SGH-E530: Color me Samsung

Pastel pink with a tinge of lavender is the color of the newest Samsung phone in the market – the SGH-E530. It also comes in Valentine pink, chic white, oasis blue and festival orange.

Apparently intended for the lifestyle market, this model is hip to carry along whether one is dressed in frills and laces or in comfy denims and shirt, and nice to toss around on a desk with other pastel-colored things and stuffed toys.

The handset also comes at a time when lavender pink gadgets are suddenly making an appearance in the market, including lavender pink MP3s, digital cameras and even sports cars.

The 85-gram phone is slim at 86 x 42 x 27 mm, almost the size of the SGH-E720, but its contours are a lot finer and a little more curvaceous, giving it a soft look that complements its pastel shade.

It is actually easy to categorize the SGH-E530 as a ladies’ phone, although the oasis blue and chic white versions may fit men’s styles, too.

The pastel exterior is complemented by a 262,144 color TFT LCD and an external 65,536 color OLED LCD for viewing movies and images.

Appearance is one thing; technology is another thing.

This one is no simple phone in the technology department. As if marrying form with substance is the easiest thing for mobile phone designers these days, the slim and sleek SGH-E530 has a built-in camera with a flash and 4x digital zoom that create high-quality 1152 x 864 resolution pictures in JPEG or GIF formats.

Like the E-720, it features multi-shots (up to 15 shots on high resolution) and mosaic shots (on 3 X 3 auto).

It also comes with a video recorder that can record, according to the online manual, up to an hour of footage on MPEG4 and H.263 formats.

What is a camera phone these days if it has no MP3 player? The E-530’s music player can play MP3, AAC, and AAC+ formats and doubles up as a voice recorder. The songs can be downloaded straight from the Internet or copied from a PC through USB cable.

The E-530, though, is only a dual-band phone and has no infrared, but it comes with a WAP 2.0 browser, Bluetooth and Java applications.

Even in the gaming department, the E530 is consistent with its image. The unit lent to The STAR for review came with pre-downloaded games that are consistent with its pastel motif – Baby Carrot, Airship Racing, Arch Angel and Freekick. No ultra violent play, only easy-on-the-nerves games for amusement. Gaming, however, is a matter of choice or taste. Even a fragile-looking lady with a pastel phone can be the fiercest game warrior or kickboxer on the mobile screen.