Thin is in: a look at Samsung’s new X820

BY MARICEL E. ESTAVILLO, BusinessWorld Reporter Korean brand Samsung Electronics is once again wooing the market with its new lineup of slim mobile phones, inspired by the success of its first dip into the slim handyphones five years ago. At the forefront of the new line-up is the Ultra Edition 6.9-milli-meter, X820 model. This, along with the 9.9-millimeter D830 clamshell phone and the 12.9-millimeter 3-megapixel slider phone, were launched during the CommunicAsia technology show in Singapore last month. I was fortunate enough to sample the first available prototype of X820. And in the course of three weeks, I could say this phone model delivered the "wow" factor. Almost everybody who had the chance to see the prototype was impressed by its Mongol-pencil-thin slim design, making it almost as thin as a calculator or a remote control of a next-generation television set. Samsung claimed the X820 is the slimmest and lightest mobile phone in the market Wednesday, featherweight at 66 grams and with a width of just 6.9 millimeters. Despite its size, the X820 is almost fully packed with a two-megapixel camera, video recording in MPEG4 format, tri-band GSM, music player and EDGE or 2.5-G connectivity that allows data speed of up to 200 kilobits per second. Just too bad, it is not yet in 3G (third-generation) format especially now when almost everybody is gaga over the new technology. 3G is faster than EDGE with speed of up to 384 kilobits per second. The X820 is also USB, Blue-tooth and PictBridge enabled. With PictBridge, one can send and print an image directly from the phone’s memory card, bypassing the need for a computer. Also, the X820 allows viewing pictures and videos on television by connecting it via TV-out. This has a memory of 80 MB, big enough for the need of an average multimedia user, but lacks an expansion slot. The X820 prototype lent to me was an all black one, though Samsung said this model will come in a "variety of fashionable colors" upon its commercial release. One noteworthy feature of the X820 is the user-friendly keypad and even surface for a natural grip. Samsung said the X820 cover is a fiberglass-infused plastic for more durability. The suggested selling price in the country of X820 is not yet available as of this writing.