Samsung S3500 Review

Samsung S3500, also known as the Samsung Marcel S3500 in some regions, is a budget phone from Samsung which comes in a slider form with premium brushed stainless steel design. Even though the Samsung S3500 is a budget phone, it comes with great features and technologies which are also easy to operate. The phone comes packed with most of the essential multimedia features like a music player, FM radio, 2 megapixel camera with video recording support and space for memory expansion.

Body Design
The S3500 is not an expensive phone but the look and design of the phone says it is. The phone has a sturdy clean look owing to its one-piece chassis that has been made with just a one-step cutting. There is no welding in any part of the phone’s body. On top of that, the phone has a brushed metal look that gives the Marcel its premier look and feel. It has a physical dimension of 3.9 x 1.9 x 0.56 inches and weighs a respectable 3.35 ounces which is the right weight for a phone of that size.

The Marcel has a 2.2 inch color TFT screen which can display up to 16 million colors and has a maximum resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. Below the display, you will find the rather large 4-way navigation control pad. An assortment of soft keys is on both sides of the navigation pad and helps with the accessing of the short cut menu and phone book functions. And lastly, you have the two call keys (call and end call) below each of the two soft keys. The end key also acts as the power key as well as the menu exit key. The different directions of the navigation pad can be customized and turned in to various short cuts of your choice.

The number pad comes into display when the slider is slid open. The slider mechanism is of a high quality for a phone of its price range. Even though, the 12 alphanumeric keys are placed on a single panel, the tactile feedback of the keys is quite good. The keys are sensibly spaced and in curved rows of four and each rows are separated by slightly raised trim.

The volume rocker which also acts as the “zoom in/zoom out” button is on the left side of the phone. The right side of the phone houses the camera key and the multi function jack. The multi function jack is used for data transfer with other devices, for charging the phone and is also the headphone port.
The rear of the top part of the slider houses the camera lens and the small self portrait mirror.

Multimedia
The Samsung Marcel has a 2 megapixel camera and has night mode features. You also have various options in terms of shot mode. You can take your pictures in the normal single way or go for multi-shot, mosaic or panorama. You can even put effects to your image right at the time of taking the picture by turning your photos in to black and white, sepia, negative, aqua or green. Unfortunately, the camera does not have auto-focus and a built-in flash which comes handy while taking pictures in low-lit areas.
The phone supports video recording too, but videos lack detail and are grainy as recording happens at QVGA resolution (320 x 240 pixels) and at a measly 15 fps. The resultant videos can only be used for the MMS that you send once in a blue moon.

The S3500 comes with a built-in music player which can play various formats that includesMP3, AAC and WMA. The player also has support for MIDI playback. The music player comes with your own personal library folder where you can save all your files for quick and easy access whenever you want. You can also create playlists, which gives you power to listen to only the particular songs that you want to hear at the moment. The music player can filter and sort tracks according to artist, album, genre and most played.
The media player can also play videos on its 2.2 inch display screen. Compatible video formats that can be played by the media player include MPEG4, AMR and H.263 codec.

The phone also has an integrated FM radio which is powered with RDS support and has features to record the broadcast and save it in your phone. You can even set a reminder and let the phone turned on the radio at a particular time and at a particular station so that you don’t miss your favorite broadcast.
The phone also offers background playback of both the music player and the FM radio which gives us the freedom to do any other work with the phone while the music is on.

The handset has built in HTML, XHTML and WAP 2.0 web browsing technologies which provides with quality and quick access of the internet. Online data transfer is provided by EDGE and GPRS in the phone. You can also send and receive emails through this phone provided you pay the necessary network charges of the service operator you are using.

The Samsung S3500 has other fun and entertainment features too. It comes with 3 themes and 6 wallpapers which you can personalize and break the monotony of having a boring display screen. You can also pass your time with its built-in Java games like Tetris Mania, Sudoku and Jump Boy.

Memory
The phone has an internal memory of 30 MB which can store up to 1000 phone entries and 500 SMS. This 30 MB of storage is sufficient enough for a few ringtones, photos and the saving of recent call (dialed, received and missed) details. But for the storage of bigger files like MP3, videos, games and other applications; you need to increase your memory size. You can increase your memory size by putting in an external memory which comes in the form of a microSD card. The phone supports up to an expansion of 8GB.

Connectivity
The Samsung S3500 Marcel is a quad band phone and supports GSM 850/900/1800/1900. The Marcel being a quad band phone can access the online world with Class 10 GPRS at a speed of 32-48 kbps. Data connectivity is also provided by Class 10 EDGE at a maximum speed of 236.8 kbps.
The phone also comes equipped with bluetooth technology and USB connectivity. It has bluetooth version 2.0 which helps in the data transfer and connections with other bluetooth enabled devices. Due to this feature and inclusion of mobile printing application on the phone, you can send the images from your phone to a printer wirelessly and print it.

The phone also has USB connectivity which helps in the wired connection with other compatible peripherals like a printer or a computer. SyncML (DS) is an available feature on the phone. With this application you can synchronize your phone and your personal computer.

Performance
The Samsung Marcel does not have any creaks or wobbles which sadly a lot of slider phones generally have. The handset feels solidly built and has a distinct charm of itself probably due to its metallic finish and the high-end design. The camera was ok for a 2 megapixel lens although a flash and auto-focus would have made it got praises. The music player and the radio FM were probably the best highlight of the S3500 besides it design and build. It has a decent enough call quality and the battery life of 9 hours talktime on a full battery is very good.

The Marcel’s target is not the people who are looking for high end features and can spend big money to buy it. The phone is for the people who want an affordable phone with decent features. It is for the people who want a budget phone, but a budget phone that does not get its look, design and body build compromised due to the low price.

Verdict
The S3500 is a sleek phone with average features, a great look and an even unbelievable low price, which is quite a very good bargain. So, if you are looking for a low budget phone with the normal features but would want the phone to stylish and solidly built, then go for the S3500 from Samsung and you won’t be disappointed.
The Samsung S3500 is available for a wonderfully low price of $124.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4/5