Review: Samsung's Sporty M510 for Sprint Wireless

Samsung M510

Samsung M510

Samsung M510

Samsung M510

The newly released Samsung M510 from Sprint, a close relative to both the Samsung M500 and M610, recently came across our desks. This new CDMA handset shares a very similar feature set to the M500 that includes dual color screens, stereo Bluetooth, a microSD card slot, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and EV-DO compatibility for high speed data. Offering a combination of function and value, the good looking M510 is aimed at the mid-level multimedia user for Sprint Wireless.

The Samsung M510 is a thin flip styled mobile phone with clean looking rounded lines and edges. This sleek new model is cloaked in matte black on its outside and blue metallic on the inside. To give the M510 a sporty feel, Samsung has added a silver accented racing stripe down the center of its base. The M510 hinge and frame seem to be built to endure all day every day use and should hold up well. On its outside the M510's 1.1" color CSTN (96x96 pixel) resolution display provides pertinent caller and phone information. Just below the external display is the phone's single speaker, which sounded decent when during music playback. At the very top of the flip, above the phone's display, sits the M510's 1.3 megapixel camera's lens. On the M510's left edge is where you will find the handset's very tiny volume rocker button. Even though it is small and extremely narrow, the rocker responded well when needed. The right edge also has another tiny button for the phone's camera and is surrounded by the M510's plastic covered charging/headset port on one side and microSD memory expansion slot on the other.

Flipping open the M510 reveals alphanumeric keypad with its cool, reptile scale look. With flush mounted keys, the satiny keypad provides a nice feel under the fingertips but is also tad slippery and unsteady since there are no real guides to keep your fingers in place. This may pose a problem for heavy text users. The M510 has large talk send and end/power keys that are easily identifiable and flank the device's back and speakerphone buttons. From the standby screen, the speakerphone button provides quick access to call history. The M510's circular membrane styled d-pad worked well enough for typical use when navigating through the phone's many applications, but seemed to be a bit slow to when playing Java powered games such as Ms PacMan and Tetris. The middle OK button is also the phone's main menu launcher. The 5-way d-pad sits on the upper half of the phone and is straddled by two softkeys, with their respective labels displaying on the screen above. The phone's softkeys provide easy access to often used features and correspond mostly to action related functions. The right softkey can also be used as a shortcut to the phone contacts list. The M510's bright 2.1" color TFT (176x220 pixel) resolution display takes up almost all of the space on the top half of the flip and dealt well with reflections and glare when taken outside.

The Samsung M510 runs on Sprint's CDMA voice network and uses EV-DO for high speed 3G data connectivity. The handset's internal antenna provided us with great reception, even in areas where the signal is notoriously weak. Along with good reception came good voice quality and clarity. The speakerphone on the M510's was not the most life-like sounding but is definitely usable as a handsfree option. This Sprint Power Vision enabled handset gave us fast data speeds when watching a video clip or downloading the latest song on the M510, only occasionally hanging briefly during a download. Samsung has loaded the M510 with stereo Bluetooth so that users can listen to music or TV while on the go without bothering others, or being themselves bothered by wires. Additionally, when using a Bluetooth headset, caller information is announced through the headset so there is no need to pull out the phone to see who is calling. The M510 also supports voice activated dialing.

The M510's 1.3 megapixel camera is a fixed focus unit that allows the user to take photos in 1.3 megapixel (1280x960), high (640x480), medium (320x240), and low (176x220) resolutions. Features of note in the camera application include white balance and brightness settings, night mode, a self timer, a 4x digital zoom, and a few fun tools. In our tests, photo quality was acceptable. Occasionally exposure appeared a bit off and a bit cool (blue), but overall the device's camera took reasonable photos. The M510's video recorder can record long videos or 30 second short videos for Sprint's Picture Mail application. The manufacturer has included a microSD expansion slot that comes in handy when using anything in the multimedia department. You can easily store your pictures or your videos directly to the card with no problems. I personally prefer to use my PC to view my photos and videos but Sprint does offer easy and quick uploads to its Picture Mail website so you can share your photos with friends and family. In addition, the M510 supports PictBridge, which allows easy transfer of photos using a USB cable to a PictBridge supported printer.

Samsung M510

Samsung M510

Samsung M510