Review: Samsung i8510

Samsung i8510 Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: Released in September 2008, the amazing Samsung i8510 is Europe's first 8 megapixel camera phone. It uses the same Symbian operating system and Series 60 user interface as the Nokia N95 and has almost identical features, including GPS satellite positioning, a music player and FM radio, WiFi, 8 GB of built-in memory and up to 16 GB of external memory. This phone raises the bar in mobile performance.
Best buy: *Free* with half-price line rental from Mobiles.co.uk.

Samsung are certainly venturing into new territory in 2008 with the i8510 (also known as the Samsung Innov8.) Not only is this Europe's first 8 megapixel camera phone, but it marks a change for Samsung, with the release of their first mainstream Symbian smartphone.

Let's talk about the camera first. At 8 megapixels, it pushes decisively beyond the 5 megapixel resolution of its nearest competitors. But megapixels aren't everything when it comes to digital cameras. Fortunately, Samsung are one of the world's leaders in digital cameras and they know what they're doing here. The i8510 moves camera phones closer to the kind of user interface that dedicated camera have. A dedicated button activates the camera, opening the lens cover, and toggles between camera, video and the gallery. There are plenty of settings for advanced users to play with, such as panorama, smile-detection autofocus and blink detection. The basics include a 9x digital zoom (no optical zoom sadly - see the Samsung G800 for that) and a dual power LED flash. This flash is good enough at close range, but cannot match the brightness of the xenon flash used in the Sony Ericsson K850i (although the K850i comes with a host of problems as discussed in our K850i review!) It's debatable which camera phone is truly the best, but the i8510 must surely rank in the top 5 currently. The video camera is also noteworthy, as it records in high resolution and at up to 120 frames per second, which means that you can play back in slow motion if you like.

The other most interesting thing about the i8510 is the fact that it runs Symbian 9.3 with the Nokia Series 60 user interface. This makes the phone's UI remarkably similar to the Nokia N95 (although the i8510 runs the latest version 3.2 instead of the buggy 3.1 version used by the N95.) Samsung have tweaked some options of course, but this is essentially a phone that any Nokia Nseries user could pick up and use without a second thought. It looks like N95 users will have a real choice when they come to upgrade - should they choose the Nokia N96 or the Samsung i8510?

It isn't only the UI that looks very much like that of the Nokia N95. The whole phone does! It's a chunky slide phone that weighs even more than the N95, but is several millimetres thinner. It'll be too heavy for some, but if you like solid phones, we think you'll like the feel of the i8510. The slide is smooth and the keypad feels good too, although the touch-sensitive navigation key is bound to annoy some users (although its sensitivity is adjustable.) One of the benefits of a large phone is that it can fit a large LCD display, and Samsung have definitely made the most of the available space with a high-resolution QVGA display measuring 2.8 inches across, and displaying 16 million colours. Once again, it matches the capabilities of the N95.

The Samsung holds its own when it comes to music playback too. Its music player handles all popular formats (MP3, AAC, WMA) and includes OMA digital rights management 2.0. Equipped with an FM radio RDS and 3D surround sound DNSe 2.0 technology - Samsung's proprietary digital natural sound engine technology used in its MP3 players - the music capabilities live up to our expectations for a high-end phone. The media player supports DivX playback too, which is just as well since the huge 8GB of built-in memory is enough to store several full length movies! Alternatively it will hold 2,000 songs in MP3 format (more if compressed.) If that's not enough, you can add a 16 GB microSD memory card to expand the total memory to 24 GB - enough for 6,000 songs! The i8510 also has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, so you can plug in your own high-quality headphones.

Like the N95, the i8510 features A-GPS satellite navigation, with mapping software from Route 66. You can also download free software such as Google Maps. The GPS supports geo-tagging of photos.

The i8510 is a good platform for accessing the web. It's equipped with a HTML browser and uses intelligent zoom and switching between landscape and portrait modes to display web pages optimally. The touch-sensitive scroll pad works very well when browsing the web. With HSDPA enabling download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps, you can access web pages rapidly, and download music and video directly to your mobile. In addition to web access, the phone is able to connect via USB 2.0 or wirelessly via Bluetooth and WiFi. You can use the TV-Out connection to view photos and video directly on your TV. It's also possible to stream content wirelessly to a compatible PC or laptop using WiFi.

The i8510 also has a 3D graphics accelerator card making it into a mini-Xbox! We haven't played the games, but there are two free embedded games - FIFA'08 and Asphalt. You'll find more Symbian applications pre-installed, or available for download.

Battery life is quite respectable - the phone's size and weight are there for a reason! - although with so many gadgets to play with, you may find you need to recharge every couple of days if you're a heavy user.

