Mobile phone reviews – Rated Mobiles

Samsung Monte S5620 – Sleek Connectivity on the Go

The Samsung Monte, also known as the Samsung GT-S5620, is Samsung’s new device and is a 3.5G ultra-connective GPS-enabled touchscreen phone. It is also WiFi enabled and has similar specifications to the B7300, although much to the relief of many mobile phone users out there it is without Windows. It also has similarities to the Blue Earth, although it does not have that device’s standout solar panel. As a result of this tweaking and tinkering the Samsung Monte expertly fills Samsung’s current tiny market niche in their overall product range.

On first impressions the S5620 Monte has a somewhat stylish and intriguing appearance, although quite a few of the device’s features are useful without being particularly outstanding or captivating. The display is a 3-inch 240X400 pixel touchscreen and appears to be a pretty standard TFT display and not especially distinguished from most of the others on the market currently. The rear of the device features a 3.2MP camera which boasts support for geotagging – again, a useful if not remarkable feature.

The camera does, however, come with some useful features such as smile shot, face detection and panorama shot. There is also the useful on-finger zoom capability. As a 3.5G device it has decent HSDPA download speeds ranging to 3.6 Mbps on top of it also usefully providing Wi-Fi connectivity for an alternative connection option. The Monte also features integral social networking applications, including various applications common to Facebook and MySpace, and also includes support for both Twitter and Bebo – very much in keeping with the constant pace of change constantly seen in the development of social networking that is attracting many users these days. This makes the device extremely useful for those with contacts over a variety of different platforms.

The Monte makes it possible as well to access user profiles wherever and whenever you choose, making keeping up with your online news easy and seamless. There is also support for advanced Twitter and Bebo widgets in addition to multiple instant messaging capacity which affords the user the ability to chat in real-time through whichever medium they desire. Users can also fully access the internet with browsing capabilities fairly decent and there is also an integral accelerometer sensor which means that the on-screen image will adjust itself immediately as the user rotates the phone.

Many people will also enjoy using the Monte’s TouchWiz 2.0 Plus interface which runs over Samsung’s generic operating system. The Monte also boasts fairly good and functional multimedia support, including a multimedia player capable of supporting and playing AAC, MP3 and WMA audio files as well as a few other formats in addition to the ability to play H.263, H.264 as well as MPEG4 video. At briefings and release specifications Samsung have made no mention of WMV video support so it appears that this is not included in the device. The device also includes a 3.5mm audio jack and stereo Bluetooth is also supported, big pluses for those looking for both wires and wireless headset alternatives.

Usefully, the Samsung Monte also features integral GPS that touts Google Maps version 3.0 as well as Google Latitude which enables you to know exactly where you are on the Earth at all times and update your friends on your location at any time – perfect for obsessive hiking Twitterers. This, combined with geotagging, enables you to imprint your photographs with geographic tags and allows you an excellent way of sharing your travels online with your friends and family. These specifications are fairly useful without being either groundbreaking or spectacular as they can be found on many other current devices.

The Monte will be available in black/silver or graphite/orange, and has a current probable SIM-free price of around 260 Euros, which would seem to denote the Monte as a mid-range device. It will be released in Spain as the ‘Onix’.