to the U900, the new Night Effect is a wee bit louder. Much like any other fashionable item, the Night Effect isn't a phone for everyone. But at the same time it represents Samsung's new generation of phones, boasting pretty decent audio quality, 3.5 mm headphone jack, microUSB socket for charging and synchronization, likable mix of materials and a new and improved display. While it's not the best phone we've seen by any means, it well deserves a glance or two. All in all, the Night Effect is one of the most interesting offerings in 2008, and rest assured there are more phones of this breed to come. It will start shipping in October for 280-300 Euro a unit - around the same watermark the U800 Soul's sales kicked off at. It's quite another matter, though, that the Samsung Emporio Armani's sales package is significantly richer. Having dealt with most hiccups and hitches of their previous solutions, Samsung have rolled out the phone that has all it takes to become a new icon in its segment. Related links:
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Eldar Murtazin ([email protected]) Published — 22 September 2008 Have something to add?! Write us... [email protected]
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