The i8510 is clearly designed to go head to head with the Nokia N95 8GB and the Nokia N96. Does it make the grade? We think so! Apart from its weight and the issue of the touch-sensitive navigation key, the Samsung i8510 matches or beats the N95 8GB. The Samsung has a better camera and a better video camera. Does it beat the N96? Well, the N96 has more memory, but the i8510 has a better camera. W'd choose the Samsung, but the N96 comes very, very close!

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Features of the Samsung i8510 include:

• 8 megapixel camera phone with 9x digital zoom, autofocus and dual LED flash
• Video camera with built-in video editing, DivX playback
• 3G video calling
• Display: TFT, 16 million colours, 320 x 240 pixels (2.8 inches)
• MP3 player (MP3, MIDI, AAC, AAC+, WMA, WAV formats), OMA DRM 2.0
• Stereo FM radio RDS
• 3D Surround Sound System
• MP3 ringtones / 40-voice polyphonic ringtones
• Speakerphone
• GPS satellite navigation
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email (POP3 / SMTP / IMAP4)
• Document viewer
• Java games (Java MIDP 2.0)
• Personal organiser functions
• Offline mode
• Memory: 8 Gbytes plus microSD memory card slot (up to 16 GB)
• Internet: HTML web browser, WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE, 3G HSDPA (3.6 Mbps)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, WiFi, TV-Out
• Quadband GSM plus dual band 3G HSDPA
• Size: 107 x 54 x 17 mm
• Weight: 136g
• Talktime: 5 hours (3G) - 8.5 hours (2G)
• Battery standby: 310 (3G) - 330 hours (2G)

Samsung i8510 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!

Average rating from 66 reviews:

