Samsung Trace SGH-T519 Review

Samsung have reached a success with their Ultra line launched in Europe, represented by the X820 6.9mm and D900 13.9mm we've already reviewed. So the manufacturer has decided to bring this design in similar form over to the States. What we have here is the Samsung SGH-T519 for T-Mobile, successor of the T509 the carrier offers. Although it is a little fatter than the European X820, it strips 2mm down its predecessors' thickness.

A major upgrade in the functionality of the T519 is that it adds microSD slot for expanding the internal memory, which was missing in both the T509 and the X820. Its camera is still 1.3-megapixel, which is a step back when compared to the European phone with 2-megapixel camera, but it is quad-band GSM/EDGE phone instead of tri-band only.

The T-Mobile box of the Samsung SGH-T519 packs the phone itself, a charger for it, mono headset and manuals. Unfortunately the headset won't be the best for listening to music, and as the connector is Samsung propriate one you won't be able to replace it easily.

What you immediately notice about this small silver phone is how slim it actually is. The 7.6mm thickness (0.3 inches) makes the phone look so fragile but actually it is with very solid construction.

Even its battery cover lacks any undesired movement, but it can be easily opened when you want it to. The battery should be removed to insert the SIM card in its nest, but it is a rather easy operation.

		T519, T629, Pebl U6	T519, T629, Pebl U6
From top: Pebl U6, T629, T519

The phone feels comfortably in the hand and the only negative side of its design some people saw is it is rather wide phone, similarly to another popular slim phone – the RAZR. In a pocket, the slim profile and the light weight help you not feel it is there.

The front side houses the phone's display – capable to display 262k colors in landscape mode with resolution of 220x176, big enough to fill the small size of the unit. Over all, the T519's display won't disappoint you - it is visible at various angles, can be seen in direct light, and delivers sharp and contrast images we've come to expect from Samsung. Its small size and resolution don't make it suitable for web browsing though.

Below it is the numeric keypad of the T519. All of the keys are almost completely flush and only small separators between the calling and soft keys and over the “5”-key are slightly raised. It is hard to use to dial a number without looking at the phone as you will hardly distinguish one key from the other. Otherwise they are average to big in size and are easily pressed, retuning tactile feedback. The D-pad is small in size and as the central OK key is neither raised nor lowered, you may encounter problems navigating through the menus.

The whole keypad is lit in light bronze color similar to that of the phone housing. It is not the best option and in direct light you may not be able to see the key's characters, but in dark it will be bright enough to lit all the keys.

On the left is the volume rocker, while on the opposite side lays the camera shortcut. They are not lit, but are comfortably situated and raised enough to be easily found by touching. Next to them are respectively the headset/charger connector and the slot for microSD cards, both with plastic protective covers that are hard to remove, which will be an obstacle every time you try to charge your battery.

Interface:

In stand-by, the T519 is similar to other currents Samsung models – it displays the system information, the carrier name and the soft keys functionality. You can change the wallpaper image with another (there are about a dozen coming preloaded with the phone), with option to use any image you have stored on the phone. Pressing the sides of the D-pad will act as shortcuts, but the central “OK” doesn't work in standby mode – it would have been much more logically if it opened the main menu, as it is with most other phones. We found ourselves pressing it often in vain trying to access the main menu…

The main menu is displayed as a grid of 9 icons (3x3) which are animated and enlarge when selected. You can change the menu theme from black to white, but the phone doesn't support real themes – just that couple of color schemes. In the main menu every icon has its own shortcut (1-9 keys) and it's similar in the sub menus, which are displayed as list. After you've entered in a menu, you can go to the one next to it by pressing left or right – this way you can change a sub-menu without going back to the main.

Dialing a number can be displayed with large numbers, and an option allows every digit to be in different (Rainbow) color – a great feature some people who do not see very well. It lacks the animated pencil from the D900, though.

The whole menu of the device is extremely easy and logically arranged and you can easily find what you are looking for without reading the manual, even if you haven't used similar model before. The reactions of the phone are instant, and it won't lag while moving through the menus.

