Review: Samsung F490 Nerva

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Samsung F490 Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: The Samsung F490 is a beautiful touchscreen phone with a large screen and slim body. Equipped with a 5 megapixel camera, 3G video calling, a music player, plenty of onboard memory and a fast HSDPA internet connection, it's a very stylish and well specified phone. But texters should be aware that a touchscreen phone can never match a conventional keypad for speed.
Best buy: *Free* from Vodafone.

The F490 (nicknamed the Samsung Nerva) seems to be Samsung's answer to the massive-selling LG Viewty. Like the Viewty, it has a full-size touchscreen user interface, a 5 megapixel camera, and high-speed 3G HSDPA which enables fast internet access. The Viewty and the F490 look very similar. The F490 also seems to be a development of the Samsung Armani. It looks like Samsung removed the Armani branding and made the F490 do everything that the Armani should have done! Read on and all will be made clear ...

The F490 is a touchscreen phone using Samsung's Croix user interface that first appeared in the Samsung Armani. We liked the Armani, but the trouble with the Armani is that it's just too small for a touchscreen phone. If you're relying on the screen to control everything from making calls to writing texts, then you want the screen to be big - like the iPhone at 3.5" or the Viewty at 3". The Armani's screen is just 2.6". The F490 has a 3.2 inch screen, and this makes all the difference. It's a much easier phone to use than the pocket-sized Armani, although text addicts please note that that texting on a touchscreen phone is never going to be as fast as on a conventional keypad. The screen has a 16:9 widescreen format when turned sideways, so is perfect for watching videos & movies too.

The F490 has a much higher spec than the Armani too - it's directly comparable with the LG Viewty. Don't even mention the iPhone - the F490 blows the iPhone out of the water in terms of features! First up, this is a 3G phone, with a high-speed implementation of 3G called HSDPA delivering broadband internet speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps. It also has a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash - as usual, don't expect this to match a dedicated digital camera for quality, but as phones go it's in the top 20 of camera phones. 3G video calling is possible too. The F490 has a well featured music player capable of playing nearly any common digital format, and produces high quality audio. It's missing an FM radio though, which is a shame.

Memory is generous, with 130 Mbytes of onboard memory plus a slot for adding a microSD memory card. Connectivity is good too, with USB 2.0 and Bluetooth.

Physically the phone is very attractive, with its minimalist shiny black exterior. It's very slim too at just 11.8mm, making it significantly slimmer than the Viewty.

Overall we like the F490, but it doesn't quite match the Viewty. The Viewty user interface just seems to have the edge, and the Viewty's camera is better too. An excellent phone, but if you want touchscreen then the LG Viewty still rules in our opinion.

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Features of the Samsung F490 include:

  • 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, 3x digital zoom and LED flash
  • Video recorder & 3G video calling
  • Display: TFT, 240 x 432 pixels, 262,144 colours
  • Music player (MP3, WMA, ACC, ACC+, e-ACC+ formats, OMA Digital Rights Management)
  • 72-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
  • Speakerphone
  • Voice memo recorder
  • Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
  • Java games
  • Memory: 130 Mbytes plus microSD memory card slot
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB 2.0
  • Internet: WAP 2.0, web browser with Google search, GPRS, Edge, 3G (HSDPA 3.6 Mbps)
  • Triband (900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G (UMTS 2.1GHz)
  • Offline mode
  • Size: 115 x 53.5 x 11.8 mm
  • Weight: 102g

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Samsung F490 Consumer Reviews

Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!

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Average rating from 47 reviews:

Reviewed by J McLean from UK on 26th Jun 2008
Good phone, best I've had in a while. A few niggles though. When you receive or want to end a call you have to press the camera button on the side to unlock the keys. Second is the manual, with a high spec phone you'd expect a weighty manual, but no, only 85 pages (not including troubleshooting section). I've had problems find text on 'how to' on the phone and ended up just sitting for a few hours just going through each application on the phone. Third is the camera, it takes AGES to take a picture, a good 3-4 seconds. I found this a real issue due to my kids never sitting long enough at the best of times. NOW THE POSITIVES....and there are many !! general ease of use with the touch screen. Once you get the hang of running you finger of the screen to move the icon about it's a dream to use. I liked the 1GB Micro SD card supplied, this is pretty good for pictures and video as the internal memory is pretty low. All in all it's a great phone. Highly recommended. J
Rating:

