Briefly a highly recommended phone. I can associate myself with the positive reviews almost without restriction, and go only to a paaar Punke who I particularly noticed:
very good:
+ Almost indestructible. A friendly nurse, who had a birthday present, the phone fell from his hand and fell two stories deep into the stairwell, and then heruntergerumpelt on the stairs even another floor. Not even the guided telephone call broke off, there remained an approximately 2mm long Kratzerchen on the painted frame, nothing else. A normal phone would probably seperated in every part.
After I increasingly familiar phone so that something got "herumgeprotzt" and then offered an attractive bet, I have one of the experiments, which you can often spot the Internet, tracked under public: set phone into a plastic cup filled with water whole frozen and then called and sent there a text message: No problem. The de-icing took place, by the block of ice was thrown to the cell phone in heartily to the ground. No Problem. Traces: no.
+ Very good reception properties. Where many smartphone users running around nervously and watch your bar graph, you just phoned. Even with only one bar.
+ Very good battery life. Without a Bluetooth infrequent users as I come (one to three times two or three minutes a day) sometimes less than two weeks without charge. At times I even forget to charge the phone, because that just so rare. With Bluetooth, with the same use I come from about a week to 10 days, depending on the power supply of the region.
+ The built-in LED as a flashlight is actually fairly useful, presumably because it is provided with a lens. It is in contrast to similar, newer model C3350, I have exchanged after three days, and locked together with the keypad lock so that it can not be accidentally activated in his pocket.
+ The sound of both as well as the caller's quite alright. Although he can not keep up with an old Siemens mobile phone (I speak of a time when Siemens still quality phones built), but is acceptable and does not interfere. There have been no complaints.
+ The features of the phone are almost all compatible with wammu under Linux, both wired and Bluetooth. Only access to the data memory and the microSD card not work via Bluetooth, unfortunately.
+ With to the removed in subsequent models Theme function allows you -if Also quite umständlich- a simple, eye-friendly, high-contrast two-tone appearance put together, without having to rely on downloading any theme files.
So-so:
o Proprietary connection for data and charging cable. However, mini-USB was at the time when the phone hit the market, not too widespread. After all, you can charge the battery via USB with the data cable, even if it takes much longer than the charger.
o The display is in strong direct sunlight only very limited legible. Probably the the thick, robust windshield is attributable.
o The antenna is mounted down there where you hold the phone when making calls in hand. Above would surely be better there but the camera is installed.
o The camera belongs to the poorer sort, and display in any kind of lighting sometimes quite idiosyncratic colors. At the resolution there is, however, in my view, nothing to complain about, the megapixel on tiny sensors mania must not join you.
o The adjustable intervals for key lock and display lighting (too long or too short) to coarse, and only jointly adjustable.
Bad:
- The use of mobile phones is partly simply a disgrace. Ergonomics? Wrong! The menus appear jumbled and sometimes quite illogical, at least for former Nokia and Siemens users. I noticed when trying out other mobile phones, also the successor models, the menu system is not in a uniform format. To existing functionality even there, however, little to complain about. Very nice the various alarms that can also enable the phone itself.
Write SMS seems to me so convoluted and cumbersome that I now just largely renounce it. I also needed to exercise with Nokia mobiles felt three times as long to write a text message, as with the in my eyes still ergonomically perfect Siemens mobile phones of previous generations. With the Samsung I need three times as long as with a Nokia ...
The central button of the phone can not seize them with a frequently used function, but it's always the (probably by hardly anyone used) WAP browser. If you have not banned the telephone in the settings, it is building in the same course on the same data link.
- If you connect the phone via Bluetooth with a speakerphone that can also stream audio (in my case a JVC car radio), so the phone will open the MP3 player, even if you want to hear no music. This is also opened when the connection is closed again. If you want then call someone else or do something, you must first close the right slow-reacting player again manually. Annoying.
- Only one of my two telephony loses sporadically on a single charge and a guided call the network, so that it off and then on again. Manual registration can not. Probably the radio module would like to be reset.
Despite the listed shortcomings, I would recommend this phone without any restrictions. Several acquaintances have also bought on my advice, the B2100, and all are very happy. A great pity, I find that almost all of me as not so nice or bad perceived factors are a matter of software, and would be easy to improve, if you would pay just a little on the ease of use with Samsung.
Even with the successor models B2710 and C3350 that was not much better, even though the operating problems were stored partly different. I have both sold again because in my eyes the B2100 just the most coherent overall package.
In particular, the GPS of the B2710 was almost useless: it lost like to receive as soon as you held it in your hand, and you had to install additional third-party software in order to use the GPS at all meaningful can. The phone software can display the current location, otherwise (not even save the position) nothing. However, the available software was not designed for such a small screen, so that the GPS was practically superfluous. In addition, the B2710 was thus significantly larger. So do not make them the basis of a decision to buy its GPS functionality.
When C3350 especially the far protruding eyelet, the inability to put together even a color theme and especially the fact that the non-blocked by the keyboard lock LED flashlight happy enabled times in the pocket by itself and then quickly bothered me the battery emptied. Very annoyed had me the fact that you indeed can put together a color scheme by means of a software, but this only brings about the Samsung Theme Server on your phone, where you must first create an account to in order to then upload the Theme created can , Download one would have to then with a data connection. Well, you may like to keep time, Samsung.
Again, a laughing and a crying eye: Almost all criticized circumstances exist in the software, not based on the hardware and would have to change in easy.
You can not just once a beta version press a 14-year-old girl with 20 Euro in hand, and ask them and their girlfriends, sometimes on weekends in the ice cream shop a little playing around with the phone? They would then have the following Monday a list of suggestions for improvement in hand. Well, maybe there is no ice cream in Korea.
I want to on the durability of the B2100 form no opinion of me after a year usage. Anyway, no wear or the like is to identify previously - although of course I have to say that my phones have to endure any use in the jungle or in the desert under combat conditions generally. I hope that the B2100 will be available when my once give up the ghost. If I had the money, I would smooth one or two buy me as a reserve, as the successor models C3350 and B2710 for me out of the question.