Reviewed by ABRAM from SOUTH AFRICA on 6th Jan 2009
VERY CLEVER FONE I THINK I'M FALLING FOR IT!!!!
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Reviewed by EmirHan from TURKEY on 4th Jan 2009
This phone is amazing.I offer this phone for everyone.Especially the camera is perfect. I'd love it..:))
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Reviewed by Jim Roberts from UK on 4th Jan 2009
My first and last Samsung. I had an N95 which I gave to my wife and I would love to have it back but I aint that brave. I had an N96 for 2 days and exchanged it for the i8510 'cos the Nokia felt tinny and plasticky compared to my excellent. I'm well used to symbian phones but this is the first one that needs daily charging, even with minimal use. I got it in december and daily I am counting the new bits of dust under the screen. The phone seems solid enough and works the way I want a symbian phone to work but the battery and dust problems have got to me and meantime I'm using an old N70 instead. At the first opportunity I will go for another Nokia maybe the N85. Anyone considering this phone should take a look at the comments on the various forums. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
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Reviewed by Liz from Uk on 4th Jan 2009
Great Phone. Love This. Just Like The Nokia N96 But Better. Camera is Ace
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Reviewed by Shahram from Iran on 1st Jan 2009
I've had this phone for a couple of weeks.It takes very good photos.It's a little heavy.Battery consumption is a bit high but if you adjust (reduce) the Contrast,keep your bluetooth and WLAN turned off,put your phone on Off-Line before going to bed every night,your battery life will improve gradually.So far no dust has got into the earpiece of my phone.And I recommend you to use an LCD Protector the moment you buy it,but it doesn't mean that the LCD is easily scratchable.Web-Surfing is a pleasant and music player is enjoyable.It's a Symbian phone so you can find a lot of applications in it.The only problem I'm facing with is that I don't how to remove the Auto-Lock process set by the factory.Anyway the most important thing for me is that I am always having a good camera-phone with me to hunt the moments.
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Reviewed by Hooded Assassin from England on 30th Dec 2008
I came to this website to read the reviews from people that own this phone before going to purchase it myself. i have now brought the handset and want to clear up some of the myths that maybe putting people off getting this phone like it nearly did me. Dust under the screen - I asked the guy in carphone warehouse about this and he said that some handsets had been returned with this problem. I brought the phone anyway and have now had it for 3 months. For the first 2 weeks i didn't dare put it in my pocket, or have it in the dashboard of my car for fear that i would fall victim like so many of the reviewers on this site. Then i thought "fudge it!". Since then i have used the phone as normal and it has even spent time in a dust filled room where i am currently decorating my house. No dust under the screen, nor usb port. Poor Battery life - this makes me laugh, mostly due to the fact that i went from owning a HTC touch diamond to this phone so i REALLY know poor battery life. My average day with my I8510 goes something like this: Alarm to wake me up - Music player hooked up to car to take me to work - Approx 10 texts, 10 minutes calls - Music home - Approx 10 minutes calls in the evening. This usage would give me 2 days of battery life. However, if i use my music player, whilst driving using my satnav at the same time and then recieve a phone call, and then go back to satnav and music, this would rinse my battery in about half a day. Unfortunatly whilst mobile phone technology has advanced no end, batteries have not. This phone has very very good battery life in comparison to equivilant handsets, and that's all the matters. Scratches easily - The build quality of this phone is immense and i've dropped it a few times now with no drama. The phone has a small scratch on the side of it (not the screen) where it was in my coat pocket with keys. My phone always seems to find the pocket with my keys in and yet this is the only damage. Difficulty connecting WiFi - LOL! You go to 'Web', Select 'search for WiFi', click the connection, Job done! It even remembers that connection and has it available automatically next time you go to 'Web'! I reliterate, this phone is awesome. The music player is incredible (i have now sold my ipod), the sat nav is yet to let me down (only downside is having to pay for the UK map), It has buttons (Touch screen is the worst thing ever to happen to mobile phones), it is built on a very stable operating system (Symbian). I understand peoples poor experiences but my experience of this phone has been incredible. Well done Samsung!
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Reviewed by Lucy Edwards from Uk on 29th Dec 2008
I cant see why people are moaning as i can go 4 days without charging my phone its the first charge that the phone gets dictates how long the battery life lasts for. I may be on my second one because of my battery last time i started to use the phone straight away without charging it my boyfriend and his brother told me that . People need to learn to look after the batterys first. Where were you all when brains were being handed out or did u just totally miss this stage of evouluation???
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Reviewed by Ohdear from United Kingdom on 28th Dec 2008
Right, to settle all this arguing, This phone is the best phone released and its even better than the Nokia N96, Okay, to start with, people who are having "dust in the screen" problems, don't leave it anywhere where it will gather dust, its simple plus alot of phones gather dust, its just the way you look after it and secondary, the battery life, yeah, stop moaning, all phones actually have rubbish battery life cause its the way you use it, 3G runs it down quicker too, its your fault, don't blame Carphone Warehouse and Samsung for your mistakes and one more thing, you having problems with Scratches ? DON'T DROP IT OR LEAVE IT IN AREAS WHERE ITS GUNNA GET SCRATCH! Where were you moaners when Brains were given out?? This Phones Great SOO STOP MOANING ABOUT DUST, BATTERY LIFE AND SCRATCHES, ITS HOW YOU LOOK AFTER IT, DEAL WITH IT.
