Introduction

The SPH-M500 is Samsung's latest multimedia clamshell, integrating music, photos, movies, and the Internet in a slim compact design. Running on Sprint's Power Vision Network, users can download news, music and entertainment at broadband-like speeds.

Consumers access music over-the-air through Sprint's Music Store, watch live programming through Sprint TV, and store multimedia on microSD cards. Additionally, the M500 features a 1.3-megapixel camera, speaker independent voice recognition, GPS capability and Bluetooth wireless connectivity.

Similar to the slim Samsung SGH-T619 from T-Mobile, the M500 provides an affordable slim handheld to Sprint's cell phone line-up, sure to find favor among multimedia-loving consumer.

Design

At 0.7-inches thick, the M500 is one of the slimmer handsets available. It is also extremely lightweight at 3 oz., which is a plus for people trying to decrease bulk in their pockets. The phone is 3.7" x 1.8" x 0.7" and has a traditional silver and black clamshell design that is more classic than flashy.

The front exterior of the phone has a 96 x 96 px, 65K-color CSTN color external screen that displays the time, caller ID and can be used as a viewfinder for the digital camera. Positioned above the external display is the lens to its 1.3-megapixel camera. The bottom of the clamshell is comprised of the phone's internal antenna and standard battery providing up to 3 hours of talk time.

On the left side of the phone is a triangular-shaped button used for ringer volume control and a choice between silent, vibrate and 1-beep options. The right side of the phone has a stereo headset jack to turn the phone into a portable personal music player. Just below is a camera control button and a slot for microSD memory cards (a 32 MB card comes with the phone).

On the inside, the M500 has a large, 176 x 220 px, 262K-color internal color TFT display. Its glossy, black keypad features large numbers and letters accented by a pleasant pale blue backlight. Unlike most devices, its main navigation key isn't cluttered by Internet or calendar icons, so getting to some features may take one or two extra presses of the button. On the plus side, there's no need to worry about getting charged for extra services not subscribed to from accidentally pressing the wrong side of the button.

Users can customize their display settings between two different themes and six wallpapers that come with the phone. More themes and screen shots can be downloaded from the Sprint Power Vision Network. Although this phone lacks the convenience of one-touch speaker phone, hands-free communication is easy with a Bluetooth wireless headset which can be used within a 10-meter or 30-foot range from the phone.

Out of the box, the Samsung SPH-M500 comes with an 800 mAh Li-Ion battery, Travel Charger, Data Cable, Stereo Headset, 32 MB microSD card and User Guide.

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