With support for multimedia messaging, mobile instant messaging, and Cingular MEdia Net wireless Internet services, Samsung E317 is great for people who want to step into the next generation of handsets. It's also got dual color screens and a VGA camera-- a sweet combo for getting and sharing shots on the go.
Design
Click the image to get a closer look at the E317's features. |
The E317 sports a slim, sleek clamshell design with a large 128 x 160 color display with 65,000 colors. A supplementary, 96 x 64 screen on the front of the cover also displays in brilliant, full color. With it, you can quickly see photos, images, time, call information, battery and signal strength, and more. A stub antenna is placed on the top right side of the unit. Up and down buttons for volume control are placed on the left side, and there's also a button for quick access to camera functions. Most of the phone's features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset's control pad. There's a standard jack on the top of the unit to accept universal hands-free headsets, while the phone's charging and data ports are placed on the bottom of the unit.
Calling Features
The E317 features 40-chord polyphonic ringtones, and in addition to the built-in ringers you can download music and "supertone" enhanced ringtones from Cingular's MEdia service. A vibrate alert silently notifies you of incoming calls when you want to be discreet. The phone's internal memory lets you create an internal phone book of 500 alphanumeric entries. Meanwhile, ringer and picture ID lets you assign photos and ringtones to callers. The phone is also compatible with Cingular's "Fast Forward" call forwarding device, which enables you to effortlessly forward your wireless calls to your land line phone.
Messaging, Internet and Tools
Powerful messaging and Internet capabilities are built into the E317. Support is built in for sending and receiving pictures, text, graphics, sound and video via MMS messages. When used in combination with the phone's built-in still and video camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. Instant messaging is also supported via AOL Instant Messenger and the phone ships with a built-in email client with support for POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP protocols. There's also a built-in web browser for MEdia downloads and mobile web browsing. Cingular's MEdia service lets you receive and send emails, read news headlines, get weather updates, download games and ringtones, and more. T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit-- a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.
The phone supports the GPRS wireless data protocol, meaning that when used with Cingular's Wireless Internet Express data service and the phone's data port, the E317 can be used as a wireless modem for laptops and PDAs.
A number of handy software tools are bundled with the E317 including a calculator with currency converter, an alarm, a to-do list, a voice memo recorder, and a calendar.
Imaging and Entertainment
Kick the fun up a notch with the E317's integrated VGA (640x480) camera, which includes a digital zoom, a self-timer, brightness control, and multi-shot ability for capturing fast action. You can even use the phone's external display as a viewfinder-- great for getting self portraits.
The E317 allows you to set screensavers, themes and wallpapers to suit your tastes. The phone is Java enabled, meaning it supports games written on the Java platform. The unit ships with three games and more are available via the Cingular MEdia service.
Vital Statistics
The E317 weighs 3 ounces and measures 3.30 x 1.80 x .80 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4.7 hours of digital talk time, and up to 298 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the 800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
What's in the Box
Samsung E317 handset, AC battery charger, lithium-ion battery, user manual.
1 Eh.. A nice phone until you have to talk on it.
Okay, so I started reading reviews AFTER I purchased this phone. Seeing all of the "horrible sound quality!" comments, I was pretty nervous. And I had a reason to be. The sound quality on this phone is awful! I don't think it has anything to do with Cingular or reception, as I've never had problems with cingular before. I just can't hear anything on this phone and what I do hear is muffled and distorted. My friends are tired of me saying, "What did you say?" over and over again and they can't even hear me half the time. Also, I've had several instances of the phone "freezing up" on me. I'll have to remove the battery to get it to start working again.
It's a great looking little phone and the camera is pretty cool and fun to mess around with - but in the end, it is a phone. When you can't use a phone for it's main purpose, you have some problems. Samsung should have put a little more time and effort into the speaker instead of into all the little options that don't really matter much.
2 Should be taken off the market
Why Cingular continues to sell this phone is beyond me? Surely Samsung had to know what a terrible phone they were putting on the market. The main problem is clarity. There is so much distortion that I really have a tough time understanding what people are saying. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!
3 I dont see the problem? Nice little phone...
The speaker is fine. I dont agree with all the whining about the speaker. It may not be the best speaker out there, but it works just fine. Sleek and stylish, lots of nice features, great user interface, very intuitive. Super lightweight and has a really nice front display. All in all, a nice phone.
4 Okay
This is an okay phone. It has a number of features, but the sound quality is the worst.