Reviewed by Ali Hussein from UK on 24th Jun 2008
No doubt this is the best phone I have ever had. After about 2 years now of running 2 contracts; 1 for myself and 1 for my wife, and collecting all the freebies that come with them (such as a free PSP with one contract, Xbox360 with another, and a Wii with another) I was questioning what other freebies can I get with a contract since I already have them all. Caphone warehouse is offering some free low-spec Acer laptop at an over-valued suggested retail price to get you locked into an 18 month contract with a garbage little phone, so that was out of the question. So what else was on the market that was free and could compete with my spoiled expectation of getting something amazing along with my phone contract? Enter the Samsung 490!! My little PDA, media system, phone, camera and "satnav"! All be it, I'm stretching the terminology here, but I'll explain how it is all these things... First thing's first...got a £23 8gig memory card (instantly on par with the iPod!) The iPod by the way is £169 with a contract for the 8 gig model. The F490 is free on Vodafone with a £30 contract!!! So eat that Apple. How it is a PDA: Memos, neat calender, alarm, converter, calculator and all the usual bits. Down side is memo has a character limit so you can't go nuts and write epic notes to one's self. In this way it can't truely be a PDA as it doesn't have a word processor. None the less it does a damn good job. How it is a media centre: Grab a video converter off the web to convert videos to 3gp format. I currently managed to pack 28 Full length movies I ripped from my DVD collection!!!! Each one is about 100 to 150 meg, taking up a total of 3 or so gig. I also packed on about 3 gig of music; standard MP3 format will do. It also has a subscription service like iTunes but I can't be bothered with that personally. There are other ways to get an MP3 file if you ask me. For £5/month I also picked up a TV 30 channel subscription from Vodaphone with about 8 Sky channels, 2 music video channels, and 2 kids channels, plus more. In the car I plug in the earphone jack and we end up having a little in-car TV and movie player on the stereo speakers! Also, the F490 has full internet webrowsing, but sadly doesn't seem to support flash content such as used by Youtube. iPod seems to have won on this front. Keep an eye out for a Flash plugin. Also, crucially, it has amazing screen resolution and when viewing webpages that dont seem to fit on the screen either vertically or when flipped horizontally, you can also force higher resolution page viewing, essentially shrinking the text and page to fit!!! This is limited by how much you care to squint. I usually set my resolution to view a full hotmail page horizontally laid at about 80%, i.e. I can read the font and see both the left hand side folders list as well as read the email subject headers. The dates get cut off though. However simply drag your finger across the screen to pan anywhere on the page. In terms of viewing images, it not only has a nice viewer with scroller, but also views PDF files, for all you who need it for business on the go. I'm still searching for a CAD viewer plug-in for my professional needs though! The downside here is no FM radio though! Very little downsides when it comes to media! How it is a phone: This one is pretty obvious. It has great reception, great clarity, and easy to use menus. Downside's here are only mentioned becuase as a phone it has so many other features, the phone aspect suffers slightly. Due to its touch screen nature, bright sunlight makes it hard to see the touch screen key pad. Also due to the touch screen, it gets locked out during a call, so you have to press a button on the side to activate the screen again for keying in anything such as when checking your messages. This can be a bit tricky at times with one hand. Seems to ergonomically work best when using the left hand. When using my right hand, reaching that button with a spare finger requires holding the phone in a certain way that may lead to dropping it, and this is one phone you don't want to drop!!! My previous Sony walkman phone was a tough little phone that could take a beating, this one is a bit of a jewel you want to cherrish and baby! Texting is a tad slow due to the software's lag, but I'm not some flirting teenager to really care much. 3G video phone calls are all but dead these days until someone makes them inclusive in the contract. Who has the money to pay 50p per minute to call someone who may or may not have a video call phone?!? So like me, you can use your 3G camera (mounted on the screen side) as a mirror!!! Vanity bonus points! How it is a camera: 5 megpix sound great but I must admit my old Sony Walkman's 3megpix produced better images. The F490 pictures lack due to the following: Autofocus is markedly slow! From the moment you snap the picture, at least 2 seconds pass before the image is