Samsung GT-E1390 MP3 Mobile Phone

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Samsung GT-E1390 MP3 Mobile Phone
S$79 (U.P. S$108)
Imagine in the middle of night, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" tore through silence, so loud that it woke your whole company. That makes this the most powerful MP3 phone for the local men who need and can only use a non-camera phone for National Service. This phone is also great for those working the the government sector where camera phones are also disallowed. I did considered this when I got this phone, but the GT-E1390 is meant for mum who needs to downgrade to a simple, easy-to-use phone that playbacks her favourite MP3 ringtones loud and clear.

Specs in brief
Dual Band (GSM 900 / 1800) support 3G SIM cards
CSTN, 65K colors
128 x 128 pixels, 1.63 inches
Vibration; MP3 ringtones
Stereo Dual Speakers
1000 entries phonebook
5MB internal memory
microSD support (up to 2GB)
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
WAP2.0 / xHTML
FM radio with RDS, FM recording
MP3 player
Organizer
Voice memo
T9
Chinese support and Pinyin input
SMS & MMS
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1000 mAh
686h Standby
10h Talktime
Size: 108 x 46 x 15.3 mm
Weight: 80g



Contents include: Instruction manual leaflet, Music Download Guide, Warranty Papers, Charger, Headset and Phone.
Note: 1GB microSD card is given free by the dealer.
Note: USB cable is not included.


Music controls is preset in the 4-way navigation cursor with Enter button.

Individual soft keys are used for the numerical keypad.
Hidden beneath the battery compartment is the microSD card slot and SIM slot.

Dual speakers with noise buffering cushions inside.
Removing the back cover is as easy as push and slide.

Port for headset and USB.



Super light-weight plastic phone that slips into the pocket easily.


Compared to HTC Tattoo and LG KS20.


Verdict
I had to be cautious not to get a no-contract phone that cannot support 3G SIM card. Apparantly, as I was told, only the Nokia's have that issue. Since, I must choose one that does not have a camera, that cuts down the list to maybe 10 models. But still a lot to pick. One that plays back MP3 and has microSD suppport, filters the list to 2 or 3 models. But one that is below S$100, there is only Samsung GT-E1390. At S$79, it is probably the cheapest MP3 (with external memory support) no-contract phone in Singapore! This deal came with a free 1GB microSD card from the dealer.
I do not expect too much out of a CSTN screen, which made picture viewing and browser viewing quite redundant. This phone does not support video format playback. High resolution pictures are also no supported. But it delivers all my MP3 and WMA files through the Dual Speakers, loud, crisp and clear! It is the loudest from any phones that I have tried.
Apparantly, the phone is made of cheap and light plastic. Why do I say so? I accidentally dropped my adaptor on the phone, and resulted in a small ding on the edge of the shell. Nothing to cry about though, its only S$79!
It is the best phone for army! But it is also a perfect stand-in phone for my mum's cranky Nokia 5610 XpressMusic. It fulfills her criteria of playing back MP3 ringtones, super loud, Chinese support and excellent battery life.

Comments

Janus said…
Thanks for the review dude...
I'm curios about whether its music player plays continuously like the real mp3 player or just plays an mp3 file once. And, what is the type of its usb port? I see that it's kinda like micro usb.
Is the music player and radio fm can be played on the background (multitasking ability)? And for the last, do you have any difficulties when storing the mp3 files through the mp3 player?

Thanks a lot... ^^
WILLIAM TAN said…
janus> u can create playlists with all ur files.
the usb port is proprietary type, cable is not included, hence need to remove microSD card to transfer the mp3 files.
note that radio needs antenna, being the earpiece.
yes music player and radio can play in the background while standby or sms.
no dificulties, recognizes my chinese files and most of my jap files.
Janus said…
It sounds nice..
How about the keypad? Is it soft?
And about the usb cable, can my nokia mini usb or common mp3 usb be plugged into this device?
Thx
WILLIAM TAN said…
keypad is responsive and soft.

the usb cable is special and not included.
no, u cannot use nokia cable or any mini usb cable.

the only way to transfer the files is to take out microSD card and slot into a card reader, which is better, because u can transfer chinese titles with no issues.
lilian said…
i just bought 1 this afternoon for SGD68 at 7-11 for my mum (without micro SD card). this piece of phone is probably the best in terms of price, design and the basic functions like making call (some nokia basic phone as very poor handset with very soft ringtone and receiver), sms (not as the case of samsung SGH-B130T where the delete button isn't there hence not that convenient). One value added thing of this phone is it can transfer MP3 from comp to basic phone and with that price range (less than $70)it is almost impossible to get a basic phone with radio and MP3 at the same time. I like the key pad as well as it is big and soft enough (unlike nokia keypad which is small and hard to press on) , i think my mum gonna love it.