5 Don't bother
Volume/speaker is indequate. Phone is NOT as teeny as predecessor 307. "Many different ringtones" equates to exactly 11.
PATHETIC.
6 Good phone!
ive had this phone for about a day and so far the sound quality is just AWESOME! it was so great, i could just put the phone on my desk and i could hear it jsut fine. So i dont know if i happened to get a good phone out of the bad ones that people are tlaking about or if samsung has improved it or not in the past weeks? months? (i dont know how long this phone has been in the market)
but the hands free microphone is annoying, it does not come standard with the phone, and its not a standard hands free plug, so you're forced to buy their mic.
the package did not come with a holster thing either, and the instruction manual takes up about the whole the box, but whatever.
overall, the phone is awesome, i love it so far =]
7 Bad sound
The sound quality is horrible! I purchased my brand new samsung e317 on ebay. I first assumed that the seller had jipped me. Reading these reviews, now I know differently. If I had it to do over again, I would have purchased a different phone.
8 Good light and small phone
I like this phone. Its small and light with a nice look and color. The volume could be a bit higher. Im not noticing all the problems others complain about while I do agree the volume in the speaker should go a big higher. The motorola v551 is too heavy of a phone to expect to want to keep for a year or more.
9 samsung 317
Had the Phone on cingular serves for five days now bought the 317 for my self and the samsung 427m for MY Daughter took mine back to day because the sound quality is so bad, had to ask the other person to repeat them selves most of the time. My Daughters 427m sounded great good sound quailty so I traded my 317 for the 427m. the only thing I miss is the front display
10 Problems with "hide number" in caller id
Overall no major problems with the phone. Some difficulties with sound quality, but I don't know if it's phone vs. Cinguular.
One major glitch is inability to switch into "hide number" in caller ID. When you do that, the phone stops dialing out after an hour or so. I thought it was a problem with a particular hand set, got a new one and same thing happens.
Will have to exchange it, since I like to keep my number private
11 Cute Phone, Bad Sound Quality
I wish I could keep this phone, but the sound quality is so bad that I have to return it.
It has some great features- it's very small, great display, the numbers are very BIG when you type them in on the screen...but the sound quality is awful. I really have to press the phone up to my ear to hear and even then, the other person sounds like they are in a tunnel. At first I thought that my earpiece had blown out or something - the way that your car speakers can blow out- but now I think the volume is just lower on this phone than with others.
Otherwise though, it's a nice phone.
12 All the "must-have" features are perfect. (but...)
I own and use this phone, and overall, it's excellent. Samsung got the important features right: Size/weight, battery life, reception and call quality, etc.
All the "must-have" features are perfect. I only wish they hadn't overlooked some "nice-to-haves."
My wish list:
* [major] Give us a speakerphone, man!
* [minor] The display breaks phone numbers up at the 5th digit, so dialed numbers look like this:
718-55
5-1212
* [medium] The call logs only indicate the names of friends--not their numbers. I.e., it will tell me that my friend "Joe" called, but not whether it was from his home, his office or his mobile (if I have all three in my phone book). This is especially inconvenient when it comes to using the "recently dialed calls" list.
The same problem applies to the caller ID screen that appears when a friend calls. Even with called ID, I find myself asking friends who call me, "Are you calling from home or from work?" because all my caller ID reports is that "Joe" from my phonebook is calling.
* [minor] It's currently difficult to find accessories for this phone--in part because of Samsung's questionable decision to use a completely non-standard jack for the headset connection.
I'll leave it at that. All in all, an excellent performer and a great, fun phone. But a phone at this level should have its user interface thought through a little better.
13 GREAT PHONE...... But it has its flaws
I Just Bought This Phone A little while ago and when i bought it they made sure this is the one i wanted because of complaints that the sound quality was bad. Well that is if you are in certain areas that dont get the best reception because it sounds just as good as my nokia and sony ericsson and my sidekick 2,but it has alot more features that are well worth the money( dual color screens for the photo viewfinder and as a photo caller id, lights up bright on the front with a multi color,changable service light,has a great quality vga camera with effects such as frames, black and white,sepia tone,negative and it can even make a picture look like a sketch,and it does this all sharply so it doesnt look cheap. also it gets great reception and has a vibrant color screen with animated backrounds. it has great battery life and loud crisp clear ringtones including mp3 and polyphonic.You can change your message tones, powering on and off tones, folder tone, and set personal ringtones so it is highly customizable. The phone itself is also very attractive and small. It is also light so it has alot of pocket appeal. The Bad good call quality but still not the best if you are looking for the best i would go for the motorola v400/v551. Also you have to keep the same shutter tone on all the time you cant change it or make it silent, the keys are a bit small but not to where youll be hitting 2 keys at once. It also runs on GPRS not edge so downloads are a bit slow. other than that no problems, and even better it runs on AT&T/cingular's gsm 850/1900 service so youve got great reliable coverage.