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Reviewed by quentin from Australia on 24th Dec 2008
again the dust thing???? what are you guys doing with you phones!!! u dont live in the desert by any chance do yas?
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Reviewed by ben from england on 21st Dec 2008
got this phone a week ago and was very disappointed the battery life is terrible mountains of dust gets under the screen and the usb port and has already stopped working. Definitely swapping it for a different phone. p.s dont buy this phone
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Reviewed by Hannah from UK on 20th Dec 2008
i got my 8Gb i8510 about a month ago it scraches very easily and the battery isnt very good i have to charge it every night. i havent had any problems with it yet other than that a good phone!
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Reviewed by quentin from Australia on 20th Dec 2008
dont understand people problems with battery life and dust... ive had this phone for about 8weeks now and i get 3days EASY with moderate use..i think im on my 4th day at the moment.. same goes with the dust factor... none... I do have the same phone as you guys right??? i dont get how 1 person can have HUGE amounts of dust and then the next person,absolutely nothing. yeah sometimes apps can take a sec or two to start up but dam for the specs this phone has I can live with that!!!!!! Ive owned alot of phones, and this is by far the best ive owned.. people thinking about buyin this phone... read the reviews...enough said.
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Reviewed by nes from Philippines on 17th Dec 2008
I think, it was a bad decision for me to jump to this 16Gb i8510. Actually at stanby mode batt lasted only for 20 hours, the HSDPA 7.2Mbps as advertised is 460Kbps only in PC suite, Dust accumolates faster under the screen, menu button cases are very sluggish. For a traveller like me this phone is very disppointing.
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Reviewed by Dan Smith from England on 16th Dec 2008
Viki Jones all the quality phones I've had, have had that E in the top right corner of the screen, From the S-E K800i to the Samsung I8510. I'm use to be very impressed with the time it takes for things to be bluetoothed fro the computer but now I find this phone asolute rubbish. I've had it since October and all it seems to do is brake. If I close the phone too hard it turns off. If I leave the phone off for more then an hour it turns on. If the phones in my pocket it turns off. Worst phone I've had since the Nokia 3210.
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Reviewed by aaron from untied kingdom on 14th Dec 2008
i have had this phone for about 2weeks now.. my first impressions were WOW!the phone looks a LOT nicer in person than over the internet and the dummies in the store,as the dumies dont have shiny gloss ect. this phone is amazing! everything you could wont from a phone and a camera , the slow motion is so funny,but goes incredibly darker when recording. the sound speakers are GOOD! better than i thought when you change the equaliser! the dust thing is a load of rubbish.. not experienced it yet. AMAZING PHONE!!!
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Reviewed by Jane from England on 12th Dec 2008
I like the phone but I just find it a bit sluggish. It is slow to start the camera, slow to get through to other phones when dialing. . . just slow.
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Reviewed by Alessandro from Italia on 4th Dec 2008
this phone is wonderful it join the quality of symbian with the nice samsung style (and top performances like camera, memory and a lot of compatibility) the best if you are bored of usuals nokia
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Reviewed by Viki Jones from England on 3rd Dec 2008
Had 2 months and for some reason will not let me send text messages. Another woman experienced similar problems in shop, has been given FIVE new handsets all done the same. Has a small E under the network gage on the top left hand screen where the 3G should be. Not amused at all
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Reviewed by abdo from egypt on 2nd Dec 2008
wooooooooooow
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Reviewed by kabir from bangladesh on 29th Nov 2008
samsung i8510 vary nice and great camera phone
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Reviewed by Duncan from UK on 22nd Nov 2008
I've had my i8510 for 6 weeks now and have no problems at all with it. I got it through Carphone Warehouse on Orange upgrading from a U600 so I was familiar with Samsung operations from day 1. The camera is amazing, take time to set it up first and you'll be rewarded with some quality pics. As a pro photographer I'm fussy about pictures and while the phone may lack any form of manual override for speed and aperture, it's great for catching shots when you're out and about that you'd otherwise miss out on. If you import them onto a computer and have Photoshop, it's possible to produce pictures that can be blown up to poster size without any loss of quality. The big screen makes web browsing possible even if your eyesight is poor and being able to pick up WiFi makes it an inexpensive option. I agree with the review about Route 66 - complete waste of time! But then when would you ever use it? It's a solid robust phone with a quality feel to it - just hope it stays that way for the next 17 months.
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Reviewed by Annie from UK on 22nd Nov 2008
Only got one gripe with this phone so far. Even if it was wired to the national grid the battery would still want more juice. I really like this phone but I need it be more mobile. Does anyone actually get more than a day out of it, I close down all the big apps I can...its so annoying!
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Reviewed by Richard from UK on 20th Nov 2008
was very impressed with the phone apart from minor faults until 2 months in. This is when the usb type port on the phone stopped working, meaning that the phone could not charge or link up to the pc. so not good in terms of reliability
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Reviewed by graham from uk on 19th Nov 2008
