Review: Samsung S7220 Lucido

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: The S7220 Lucido is a classically styled phone with a sleek metal frame. It's extremely well equipped for a mid-range phone, with a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and power flash, MP3 player with FM radio, GPS navigation with Google Maps, Bluetooth, space for a memory card, 3G HSDPA and excellent battery life. A top phone! Check out the top 10 independent deals for the Lucido below, or click to read the full review and user reviews.

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Samsung Lucido Review

Review: April 2009.

The Samsung S7220 Lucido is the latest in a long line of superslim classic-shaped phones from Samsung (previous models included the Samsung U100 and U800.) The S7220 isn't quite as slim as some of these previous models, but it's still thin enough to slip easily into a trouser or shirt pocket and is one of the lightest 3G handsets currently available. It's also one of the highest spec phones in the mid-range price bracket - in some ways it's even better equipped than last year's flagship phone from Samsung, the Samsung Soul.

Let's take a closer look. The S7220 is a very good size and shape: not too wide, neither too thick nor too thin, with good sized keys and a nice large display. It has a sleek look, and the anti-scratch metal frame gives an upmarket impression. The keys are well spaced and respond well - it's a good phone for texting. The OLED display is very clear and bright, despite being only 262K colours, and is a good size (2.2. inches with a high QVGA resolution.) The built-in accelerometer enables the display to automatically switch between portrait and landscape modes.

The camera on the Lucido is a good one: 5 megapixels with autofocus and a powerful LED flash. The autofocus has a smile shot feature that will automatically take a photo when your subject is smiling. The camera isn't a match for Sony's Cyber-Shot models such as the C902, but it's pretty good for a camera phone. The camera also records video in MPEG4 or 3GPP formats and the phone is capable of video calling too.

The phone comes with an MP3 player that supports all common formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+ and e-AAC+. The built-in memory of 110 MB is enough to store 20 - 30 MP3 tracks, or more if stored in a compressed format such as AAC, and the phone will accept microSD cards up to 8GB. An FM radio with RDS is also installed. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack, so you are limited with the type of headphones that you can use, but the audio quality is good nevertheless.

The Lucido is a 3G phone equipped with HSDPA at up to 7.2 Mbps, so it's a very fact platform for downloading and web browsing. The 2.2 inch screen isn't comparable with the best smartphones, but in its class, it's one of the best available, and the phone is suitable for browsing the web.

A surprising bonus feature is GPS - surprising because most phones in this price range don't currently have GPS. The GPS receiver works with Google Maps to show you exactly where you are.

Surprisingly for a phone of its size, the battery life seems to be excellent too - perhaps due to the energy saving OLED display.

Although understated, the S7220 is a very classy good-looking and functional phone, and is extremely well equipped. We would rate it as one of the best mid-range phones currently on the market.

Features of the Samsung S7220 include:

• 5 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom, autofocus and power LED flash
• Video camera (MPEG4 / 3GPP) / 3G video calling
• Display: AMOLED, 262,000 colours, 320 x 240 pixels (2.2 inches) with auto rotation
• Music player (MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+ formats)
• FM radio RDS
• 3D sound effect
• Ringtones: MP3 ringtones / 64-voice polyphonic tones
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
• GPS navigation with Google Maps
• Voice memo & voice mail
• Speakerphone
• Java games
• Document viewer
• Offline mode
• WAP 2.0, GPRS, EDGE, 3.5G (HSDPA 7.2 Mbps), web browser
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1, USB 2.0
• Memory: 110 Mbytes plus MicroSD memory card slot (up to 8GB supported)
• Personal organiser functions
• Quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G
• Size: 114 x 46 x 12 mm
• Weight: 88g
• Talktime: 4-5.5 hours
• Battery standby: 400 hours

Samsung S7220 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 26 reviews:

