Review: Samsung Steel

Samsung Steel Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: The Steel is a Vodafone-exclusive handset with premium looks. With a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, a music player, FM radio, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and support for 8 GB memory cards it will tick a lot of people's boxes. On the negative side it lacks a camera flash and battery life is below average.
Best buy: *Free* with a free Red Letter Day or Nintendo Wii from Vodafone.

The Samsung Steel is a Vodafone-exclusive phone. It looks like a premium phone, with its steel body and smart appearance, but actually it's priced in the entry-level category and is available free on contract for as low as £15. The Steel gives you the looks of the Samsung Soul at a fraction of the cost! The Steel isn't a touchscreen-operated device like the Soul, but is a conventional slider with a nice solid feel and an easy-to-use conventional keypad. The display is a whopping 2.2 inches across, making it one of the biggest displays in this type of phone.

The Steel has some great features, including high-speed HSDPA giving 7.2 Mbps download speeds over the 3G network. A front-facing camera enables video calling, whilst the main rear-mounted camera is better than you'd expect in this price range: it's a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, although it's lacking a flash. There's a music player, and an FM radio too. The 30 Mbytes of internal memory lets you store around half a dozen MP3 tracks, but you can add a memory card of up to 8 GB capacity.

Vodafone are quoting a battery life of 23 days, but this is an absurd figure. In reality the Steel doesn't have a particularly good battery life: most users will have to charge every other day we would guess.

In summary, the Samsung Steel has the looks of a high-end phone, mid-range features and an entry-level price point. If you can live with the battery life and the lack of a camera flash, then it's a great buy.

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Features of the Samsung Steel include:

• 3G with video calling and 7.2 Mbps HSDPA
• 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and 3x digital zoom
• Video recording
• Second video camera for video calling
• Display: TFT, 262K colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.2 inches)
• Music player
• FM radio
• 64-voice polyphonic ringtones / MP3 ringtones
• Integrated handsfree speakerphone
• Personal organiser functions
• Memory: 30 Mbytes plus MicroSD memory card slot (expandable to 8 GB)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB
• WAP 2.0, GPRS Class 10, EDGE, 3G HSDPA
• Triband (900/1800/1900 MHz) plus 3G (UMTS)
• Size: 104 x 49 x 14 mm
• Weight: 109g
• Talktime: 296 minutes
• Battery standby: 568 hours

Samsung Steel Consumer Reviews

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Average rating from 19 reviews:

Reviewed by LAURA from MIDLANDS on 3rd Jan 2009
this phone is the best ive owned so far. Did not need to use software supplied as windows media player picks it up and allows you to download music using wma format easyly. Battery life is better than expected charged last sunday and still 2 bars showing even as ive listened to loads of music. The phone is so easy to use and get around and the sound is great. Only problem is that it advised a dab radio built in but only getting FM. Camera not bad but no flash but i did not buy for that reason. This phone gets the thumbs up and at only £80 great buy
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Reviewed by RYAN JONES from Wales on 29th Dec 2008
this is the best phones i have ever had.the mp3 player is top of the line and the design and layout of the phone is second to none.Only one problem is that i like to listen to music on the go so the earpieces had to be important the one that come with the steel are pretty much rubbish so i bout noise reduction earpieces they are much better
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Reviewed by matty32 from england on 12th Dec 2008
really good phone!!! probably my best yet. the mp3 player is really good and the camera is awsome. only problem is that the camera has no flash but i still recomend it
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Reviewed by william from england on 10th Dec 2008
this is the greatest phone i have ever had. the 3 mp camera does its job brilliantly and the lovely lokks of the phone makes you want to be seen with it..... it has a good mp3 player. i would get this phone if i were you
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Reviewed by Adrian from Jamaica on 28th Nov 2008
I bought this phone unlocked and its working great here in Jamaica, based on reviews I thought it was bulky but I think its slim a bit tall but its design is great.Great display, good camera average battery and as kathryn said below the earphones are uncomfortable and hurts the ear.Overall great phone when compared to some other expensive phone from other brands great job samsung
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Reviewed by kathryn (14) from England on 28th Nov 2008
This phone is pure amazing. For starters its alot smaller then pictures shown on the internet, the design is really nice and sleek and the mirrored screen does not get in the way with seeing features. The screen is bright and crystal clear. The phone is really easy to get from one place to another, and very nice. The camera is actually brillient, and comes with lots of handy features. Love it! Only probelm is the headphones hurt after a while. other then that amazing.
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Reviewed by Susy from UK on 19th Nov 2008
I read as much as I could before buying a phone and decided on the Samsung Steel. I have had it three days and am sorry to say but I am sending it back. It looks brilliant, for a cheaper end of the market phone is looks expensive however, there are too many annoyances. Firstly, my main phone usage is sending texts. The space bar on this is far right (Nokia is usually central) of the keypad. If you are left handed that is perfect, but being right handed you have to really bend your thumb to get to the spacebar that is not only very uncomfortable but slow and painful. Also, it has slide movements to get to any operation which I find slow and irritating. Finally, it is top heavy when open which again makes texting hard work.
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Reviewed by Hannah from uk on 16th Nov 2008
i've had this phone for about 4 months and its been really good i have dropped it a few times and it hasn't broken the music player is quite loud and it's a really nice phone. but recently when i turn the phone on it loads up as normal then as the screen turn dark it either turns off of the phone is still on but the screen doesn't work so if anyone knows how to fix this please help!! thanks :)
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Reviewed by Anna from United Kingdom on 13th Nov 2008
i've never had a samsung before only Nokias and Sony Ericssons.The Steel is a lovely phone though and I couldn't fault it for design and features. Experienced Samsung users could you please snswer two questions for me tho. 1)Is it usual to have no smileys on the phone and 2) is it usual for it to reverse your simcard contacts so the last word or 'surname' appears first? I know these are only trivial matters but they do get under my skin! Many thanks!
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Reviewed by hey from ho on 2nd Nov 2008
this is an amazing phone loved it I wanna Steel another 1!!! lol
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Reviewed by Victoria from Manchester on 26th Oct 2008
Its a really good phone, nice looking and easy to navigate. Everyone keeps saying its heavy when they feel it but I personally don't notice. Music players good, and speakers loud, apart from in loud groups but what can you expect being a 15 yr old with her friends. I managed to change the settings so the music player can go on the background which is good too. Easy to get files onto and big space for memory. The only thing that is bad is that it has no flash but other than that everything else is excellent and I would recommend it.
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Reviewed by Adam from Northamptonshire on 6th Oct 2008
Outstanding phone, very robust good music player and camera. easy to navigate, batterey is good 4-5 days between charges, not one thing gone wrong. great phone!!
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Reviewed by z from livepool on 5th Oct 2008
love this phone
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Reviewed by Barbie from UK on 27th Sep 2008
I've had tis phone for about 3 weeks now and have had no problems at all. I's easy to use, easy to read and navigate. Camera and music player are ok for a phone. I have a camera and ipod if I need anything better. Battery lasts 4-5 days. It seems fairly robust I've dropped it several times already!! But no damage to phone. It came 'free' as an upgrade so I'm pretty pleased with it. If you want more you have to pay for it so for what it is it's perfect
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Reviewed by sarah from uk on 25th Sep 2008
i brought this phone on contract from vodafone and i have had this phone for 3 weeks, what i can tell you about this phone is very reliable and smart, and easy to use, the camera is very good for taking pics. it does have a very good volume which is quite good and the battery life only last for 3 days once fully charged.i have not experience any problem with this phone, i would recommend this phone to anyone who are looking for a good reliable and strong solid phone.
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Reviewed by Nicholas from UK on 19th Sep 2008
i have had this phone for over 6 weeks now and it has been brilliant the phone is so easy to use and the keypad is very user friendly. the phone itself has a very solid feel to it and the design is very classy indeed, one of the perks about this phone is that you can create yor own themes for the phone the camera is good apart from no flash the music player is excellent i just wish samsung would include some decent earphones with there phones battery life is good phone last 4 days once fully charged, and download speed is very quick .all in all i would recommend this phone to anyone who wants a goodlooking reliable phone with good features for a very reasonable price.
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Reviewed by Russell from UK on 18th Sep 2008
Everyone either has an over the top review, or just slags the phone off but I personally like this phone it is a very good looking phone that has all of the features that im after. I read this review before purchasing the phone but I was pleased to find that battery life was better than the review described, my phone last 3-4 days and I regularly use the phone for texting, there is no way the phone could get 568 hours stand by though. There were no surprises when I got the phone but it does everything very well. The only issues I had with the phone was the the slider design seems to be a bit loose and tacky, there is a gap about 1 mm between the keypad (when closed) and the back of the display, so I can look through it. Also when texting I found there was a little bit of delay, which sometimes caused me to make mistakes. Overall I would recommend this phone to anyone.
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Reviewed by Julie from Scotland on 10th Sep 2008
Nice looking phone, easy to navigate. I have been a loyal Nokia user until now, but I wish I had not changed as after 3 weeks the keypad on the navigation keys cracked (and no it was not dropped) then two weeks later after a few texts, the slide mechanism gave up the ghost leaving a blank screen unless you hold the slide over the keypad - not much use, so its off back to the manufacturer for repair! If it does it again its for the bin!
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Reviewed by KARL from SCOTLAND on 3rd Sep 2008
THIS IS A LOVELY PHONE, IT'S BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED AND HAS A GOOD SOLID FEEL TO IT WITH A SMOOTH SLIDING ACTION. IT PLAYS MUSIC CLEARLY EVEN AT ITS LOUDEST. I HAVE NOT HAD IT LONG ENOUGH TO FIND ANY FAULTS OTHER THAN UNFORTUNATELY IT DOES NOT HAVE A FLASH FOR THE CAMERA SO I AM GOING TO HAVE TO SEND IT BACK.
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