what is the point of this route 66 i tried to load uk map but no you have to pay so ok £5.00 maybe £10 at most no 59 euros what a rip off so i tried to download it started then timed out so try again went bed got up no download timed out then looked at my 02 bill what the @@@@ £459.42 data download thank 02 for wipping this bill route 66 help dont no anything about it rip off dont bother with map the phone cool route 66 is a load of @@@@
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Reviewed by simon gatty saunt from UK on 18th Nov 2008
I have had 2 i8510's go back to vodafone for the same problem. The phone locks up on re-boot and will not start. Reading other forums, I am not the only person to have this go wrong. Awaiting my 3rd i8510 - last chance, or I will exchange for N96. I really want this phone to work for me, as it has such grt applications and features. But it has to be reliable as i use it for a business tool for emailing, satnav, etc. My curretn n95 had bugs to start with, but Nokia ironed them out over time with regular firmware uploads and it is now very stable. Lets hope Samsung do the same.
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Reviewed by westside from USA on 15th Nov 2008
this phone is not worth buying soo please don't buy it.. its piece of junk!!!..
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Reviewed by Ben from UK on 14th Nov 2008
Contrary to most - I think the battery usage on the i8510 is really good. Any 3G phone is going to drink the battery anyway [cos of the linear amps], where Ive had mine for about a week and its certainly been much better than my old 3G Razr so far. Camera is v. good, as to is OCR and GPS. The WiFi was tricky to setup. Needed to get the MAC from the phone [*#62209526#] and the MAC that my router saw [which was different] and add them BOTH into my routers MAC access list before comms would go. Havent had a prob with dust yet as I took heed to others comments and taped over the phone socket till I get a plug! Will update if I do still get dust. My real gripe is theres little online info on the phone. Best stick with forums!
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Reviewed by chris jericho from england on 11th Nov 2008
this phone rules
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Reviewed by Chris from U.K on 7th Nov 2008
had the phone 2 months really good phone apart from the dust under the screen i've taken it back to the cpw 4 times an had a brand new i8510 each time but with evey phone dust keeps getting in an now because the 28 day return are up they wont do anything about the problem because samsung wont recognize the problem, STAY AWAY FROM THE I8510!! and the carphone warehouse.
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Reviewed by aaron from england on 2nd Nov 2008
it is a excellent phone even better then the n96
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Reviewed by Matt from UK on 1st Nov 2008
Exchanged my first one at the carphone warehouse without any problems, battery life seems better now, but using blutooth to send/receive and/or doing any intense application, like using the camera for a long time will really drain battery life. Again im starting to get the dust on the screen, which is really disapointing but i'm just gonna put up with it because i really like the phone! Does anybody know what the Power Saver actually does in the personalisation?
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Reviewed by Serge from UK on 29th Oct 2008
Matt, I read somewhere that if you have the autopivot on that can be a massive battery drain. Check your settings for that. I like the phone otherwise though, apart from the dust problem!
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Reviewed by Phill from England on 28th Oct 2008
I'd have to say that this review is incorrect about the phones memory. If y'all haven't noticed the INNOV8 gives you a choice of 8GB or 16GB of internal memory and in both cases you still have the SD card slot which allows you to expand your capacity by another 16GB. This totally gives the phone the ability to surpass the N96.... [Editor's reply: Yes, there is a 16GB version but it's very hard to find in the shops. Most of the i8510's sold are the 8GB, and that is the phone that we reviewed.]
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Reviewed by Adam from UK on 27th Oct 2008
I am on my 3rd i8510 after reading this review I upgraded to this phone but dust is a massive problem it takes just a matter of hours to start. If you can put up with a lot of white and black dots all over the screen then this is a great phone.
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Reviewed by Matt from UK on 25th Oct 2008
I got this phone last week, upgraded from an n82, at first i thought this phone was fantastic! screen qualitys great, speaker quality was great, keyboard was ok, bit on the slugist side when texting, which was odd... But after keeping it in my pocket, using quite a lot, the battery seemed to be terrible, it lasted for almost 9 hours, full screen brightness, but use wasnt even too heavy! i spend about 5 minutes watchig the preloaded trailers for kung fu panda and transformers (seems a bit of a waste putting them on...) about 10 minutes on the phone and sent about 7-8 texts. this really disapointed me, after a full 20 hour charge the night before. Firstly dust started coming through somewhere in the top right of the screen, dont know how, but its spreading all over, and its really disapointing me. I'm taking it back tomorrow for probably the same one, but if it happens again then i will get the n96. These are the only 2 problems i have with the phone, but they are pretty serious ones!
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Reviewed by Errol from Jamaica on 24th Oct 2008
This phone is the best in cellular technology. I have to get me one of these!!
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Reviewed by wendy from uk on 23rd Oct 2008
i got this phone on tues and am taking it back tomorrow i am having to charge it day and night and i dont even use it that much couldnt get the satnav to work either after several calls to samsung i give up
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Reviewed by andy from uk on 16th Oct 2008
I have found a HUGE problem with this phone, when it gets anywhere near a pocket dust will get in behind the screen through the earpiece and is impossible to remove. i have had for 7 days and am now returning to carphone warehouse for a new phone, they say it is a recorded issue with the handset. Real shame that such a simple problem ruins an otherwise excellent phone
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Reviewed by ogungbemi from uk on 16th Oct 2008
