View Best Sellers   Release Date: Q3 2003 The Siemens ST55, with integrated camera from Siemens mobile, is well equipped for multimedia applications. With its high-resolution TFT color display, multimedia message service (MMS) technology, integrated VGA camera including a 4x zoom, and 5-way joystick, the ST55 offers all the technical features for using multimedia services and portals. The look and feel of the ST55 stands out with a cool, modern design accentuated by the high-quality metallic exterior.

Technical Specifications
Network:	GSM 900 / 1800
Form Factor:	Block
Dimensions:	99 x 47 x 22 mm
Weight:	87 g
Antenna:	Internal
Navigation:	5-Way Joystick
Battery Type:	750 mAh Li-Ion
Talk Time:	4.50
Standby Time:	140
Memory:	1.2 MB
Expandable Memory:
Imaging
Main Screen:	65000 colors (TFT) 120 x 160 px
External Screen:
Camera:	0.3 MP / 640 x 480 px / 4X Zoom
Audio
MP3 Player:
FM Radio:
Speakerphone:
Push-To-Talk:
Multimedia
Wallpapers:	120 x 128 px
Screen Savers:	120 x 160 px
Ring Tones:	40 chord
Themes:
Games:
Streaming Multimedia:
Messaging
SMS:
EMS:
MMS:
Email:	POP3 / SMTP
Chat:
Predictive Text:	T9
Applications
Phonebook Capacity:	250
Calendar:	50 entries
To-Do List:	10 entries
WAP:	2.0
Voice Commands:	10 names
Calculator:
Connectivity
Bluetooth:
Infrared Port:
High-Speed Data:	GPRS (Class 10)
Wi-Fi:
GPS:
PC Sync:
More Information
Website:	Siemens ST55 Website
Discussion:	Manufacturers Forum

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ST55 - A nice phone, but....

I have seen this handset bagged for various reasons, some valid, some not. If keypads are an issue with you, you would be scared away at first sight of this one. However, I am happy to report that my big fingers are able to push these tiny little keys without pushing adjacent ones as well. This is a big plus, as the keypad is truly tiny, and the designers are to be given top marks for this. The screen is nice and big (which is why the teeny keypad) and bright and there is nothing lacking in the colour rendition. Pictures from the camera don't look too good, but this is, I think, due to sub-sampling. Pictures displayed as wallpaper look ok.

The big minus is that this unit has no Bluetooth, no Infrared, no anything that could allow you to transport info to/from it. Amazingly, in view of this, Siemens has provided no USB data cable even. This means that the only way to get your photos out of it is to e-mail them to yourself via MMS. While this works ok, it is certainly doing things the hard way, and at the moment, MMS (Vodafone calls it PXT) costs 75 cents a pop here. (Australia)

Although the unit incorporates a reasonable amount of memory (about two and a half megabytes, I think), there is no option for the user to allocate appropriate memory to each function. Thus, if I don't use e-mail, and would like to use the e-mail memory for storing pictures instead, it just can't be done. This is pretty disappointing in comparison to my previous SL42, where I could just slide in a MMC flash card of whatever capacity was needed.

Things got interesting when I decided I didn't like the provided ringtones; I was impressed that this unit can use any sort of audio file as a ringtone, but how the hell do you get them into it? I decided maybe the best option was to record them on the phone itself. (yes, it can do this) After a few tries of loading the sounds up in Winamp and playing them with the phone right against the speaker, I got some really good results. Another plus.

Now for the rest of the things I don't like. The battery life is nothing like what is quoted in the specs. 2 days or so is typical if you hardly use it. If you take a bunch of photos, one day is about it. The auto-locking is essential here, because the most likely thing to get accidentally pushed is the joystick, down. What would happen here is it would activate the internet, which is the default menu item. ($$$) But I find the auto-lock to be quite unreliable; if you are using some function and get distracted, it times out; you would think it's gone into lock, because that's how you have it set, but it doesn't. Auto lock only comes on after the timeout if it's already in standby. (It might come on eventually, but don't count on it) This means I have had to train myself to lock it manually (by holding down # key) before putting it in the pouch. I've gotten used to it.

The camera works surprisingly well, and is able to actually capture a picture in some really awful lighting conditions. When viewed on the screen, pictures have basically pretty awful resolution, but I think this is because they have to be severely sub-sampled. When viewed on a computer monitor, however, the pictures are pretty sharp in the centre, but become quite blurry out toward the edges. The effect subjectively is as though somebody has clicked the shutter while zooming in. This effect would appear to be a matter of inferior optics, although I can't understand why this should be so. It's almost as if it's been done on purpose. Colour balance and saturation are quite good regardless of the lighting, it seems. I have gotten usable pictures in what would be totally hopeless lighting with any other camera I"ve ever used. There is a night-time exposure option, but it is next to useless, as the resulting picture is extremely grainy. The normal setting will take a picture in almost any light, anyway. The loud "Click-Clack" noise it makes when you press the shutter release is cute the first couple of times, then one finds oneself wishing it could be turned off. (it can't) Turning off the ringer deactivates all other noises as well, so you can do it that way.

In conclusion, if you can live with the aforementioned drawbacks, then I can well recommend the ST55. I cannot forgive Siemens for not including a data cable, however.

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