Samsung Z400

7/10.

Externals:

Usual navigation and function keys available when closed, Camera control switches and battery charger/USB port on one edge; volume rocker and microSD port on the other. Small video camera lens on front, main camera on rear of slider.

8/10.

Keyboard:

Keypad is over-styled – flat keys in a curving layout, little texture or differentiation between key tops. Fast texting is tricky, though you can get used to it. Backlighting is too dim.

7/10.

Display:

Another good screen from Samsung: rich, vibrant colours, does pretty well in bright sunlight, lots of adjustable settings.

8/10.

Memory:

30MB probably isn’t enough for a mix of 3G stuff like video recordings and downloads. There’s a microSD slot but it’s empty.

6/10.

Camera:

Looks like the excellent 2mp camera from D600. Video works well (no jerkiness) considering maximum resolution is only 176x144.

8/10.

Entertainment:

Music player, stereo speakers (distort sound easily), stereo headset (and Bluetooth A2DP stereo audio profile too). Average games.

7/10.

Applications:

Synchronises with PC via PC Studio (very limited). Readers for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF documents; usual email and web options.

8/10.

In use:

No problems with reception or call quality. Maximum volume is a

bit too quiet though.

7/10.

Extras:

USB 2.0 with headphone profile.

7/10.

We like:

Camera and video quality

Samsung’s user interface

Useful application extras like Office document readers

We don't like:

Poor onboard speakers

Undifferentiated keytops

Some reservations about plastic feel

Overall:

It’s not a D600 (or even an E900) with 3G, and it does have some largely unnecessary (cost-saving?) quirks, but it has grown on us.

Specification