its nice
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Reviewed by Graeme from Scotland on 12th Oct 2008
'you may find you need to recharge every couple of days if you're a heavy user' Nonsense. Heavy use depletes the battery within a matter of hours.
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Reviewed by Dave from UK on 11th Oct 2008
2nd i8510 in 2 weeks now and the same fault keeps appearing. Every time I open the music app it constantly performs a search and there is no way to cancel it except for removing the battery. But the phone is awesome so I will give it one more chance.
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Reviewed by Andy from Uk on 10th Oct 2008
Had this phone for a couple of days now, gotta say so far so good. It has everything you could ever want in a phone.
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Reviewed by colin from UK on 8th Oct 2008
Had this phone a week now. does everything you need. However you have to download and pay for the sat nav maps, i think for the price this should of been included. The camera is excellent and the menu is easy to navigate. I cannot find anything i do not like about the phone.
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Reviewed by Tina from UK on 8th Oct 2008
Had this phone for less than a week, love everything about it EXCEPT the battery life!! I am going to be taking it back to CPW and exchanging it for the same (this time) in the hope its just a fault on this phone. Fingers crossed.
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Reviewed by Gareth from UK on 7th Oct 2008
Had this as an upgrade from CPW. Its main selling point being the 8mp camera so was very dissapointed to discover that the camera on my phone did'nt work. Returned it to CPW the shop assistant said it was the fourth i8510 they had had back for the same fault, maybe a recall is looming? The build quality was not great either, it did'nt feel like a £500 phone. The amount of things that are on this phone is impressive and if Samsung can improve there Quality inspection etc then it could be an iphone beater. For now though I'll wait for the SE C905
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Reviewed by tia from uk on 6th Oct 2008
i love my samsung i8510!! its mega awesome!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Mareile from UK on 4th Oct 2008
Had this for a few days and find it excellent in every way. Haven't needed the user manual so far as everything was self explanatory. Very easy to use phone, excellent camera and call quality. Connected to my wireless for file transfer - excellent phone backup and file management on Samsung PC Studio 7, btw. Am not missing the QWERTY at all - I type fluently on laptops and typewriters but could never get used to those tiny QWERTY keypads on the blackberry type phones - I prefer texting mode. The predictive text is easy to use and you can add to it. Connectivity and reception is very good and so is the battery life.
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Reviewed by Dominic from London on 4th Oct 2008
This phone is really good but i think my n95 8gb is better though but i love the camera and video on this this phone has to be in the top 3
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Reviewed by Paul from UK on 2nd Oct 2008
I've just taken my i8510 back to CPW after a week's ownership. Gorgeous phone on paper, nightmare phone in reality. I'd press the answer button to receive a call - nothing would happen. And again and again. I've lost so many calls and of course incurred charges in calling people back. It freezez, it's slooooooooow. Out of the box it seemed responsive but when I sync'd with my PC and loaded up lots of music it ground to a halt. The GPS was very flakey, you have to pay extra for the route 66 UK maps, pay extra for Quick office. I so wanted to love this phobe, the build quality is great it looks good and feels good. Texting is not so easy and predictive texting requires you press * to go through the various words based on the key sequence you pressed, there is no drop down menu as there is on other phones. CPW replaced the phone with another i8510 but forgot to include the battery, so I have to go back. I am not optimistic as I believe the issues are in the software design not the manufacturing. Writing real time software that is interrupt driven (i.e. that has to react to every key press, accelerometer input, phone input, email and text input or incoming call), whilst playing music/watching a video is no small thing to do. I wonder if the software engineers have got it right. OPerating the camera ... mmmm there's a thing. Press the silver button and wait. And wait. It took upto 10 seconds for the camera mode to engage and there be an image on the screen, by which time I'd missed the moment. The whole operation of the phone is just too sluggish when the memory is part loaded with appointments, contacts, music etc. Disappointed as it has the potential to be fab!
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Reviewed by Andrew from UK on 30th Sep 2008
I have had this phone for a week now and am quite amazed how well thought out it is, how well built it is and its performance is the best I have ever seen. I am responsible for mobiles within a large UK business and am almost constantly reviewing hand sets as I am currently reviewing the Omnia i900, the Blackberry 8310 Curve and the Samsung i1850 of which I paid £399 for SIM free as a hopeful replacement for my fairly new Nokia N95 8GB. Bit mad you may think well yes I am a self confessed gadget freak and love new technology. The main attactions to me about the i1850 are the 8mb camera, 2.8" screen, simple efficient texting (unlike the stone age N95), build quality, Built in and hot pluggable memory, you can easily transfer music from Media Player, Sound quality and the facility to use ANY normal haed set (this is a massive improvement as you normally have to keep the bespoke samsung with you so inevitably you never get to use the music facility), speed of internet connectivity and interaction with Flikr etc which I have tested and works, the wireless LAN connectivity works perfectly unlike the N95, the camera is faster than any other mobile phone I have used before and I have even played with the clever 'panoramic' setting which is amazing. However I find it quite heavy and a little challenging to set simple screen wallpapers from photos as the orientation is a little tricky? One