captured. Which means NO ACTION SHOTS. You will not get what you see. For example, you snap a shot of a car passing you; what you get will be no car, as it is 50m down the road from you! Also it tends to be grainy in low light conditions and lacks the white balance capability of the Sony Walkman phone. Autofocus is poor in low light conditions and often produces a blurred image. This hower ever is also true my my middle of the range Canon SLR as it is a typical downside of autofocus on any camera under £700. If however, its well lit, and stationary it will come out as pretty good picture. One feature I miss from my Sony Walkman phone was that the camera's flash could be used as a light and a damn bright one too! G reat for a dark parking lot, or finding your seat at the movies. The F490 has a flash though lacks that feature. Admittedly few other phones provide this very handy tool. How it is a SatNav: It's not in the true sense as instead uses its bundled Google Maps program and what appears to be mobile mast triangluation to find your location. Open the Google Maps application and tap the location icon, and a blue dot shows you where you are within 100-200 meters. Out in the country side this can stretch out to 1km. This is why it isn't a true SatNav. But it does find routes and does give written instructions at various junctions on the route. It has both map and sat image views as well! It won't however give you a driving view and oral instructions like a true SatNav device. The net package was unlimited and part of the contract on Vodafone which matches the iPod, and allows for the an essentially free "SatNav" tool, as opposed to some other devices which charge an additional terrif for that feature. The over all package is a slick sexy phone. Due to this I am possible in love with it and it can tend to irriate me as after I use the phone my greesy man face sullies the slick elegant facia of the phone and I obsessively wipe it down with the handy carrying pocket. The material also serves as a great lense wiper! Pull this phone out and table it at a meeting and you will have instant kudos and respect. With the knowledge you got it for free while those iPod suckers shelled out nearly £200, you will also have the confidence of a business accumen that will inspire in said meeting. You can also sneak off the the loo/can and catch up on Sky sports or a movie! Last but not least, the battery life: As you can guess, if you run every last feature on this phone for 3 hours a piece the phone will be flat by 5pm! The first couple days I ran it down doing everything I could on this phone and calling everyone to tell the about it. Now I have settled in a bit and I run it like this.... -60 mins MP3 usage in the morning on the way to work (30mins of which on the speaker while im in the bathroom, shower, and getting changed. The other 30 mins on the earphones on the way to work). -At least another 60 mins MP£ at work -Another 20 mins TV or video vieweing at work -Quite a lot of Google Mapping and time wasting -10 to 15 full webpage vieweings (i.e. 5 pages each or so) per day (hotmail, weather, whatever -40 mins MP3 on the way home -5 or 6 pictures over the day -constant use of memos and calender (screen use) -6 to 8 calls (short 5 mins a piece) -Once at home a couple more calls -Maybe an hour or so of movie watching while I wash the dishes or do something dull as hell and need some mobile entertainment. and by the end of all that I put it on the charger at bed time with about half its battery left! The one or two times I ran it down to flat was a total of 2 hrs video watching, 1 hour MP3 on speaker, 4 hrs MP3 on headphones, 5 (20 min calls), downloading of 8 (3 meg) PDF files for checking and issueing over email to a client, 200 pictures or so, and heavy Google Maps usage to find my way to and from a site I had never been to a couple hours outside London. I hope you enjoyed my informal ranting review and it helps you out. To be honest I can't really imagine what could make this better! It is a 10/10!!!! To want more is bordering greedy. Just think back to 286 computers, Nintendo NES, those brick cell phones in the 80s, and what they forsaw as the future of communication in Startrek, and if you think this phone is less than a 10, you got issues! I certainly didn't think when I was 6 years old watching breakdancers out on sheets of cardboard in the streets with their "ghetto blasters", that by the time i was 29 I would have (in 80s terminology) a ghetto blaster, camera, cam-corder, diary, rolladex, TV, VCR, (internet, WHAT? that wasn't until I was 15), computer, game player, map book/globe, calculator, photo album, alarm clock, watch, calender, notepad, and a damn phone (with call tracer like the cops had, also post 80s). If all that stuffed into 102 grams in your pocket doesn't make you wet your pants with glee, I simply don't know what will. [Editor's comment: What a review! Way to go, Ali!]
Rating:

Reviewed by anna from hong kong on 21st Jun 2008
I have this phone and think it's really good, touch sensitive is easy and practical, a big thumbs up from me and it looks good to! i am not going to be a geek and write an essay, in one word OUTSTANDING!
Rating:

Reviewed by Jude B from Scotland on 17th Jun 2008
Had my phone for nearly a week and overall I love it. Pros - it looks great, love the touchscreen which I have had no problems with so far. Picture quality and graphics great. Cons - hard to see the screen outside, having to unlock before answering and hanging up calls, it is quiet even when turned up, I had trouble figuring out how to send texts at first. The user manual wasn't much help but saying that, maybe that's just me!! You'll never be completely happy with any phone and the few things I've mentioned here haven't put me off. I would recommend this phone to anyone
Rating:

Reviewed by Richard from uk on 13th Jun 2008
I agree with Josh about the locking key. Great phone, excellent features, I actually find texting with pretext and using the pen provided is quicker than my old Nokia. Not used the camera much yet, but looks impressive so far. Touch screen is fantastic and very easy to use. Looks very stylish, feels great to hold and use, only draw back I can see is that the phone really needs to be kept in the pouch provide to avoid the large screen getting scratched. I would highly recommend it.
Rating:

Reviewed by Josh from UK on 12th Jun 2008
I dont know why every1 is so annoyed with the phone locking during calls, if it doesnt lock then u might turn it off with your cheek accidently! Fantastic phone, no faults BUY IT!!!!!
Rating:

Reviewed by Paul from Uk on 12th Jun 2008
This phone is so lush to use. It's easy, it is packed full of features and all in all a really pleasant phone to use. Gripes are that it will never replace a dedicated keypad for ease of use [tho has nice function of vibrating everytime you touch a key for some feedback] and teh touch sensative screen could be more accurate when viewing smaller text links. Tho you do get a stylus for difficult navigation. All in all top phone
Rating:

Reviewed by voodoo from UK on 10th Jun 2008
should you buy this phone? yes, simple as that, ignore all these " i've had my phone repaired 3 times in the space of two weeks etc", if that is the case, then there is a fault with the phone and it needs repairing. Touch screen is great, anyone insists they keep pressing the wrong button must have fingers like bricks, the buttons on the screen couldnt be any larger if they wanted to. Yes the camera is good but no where near as good as the N95, but then again the F490 isn't advertised as a *camera phone*. luckily my old phone is the N95 :P. Very classy looking, solidly made, i would highly recommend this phone.
Rating:

Reviewed by Jericho the 14th from africa on 7th Jun 2008
Where do I start with this phone? Well this phone has great features such as the massive touch screen, 5MP camera, great battery life and good internet access. As with many phones it takes a while to get used to. (3 month to find out how to change message alert!!) The touchscreen for texting takes a while to get used to, although 7/10 I press the wrong button. This is where the pen comes in handy which attatches to an accessory on the top of the cell. I bought this phone late april early may and within 1 day I had to send it back because it had a major problem. Problem being as the WHOLE phone is touchscreen, the touchscreen didnt work!! Yes. I could not press anything, after getting a replacement the same day. A few weeks later (5 minutes previous to writing this) It has broken once more. I left my charger in my car so used the usb link to charge my phone. Half way though sending a txt message it turned off. I cannot get my phone to turn back on and will sort out this issue with Vodafone in the morning unless I find a resolution tonight. Overall its a good phone but has many techinal faults as stated by my local vodafone outlet. I rate it 4/5i mad my dad buy me this on the 1st day it came out,im 13 and it took me half a day to figure how to use it...!! its a really really good phone, its loud and the internet on it is great! i got free internet on it and im using it everyday! i got a free pen with it so people who use it dont get their muky fingers on it! the camera is good! The contacts management hasn't been thought through very thoroughly its sometimes hard to find you contacts quick enough but you get used to it if you are thinking of getting it your making a great move! :D Overall good phone, very clear screen, great battery life, takes a few days to get use to the phone locking its self, makes answering the phone a bit of a giddle to start with but once your use to it its a fine phone, Camera is good quailty can be a bit slow in taking the picture its self. Easy to navigate, slim design adn well worth the money.
Rating:

Reviewed by James from UK on 28th May 2008
Where do I start with this phone? Well this phone has great features such as the massive touch screen, 5MP camera, great battery life and good internet access. As with many phones it takes a while to get used to. (3 month to find out how to change message alert!!) The touchscreen for texting takes a while to get used to, although 7/10 I press the wrong button. This is where the pen comes in handy which attatches to an accessory on the top of the cell. I bought this phone late april early may and within 1 day I had to send it back because it had a major problem. Problem being as the WHOLE phone is touchscreen, the touchscreen didnt work!! Yes. I could not press anything, after getting a replacement the same day. A few weeks later (5 minutes previous to writing this) It has broken once more. I left my charger in my car so used the usb link to charge my phone. Half way though sending a txt message it turned off. I cannot get my phone to turn back on and will sort out this issue with Vodafone in the morning unless I find a resolution tonight. Overall its a good phone but has many techinal faults as stated by my local vodafone outlet. I rate it 4/5.
Rating:

Reviewed by mark from uk on 28th May 2008
this is sooo rubbish WARNING DO NOT BUY IT. Y because the touch buttons muck up all the time, it turns off without warning and whenever i call someone or they call me it turns off.ive had it repaired 3times this month. DO NOT BUY
Rating:

Reviewed by Joe from uk on 25th May 2008
Samssung F490 is like marmite, you either love it or hate. and im afraid i hate it. The problems are numerous, but i will start off with the good points about this phone. The touchscreen is fanstatic, camera is as sharp as any lastest phones out now, battery life is good too....but, like most bad comments and one of the reason why i sent this phone back, was due to having to unlock phone to hang up. trying to scroll takes alot skills, and 9/10 u will press the button by accident. overall, unless your a samsung fan, (im a sony ericsson) you problem would love this phone.
Rating:

Reviewed by gabz from uk on 25th May 2008
i mad my dad buy me this on the 1st day it came out,im 13 and it took me half a day to figure how to use it...!! its a really really good phone, its loud and the internet on it is great! i got free internet on it and im using it everyday! i got a free pen with it so people who use it dont get their muky fingers on it! the camera is good! The contacts management hasn't been thought through very thoroughly its sometimes hard to find you contacts quick enough but you get used to it if you are thinking of getting it your making a great move! :D
Rating:

Reviewed by Mark from Scotland on 22nd May 2008
Overall good phone, very clear screen, great battery life, takes a few days to get use to the phone locking its self, makes answering the phone a bit of a giddle to start with but once your use to it its a fine phone, Camera is good quailty can be a bit slow in taking the picture its self. Easy to navigate, slim design adn well worth the money.
Rating:

Reviewed by clive from uk on 22nd May 2008
Grate phone
Rating:

Reviewed by Kris from uk on 14th May 2008
Got to say i love this phone. just got it today. the menus are very easy to navigate, the software on it is great. do not recommend for beginners or old ppl as they wont have a clue how to turn it on never mind use the phone, and then they will write a bad review on here as they have done already lol. why would you hate this phone???? its cutting edge and state of the art.
Rating:

Reviewed by bob from England on 13th May 2008
This phone is brilliant sooo worth its money.The best phone ever released.
Rating:

Reviewed by Steven from England on 12th May 2008
The F490 is a great phone, just takes a while to get used to it. The user interface is different to other phones especially if you are used to non-touch phones. Cut and paste facilities are missing - This can be useful if sending emails.... Over all I like this phoen. MP3 player options are great and the web browser works very well.
Rating:

Reviewed by Ben from UK on 12th May 2008
Excellent phone, menus are a bit dull but ive grown to like them now, just have a light wallpaper to cheer yourself up. Camera isnt great but i knew this when i bought it, i jus like the fone, its good. Dont buy it if u intend to use musicstation however... the backlight stays on all the time while running musicstation.
Rating:

Reviewed by Amelia from UK on 9th May 2008
Ive had this phone for a few days now. At a first tour of the phone, I wanted to send it back straight away, but I am glad that I didn't...As a touchscreen, it has (and still is) taking quite a bit of getting used to as it is very different from the average 'keypad' phone. At the moment there are more negatives than positives, but I am hoping this will change as I get used to it more. Here are a few examples: The camera is very slow, taking about 5 seconds to actually take a picture. When receiving or making a call, the touchscreen automatically locks itself, so you have to press a button at the side to unlock the screen to then be able to end a call. I am slowly getting used to this. Compared my previous phone, the sony erricson W850, the Samsung f490 speaker is a lot quieter. Since i listen to music a lot on my phone, this is quite a big negative to me. The positives of the Samsung f490 are as follows: It has a lovely big screen with a very clear picture. This is also makes accessing the internet on the phone and enjoyable experience rather than a task! The touchscreen is very responsive when using the special pen that comes with the phone. It is very sleek, stylish and as a woman - It is beneficial that it fits very nicely in a small clutch bag when going out! Although the camera is slow, the quality is excellent for a phone at 5megapixels. The bluetooth is very quick. At first I hated the texting process, but after practise, it is very easy to use - Although I would recommend predicitive text for this phone. Overall I would recommend this phone to more experienced phone users. As many of the other reviews have stated - It does take getting used to, but it does get better and better as you're always finding new things that the phone is capable of doing! Its worth the struggle! Promise :-) I hope that helped you decide whether its the phone for you or not.
Rating:

Reviewed by Rob from Wales on 9th May 2008
Absolutely rubbish phone, had it for 13 days, this was way too long. I thought the camera was rubbish, k800i i had was better.took ages to take a picture. making calls was extremely annoying, having to unlock it to answer and to hang up. rubbish. found it annoying going through my contacts, thought the scrolling on the phone was rubbish 2. In all couldnt wait to send this phone back. boring and rubbish.
Rating:

Reviewed by Luke Wilson from UK on 7th May 2008
I had this phone for around 11 days, and that was enough for me. I have to say without a doubt this is the worst phone I have ever had. The interface was total rubbish. No voice activated dialling, no built in stylus. The phone book was a total chore to use, and very often I would not be able to select my contact, as the phone would scroll right past it. I really tried to like this phone, but the only positive thing I cam away with was it's aesthetics. Samsung's backup was also poor. The phone doesn't even show on their website, there are no software updates planned, and by god does it need it. Stay away from this phone.
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Reviewed by Paul Honeyford from UK on 6th May 2008
Rubbish phone interface is rubbish everything about this phone is rubbish.
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Reviewed by visha from england on 4th May 2008
I LOVE THIS PHONE IS IT SO EASY TO USEAND I THE CAMERA IS GOOD TO
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Reviewed by Ben from England on 4th May 2008
when i went to get a new phone i found the samsung f490. it was to expensive but i bought it. after a couple of days it wasn't great but when you get used to it its fantatstic. leave it a week and you get used to it.
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Reviewed by 1 from UK on 2nd May 2008
Phone great, no problems so far, give the touch screen time to get used to (should only take a few days).If you're scrolling up and down pages use the tip of your finger/nail then it should be fine. The screen can be a little hard to see outside in the sun but not impossible. I agree that answering a call isn't the easiest as you have to unlock the phone first, but this can't really be helped due to the touchscreen design. This isn't a major issue either and dosen't take long to get used to. The phone will never be perfect for all and in every way. If you like the design i'm sure you will be able to live with quirks. Just ask yourself do you want a touch screen phone or a more traditional key pad design. If it's the touchscreen then you won't go far wrong with this phone.
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Reviewed by katrina kaif from india on 2nd May 2008
i think its a good phone but it could do with a little more improvement its not completely rubbish its ok =]
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Reviewed by master from uk on 30th Apr 2008
this fone is brill absolutely amazing the people that say it's crp are talking rubbish. total,utter uncontrolable rubbish
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Reviewed by the man from england on 27th Apr 2008
i think ur just all 2 old and cant use these phones if cant use it y buy it let the younger generation 16-24 years olds have them they wont complain trust me this phone is amaing
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Reviewed by AndyF from England on 24th Apr 2008
On the surface, the phone is a great concept as an alternative to the iphone however it just doesn't pull it off. The menu navigation is frustrating (the touch screen "slide" movement leads to selecting the wrong options a number of times), the time keeps changing itself on a Sunday morning (it thinks it's Monday morning so the alarm goes off!), and the camera is also very poor. The 3.2mp camera on my Nokia N80 was infinitely better quality than this on a lesser size and quality screen. Another fault is that on some 3G coverage areas, the phone wont let you make or receive calls, you have to switch it manually to only pick up GSM networks which, frankly, is pathetic. That may just be a Vodafone issue however. Overall, it's an ok phone however I dont feel the technology is quite advanced enough to really make it work right just yet...
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Reviewed by Paul from england on 23rd Apr 2008
Although the phone looks the part and yes slim and smooth, its impossible to do anything quicklyy texting takes ages, as does trying to take a picture. The quality is poor on pictures other than on a bright sunny day, the flash is poor compared with nokia and S Erik, and the lense is in the top corner right by your finger, so not in a good place. Gets very boring very quickly, and lost my patience with it after 2 days. The only thing is that it fits nicely in your pocket as its smooth, light and thin
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Reviewed by James Ride from UK on 22nd Apr 2008
Great
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Reviewed by David Jones from UK on 21st Apr 2008
Initially, I hated this phone. It made me want to cry. However, having given it a few days to get used to the touchscreen and it's grown on me enormously. It's stylish to the point of not being very manly and although it is initially fiddly, now that I'm used to it, it's quicker and easier to use than my old SE. The contacts management hasn't been thought through very thoroughly (no grouping), but overall worth the teething pains.