14 Efficient, useful, high tech phone
This phone is better than the other camera phones out there because it's easy to use, while being very capable. The features it provides are useful. The design is very modern and not too complicated as well. I would recommend it to anyone out there.
15 Review E317
I have been a Sprint customer for 2 years with a Samsung A500, was a very reliable phone except for sprints coverage area. Now to the E317 and Cingular. I read the E316 reviews prior to my purchase and thought that there is now way that this phone (since it's a samsung) is that bad. Well I was wrong, it definitely has its share of problems. I have no gripes with cingular, this is on the phone only.
1. The E317 has very, and I mean very, poor sound quality. Unless the person is speaking very loud or has a deep voice it is very difficult to hear them, even with the volume turned all the way up. This is why I am looking into returning it. Heck, this is the most important thing.
2.It does not have the standard 2.5mm Hands Free jack but instead one that is proprietary to samsung.
3.The volume control on the side controls the keypad volume when not in use, it DOES NOT control the ring volume or send the phone to vibrate mode like my A500 did (I am not sure if samsung has changed all their phones to act like this). Vibrate must be set by the keypad and the ring volume requires you to navigate in the control menus. The side button will control the speaker volume when you are talking on the phone.
4. Has a fair amount of background static that is always constant at some level. Much more than I ever had with the A500.
5. The speaker produces more of a computer generated voice than most people will be use to or will like. My A500 sounded more like the phone would in your home, where the E317 sounds like you are talking to someone through the computer.
6. The Good - Small and light weight with good color displays. Easy to use camera, even though low picture quality. Easy to navigate phonebook and phonebook is easy to setup.
Well I hope this helps you make an informed decision and even though you like the looks of the phone, just stick with something like the Motorola V400. I really look for Cingular to pull this phone off the market within 6 months due to complaints (This is not unheard off).
16 Cingular Deceptive
My review is on Cingular. I bought a phone w/service and was told I could return for full refund and only charged for any air time used. THEY LIE. THE PHONE DID NOT WORK IN MY AREA AND I CANCELLED THE NEXT DAY. THEY ARE CHARGING ME FOR ACTIVATION even though it never worked in my area. If you are uncertain you will keep the phone and service, DON'T BUY from Cingular. Amazon will also do nothing to reimburse.
17 Bad phone in a nice package...
It seems strange that Samsung would try so hard to make such a nice phone that includes great features (picture caller ID, dual LCD screens, intuitive menu,etc), and then forget the most important part - the phone. The reception is great (at least that's what the phone indicates), but the sound quality is horrible. I find myself saying "What?" every 10-15 seconds. I saw mixed reviews about the e316, so I'm not sure if the poor sound quality is a standard feature, or if I just got a bad apple. I'm definitely returning this one, but not sure what to replace it with.
18 Poor quality phone but looks pretty :-)
I scoured the internet and did my homework researching this phone, and found only one person complaining about reception and poor sound quality; other then the review above mine here (maybe no one has bothered to review this phone and post their comments). Well, I am number three now.
I was very disappointed this phone sounded the way it did, and had such horrible reception. I own a v400 as well on the cingular network, and I know what and where I should have good reception, and the e317 is not even in the same ball park, it is horrible. I am returning it, and going to give it a second try. If something changes, I will either retract my statements here, or qualify them with more bad news with the replacement e317.
Stay tuned...
19 Don't buy -- terrible sound quality.
I downgraded my initial review to two stars due to the terrible sound quality on the phone. I exchanged it for an LG L1400 and all my problems with sound went away.
The good:
- really small and light
- nice displays
- Camera & photo caller id feature
The bad:
- Terrible sound quality -- the speaker is loud, but it is buzzy and distorted
- poor reception -- I find I miss calls frequently because the phone does not ring.
- the phone makes a 'snapshot' sound when it takes a picture. I understand that this is required in some countries, but it would have been nice to be able to turn it off.
- T9 is not the default for text input (why??!) and I don't think I can change that.
