Samsung Armani Review
The Samsung Giorgio Armani phone is a truly compact
touchscreen phone. It doesn't have the ease-of-use of Apple's
iPhone nor the high-end features of the LG Viewty touchphone,
but it looks amazing. If you can get used to the touchscreen
interface, you'll find that it's a beautiful phone that can also
take photos, record video clips and play music.
We loved last year's LG Prada, so we were really looking forward
to reviewing the Samsung Giorgio Armani. Samsung plus Armani is
such a fantastic combination, that success is guaranteed, right?
Well not necessarily, because a lot has changed since the Prada
phone of 2007 - the Armani now has to complete with the iPhone
and the LG Viewty. Let's put the phone through its paces and see
how it shapes up to the competition.
The first thing to say is that if you love Armani, then stop
reading now and just go and buy the phone. It's a beautiful
phone, and you can call and text with it, OK? Seriously though,
it's a stunning phone to look at. It's really tiny and weighs
hardly anything, at just 85g (the iPhone weighs 135g!). It's the
smallest and thinnest of all the touchscreen-driven phones
currently on the market. The finish is much nicer than our photo
here conveys - it's finished in a combination of aluminium and
stainless steel. It also comes with a specially-designed leather
pouch to protect it from scratches. Apart from the send and end
keys located beneath the screen, the Armani is entirely
touchscreen controlled, and this is the secret to its good looks
and also the cause of most problems.
The device is smaller than other touchscreen phones available,
and that means that the screen is smaller too (2.6" compared
with the iPhone's 3.5"). It also has a lower resolution.
Inevitably this makes the touchscreen interface harder to use,
although Samsung have done their best with the award-winning
Croix user interface which uses touch and audio feedback and
specially-designed graphics and icons. The bottom line is that
it isn't as easy to use as an iPhone or a Viewty, especially for
texting, but you'll get used to it and it looks fabulous.
Just like the iPhone and the Prada phone, the Armani phone isn't
at the cutting edge feature-wise, but it does everything that
most people will want. It takes reasonably good photos with a 3
megapixel camera (with zoom & flash), records video clips and
plays music. The internal memory of 60 Mbytes is enough for
around 15 music tracks, but you can easily expand this with a
memory card. Battery life isn't great, but it's acceptable at
around 2-3 days of normal use. The phone supports Bluetooth,
including Bluetooth wireless headphones. You can also browse the
web and send emails, if you really must.
Technically, the Armani can't compete with the daddy of
touchscreen phones - the 3G LG Viewty - nor does it have the
ease of use of the Apple iPhone. What it does have is the Armani
brand, to-die-for looks, a truly compact body, and enough
features to satisfy 90% of users. It's about expectations -
don't buy this thinking it's the best phone ever, or has the
most impressive spec available, because it hasn't. Buy it
because you like the style and are willing to compromise on
ease-of-use and high-end features.
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