# [UPDATED] Samsung E3210



## coderunknown (Feb 20, 2012)

BACK WITH ANOTHER REVIEW 

The mobile market is one of the fastest growing sections in the tech world. Every year we are having better and better mobile at the original price. More like double the number of cores in the same price as previous year. It can be termed as Sam’s law 
But sadly mobile makers are trying their best to push out better and better mobiles at the highend section whereas the lowend market is almost completely neglected. But lowend section accounts for most of the shipments. 

If you look at the market a few years ago, the lowend section (sub 5k), it was completely dominated by Nokia. Now it’s a mixed bag comprising of Nokia & Samsung and a few other players. But Nokia still account for a much higher number of sales than Samsung in this section as peoples blindly go for Nokia.

I was in the look for a new mobile for my mom. She wanted an easy to use (which means no touch), long battery backup, nice looks (white colour was a must) and a host of other useful features but that shouldn’t cost more than 3k. I had a few mobiles on my list but was not impressed by looks. C1-01, C2-00 from Nokia and Hero E2232, Guru E2152 from Samsung but (mom as well as me) didn’t like any of them. Small screens, odd colour made me search deeper and deeper. As I already had bought stuffs online, so online shopping wasn’t a problem for me. A descent mobile at moderate price was what I was looking for. 

Finally found Samsung Hero E3210 at HomeShop18. It was a 3G enabled mobile (3G download, no front cam) at 2.4k only [after an Rs.200 coupon]. Ordered and received the package within 5days.

*First Impression:*
The mobile I selected was an all-white one. When I received the package it was in a cardboard box with a further plastic cover wrapped over it. Opened it and now we finally had the actual mobile box but the picture on the box was black. I thought maybe they shipped the black coloured model. Opened it and inside was the white beauty. I had earlier read in GSMArena that earphone is not bundled with this mobile. But as I already had 2 spare 3.5mm headphones so that was not much of a worry. Surprise!!! There was actually a 3.5mm headphone inside the package. Not only that, was a Videocon D2H connection coupon also. Was delighted 

*gadgetsmedia.vamban.com/2011/04/Samsung-Hero-E3210-Affordable-3G-Mobile-Phone-Price-in-India-Reviews-Technical-Specifications-Photos.jpg

Took out the mobile and it felt extremely light (sub 50g). I was like “WTH!!! So light mobile”. But then noticed that there was no battery inside facepalm. Checked the box and it was there under some manual and all. Inserted and still it was damn light. But Samsung had printed some kind of instructions on the screen cover (not exactly a guard as the quality was near pathetic) so had to peel off. Powered on mobile and was asked to setup a few things much like my Optimus One does when powering on. After those were completed (which includes selection of timezone, date, theme, etc) was presented the homescreen. It was a really well designed one with a row at the middle that has some of the apps or most used features listed. Will get back to this later.

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3451.jpg*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3456.jpg

*Specifications: *


*Manufacturer*
 | Samsung
*Model*
 | E3210
*Screen*
 | 2”
*Resolution*
 | 128X160
*Weight*
 | 79.3g
*Memory Card*
 | Yes
*Data*
 | HSDPA 3.6Mbps
*Bluetooth*
 | v2.1 with A2DP
*USB*
 | microUSB v2.0
*Camera*
 | VGA, no front cam
*Dual Sim*
 | NO
*Radio*
 | yes, FM recording
*Browser*
 | WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
*Messaging*
 | SMS, MMS, Email, IM
*Java*
 | YES, MIDP 2.0
*Battery*
 | 800mah
*Talk Time*
 | Up to 8h30min (2G) / Up to 3h30min (3G)
*Standby*
 | Up to 550h (2G) / Up to 330h (3G)
*Build*
The mobile is well built and doesn’t looks cheap at all but is fully plastic made. The keypad (like most Samsung mobiles) is the biggest +ve point in this mobile. It is soft and you can type on it for hours without turning your fingers red. The whole mobile got a silver bezel which with the white colour gives it a nice look. 

The earpiece is at the front and the mouthpiece is at the bottom which may cause dirt and lint to clog it if kept in pocket. The camera is at the middle of the backside along the speaker. The speaker got a slight bump at the middle which will cause it to rise a bit if kept in a flat surface say table. The headphone as well as the USB jack is at the top. The usb port is covered by a slide to open kind of cover which doesn’t look very solid but shouldn’t break off easily as all you need to do is slide it. The right side got a slot for memory card which unlike the usb has to be pulled off. This one won’t survive long if used regularly but as it is not designed for that purpose, so won’t complain. Left side is bare except a small hole to tie a strip at the top.

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3630.jpg*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3634.jpg*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3633.jpg

Let’s have a look at the battery now. The cover Samsung used is absolutely pathetic. If you are not careful enough, you’ll end up with 2 pieces of battery cover the very first time you try to open. Inside you’ll find the 800mah battery. It is slim and light. In comparison to the massive 1500mah battery on my LG mobile which weighs more than the Samsung mobile itself. But still delivers around 2-3 days of extremely heavy use (music in loudspeaker). Under the battery is the sim compartment. Here is another problem. Removing the sim card is not that easy. 

