Samsung E715 / E710 review

Samsung E715 / E710

I like clamshell phones - especially the ones with no antenna. Samsung E715 / E710 fits very comfortable in the hand, feels very sturdy and overall have very good build quality. The casing is all plastic with silver and deep gray accents. This is the first phone sporting OLED display that I test. That type of display is supposed to be the next big thing. Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) is a display made by placing a series of organic thin films between two conductors. When electrical current is applied, a bright light is emitted. This process is called electro phosphorescence. When used to produce displays, OLED technology produces self-luminous displays that do not require backlighting. These properties result in thin, very compact displays. The displays also have a wide viewing angle, up to 160 degrees and require very little power, only 2-10 volts. OLED displays have other advantages over LCDs as like increased brightness, faster response time for full motion video, lighter weight, greater durability and broader operating temperature ranges. Unfortunately, they are still too expansive and are used only as secondary displays.

E715 external OLED display

The external OLED display is split in 2 parts - the lower part is gray scale (16 shades) and is used for the caller ID or when making a self-portrait picture. The upper part of the display has different color icons displaying notifications of received messages, battery status, signal strength and the clock. Because of the nature of OLED, the display is very bright and lit up all the time.

Situated above the external display is the camera sensor, the LED flash/flashlight and the service lights. The LED flash is supposed to illuminate the surroundings when it is dark and help the camera. We'll discuss this in detail later. The color of service light can be chosen from a list of 7 different ones. It lights up in different patterns depending if have received sms, missed calls etc.

There is a rocket switch on the left side used for volume up/down when the flip is opened and used to turn on/off the flashlight when the flip is closed. Below the switch is the infrared window, and above it is the 2.5mm headset jack.
The right side of the phone features a dedicated camera switch which has to be pressed for like 4 seconds before the camera application is activated.
The top of the phone has a lanyard opening and the bottom features the charger plug-in.

E715 left side. From top to bottom: 2.5mm jack; Rocket switch; IR;	E715 right side
Bottom	Top

Once the flip is opened, it reveals a 128 x 160 TFT 65k color display. It is very bright with good contract and very saturated colors. What I noticed was the screen looks grainy compared to even lower end Samsung E105 or high-end Motorola V600.

Samsung E715 screen

Motorola V600 screen

(click on the images to view higher resolution pictures) 

The internal keypad system consists of two soft-keys and four way directional keypad. The usual complaint about the Samsung's directional implementation is that the key in the middle does not function as a select key, but as one designated for starting the web browser. This is very inconvenient, since you have to move your finger every time to make a selection. Other then that, the keys are easy to press and give good press-response.

Samsung E715 / E710 compared to other phones