It's always embarrassing when you're a kid and your dad tries to pull off some old-school dance moves. It usually begins and ends the same way: your dad, flailing about like Mr Blobby and you left feeling upset. Enter the Samsung F490: this is a phone that wants to be cool but will it get its groove on dad-style? It's currently available to buy from Vodafone on a monthly contract.
Design
There's no denying that touchscreen phones are sexy, but the excitement of seeing it for the first time starts to fade away when you pick it up. Unlike the iPhone -- a handset that feels like it's been crafted using premium materials -- the F490 feels too light and less like something that could survive an encounter with a two-year-old.
Glossy surfaces might look good in airports but the F490's reflective plastic screen makes it difficult to see in sunny conditions. We also found that you have to push the screen harder than you would the iPhone's to compose text messages or navigate the menu system, which is disappointing.
Features
Although the F490's user interface -- also used on the Samsung F700 -- looks good, it's not as snappy to use as the iPhone's or Nokia N95's, for example. Scrolling through lists, in particular, takes some getting used to because you have to brush the screen up and down in a certain way: it just doesn't have much pizazz.
This lack of excitement is reflected in the F490's applications, too. The Web browser offers a basic browsing experience compared to that of the iPhone, and wastes a high-speed connection due to its lack of functionality. Even when we tried a third-party browser, the clunky touchscreen made it less enjoyable to use.
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User reviews4
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tgw6017 6 July 2008
Good: style and colour
Bad: screen response
Comment: its a good phone
the screen responce is ok but has its slow moments
blue and black colour is pretty cool
its a shame its only on vodafone
and contract only :(
still exellent phone :D
tgw6017 6 July 2008
Good: the black and blue affect
Bad: how the screen is slightly slow on response sometimes (BUT STILL GREAT)
Comment: people say is justba iphone killer when thee iphone is rubbish...
the iphone has a 2mp camera and bad signal but the samsung has a 5mp camera and has the signal of a normal phone
samsung has had time to come up with phones and had a lot of experiance but apple iphone is the first of its kind.
all together the f490 is a great phone
WELL DONE SAMSUNG :)
Fweem 7 June 2008
Good: Stlye, Performance and Generally Works Well.
Bad: Camera shutter speed.
Comment: Very stylish and sleek phone, easy to use with all the features you'd expect. Although no radio?!
Good camera except it takes a couple of seconds more than expected to take which is annoying at times.
Texting is easy and also predictive text is also very good.
Scrolling could be easier but once used to scrolling it is easier.
Overall a fantastic phone.
See all 4 user reviews