Reviewed by stu-cj from England on 11th Jun 2010
Nice phone, slim, understated looks, like(d) it a lot. 2 things though : 1.That nice paintjob will scratch as soon as you drop the phone (it's a metal frame) spoiling the classy look in an instant. 2.My screen developed a fault after about 3 months of use leaving the phone unusable (which Vodafone refused to have anything to do with). Replacement screens are about £70.
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Reviewed by Steve from UK on 22nd Apr 2010
Best phone i have had so far! 5* Owned since new and its still going, apart from the screen cracking, little parts avalible screen alone set me back almost £60 but worth it. Best samsung yet :)
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Reviewed by Glenn Finch from England on 28th Mar 2010
Excellent phone in every way, sleek looking, hard wearing, easy to use, good sound quality on music player, superb quality camera and video, Easy to navigate the phones features, well done Samsung.
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Reviewed by Stewart from UK on 16th Feb 2010
Nice phone, but in common with many Samsungs it won't work with Parrot in car kits. That is a deal breaker for me and I'm afraid that Samsung are having a serious head in the sand attitude to fixing this problem. Shame Nokia don't do anything similar
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Reviewed by Peter Thomas from UK on 10th Feb 2010
Not a bad phone at all except the bluetooth won't pair with a Honda CRV's HFT
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Reviewed by Amee from England on 25th Jan 2010
Samsung S7220, good phone. dropped it about a thousand times and it's still going as perfect as ever. Dropped it down the toilet and worked perfectly once i dried it off with just a towel!
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Reviewed by David Mesquita from UK on 21st Dec 2009
Outstanding phone. Upgraded 3 year old E900 after it died on me. I'm not a phone freak, but I love this one. Easy to connect to PC, excellent music player, radio, 3G HDSPA, loads of extras and the cherry on top... the AMOLED screen. Its so much better than other screens, the contrast is superb. Affordable, very well built and good looking this phone is much more than I expected. What can I say. Buy it and you see what I mean.
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Reviewed by affu from india on 1st Dec 2009
i'm jst loving this phone!!!! the 5mp CAMERA is jst awesome.....!! speaker r not that gud as compared to nokia or LG...but in all other ways..IT IS THE BEST!!
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Reviewed by Camilla from UK on 6th Nov 2009
I love it
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Reviewed by Antony from UK on 29th Sep 2009
This is a good phone apart from the fact that text messages always default to start with a lower case letter. I've had 4 replacements and every one has the same issue. It's annoying to have to press the * key twice to start with a capital letter. Samsung and Vodafone have accepted that this is a fault - hence the replacements but it must be made this way.
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Reviewed by Tony from UK on 26th Aug 2009
I've had this phone 3 weeks now, camera is good and other functions work well. GPS signal is difficult to pick up sometimes. Battery life is not as good as they quote, needs charging every other day or after 1 day if using the functions alot. Other than stated a very good phone.
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Reviewed by Tommo from UK on 5th Aug 2009
What are you guys doing to the batteries?! On the very first charge out of the box, leave it for an hour (or maybe even two) AFTER it says it's full, without playing with it. I've had a good few samsung phones and none of them have had any battery trouble, and batteries in their other products are also awesome (NC10). Unless of course, you've been delivered duff batteries, in which case you should try chase up a replacement.
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Reviewed by dom from uk on 30th Jul 2009
Simple easy and idiot-proof phone. only downfall is battery!
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Reviewed by cc from england on 29th Jul 2009
I was'nt sure whether to buy this phone but im really pleased I did! it has great features and is very easy to use. So far I have'nt had any problems and I don't regret buying this phone. I would recommend it to anyone.
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Reviewed by Phil from england on 29th Jun 2009
does anyone know if you can delete words from your t9 dictionary on this phone! i accidently types was as 927, now it comes up all the time before was does! grrr
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Reviewed by gary f from uk on 27th Jun 2009
looks flashy but thats about it! had the phone for a month and then sold it. would not reccomend this phone atall very dissapointing.
