Why You Can Trust CNET Samsung D410 review: Samsung D410
Masculine looks aside, the Samsung D410 sliding camera phone is a step up from the previous sliding phones.
Silver, smooth and sexy. At first glance, the D410 is a compact elegant mobile phone with the slide for a twist. This sliding camera phone has a brilliant 262,144-colour LCD screen which is pretty much twice the size of most mobile phones. To say that the graphics, photos and colours are clear is an understatement. When we first saw it, it seemed almost like a 3G phone so it was a bit of a surprise when we realised it wasn't 3G capable.
With the battery attached the D410 measures 97.5 x 48.5 x 24mm and weights 116 grams. The four-way navigation key allows shortcuts for messages, camera, sounds and voice memos. The menu button is located at the left side of the navigation key while the phonebook button is on the right.
Samsung D410
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
A rotatable VGA camera is located at the top of the phone with built-in 640 x 480 pixel resolution. It has a zoom and multi-shot function and an audio-video shooting function.
The keypad is the part that slides out and every time you slide it back in, the screen turns off, which is probably intended to save battery life. Something we found to be a bit of an inconvenience were the buttons on the keypad. For those who are skilled enough to send text messages with one hand, you might want to use two hands with this phone, as its weight may be too heavy for a one-hand texting stunt.
Features
You wonder why there are numbers in each of the menu options, but the reason for this is actually very clever. For instance, under Text Message, Inbox is numbered 1, Outbox 2, Write message 3 and so on. Instead of scrolling to Write Message, simply press the 3 key and it will automatically take you to the blank space. Be warned though, unlike other phones, the cursor doesn't go up and down when you want to edit something in the text message you're writing.
For those who just despise protruding antennas on mobile phones, then this may not be the phone for you. The antenna on this one is pretty out there, all 2cm of it. It doesn't really get in the way, and sometimes, you can even use the antenna to pull it out of your mobile phone bag or pocket. But if you hate antennas, then think again.
One confusing thing was that the phone does not include is a speaker phone option. Why is that? There was certainly no problem with the speakers so why not have the loudspeaker as well?
There is also no Profiles menu, so users have to customise their sounds under sound settings (the one with the drum icon). The games are fantastic, especially for entertaining yourself when the magazines at the hairdresser's are boring. Aside from BubbleSmile and Fun2Link, there is Mobile Chess to exercise your brain. The D410 has 3MB internal memory shared for videos, photos and MMS and so on.
Performance
There is not much to say about the performance of this camera since we were not disappointed with its basic functions. That is, except for one.
We noticed that you have to keep adjusting the settings of the rotatable camera so you can take self shots as well as external ones. Users have to change the setting if they want to take an external shot after taking a self shot, or else, the picture will be upside down. After testing other phones with rotatable cameras, this "disability" is very disappointing.
Ever had one of those moments when you want the person on the line not to hear your conversation with someone else? Ever tried covering the mouthpiece only to find out the person on the line heard it anyway? Well, with D410, you can temporarily switch your phone's microphone off so that the other person on the phone cannot hear you. Just go to the Options soft key while on the phone and pick mute.
The D410's battery life was satisfactory, lasting 3 to 4 days. Even when it dies, Samsung provides a spare battery you can use while charging the other one.
We found it very efficient that users don't have to go back to the main menu page before locking the phone. Just slide it back in and it automatically goes back to main menu page when you slide it back out.
And by the way, that blinking service light at the front of the phone can be turned off. Just go to display settings and turn off the service light.
Overall, the D410 is something worth considering if you're looking for a convenient phone. It's very easy to use and the shortcuts are well designed to make use so much faster. It's a great contender for all the sliding phones out there.