Samsung SGH-M620 Review

Introduction:

“Simplicity” is the keyword in the design of the budget Samsung M620. The idea of the phone is to be as comfortable as possible, to give you easy access to the most needed functions – the talking ones.



Design:

M620’s design is not impressive, but it cannot be called ugly either. It is made to be operational at maximum efficiency. The make is good also, but when holding it in your hand, the materials remind you of the low-class the phone falls into. Size wise, the Samsung is not slim or compact, but at only 2.9 oz (81 grams) is quite light.


You can compare the Samsung SGH-M620 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.


The TFT display is 1.9 inch with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels and 65k colors. Due to the low resolution, viewing pictures is not one of the most pleasant things to do, but let’s don’t forget that this is an entry level phone, mainly intended for making calls. Unfortunately, the screen is not usable in direct sunlight.

The sliding mechanism is stable and opens very easy. On the left, you’ll find the microSD slot and the volume rocker, and the opposite side houses the camera button and the charger slot.

We are very positive about the way all buttons are operated. They are easy to press and clearly felt, something not even characteristic of some high-level models.

Interface:

Samsung SGH-M620 has a pleasant and user-friendly interface. It is similar to the ones used in rest of the models of the manufacturers and nothing will surprise you here.

The phonebook can store up to 1000 contacts, including multiple numbers for each, e-mail, additional information, picture, ringtone, group and date of birth. Unfortunately, there is no second name search.

When dialing a number the system automatically searches for matches among the numbers of the contacts added. However, this function is not very handy since it only searches through the digits and not the names.

The main menu houses the Calendar, which can be viewed by month, week or a day. This allows you to easily plan ahead with options to select the type of event (appointment, holiday or task). Each one of them has a start and end time, location, reminding alarms and a repetition option day/week/month.


The rest of the organizing functions, which we know from the other models of the manufacturer, are located in the Applications submenu.

М620 is a tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900), which makes it usable only in Europe/Asia. Since it doesn’t have a 3G support, you’ll have to connect to the Internet via the GPRS only. The simplified WAP browser cannot handle the more complicated sites. This is not a surprise, considering that the phone is not Internet oriented. However, its competition in the face of LG KF310, performs much better.

To connect locally, you can either use the Bluetooth 2.0 or the USB cable. The phone also supports A2DP, which allows the wireless transfer of stereo music.

The built-in memory is only 20 MB, but it is expandable via an additional microSD card.

The VGA camera on the back of the phone has a simplified interface, but actually offers quite some options and settings including: white balance, brightness, color effects, frames, multi-shot and mosaic shot. On top of that, all buttons of the keyboard except the 9 (reasons unknown) act as their shortcuts. The pictures are awful and we don’t see why have the camera at all. They can only be used for the contacts.



The multimedia functions M620 offers include a music player and FM radio. The first one has a quite simple and user-friendly interface and options for repeat and shuffle play. However, the tracks cannot be sorted in any way and you will have to make different playlists or to listen to all the songs. The music player lacks an option to play in the background as well and you cannot use the other features unless it is stopped.

The FM radio with RDS offers the standard functions (automatic/manual search, saving the favourite stations), but besides them, there’s also a reminder to let you know when your favourite talkshow starts for example.

The loudspeaker music quality is good and even better with the earphones. Overall, we were impressed with the loud and clear sound, which exceeded our expectations.

Performance:

The M620’s operating speed is very good without any lag in the menus or the various applications. In this aspect, the phone performed really great and we have nothing to complain about.

However, we have some notes regarding the sound quality. The voices at both ends are very loud, but  unfortunately, monotonous and quite sharp at times. We expected better results, but at the end of the day, the Samsung performs well and you will not have any troubles making a phone call. Nevertheless, the loudspeaker is useless since nothing can be understood.

According to the official data, the battery should provide up to 3 hours of talk-time and 300 in standby. These results are somewhat disappointing. In contrast, LG KF310 for example, lasts entire 5 hours of talks and 450 in standby.

Conclusion:

The main idea of Samsung М620, which is for the phone to be to be user-friendly, has been accomplished. The buttons are easy to use and the commands are executed very fast and the sound has a good quality. If you are in the market for a basic phone, M620 is worth every penny. However, if you feel ready to sacrifice the convenient keys for a better functionality, then LG KF310 is a better solution. Samsung L770 is another option if you want a stylish design, better camera and display, which comes with a higher price.