Samsung Memoir t929 8 MP Camera Phone, Black (T-Mobile)

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Manufacturer: Samsung
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List Price: $499.99
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Product Description

Is the Samsung Memoir a high-megapixel point-and-shoot digital camera or a full-featured 3G-enabled smartphone? It's both, thanks to the 8-megapixel lens mounted on the back of the device and support for T-Mobile's HSDPA 3G network (in select markets), which provides fast web downloads and multimedia messaging. It will also keep you connected to your closest friends and family members with T-Mobiles myFaves.

The camera is outfitted with a Xenon flash, 16x digital zoom, video capture capabilities, and six shooting modes as well as easy access to your favorite online photo sharing sites. This touchscreen-enabled phone has a large, brightly colorful 3-inch screen, and it includes Samsung's intuitive and easily customizable TouchWiz user interface. It also offers built-in Assisted GPS (a-GPS) navigation, which allows you to utilize location-based services including turn-by-turn directions. Other features include Bluetooth for handsfree devices and stereo music streaming, MicroSD memory expansion (up to 16 GB), and digital audio player, access to personal email and instant messaging, and up to 5.5 hours of talk time.

The Samsung Memoir's 8-megapixel camera makes it easy to capture photos and videos on the go without sacrificing the quality of your point-and-shoot camera (see larger version).

T-Mobile Service
The Samsung Memoir operates on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks and is compatible with T-Mobile's UMTS/HSDPA 3G network, which operates on the 1700/2100 MHz AWS spectrum. This phone is designed to automatically connect to the best available network (3G or GSM/GPRS/EDGE) to provide faster data speeds when accessing the Web or downloading content from the T-Mobile Web2go content portal. T-Mobile is currently rolling out its 3G network, and it expects by year's end that its high-speed data network will be available in those cities where a majority of its subscribers currently use data services.

In areas where the 3G network is not available, you'll continue to receive service on the via T-Mobile's EDGE network (which stands for "Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution"). This high-speed, mobile data and Internet access technology is fast enough to support a wide range of advanced data services (with average data speeds between 75-135Kbps), including full picture and video messaging, high-speed color Internet access, and email on the go.

While this phone is optimized for use with T-Mobile's high-speed 3G network, many of its functions will also work well on the moderate-speed EDGE network. If you plan to access the Internet extensively on your phone, 3G network coverage may serve you best.

Activities that work well on EDGE or 3G networks:

Email, instant messaging, and texting
Downloading ringtones, CallerTunes, wallpaper, light data files
Sending photographs via e-mail or picture messaging

Activities that work best on a 3G network:

Viewing content-heavy websites (lots of images or videos playing)
Viewing YouTube and other video files (they will play on EDGE, but require loading time)
Uploading large files (photos, videos, presentations) to sharing websites
Downloading large files from an e-mail or a website

It's compatible with T-Mobile's myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts--on any network, even landlines--without using any of your minutes. Learn more about myFaves from T-Mobile.

Download cool new games, HiFi Ringers (real songs by today's hottest artists), MegaTones (instrumental versions of songs), and wallpapers quickly, as well as stay connected via the Web, instant messaging, and email.

This phone is compatible with T-Mobile's Mobile Backup, a free service that stores your phone's contact information is case your phone is lost, stolen, or damaged, so you do not have re-enter all of your contact information when you get a new phone.

Phone Features
The slim Samsung Memoir camera phone delivers impressive images on it large 3-inch LCD color display (240 x 400 pixels, 262K colors) and offers haptic responsive feedback that vibrates when you press a button. For easy operation and navigation, the stylish Memoir features three dedicated keys--call, end call and back--on the front of the device under the touch screen. The Memoir also provides quick and easy access to a customer's favorite features through Samsung's innovative TouchWiz user interface, which has specially designed widgets to customize and personalize your phone. The quick and simple drag-and-drop feature provides instant access to your favorite functions, such as the clock, music player, instant messaging and photos and a custom widget for myFaves. The Memoir's full-touch virtual QWERTY keypad and multiple messaging capabilities--including text, multimedia messaging, instant messaging and email--make staying connected quick and easy while on the go.