Phone Book:

The memory of the phone can store 1000 contacts, each of which can store multiple numbers, email, group, picture and ringer ID. Adding a new contact is extremely easy and logically, just as anything other in the phone. Unfortunately the Caller ID Image displayed on an incoming call has useless small size.

Searching through the list of the phonebook is done by directly typing characters, but the phone will search only through the “First Name”s first word. 

Organizer:

The organizer is situated in the Fun & Apps menu. You won't find anything extraordinary here, but all the things that are most often used. There are three alarms, with option to automatically power the phone ON if it is off, Calendar and Tasks, Simple calculator and Timers, and World clock with interface displaying the Earth's map. The unit converter looks terribly but is very usable.

The T519 has about 16-17MB of internal memory. A major upgrade when compared to its predecessor and its European brother, is that it features microSD slot. Using it, you can upgrade the memory up to 2GB!

A simple file browser is also situated here. It browses the files stored on the phone or on its card by types: music, videos, etc. It's not as good as advanced explorer on a smartphone, but it is OK for simple tasks.

Messaging:

T519 isn't a messaging device but has some extras – it comes with some preloaded templates for fast sending of messages; Pictures messages are also easily composed, and you can add multimedia files (pictures, videos) to them in a few steps. The phone lacks email client, but compensates it with incredible Instant Messenger that supports all major clients: AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo!. You can easily connect and have a chat with your friends.

Connectivity:

To connect the phone with a computer, you can use an optional USB cable or Bluetooth connection. The phone has Bluetooth v1.2 antenna but unfortunately lacks A2DP profile for stereo sound over it. It's easy to pair it with any Bluetooth accessory like a headset for example, and you won't need a manual for doing this.

Unexpectedly, its browser is a real HTML browser and you can open pages, previewing them as on a normal computer browser. We loaded up phonearena's homepage, but unfortunately you may experience some troubles with pages as big as this. The phone will definitely deal with pages such as Google without any problem.

Camera:

Hold down the camera key (on the right side) for a couple of seconds and after four to five seconds the camera interface will be started. It is similar to those of other Samsung phones and is not very comfortable. The icons are small and hard to understand, while the options are in list menus. You can use a selection of color effects and frames to add to your images. The phone can capture video in low 176x144 pixels resolution that is worth using only for sending to another phone via multimedia message.

The camera quality is below the one we were expecting from it, although it is simple mediocre 1.3-megapixel unit. The color representation is very inadequate; the images are sharpened and have enough detail for use on the Internet, but the colors are unrealistic and grainy. Rarely, you can capture a decent image that's close to the real situation.

Indoor images:

Outdoor images:

Audio:

The music player has interface similar to those of all other Samsung phones. You can change the visualization, having two options preloaded. Additional equalizers should change the way your music sounds, but if you have no stereo headset the difference can not be noticed. The music is played through the speakers situated on the back of the phone, and at higher levels (7+ of 10) it is distorted.

Software:

The phone comes preloaded with three games: Bobby Carrot (arcade game), Freekick (soccer game) and demo of Midnight Pool (8-ball game). All the three applications load up fast and are entertaining, so you can spend some minutes with them.

Performance:

Probably due to the small size, its signal strength is pretty weak and in places where the signal is not perfect, this will be felt. When compared to other phones in our test, it lost signal much before the others and was not usable in places they were. Still it is similar in performance to other good-looking phone – the KRZR.

The incoming volume is somewhat weak and you may not be able to conduct a call in a noisy environment, but if it is quiet around you, the sound is realistic, and clear, and the voices sound just a little thicker.
The other party heard us very clear and with normal strength. There was no microphone noise and the voice was realistic. Using the speakerphone made the sound somewhat distorted, but we heard reasonably well – if the speaker was located on the front side instead of next to the camera, it would have been better.

The battery is rated for 6 hours of continues talk time or 200 hours in stand-by mode, and with nominal usage of about 20 minutes talk per day it would last for three to four days.

Conclusion:

Samsung Trace T519 is nice small designer's phone – it looks good, and feels good due to its solid construction. Its display is small but looks fine with sharp and colorful images. When we add user-friendly and very fast menu, as well as microSD slot and music player, the T519 is the one of the leaders in the thin phones class.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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