The quest to be different

In this day and age, when cell phones are no longer luxury gizmos but fast becoming as common as wristwatches, many people find it hard to be different. Everywhere one looks, there are people carrying the same phones from Finland (many of them made in China actually). And to maintain a sense of individuality and uniqueness, one has to either get the most expensive phone available or settle with those analog ones that nobody nowadays wants to buy.

There’s good news, however. Thanks to the ever-growing market for cell phones, manufacturers have come up with models that are not only fashionable but also practical and very easy to use.

One of these phones is the SGH-R220, a creation of Korean electronics giant Samsung. Combining several winning features of Nokia and Siemens phones, Samsung packed the SGH-R220 with more than enough sense to justify its little over P6,000 (as we have been told) tag price.

This WAP-enabled phone is small – about the size of a 3310 – and light – just 99 grams. It handles almost like a Nokia, with a very similar menu system and key functions.

Despite its smallness, the SGH-R220 boasts of having a large LCD – a very stunning LCD at that. Almost the size of the Ericsson R320’s, the SGH-R220’s screen has a laser-like blue backlight that can make you the center of attention, especially in the dark. The blue light also illuminates the keypads in a cool, soothing way.

We tested the SGH-R220 for several days last week and found it to be a good, value-for-money phone. For one, it allowed us to set a different LCD color for different callers, choose from five different animated screensavers and send picture messages. Aside from 20 different ringtones (which you can also compose), there are 10 different tones for incoming text messages, a feature unique to this phone.

Bored with playing the Snake? We found the SGH-R220’s three games – the Casino, the Mole and the Hexa – very relaxing to play. The Casino, for example, is nothing but a slot machine game which we enjoyed without much thinking.

The SGH-R220’s only downside is probably its newness. It has several listed accessories, but we doubt if they are immediately available. The phone has an earphone socket on its side but our test unit didn’t come with the earphone/mike handsfree set that is included in the SGH-R220 kit when you buy it.

Another concern is the battery. The phone’s manual claims it has a 120-hour standby time, but it seems the backlight consumes most of this packed power that our fully charged battery drained out in just 24 hours.

Nonetheless, we cherished the SGH-R220 for as long as its battery allowed us to. It made us look and feel different. Nowadays, that’s something that really counts.