Other features include Assisted GPS, Bluetooth for handsfree devices and stereo music streaming, and MicroSD memory expansion to 16 GB (see larger version).

With the 8-megapixel Samsung Memoir, you'll be able to capture all the special moments from your on-the-go life without sacrificing image quality, and the full touchscreen interface makes it easy to capture both brilliant still photos and high-resolution videos. The built-in 8-megapixel camera includes a CMOS autofocus lens, Xenon flash, 16x digital zoom, six shooting modes, multi-shot capabilities. A photo-sharing widget also makes it easy to quickly upload images to several photo sharing sites, including Flickr, Kodak Gallery, Photobucket, and Snapfish (as well as T-Mobile's My Album online sharing service). The Memoir also includes a TV output that enables you to connect the phone to a TV or compatible monitor to display photo slideshows to friends and family on a larger format.

The phone has a 180 MB internal memory, which can be expanded via optional MicroSD memory cards (up to 16 GB in size). The internal phonebook can store up to 2000 contact entries, each with multiple numbers per contact and support for caller groups as well as picture/ringer ID. You can download MP3 real-music and 72-chord polyphonic ringtones, and the phone also includes a vibrate function for when you need to keep things silent.

Handsfree communication is easy thanks to the integrated speakerphone. This phone also provides Bluetooth wireless connectivity (version 2.0), and includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, and file transfer. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones.

Other features include:

Built-in A-GPS navigation allows access to location-based applications
Virtual, landscape QWERTY touchpad
Instant messaging via AOL, ICQ, Windows Live, and Yahoo!
Access to personal email with document viewer for attachments
Organizer tools: Calendar, calculator, alarm clock, task list, voice memo
Digital medial player compatible with audio (MP3, AAC/AAC+) and video files (MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV)
72-note polyphonic ringtones and vibrate mode
Sync contact swith Outlook
USB connectivity with USB mass storage capabilities
Voice dialing: Call someone with simple voice commands to keep your hands free for activities like driving.
Hearing Aid Compatibility = M3
Bluetooth version 2.0 with the following profiles: A2DP (stereo music streaming), AVRC (remote control), HFP (hands-free car kits), HSP (communication headsets), BPP (basic printing profile for text, email), FTP (file transfer), OPP (object push for business cards, calendar items, and pictures)

Vital Statistics
The Samsung Memoir weighs 4.4 ounces and measures 4.17 x 2.11 x 0.55 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5.5 hours of talk time, and up to 300 hours of standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies as well as 1700/2100 MHz UMTS/HSDPA 3G frequencies.

Product Details

Full touchscreen phone with 8-megapixel auto focus lens, Xenon flash, and easy access to popular photo sharing sites
Compatible with T-Mobile's 3G network (available in select markets); T-Mobile's MyFaves service provides unlimited calling to your five most called contacts
Assisted GPS for turn-by-turn directions; Bluetooth stereo music streaming; MicroSD expansion to 16 GB; access to personal email and instant messaging
Up to 5.5 hours of talk time, up to 300 hours (12.5 days) of standby time
What's in the Box: handset, battery, charger, USB cable, wired stereo handsfree headset, quick start guide

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Customer Reviews

The best reasonably accessible camera phone available

Review Date: December 22, 2009

Reviewer: TECK13, Birmingham, MI

Before I dive into reviewing the Samsung Memoir SGH-929 first some notes regarding my perspective/biases. I am memorized by cameras and have been messing around with them for 40 years on and off. I have been shooting with digital cameras for nine years and they have come a long way in those short years. My "regular" cameras include a prosumer Nikon SLR and a Fuji compact. My previous camera phone was a Samsung FlipShot. In spite of "only" being 3MP I got some awesome shots with it.

