Samsung G810 review: Zoom on Symbian

Samsung G810 360-degree spin

Design and construction

Samsung G810 owners should know better than to expect to leave onlookers in awe. A looker it is, full metal casing and all, but size is really unsettling. Its dimensions of 103 x 52.9 x 17.9 mm do fail to tell the whole story. And even if it's the Nokia N95 story, the Samsung looks much bulkier. Anyway, squeezing any of those heavy-weighters into a pocket is quite a feat.

The video call camera is located in the upper right corner of the front panel. The earpiece/loudspeaker grill is placed dead center. The ample 2.6" display is next, along with the D-pad and the surrounding controls will get their due attention later in our review.

The video-call camera in the top right corner on the front

The left side of Samsung G810 is rather crowded. The list starts with the lanyard eyelet right under the top edge. Under it is the Power key, which is also used for changing the currently active profile. The 3.5 mm audio jack under a protection cap is next in line. We would have preferred it at the top. The last thing on the left of Samsung G810 is the microUSB slot - the same one as used in some latest Nokia phones.

It's strange that Samsung have chosen a universal port of the microUSB variety for their flagship smartphone as this type is still quite rare. If you want to buy a spare charger, say for your car, you will have much more trouble finding one of those. This however may change in the near future as more and more phones are using such slots.

The left side of Samsung G810

The volume rocker is placed on the right side of Samsung G810. It is just above the microSD card slot. The last control here is the dedicated camera key, which this time is much more comfortable than the one on its predecessor Samsung G800.

The right side hosts the volume rocker, microSD card slot and the camera key

The top and the bottom of the phone are almost completely plain, save for the microphone pinhole on the lower end of the handset.

The microphone pinhole is the only thing to notice at the bottom

The back panel is naturally dominated by the 5 megapixel camera. Complete with auto focus and xenon flash, the camera is hidden under a nice metallic cover. It's an active lens cover and sliding it turns the camera on.

The 5 megapixel camera is dominating the rear

Opening the battery cover of Samsung G810 reveals the 1200 mAh battery. We didn't spend enough time with the handset to be of help on battery life. There are no official standby and talk time estimates either. All we can say at this stage is that the battery of Samsung G810 has the same capacity as the one of Nokia N95 8GB.

G810 inside out • The 1200 mAh battery seems promising

"...A looker it is, full metal casing and all, but size is really unsettling. Its dimensions of 103 x 52.9 x 17.9 mm do fail to tell the whole story. And even if it's the Nokia N95 story, the Samsung looks much bulkier..."

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As far as the build quality of Samsung G810 is concerned, we have every reason to cheer. The phone looks sturdy and has a nice solid feel in hand. Besides, weight is not always a disadvantage when it goes with high-quality materials.

The phone feels great in hand