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Reviewed by Barney from UK on 24th Jun 2009
I’ve always had Nokia phones, and wished I had stuck with them. There are several issues that have come to light in literally a week of using the S7220 phone. I have switched off all unnecessary connections, i.e. 3G Bluetooth etc. the maximum battery life I seem to get is about 2 days NOT very heavy usage. According to the advertising the S7220 should be able to voice dial I’ve tried and read so many things nothing works. General reception is very poor, as is Bluetooth connectivity, both to the headset and my laptop. Silly things have annoyed me; no matter what home screen you have there IS ALWAYS two clocks on the screen, if you use an image of your own as a wallpaper then you get a dark line where the secondary clock and date reside. Caller groups are available but it is not possible to assign these to a profile. All in all as far as I am concerned a VERY unwise move to a SAMSUNG, will go back to Nokia’s as soon as I can.
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Reviewed by Sam from england on 21st Jun 2009
I can't pick up a GPS signal! everything else is good
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Reviewed by angie from scotland on 14th Jun 2009
nice phone but i agree with Eva, some things bother me. I had a sony erricsson c902 before this and that was far better. my google maps don't work, the battery doesnt last long at all, the message memory gets full very quickly. the samsung u600 was better i think. the camera is quite good though!
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Reviewed by Eva from UK on 18th May 2009
Very nice phone but some things really annoying me. Could somebody answer me some questions, please? Is it possible that in my old Samsung U600 in Organiser-Memo I can create note with 1000 symbols but in Samsung S7220 ONLY with 100? My battery lasts maximum 2 days and within these 2 days I send e.g.: 6 messages, make 30min. call, take up to 10 pictures and battery is dried out. Have you sometimes had problem find your phone in PC through the bluetooth? Do you think my phone can be faulty? Thanks for answers
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Reviewed by GI from UK on 12th May 2009
Very good phone. battery life is excellent and texting and camera very good. If you liked the Nokia 6300 you will love this, simple to use and good voice calling quality.
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Reviewed by JK from UK on 27th Apr 2009
I think this phone is great, it is slim, light, has a great screen and as many functions as I'll ever need from a phone. The battery life is fantastic. This is my first samsung phone having previously only ever been a nokia fan but was put off by my n95 so wanted to try another brand and i've not been left disappointed!
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Reviewed by JD from UK on 21st Apr 2009
This is an outstanding phone for the money. It is perfectly weighted and although understated, is quite classy looking with its black brushed metal finish. Fantastic display, fast and bright, with perfectly weighted and spaced buttons for fat fingers. The phone is slim and robust and fits easily in the pocket. I was only looking for a mobile with a decent battery life and ease of use but this phone has it all. Battery life is excellent for a modern phone and with 5 days use without using the features other than calls, it was only down to half charge. Far superior to any Nokia candy bar phone I have ever owned.
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Reviewed by AJP from UK on 13th Apr 2009
Excellent phone, large clear bright screen, fantastic colour spectrum with a 5 MP camera with flash. I've just become a Dad so I wanted a phone with a good camera but that was also thin and leightweight enough to put in my trouser pocket. This phone fits the bill perfectly for all of my needs. I was originally going for the sister phone, Tocco Ultra, but this phone is more 'user' friendly and less of a gadget, even though it has FM radio, MP3 player, camera with seperate front camera for videos and the ability to increase the memory to 6 MB. Calling and texting, (something that some phone manafactures overlook these days in the pursuit for something that is different, is real straighforward at every point. Samsung are back on form with this phone.
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Reviewed by Daniel from England on 13th Apr 2009
Overall, this phone is great. Its camera is alright, and texting is really easy. However, now to the bad points. Firstly, as i was downloading a song, the screen went blank and drowned the battery out. (but i'd charged it just the night before). And also my 8 key has stopped working, after just 2 weeks!!! Not surprised though, my sons number has six 8's in it!! 6.5/10
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Reviewed by ibrahim from uk on 4th Apr 2009
da best fone ever
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