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3651.jpg
*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3648.jpg

*Features*
E3210 like most other budget Samsung uses a preparatory Samsung operating system. The homepage have a list of features lined up in a row called smart home. Though this can be disabled if user finds it a bit too complicated and may opt for a simple homescreen like Nokia S30/S40. The middle key of the D pad takes one directly to the music player. The left softkey opens the menu and the response is faster than even Symbian, let alone Android. There are a total of 12 grids.

Contacts are visible as a list with separate tabs for groups and favorite (just like Android). One interesting feature that I found is when you select a contact and select for more options you are given an option for video call. So you can video call using the back camera which to me is completely meaningless. 

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3635.jpg

In messaging it has built in email client, push sms, text, mms as well as SOS feature. Email is preconfigured with Gmail, Hotmail, Windows Live and a third nameless account where you may try using with any other email account. Mobile can hold a maximum of 700 sms only.

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3636.jpg
*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3637.jpg

Contacts, calendars & sms can be either sync'd to online server (Google) or backed up in the memory card.

I wanted to test the software section specially so started by transferring some old java games to memory card. I took 3 games ranging from 1Mb down to 150Kb. When trying to install, was awarded with an error message that it exceeds maximum size. As I have known of these issues in Samsung I tried every game. Finally the smallest one size around 160Kb was installed. But when I tried to launch it, BAM!!! Error. I was not in any mood to stop, so downloaded Opera Mini 3 & 6.5 but to my surprise both of them got installed and opened up nicely without any hiccups. One has to note that Opera Mini 6.5 is sized at 290Kb which I think just misses the size limit.

There is also a built-in Image Editor (yes you heard right) with a host of useful features like crop, rotate, partial blur, contrast, brightness, colour, etc. You can also insert text, clipart & emotions onto a picture.

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3645.jpg*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3644.jpg

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/wallpaper_outofthebox_ec.jpg
was just testing how it goes 

Though this mobile lacks a gallery but a usable file manager solves the problem. It has tabbed feature just like the contact list to you can browse between memory card, phone memory or both. From there you can select image to be edited or send through Bluetooth or set as contact pic, wallpaper, etc

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3646-1.jpg

Lastly, it has built in IM apps namely Facebook, Twitter, Bluetooth messaging (don’t know what that), Instant Messaging (again no idea) and communities (picasa, flicker, etc). I logged in into facebook but found it unusable. Opera Mini is lot better in that regard. I am not sure if the built in IM allows chat.

*Connectivity*
Packed with HSDPA 3.6Mbps, Bluetooth, quadband GSM and a fast microUSB 2.0 port this mobile got all its sides covered when it comes to connectivity. I failed to test 3G speed as pack expired and even after requesting for a few pack, Airtel didn’t acknowledge. So that is something I’ll add later. added 3G test 

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3639.jpg*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3642.jpg

Browser is a simple WAP browser. But as it supports Opera Mini I don’t think there is any use of the stock browser.

*Multimedia*
Next in line is the music player. This is not a music centric mobile but still delivers nice clear music. Music through headphone is extremely loud. Combine it with the 12 different sound effects (predefined equalizer) and you can have a blast. The mobile comes with 5.1ch virtual surround sound but you better not turn it on as it sends the music flying out the window. The brass goes out of control neither is the volume clear. 

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3640.jpg
*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3643.jpg
homescreen when playing music.

Next is the video player. I started by decoding the Official trailer of Rage at 120X160 (128X160 is the resolution) at 20FPS. It played fine. Increased FPS to 30 and still played without missing even a single frame. This time I decided to jump to 240p video of Crashday. Played just like that. No slowdown. But when I tried a 320p video, it was too much for this kid. Though 2” with such low resolution is not something you’ll enjoy videos on, but this mobile can handle mobile videos.

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/IMG_3624.jpg

This mobile packs a VGA camera which can also shoot videos. To check the quality, clicked a few pics of my mobile with minimum brightness & brightness maxed out. At minimum brightness the picture was somewhat recognizable but as the brightness was increased, camera can’t differentiate the white pattern from the black spots and you get a completely blown up picture. So outdoor shooting with this cam is a strict no as you’ll get white background and white faces.

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/cameraperformance1.jpg
my mobile with minimum brightness.

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Samsung%20E3210%20review/cameraperformance2.jpg
when brightness is maximum. too much exposure.

*3G TEST:*
As this mobile is marketed as a 3G mobile so its primary aim is simple. Use it as a 3G dongle or maybe to browse faster (as 3G cost are still high so downloading mayn't be best idea). So i went to test how the 3G thing works. As this is a java mobile so its not possible to run any speed test app or even the SpeedTest website. It required Adobe Flash Player. I used a simple web based speed testing site to find if it can be used at all for 3G browsing. Here are the results. 