All this is to say that my critical comments will be primarily focused around the camera. I can see someone NOT into photography getting the Samsung Memoir but for all-around phones there are clearly better choices - starting with the iPhone.

My bottom line is similar to others. This is probably the best reasonably accessible camera phone available right now but it does not even match a $75 dedicated compact camera. First off, it does not have an optical zoom. Since the Memoir has 8 MP, under ideal conditions, you can zoom in around 50% and still have a pretty good shot, which is a partial work around to no zoom.

Outdoor shots with strong light look surprisingly good. Nice resolution and very accurate colors. Edge to edge sharpness is pretty good too. Focusing is a bit slow but works extremely well. Even in low light situations where a red focusing assist light illuminates. Exposure is good too and the ability to select matrix, center weighted or spot is very useful. Unfortunately if you focus on something (with the shutter button pushed half way) and then recompose the shot, the Memoir WILL hold the focus but the exposure continues to adjust in real time. Bummer that.

Indoor pictures are pretty grim. With the flash off, almost all the pictures are dark and the white balance is way off. If there is a light source it tends to be surrounded with purple fringing. And, as others have noted, there is a yellow cast to everything. Activating the Xenon flash gives a little welcome light but actually aggravates the yellow cast. Ah, but there is something that will help the more critical half of this situation, that no one else seems to have noted. Take the camera off auto ISO, with or without flash. Set it on ISO 400. The pictures will be a bit grainy but you do get the shot and the dreadful yellow cast can easily be fixed in post processing. Of course, using ISO 400 also "turbo charges" the light from the flash moving it from an almost useless range of a couple of feet to 6 or 7 feet. In Auto ISO, even in very dimly lit rooms, the camera simply doesn't seem to push past ISO 200, resulting in the dark pictures.

The camera is slow. It is faster than my FlipShot but that still leaves it as sad. Push the shutter and a second or two later the picture is taken. Then several painful seconds must pass before another picture can be taken. Sports photography is out; even capturing the dog is a challenge. A quick rant. When, oh when, will the BS marketing MP thing end? My first dedicated digital camera had only 3MP and its pictures walk all over the 8 MP Memoir due to an excellent Carl Zeiss lens and an excellent digital processing engine. Put 6MP max in a cell phone, then it is easier to make it work in work in low light and shoot fast. This year we'll see cell phones with 12 MP. Please. Make the camera better, not the marketing.

Back to the Memoir. The layout and controls of the Memoir are superb. It looks and handles like a dedicated camera. As stated before the only important thing missing is an exposure lock button. The screen is large enough and of sufficient quality to see if you got the shot and to share pictures with other people. Nice. The geotagging works well but it is slow to lock. I do wish, when one is reviewing the details of a phone in camera, that it would display the ISO setting of the picture.

Videos seem surprisingly good for a phone but I am less critical about video than the photo picture quality.

Non-Camera Stuff
The phone works better for me than my Flipshot did. The quality of the calls also beats my wife's iPhone but that's not saying much. For strict phone quality, the various Motorola phones I have used were head and shoulders above the rest.

I downloaded one game, Asphalt 4, and it is unplayable. Abysmal. A total embarrassment. Dodgy controls, horrible ancient graphics. My 3-year-old FlipShot had far superior driving games available. And T-Mobile's selection of games for the Memoir seems juvenile and poppy.

Web stuff is OK but it's no iPhone. The weather widget is cool. Simple pleasures.
The keyboard is great and texting is a pleasure. The phone book is robust. The music player is more than serviceable but the proprietary headphone jack flat out sucks. The size of the phone to me is just right. For actual phone conversations I prefer the clamshell design but for photos a larger screen is required. However, the Memoir is not so big that it is uncomfortable to use as a phone and it doesn't look like you are holding a tablet up to the side of your head.

