As far as mobile phones are concerned, I have always been three-years-ago. In 2000, I bought the Ericcson model that is as large as my present-day cordless-set receiver. Then we changed over to a new connection and bought a new handset, an Ericsson make again, which is now out of production. Then, we purchased a third mobile, giving up one of the previous two, and with the connection we got this phone at a cheaper price. So therefore we have the Samsung R220.
While most of my friends are toting colour screen Nokia camera-phones nowadays, I'm satisfied with my sheepish blue-guy. In fact, I don't even use the phone as in having it with me all the time. My parents let me keep it only when I go to hang-out and they're sure my group contains a couple of girls (now don't ask me if that's true, that's an observed pattern). So there I am again? ''Amit three-years-ago Joshi''.
Whether I be obsolete or not, I am certainly very happy with my handset. And since I think it is more worthwhile writing about things I like or am satisfied with rather than those I hate or have an abhorrence for, I chose to write on it.
R220- the body, the get up
The Body
R220 has a very neat look. It is rounded at it?s corners, yet so quadrilateral. It has a sleek appearance about itself. Blue all over- that's a characteristic that appeals to me no matter to what it belongs (barring my face). Blue is my favourite colour which is exactly why I kept the phone instead of accepting my father's offer of buying me a Motorola. (I'm a DenyingMoto).
What I like most about R220 is the back-light. It has a very-very bright blue colour and you can actually cast that light on objects even with a tube-light turned on. I remember one day, in my early-morning 5AM tuition, when the power went off? I kept the room bright by turning the backlight to the ON mode. People could see each other's faces very well. Unlike the dull green or blue colour (for that matter) of the Ericsson that I own?.
With a blue body and silver buttons with a very fine finish, the phone looks sleek and chic, and if you carry it with you in say 2007, nobody would say ''what a grandfather-clock!''. They will say- ''what a Dev Anand'', if that analogy appeals to you at all.
The get up
I should have titled this section ''Display'' because that would have been more accurate.
The main screen of the phone, which you will have when you aren't doing anything with the phone, is simple and non-dandy. It has the name of your service provider written on the top, the connection and battery status, then a bar showing if your alarms are on or if you've undread SMSes, then a date and time bar and that's it. LCD, as it is, it looks purposeful yet it does not have a trace of shabbiness. In fact, to someone who doesn't give a damn about impressing others with stuff like phones, this display is a beauty.
Then it comes to the menus. The menus have interesting logos that will convey what they contain to people who can't read. (Now that's a superfluous quality because those who can't read wouldn't be able to punch telephone numbers and make calls, so wouldn't own a phone at all). What I mean is, even if the screen is oppressive on your eyes making it difficult for you to read, you can know what's in front of you with the logo.
That's important with my father who has a strange disorder of the eye- he can't see with a glare of blue or the Sodium-vapour-yellow (of car headlights).
Every single feature of the phone is clearly accessible, arranged in a user-friendly manner. It's also very simple to use with the softkeys, so you don't have to think about ''should I?'' because the soft-keys are placed under a caption box which shows exactly what that key would do.
Ranking?
Out of five stars, the phone gets: * * * * For the body and get-up.
Sound Clarity
I suppose this is one of the most important functions of the phone- speaking on it. If you can't hear what the other fellow is saying, then the phone is a piece of junk. But the R220 has a good speaker and microphone and allows clear transmission of sound. If there is a disturbance in the signal, the poor handset can't help it much.
Sound clarity: * * * * out of five.
R220- the battery
R220's battery life is something that stunned me completely. I charged it immideately I opened the pack, which was recommended, and it took an hour or a little less to charge up completely.
After that, it didn't go down for full four days.
After the fifth day, it prompted battery low. Which is when I charged it again, to have to forget about it for the coming five days.
Super!
So the ranking is?. * * * * * For the battery life, out of five stars.
R220- overalls
Screensavers and Image Messaging
R220 comes with some five screen savers by default and I believe some are downloadable, but I never try those things. They cost some two rupees per download and that's not my idea of fun. There is a picture of a house by the countryside, a tiger resting in a bamboo thicket and stuff like that.
R220 comes with a few images that can be sent to people which is something of a very crude version of MMS. There is a landscape, a picture of a girl and a boy kissing (which has to be in every mobile- as my classmate calls it, the mobile is the youth's sex-tool) and a few other pictures as well. I guess some of these pictures are downloadable as well. As with screensavers, I haven't tried this either.
Ring Tones
The R220 comes with a bunch of in-built ringtones and a capacity of downloading a bunch of others from your service provider. I've downloaded a couple and it's been pretty OK. I personally never liked the idea of weird tones ringing on your phone. I prefer the austere sound of a phone at home ringing. If there's a tune to it, you know, I sometimes forget it's my phone that's ringing.
Games:
There are three default games: Casino, Hexa and Mole. Casino is pretty boring because you have no control on what's going on. Hexa is the regular game which you'll find in every handset, no big deal. Mole is the most interesting among the three games: a mole keeps popping up in squares that resemble the arrangement of your keys on the keypad. You're supposed to press the correct key to slam it's head.
That's it from the overalls, I suppose. (Why don't you suggest something, if you think it's missing, in the comments section? I'll love it if you do?)
As an Afterthought
The greatest thing about R220's operations is that if you press the NO button, it exits all menus and comes straight to the main screen. It is very convenient. You don't have to go NO six times before you can access the screen.
Over all, the Samsung R220 is a easy-to-use, good-looking, very functional, considerably modern piece of electronics. If you own one, you should be satisfied, if not proud, of your phone. If you are about to buy one, rest assured your money won't go waste (unless Junior throws it out of your second floor window or dunks it in the potty seat). If your friends own one, it's a pitty if you tease him.
I suppose there is certainly one thing I can notice about this phone:
Iske corners hain goal?
LCD flat!