major issue which admittedly is cosmetic is that Samsung claim and this is proved on their website if you select the video tutorial for this handset, that you can install and use 'Yahoo Widgets' on its screen / desktop. This video shows an auto hide side bar that you can select and drag widgets like a nice clock, a calendar and other nice visuals to the desktop but having spent 3 days solid trying to research this I finally relented and called Samsung. So for all of you who also noticed this, Samsung UK have escalated this issue to the 'Head Office' and will come back to me as soon as a solution is found e.g. this may well be a firmware upgrade or operating system patch of some sort. I wanted to change from the N95 mainly due to the texting as the Nokia text engine just does not live up to the device as it still inserts words that simply do not exist and gets confused with the basics. Other than that I also found the N95 slow, buggy and the camera was so slow to start it was irritating. The N95 camera when started was excellent and the screen made it more pleasurable, however the Samsung i1850 camera is almost instant as long as the button is pressed firmly and will take pictures almost immediately. It also has a speedy recover time so is usually ready for another photo pretty quickly, unlike the N95. It is also capable of multi-shot which if you try it actually works which is no mean feat for a combination device like this!! All in all so far this is a great device, I love the Omnia for its instant appeal but find it irritating to use, the N95 is a great phone but does not hold a light to this one, if there was one real area of dissappointment it would be the LED flash, this slows the photo procedure and isn't really effective but if you alter the ISO and make sure you keep it still, you can actually take good photos in low light. Another area of concern at the monet is signal strength but I know as well as some others that this has a heavy dependancy on the operator e.g. Vodafone although up to know this phone seems weaker than the N95 for receiving signal. My N95 has a great in car holder and it just sits in there and the charger pin just slips into the phone when inseted which is fantastic, unfortunately Samsung use side mounted chargers and this will make mounting the phone much more difficult e.g. on long journeys in a generic screen phone holder? The micro USB plug also seems quite loose when using the charger? I am just pleased that they have opted for the standard jack for the head phones which works really well. Mad to buy outright but I have to say worth every penny!!!!!!
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Reviewed by urfan from uk on 26th Sep 2008
i have always had a samsung, d900, u600, u700 g600 ,however recently got the f480 tocco and very bad desighn dust kept getting into screen . so sold it and purchased a i8510 fone. same problem the dust factor? the n95 is way better as it has no probs with dust getting in
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Reviewed by Kevin from United Kingdom on 26th Sep 2008
Lets get the record straight this is not a Nokia this is a Samsung made by Samsung Mobile got this phone and it is sooooo much better than the Nokia N95 as it is not full of bugs it does'nt reset itself and in my opinion the camera is awesome on this phone the clarity of the pictures is as good as any 8mp camera currently on the market this phone has everything you could ever want or need from a phone i don't like touch screen i fond it fiddly. this phone is 5/5
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Reviewed by Matthew from UK on 26th Sep 2008
Incredible phone. My first smartphone but it really doesn't disappoint! Camera quality is fantastic (yes, no xenon flash but not a big problem as LED works well in dark situations) - you can even adjust ISO settings. Compared photos with SE 902 and the photos are much better. GPS is great! Bought the Route66 map of the UK for a mere £40 which is very accurate and up-to-date. The built in music player is great quality. The metallic body is awesome quality too. I expected the battery life to be terrible and after a couple of days of etremely heavy usage and as the battery built it's charge strength I'm now finding it lasts for days! Well done Samsung! Best phone by a long long way.
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Reviewed by simon cordt from United Kingdom on 22nd Sep 2008
In a nutshell it is a feature packed phone , you have just about everything all in one phone with nothing missed out. One thing that does stand out for me is the liking to the Nokia N95 it might as well have been made by Nokia as it works in exactully the same way features and feel are identical bar the new 8m camera and a few other quirks.All of that said i got it on o2 but really wanted it on T-Mobile but after ringing them up for an upgrade they told me that they did not expect to be getting the phone (GREAT) so I have had to move to 02 against my better judgment one issue I have had is the ULTRA low signal no matter what part of Luton im in while using the 3G setting i have found that the only way to improve matters is switching the mode to GSM which I thought to be very odd?
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Reviewed by John from UK on 22nd Sep 2008
I experience missed key presses whilst typing a whole text message, and not just at the start of a message. The missed key presses at the start are because it takes a while for the "New Message" window to open. Once its open, there is no excuse for them :(. Just a tip for anyone, it doesn't come with a proper user manual, just a quick start guide... You can, however, download the complete manual for the i8510 from the Samsung site [Editor's reply: Thanks for the URL, John. We've made it into a link here in case anyone wants to download it.] Not coming with the full manual is another minus point I suppose, but I bet most people won't read it so its probably saving a few trees... [Reply by Lee from UK on 7th Nov 2008: Here is the link for the English manual as the one listed no longer works.]
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Reviewed by Tom from UK on 22nd Sep 2008