I am sure someone else has said this but my POV is that the best camera is the one you have with you. I often carry my compact camera with me, and on most near and far adventures I try to take my SLR. But most of the time the only device on my person is my phone. The Memoir is not the camera phone I would design for myself or other real camera buffs but as far as subsidized camera phones go only the Sony c905a comes close. Nokia makes a better camera phone but it is not subsidized.

With patience and some skill shots that will blow away most people when they learn they came from a cell phone are as close as the Samsung Memoir in your pocket.

Awesome!!

Review Date: April 21, 2009

Reviewer: Consumer 007, Atlanta

I've had this phone for a week and a half and every day I've been excited to find cool new features. I knew it would be great, but was really surprised by how far it exceeded my expectations. It's definitely not perfect - there are several things that could be improved - but overall I really love it.

Great:
- 8MP Camera.
- Takes better outdoor pics than my old 5MP digital camera. Seems to like sports cars - those pics always come out awesome!
- Nice, clear screen. Zooming in/out works great.
- The touchscreen works well, and I haven't even calibrated it yet.
- The display rotates based on how you're holding the phone.
- Call quality is better than any cell phone I've ever had.
- The speakerphone is loud and clear.
- GPS works well.
- Mobile internet sites load fast and work well.
- I love having email access on my phone!
- Text messaging works great - far better than my old Samsung flip phone.
- The 'www.' and '.com' buttons are cool for web address entry.
- Alarm settings are easy to work with.
- Overall I love the Touchwiz interface - it's easy and fun to use. The whole phone works well as one integrated package, and is very well organized and designed.
- Setting up internet bookmarks is easy.
- Porting my number to the new service/phone was easy and fast.
- It took nearly an hour of video on a single battery charge, with juice left over for surfing and taking a dozen pics.

Ok:
- USB file transfer seems faster than Bluetooth, and charges the phone simultaneously
- The Samsung software (downloaded from their website) works well to pull images and videos off the phone via USB, and to work with the files on my PC. But why should these be required? Why not let the PC recognize and access it as a native device like it does via Bluetooth?

Could be better:
- Regular internet sites can fail to load or display, or take a really long time to do both. (That's partly the cellular service.) I'm spending most of my time on sites that have a mobile version for phones.
- Picture quality varies depending on lighting. Indoor shots frequently come out yellow and fuzzy.
- Sometimes the camera seems to focus on anything but what you're aiming at, so the subject is blurry but the background and foreground is sharp. (I have not tried different settings yet - just pointed and shot.)
- The screen could be bigger. Especially since I'm so addicted to it and am using it to surf all the time!
- Bluetooth file transfer (of 8MP pics) isn't very fast and uses lots of battery power.
- The phone doesn't tell me when it's fully charged while using the wall charger. (It does if it's charging via USB.)
- Amazon signed me up for a $19.99 100MB/month data plan that wasn't compatible with the phone. Only the $24.99 unlimited data plans (and higher) seem to work.

Overall Excellent Phone

Review Date: March 21, 2009

Reviewer: M. PARK, Seattle,WA

I have to actually add some comment on Colin Grant's review. I had a same problem with pics messaging. I called T-mobile service center and found out that it was a service plan problem. You would have to actually chz to "T-Mobile Smartphone Unlimited Web + 400 Messages" instead of normal G1 web service.

Overall, awesome phone. You can't go wrong with 8MP camera.

Nice phone and excellent deal from Amazon

Review Date: May 27, 2009

Reviewer: V. Ong, Chicago, IL

Pretty nice phone overall. The camera flash could be improved. It doesn't have enought flash for indoor pics.

The camera is very good.

Review Date: March 12, 2010

Reviewer: PictureGuy, Utah

The camera is very good for a cell phone. Check out my site for example pictures [...]. I am not selling anything it is just a site where I take at least a picture a day with this phone.

The internet is poor on this model.

admin on October 27, 2009 | Filed Under Blackberry, HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung

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