Not Smart Enough for Everyday Use

The Samsung SPH-I300 is the newest smart phone to hit this country. Its color screen is a delight, its weight is on par with a standard cell phone (6 ounces) and its Palm operating system gives it access to specialty applications.

Sprint PCS, which will start selling the smart phone for $499 later this month, is sure to find a lot of takers. Still, it’s not quite the kind of all-in-one device that will make you leave your cell phone behind.

The I300 is well-designed, with enough tapering on the sides to make it comfortable to hold and use as a phone. It includes the Palm basics, plus 8 megabytes of memory, an infrared port, a stylus and a touch-screen display.

Samsung’s added features include a side button to record voice memos, as well as side buttons to adjust volume and turn on and off the Palm and phone functions separately. My only beef with those extras is that the left-and right-side buttons are opposite each other, making it hard to press a button on the phone’s right side without also pressing a left-side button.

On the phone side, Samsung included customizable ring tones, voice dialing and speakerphone capabilities. It also has excellent sound quality.

But for all its nice features, the I300 doesn’t qualify as a replacement for a day-to-day cell phone.

First, there is the lack of a standard keypad. Samsung opted to display the buttons on the screen. Although users can get around that awkwardness with voice dialing, it remains a limitation in ease of use.

The unprotected screen creates other problems. When holding the phone to your ear, it’s almost impossible not to smudge the touch screen.

In addition, the unit’s screen is vulnerable unless it is stored in the leather case that comes with the device. Once the smart phone is tucked away, it’s almost impossible to retrieve and uncover fast enough to answer a call.

Heavy phone users probably will find it frustrating to use as their primary mobile phone.