I got this phone a few days ago after upgrading from the absolute abysmal Sony Ericsoon K850i and i have to say this phone is fantastic and completely flawless - easy to use, great applications, the navigation button isn't as sensitive as reviews make out and the easiest pc software i have come accross to name a few things. I would recommend this phone to anyone, especially Nokia users looking to upgrade. The only slight flaw i have found is that the back scratches slightly easily but i can live with that. Also in relation to johns question i have found that when i start text messages but only because it takes a few seconds to load the text screen, and i text quicker then that.
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Reviewed by Sean from England on 22nd Sep 2008
I was coming to the end of my contract with my Samsung D900 and was considering getting the Nokia N96 when it was released, I then read about the i8510 and immediately wanted to get my hands on that instead. A lot of people told me it wouldn't be very good because it's a Samsung but I've never had any trouble with Samsung before - my D900 has performed very well for the last 18 months and it's a shame to have to stop using it! The i8510 spec is outstanding, and it's only when you actually use it that you realise how good it is. The camera and multimedia playing is fantastic and the navigation is really easy to use. The keypad is also really good, slightly different to what I have been used to but with anything new there is always going to be a little "getting used to" time needed. There isn't any touchscreen technology (to my knowledge!) but I was never really interested in that anyway. There are so many other things on the phone that I haven't even got round to exploring yet but so far I've had no issues with the phone and I think it's brilliant.
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Reviewed by John from UK on 21st Sep 2008
Great phone, exactly what I wanted in all departments... Build Quality is better than that of my old N95. As people have said, camera is awesome, ...but I do have one issue with it. I text at a fairly quick rate, and occasionally the phone will miss a key press. On my old N95 I had no issues with key presses being missed, so its a problem with this phone. I'm convinced its not hardware related, because I can feel the button press down, and get the click feedback, but the letter just doesn't appear. For example, typing Hi in predictive text often leaves me with just "I". I'm hoping its a firmware problem and can be fixed with a faster firmware release later on. Anyone else having this problem?
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Reviewed by Lewis from Yorkshire, England on 21st Sep 2008
For anyone who owns a Samsung G600, this is an awsome upgrade, a little bigger but great features including the best camera I've seen on a phone yet. Music player is great (same as G600 really) but you get a lot more internal memory. Very similar to the N95 but this isn't full of faults, top phone with great build quality, and accessing the internet is very fast, go get one and show off to ya mates!
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Reviewed by Jules from UK on 21st Sep 2008
I love this phone..easy to use & so much on it! Camera is brilliant..top quality pics! Sound quality is amazing. This is an 'all singing, all dancing' phone that is well worth getting. It's not touch screen but I don't care. Instruction book is naff but by at the end of the day, who sits there with an instruction manual? I've got to know the phone far better by playing with it than getting frustrated following instructions. Well done Samsung, you've really given Nokia a run for their money with this one!!!
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Reviewed by danny from uk on 20th Sep 2008
when i first got it, had no problems. got playing with it, and after a little while, the layout and all that was pretty easy to use. the camera is top quality, but let down by the led flash. would be so much better with a proper xenon flash. as for the rest of the phone, there is a hell of a lot of features, some that seem a little pointless, but still, very impressive. Then i got a problem. the charger or the battery, or something doesnt work properly. the connection is intermitent at the best of times, but if you put it on charge, because it is on low battery, if the connection doesnt work properly, it runs out of battery, then you get a symbol of the screen, showing an empty battery and a sand timer, and it doesnt charge. other than that, the phone is great!
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Reviewed by Steven Murray from u.k on 20th Sep 2008
this is one of the best phones of 2008 as it has a whopping 8 megapixel camera and face detection etc and thats not all coz it has 3g vide calling and plenty more!!!The only downside is it is not touchscreen enabled but apart from that its ok personally i recommend the tocco or omnia!!!!
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Reviewed by Samantha from scotland on 16th Sep 2008
i really hope this comes out on pay as you go :) its a great phone!
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Reviewed by David from Bath UK on 14th Sep 2008
I have had this phone for almost a week, and I can almost say that this phone is really amazing. I had the Nokia N95 8 GB and I will say that the i8510 wins hands down, the camera is much better, and accessing the web is faster too. The only draw back I have with the i8510 is that the display doesn’t work that well in direct sun light. As Mick from Scotland has mentioned the menu and the look of the i8510 is very identical as the Nokia N95 8 GB. Also, the build quality is far much better on the i8510, and it’s a really nice phone to text with too. This is the first Samsung phone I have ever had, and I am so happy with it. I would recommend that anyone looking to up-grade or buy a phone on contract, consider the i8510 it’s a must have phone. The music player is really cool too, also, you can record from the built in radio on this phone, and the recording quality is just like recording from a cd. Well done Samsung !!!!!
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Reviewed by Courtz from Scot on 14th Sep 2008
GREAT PHONE GREAT CAMERA
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Reviewed by Mick from Scotland on 5th Sep 2008
Got this yesterday and not spent too much time with it as it is basically a nokia in disguise granted the camera is very good but other than that all the menu's are the exact same as the N95,Nokia 6110 even down to the navigation,graphics for watching a film on it are on par with any dvd player but other than that they should have called it a SAMKIA i9510
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