Samsung E530 review

The girly Samsung E530 is quite a precious device that has a lot of modern functions and is nicely made up. Almost every woman will desire it. Do you want to see why?

Key features

• Uncommon design, suitable for women
• Megapixel camera
• Excellent display
• Bluetooth
• Special female functions

Main disadvantages

• No ringtone profiles
• No infrared port
• No memory card slot

Mobile phones with clamshell design always had an inexpressible magic especially for the female part of the population. That's why we don't have to wonder why mobile phones' manufacturers occasionally modify some of their successful clamshells for better suit women. Mostly, the modification consists in changes of color combinations and frequently in adding of special, female related functions to the phone menu.

 
The new Samsung E530: girls, do you like it?

The same happened with the reviewed Samsung E530. It is indistinguishable in hardware compared to the similar Samsung E720, which has arisen as good combination between the old clamshell E700 and the modern, high-end D500. We advice you to read the E720 review as well.

A decent sparkler

Samsung E530 is a rather good-looking clamshell phone at first sight. The rounded waveforms of the body suit well a phone without an outer antenna; at first sight it seems to be a little fatty; however, when you hold it in your hands or have it in the pocket its size is not limitative. The color combination is decent, the dark purple centre harmonize well with the purple-silver phone endings. It's a good thing that the manufacturer has abandoned the glaring red body colors, even for a phone targeted at women.

Decent purple tints suit very well to the phone

There is a small OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) status display on the front part of the phone, which is mounted approximately in its center. Above, you may see the megapixel camera lenses with external diode flash. Here you won't find the popular mirror for self-portrait shooting, because its function is reproduced perfectly by the status display.

 
A small display and a diode flash camera on the front cover

You can find a combined data and power supply connector at the bottom edge of the phone, under a discreet plastic plug. There is a strap eyelet on the upper edge of the phone, which is a part of the elegant case, delivered with the phone. There is a volume control button and a microphone slot on the left side of the phone. On the opposite side of the phone you'll find a covered connector for stereophonic hands-free set - again supplied in the package. Above it you can find the camera activation button.

    
The strap is delivered together with the phone • the operating items on the sides

   
The system connector is protected by a cover • the handsfree connector, too

If left opened on the table, the phone is quite unsteady due to its oval shapes. There's no bigger area to prop at. It swings and turns around at every touch, more over, it outbalances much forward.

The Lithium-Ion battery is a direct part of the back cover, so the whole construction of the phone is solid and doesn't creak even under a stronger pressure, which is a problem with many other phones with batteries overlapped by a plastic shell. The accumulator has 800 mAh capacity, which provides the phone with enough energy for 330 minutes talk time or up to 200 hours of stand-by. The recharging cycle of the empty accumulator to its full capacity with the added travel charger doesn't take more than two hours. The information about the charging status is displayed in an interesting way: the phone itself doesn't inform you, it's the charge connector with the help of a colored light. The red light means that the phone is still charging; the green one means the opposite - full accumulator capacity.

  
Look under the back cover • the phone is relatively small • a stylish case is delivered together with the phone - empty... • ... with phone

For endless texting

The layout of the inner part of the phone is standard without big exceptions. The main color display occupies almost the whole upper part of the phone; the speaker slot is mounted above its upper edge. The lower part of the phone is divided into two imaginary parts - an alphanumeric part of the keyboard and a function part. At a glimpse, you will notice that the designers did a good job with the keyboard outer appearance.

 
The phone opened • the function part of the keyboard • the numeric part of the keyboard • lightening of the keyboard

It's almost amazing that the functionality is not subordinated to the appearance, but made to the highest possible level. The numeric buttons themselves are big enough for bigger fingers too, they are quite distinguishable from each other when touching them; their stroke is confident. The stroke is optimal especially for fast and precise writing. The latter applies also for the function keys, the only exception is the correction button with C symbol, which could be some a few millimeters wider.

The backlighting of the keyboard is white, strong enough and rather even - only the left numeric keys gleam.