Samsung U100 review: Razor sharp

Messaging-friendly in many ways

Samsung U100 works with all message types. Standard SMS are typed in 4 lines. Characters are counted down from the unusual number of 1836; the number of chunks a longer message breaks down to (up to 12 available) is also shown. The phone offers a T9 editor with rich dictionary. Samsung U100 supports EMS, so tiny black & white images and animations can be inserted in each message; text can be formatted too. The keypad does require practice but, generally, typing should not be a burden. Even so, texting addicts may as well look for alternatives.

   
Message menu • My messages • Folder with received messages

The memory dedicated to SMS stores up to 1000 messages, shared by all folders. Any sound file in the phone can be set as an incoming-message alert. The assigned tone can further be set to repeat every one or two minutes, until the message is read. The repeated alert option can be deactivated, if needed. MMS can be assigned a different alert to distinguish from SMS. Incoming SMS are displayed in 5 lines. You can switch between messages by pressing the asterisk (*) and the hash (#) keys. In other words, you need not close the SMS you are reading to open another one. An extra feature allows you to set up to 10 numbers, messages from which will be automatically deleted when received and you'd never get to even learn about.

   
Reading SMS • typing SMS

Photos in full resolution, videos, text, and sounds can all be sent via MMS. Attachment size is limited to 300 KB. Each MMS can contain a number of pages. Received MMS are saved in the same inbox as SMS. MMS from particular numbers can be blocked as well.

Creating an email message

The email client handles multiple accounts and supports POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP with SSL and TLS. Entire messages or message headers only can be downloaded in regular intervals. The phone sends and receives attachments of maximum 300 KB. Messages can be filtered by sender and subject.

Another pleasant function is zooming in on message text by way of the dual key on the side. This function activated by a single press and full zoom-in makes font really enormous.

Planning: day, week, month

The calendar is the main organizing application. The one in Samsung U100 is as good as in most Samsung mobile devices. It offers a monthly, weekly, and daily view. The week starts on either Monday, or Sunday. The calendar offers three types of events: meeting, anniversary, and task. The calendar stores up to 100 items of each type. All events can be set to alert you in advance; meetings can further be assigned daily, weekly, and monthly repetition. The calendar also has a built-in task manager. Tasks can be displayed separately, assigned a priority, and marked off once accomplished. Synchronization with MS Outlook is seamless.

 
Alarm clock and calendar 

Samsung U100 has 5 alarm clocks; any sound can be used for the alarm, which will go off even with the phone switched off. Day-specific alarms are user-configurable, too. The phone will store 100 text notes of no more than 100 characters. The phone also has a very good calculator, a voice recorder, a world time application, a unit converter, a countdown timer, and a stopwatch with meantimes.

 
More extras 

Camera of great agility

Samsung U100 carries a 3.2 megapixel camera. The maximum available resolution is 2048 × 1536 pixels. The camera interface offers a great set of features: 6 picture size options, 3 quality levels, white balance, exposure compensation, ISO setup, frames, color effects, mosaic-like images, etc. Digital zoom and timed release function is available too. There's no autofocus, though. You can choose between three shutter sounds or turning the shutter sound off. Pictures can be exported via Bluetooth, email, data cable, or printed directly through PictBridge. The camera also records video with maximum resolution is 352 × 288 pixels (CIF) in MP4 format.

Camera interface

Video recording

Sample images:

 

     
Outdoor pictures 

 
Indoor pictures

 
Text and close-ups come out well

 
Digital zoom

Effects

 
Interesting collages for MMS (possible to create in lower resolution levels only) 

That's not all the camera has to offer, though. The phone features a Picture editor full of effects (mist, ancient-looking or negative, solar effect, moonlight, etc.), styles (oil-painting, spot and noise elimination, relief, blueprint, paint-brush, spotlight, magic stylus,), various distortion effects, and a partial rack focus effect. Images can be further edited in terms of brightness, contrast, colors; you may even insert text, clipart, smilies, etc. Samsung U100 is so loaded in terms of photo-editing, that it won't be an overstatement to say it has a mini Photoshop inside. And that is still not all. The last application worth our attention is the so called Stamp. It allows you to merge two pictures into one. The result can be very creative and cute.

 
The Picture editor helps you modify images straight in the phone

There are superior photo mobiles on the market, but the Samsung U100 takes really good pictures. Leaving the lack of auto focus aside, the most serious downside of the U100 camera is noise. There's not much you can do to improve sharpness and color saturation.

  
Browsing files and pictures (the latter can be visualized in full-screen mode too)