The Samsung i780 is Samsung’s newest thin, QWERTY smart phone that runs Windows Mobile. The Samsung "i" line of smartphones have taken quite a lot of different shapes and seen OS implementations ranging from Symbian to Windows Standard and Pro. There are, however, five birds of a feather that do stand out with QWERTY keyboards and uniform design. Samsung i320 was the pacemaker, followed shortly by Samsung i600. There are of course the US-oriented Blackjacks Samsung i607 and Samsung i617.
The subject of our review Samsung i780 is in that bunch but not quite, being the only PocketPC in the lot. Other Windows Mobile Pro devices seem nowhere in sight for the near future, with the two most recent i-series announcements both running on Windows Standard. The QWERTY slider Samsung i640 has just been released, while the low-key Samsung i200 is still cooking.Samsung i780 specifications
* Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 Professional
* 256 MB ROM / 128MB RAM
* 624 MHz Marvell CPU
* GSM900, GSM1800, GSM1900, UMTS2100
* CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA
* 2.5 " 320x320 TFT Touchscreen
* Built-in QWERTY-type keyboard, 37 keys
* 2.0mp camera
* 61.3 x 115.9 x 13.3 millimetres
* 120 Grams
* microSD card slot
* Bluetooth 2.0
* WiFi: 802.11b/g
* Built in NMEA 0183 GPS
* Price Range: $329.00 - $329.00Design and construction
The top of the i780 finds the front-facing VGA camera and earpiece also the status light indicator. Below these is the square 320x320 touchscreen, which sits flush with the casing and has slightly mirrored finish. Not ideal in bright sunlight but still useable.
Below the screen there is the normal softkeys, default set to contacts and calendar. The phone pick up and end keys that also double up as loud speaker key and device lock key respectively. Positioned between these there is the Windows Start and an OK button. And between those there is the innovative optical joystick-cum-Dpad. Below is the full 37 key QWERTY key pad with white highlighted number keys, reasonably standard now on this type of device. The keypad has a white coloured backlight when pressed.
Samsung SGH-i780 controls
On the left side there is a lanyard hole and nothing more than a up and down volume rocker and a reset hole.
Samsung SGH-i780 left side
The right side from top to bottom are a flap covering the connecting socket for the USB lead or headset. The next housing also covered is for the microSD card and finally the camera key.
Samsung SGH-i780 right side
There is nothing on the base of the phone apart from the microphone hole.
Samsung SGH-i780 bottom
The top is home to the power button and the telescopic stylus housing.
Samsung SGH-i780 top
The back of the unit is pretty bare apart from the battery housing and the 2 Mega pixel camera and a small speaker grill. This has a pleasant rubberised feel and comfortable to hold.
The top of the front panel
The square 2.55" 65K-color TFT touchscreen display is the most unusual piece in Samsung i780 with its 320 x 320 pixel resolution. The square display is a serious handicap for the poor handling of third party applications, which are developed for 4:3 aspect ratio screens with no auto resizing posssible.
The display fares well enough in terms of legibility and brightness indoors and not quite so under direct sunlight.
The square display • Samsung i780 in the dark
The control and navigation keys separate the display and the QWERTY keyboard. Central to this layout is the novel dual mode touchpad, which got its due coverage earlier on. It's enclosed in the slightly elevated Start and OK buttons.
On both ends of that central section are the two soft keys and the Call and End keys. Again, the Call and End keys have dual functionality. A press and hold of the Call key activates the speakerphone, while pressing and holding the End key activates the software lock of the phone.
Control and navigation keys with the dual mode touchpad
With the QWERTY keyboard of i780, Samsung departs from the numpad layout used in i600 and i320, in favor of what looks more consistent with other brands' QWERTY designs. The numeric keys are no longer symmetrically arranged in the middle of the keypad. The input switch from letters to numbers is entrusted to the Fn key. The same numpad layout can be seen in the two blackjack handsets and the fresh QWERTY-enabled Samsung i640. That's consistent with BlackBerries and Palms, as well as with Motorola and Nokia QWERTY handsets.
The numpad within the QWERTY keyboard
The QWERTY keypad itself consists of 37 keys arranged in 3 main rows, plus a fourth one used for special function keys. Except for the black-and-silver numpad keys, the others are solid black with white symbols. Each key serves two symbols, which you switch between using the Shift button. The exceptions are the Enter, Backspace and Shift keys.
Neat QWERTY keyboard
There are no dedicated keys for either phonebook or internet, there are ones for messages and GPS instead, placed at the bottom right of the keyboard.
The keys are relatively small to fit the dimensions of the phone, but not too tiny to compromise comfortable typing. Even QWERTY rookies will find a little practice enough to master the round buttons.
The white keyboard backlighting is strong and quite even, with only the keys in the outmost columns a tad paler.
Samsung SGH-i780 main camera
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Thanks for the information about this samsung phone.I got the unlocking information for this samsung phone in the site mobilesolutions.But from this article I got the features of this phone.I hope all people like this phone.