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Reviewed by John Ratcliffe from UK on 15th Apr 2008
Absolutely unuseable. Can't see the screen in any sort of light to see which button to press. Intuitive it is not. Can't describe how useless it is. I've given it 5 days but goes back tomorrow.
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Reviewed by John Kerans from England on 15th Apr 2008
This is a very nice looking phone, unfortunately it suffers from a number of significant flaws. the biggest is the touch screen, whilst it's an excellent idea it doesn't work very well, i find that every time i touch my finger to the screen to move down a list in a menu rather than letting em scroll it just selects the the first item i touch, making it virtually impossible to scroll through menus. secondly the fact that the screen locks when a call comes through, meaning you have to unlock it to answer, it then locks during the call, meaning you have to unlock it again to hang up. The camera takes about 5 seconds from pressing the button to taking the picture which is appalling. Overall its a very nice looking phone, but it's totally unusable
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Reviewed by Ben from england on 14th Apr 2008
i think that the new samsung f490 is great but i think it is to expensive
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Reviewed by Daddy from UK on 14th Apr 2008
Great phone, (back button fine & no resetting problems) takes a little getting used to... READ THE MANUAL ITS A MUST.... Camera is good - you have to set the res, otherwise you think its poor when you first get it, as it's set to low as default. It has got Autofocus (some reviews say it hasn't) Internet is very quick. PC software link up is a must, the samsung software is very good (if you dont link up it would be a nighmare to manage) Screen is reponsive (again takes a little getting used to) Would agree answering and hanging up is a little fiddle but can't see how else they'd do it - and the phone looks amazing!!! 5* no complaints (WARNING GIVE YOURSELF A WEEK TO GET USED TO IT!!!)
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Reviewed by JK from UK on 9th Apr 2008
i have this phone i got it the day it came out and i love it, im a bit disappointd on the camera because its the worst 5mp out on the market, but its a great looking phone. The touch Sensitive is better than sister phone the F700.
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Reviewed by carole from uk on 9th Apr 2008
As with all new things it takes time to adjust to change. Got the phone yesterday and its great. Play with it and read instructions you will be surprised what it can do. Have fun all who buy.
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Reviewed by t6o6n6y from UK on 8th Apr 2008
Top Stuff, I like this phone, have always been a nokia fan but this samsung F490 touch phone is simply the best at this moment in time i can not fault it and with the 8gb minisd card i have put nearly all my favorite music on and still have a couple of gigs left for photos and vids. Once again most impressed and i would highly recommend.
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Reviewed by harry kay from scottish on 7th Apr 2008
superb phone lassie
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Reviewed by Ste from United Kingdom on 5th Apr 2008
Bit disappointed by this phone, got it on Thursday when it came out and within 4 hours rang vodafone to change it but have it till Monday when they swap. Far too much messing about to answer/hang up a call, cannot see the screen very well when outside in daylight even with the brightness turned right up. Quite big to hold, back button can be unresponsive and mine one seems to reset itself after a few hours if you dont use it. I understand that new phones do often have "bugs" on software when first released but this phone just doesnt do it for me. Waited to upgrade my phone till this one was realised but not at all what I was told this phone would be. Have had samsungs for years, the E700, E720, D900, U600 and dont rate this one. Maybe the complete touch screen just aint right for me? Enjoy it if you can get on with it.
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Reviewed by dee cook from middlesbrough uk on 3rd Apr 2008
I have just got the new f490 3rd april and i must say iam a little bit dissapointed with it i cant put my finger on what it is iam hoping its goning to grow on me otherwise it will b on ebay nxt week
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Reviewed by lema from uk on 2nd Apr 2008
best fone eva ya gotta by dis fone so all u out der by it its bear cool so get it ar u all dumb.
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Reviewed by ***kirsti s*** from birmingham on 12th Mar 2008
well this phone has not got a fault with it as yet i think its brill, it looks amazing aswell as actually being one of the best phones on the market.....best upgrade i could ask for!!!!
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Reviewed by Lily from Leeds on 6th Mar 2008
Brilliant phone, great to use, and looks very nice too.
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Reviewed by Ian Cook from Preston on 22nd Feb 2008
Well what can i say apart from what a fabarooney fone!!!!
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You can read more Samsung F490 reviews at RecommendedBuys UK.

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