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/IMG_3678.jpg*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/IMG_3679.jpg

Compare that to 3G on my Optimus One:
*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Screenshot_2012-02-28-18-43-33.png

Speed is just 1/3rd but one is done using the Speedtest app whereas the other one using a plain website. So i expect 200-250kbps but when i tried to open the same website using opera mini it failed to connect. actually Opera Mini failed to open any site using the Airtel sim (for 3G) whereas with BSNL sim it opened just fine. Sadly BSNL is postpaid without any GPRS plan or 3G so can't test. 

To double check if the speed i got was real i downloaded Samsung New PC Suite (175Mb) and mobile was detected immediately. But when i tried configuring the modem section i was asked to disconnect mobile. Tried several time but failed. Everytime i was asked to disconnect. Finally gave up. I'll try again some other time to test 3G download on PC. BTW the PC Studio huge size is cause of the added animation and usability. Still i prefer Android which requires no PC Suite like crap or Nokia Suite which is one of the easiest to configure.

*i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g367/kaushiksam/Untitled.jpg

*Verdict*
At 2.4k, you are getting a nice looking mobile with a list of useful as well as usable features, 3.5G, a nice and powerful music cum video player, integrated email client. If you neglect the camera this is the mobile to get under 3k. Over that price, the new Nokia X2-02 may steal the show with its big and high resolution screen and 2MP camera but it lacks 3G. Samsung E3213 was another option with front cam but the least price i can find it for was 3k, hence had to skip it too. 

*www.mobicity.com.au/media/catalog/product/cache/1/thumbnail/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/n/o/nokia_c2-00_5.jpg
Nokia C2-00
*cdn.conversations.nokia.com.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Nokia-X2-02.jpg
Nokia X2-02
*www.xprice.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Samsung-Hero-E3213.jpg
Samsung E3213


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## Neo (Feb 20, 2012)

Nice 
But how do you get sooooooo much time?


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## ofabhishek (Feb 20, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*

Excellent review...
covered almost every aspect


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## coderunknown (Feb 20, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*

thanks  



Royal_tarun said:


> Nice
> But how do you get sooooooo much time?



was planning this since a week. took around 5hrs to complete. Its not about time. its about what you write, how you write.


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## Neo (Feb 20, 2012)

What? 5 hours


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## Vyom (Feb 21, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*

Nice Review. You are my inspiration. 

 (Why? You will know it today.)


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## coderunknown (Feb 21, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*



Royal_tarun said:


> What? 5 hours



i already know what i was going to cover. so writing part was over in 3hrs. then photshoot and attaching pics. removing common errors, typos, etc. 



Vyom said:


> Nice Review. You are my inspiration.
> 
> (Why? You will know it today.)



i better not be your inspiration


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## thetechfreak (Feb 22, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*

 
Nice one Sam


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## tkin (Feb 22, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*

Nice review, cheap 3g phone, me likez.


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## pkkumarcool (Feb 22, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*

i suggest is to activate bsnl 3g and also do a speedtest (downloading speed) review connected to pc as well as in phone.Then review will be complete in every aspect.


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## coderunknown (Feb 22, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*



pkkumarcool said:


> i suggest is to activate bsnl 3g and also do a speedtest (downloading speed) review connected to pc as well as in phone.Then review will be complete in every aspect.



this is on my to do list. expect the results on monday-tuesday.



tkin said:


> Nice review, cheap 3g phone, me likez.



lets test the 3G thing first. if it works fine (without reboot as i had heard such things) then its money well spent



thetechfreak said:


> Nice one Sam



thanks


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## pramudit (Feb 23, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*

you made me feel embarrassed after seeing your review and my galaxy review... 
mine feels like a 2size font in front of your 50size font...... really nice review.... you can open your own review site....


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## coderunknown (Feb 23, 2012)

*Re: [REVIEW] Samsung E3210*



pramudit said:


> you made me feel embarrassed after seeing your review and my galaxy review...
> mine feels like a 2size font in front of your 50size font...... really nice review.... you can open your own review site....



its all about experience. have already done a few reviews and moreover read a ton of review every week but still have many areas to improve upon 

my own review site? will consider that after some years. for now ThinkDigit Forum is where my reviews and articles will go (exclusively).


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## coderunknown (Feb 28, 2012)

*UPDATE:* 

3G test added but failed to test the same on PC. check the second last part.


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## pkkumarcool (Feb 29, 2012)

it took about 7 second to download 100 KB file means ur download speed is 100/7 KB/S (about 14-15KB/S)??? so slow and its 3g..and on ur smartfone it is about 300 KB/S. So, its a device problem..you need to check this..


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## coderunknown (Feb 29, 2012)

^^ i'll test again. this time with a download and manually try to find the d/l speed.


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