Samsung B5702 Duos GSM phone review

It's an amazing thing – marketing, it sometimes works wonders. Remember, in the first season of House M.D. the protagonist is forced to advertise a new drug, but he can't stand it and claims from the stage that, except for cosmetic changes and higher cost, these drugs are no different. So, the first DUOS – the Samsung D880 model – has not so many differences from the Samsung B5702. Either the second device has little difference from the first, which is more true. The difference lies in the cost of solutions, if the first DUOS is easy to find on the Russian market for 8,500-10,000 rubles, then the price for a new product will be 30-40 percent higher, starting from 14,000 rubles. On the other hand, DUOS, as a phenomenon, was tied to the Russian market and some CIS countries, the company did not officially supply this device to other regions. True, the deafening Russian sales were due to the fact that many companies exported the DUOS line of devices to other countries in suitcases. A month after the start of sales, DUOS was in the US, Canada, not to mention Europe or Asia.

For operators, foods like bone in the throat, they don't like them. Therefore, Samsung did not go beyond the CIS, but with the onset of the crisis, it decided not to pay attention to the cries of operators and launch the DUOS line in all countries. This is how the first international version of DUOS appeared, model B5702. What is typical, this device is almost a complete copy of the D880 in terms of ideology, improvements have been made to the software, SIM-card management, but, by and large, the difference between them is minimal. Is this device interesting for a Russian user? I think no. There is a whole range of products from the DUOS line on the market, the Samsung D880 is still the best one, considering its price. The first DUOS became de facto the most mass-produced device with two SIM-cards, all subsequent models are not so noticeable, tangible in sales. For example, C5212, released a month ago, was delivered to Russia at the level of 20,000 in the first month. Not bad for a niche product, but that's about it. Not the most massive segment of the market, and the sales volume of the D880 is far away.

Therefore, it is worth considering the B5702 as the first DUOS for the whole world, but not a very interesting model for the CIS countries. And almost a complete copy in the software aspect of the Samsung C5212 DUOS monoblock.

Design, dimensions, controls

The size of the phone is 106×52.5×16.9 mm, weight – 120 grams. In terms of aesthetics and impressions, the model is very similar to the first DUOS, Samsung D880. A massive slider in one color solution, the battery cover is made of metal, it is glossy and varnished. The device is perfectly assembled, the mechanism of automatic finishing is pleasant. But to call the phone female is not the language, rather it is a typical male device, which was proved by the first DUOS.

On the left side there is a paired volume rocker and an interface connector, it is covered with a plastic cap. On the right side there is a camera button, as well as a key for switching between SIM cards.

There are two indicator lights above the display to show which card is the default SIM card. The connector for the cards themselves and the memory card is located under the battery.

Display

The device uses a TFT-screen with a resolution of 240×320 pixels (diagonal 2.4 inches, 36×49 mm), it displays up to 262,000 colors. The picture in the room looks good, it is bright and pleasant. In terms of color quality, this is one of the best screens on the market. A large diagonal makes the fonts large and easy to read. Up to 10 lines of text and up to 4 service lines fit on the screen. In the sun, the information is readable, but the colors fade.

Keyboard

The backlighting of the keys is white, it is uniform, well visible in different conditions. Numeric keys are large, have soft pressing, it is convenient to work with them. The navigation key is also handy.

Battery

The phone uses a 1200 mAh lithium-ion battery. The manufacturer claims that the battery can provide up to 200 hours of standby time and up to 2.5 hours of talk time. Under the conditions of European networks, the device worked on average for about 2.5-3 days with a little over an hour of conversations in total (on two cards), up to 30 SMS messages. At the same time, in Moscow networks, with an hour of conversations, it was enough for about 1.5-2 days. The time to fully charge the battery is just over two hours.

For those who talk a lot and use both cards, you can guarantee about 1.5 days of reliable work, this is not so bad and matches the first model of the family. At the same time, on average, the device will keep two days, this is a normal operating time for it.

The time of continuous music playback at maximum volume (headphones) is 12 hours.

USB, Bluetooth, connectivity

Bluetooth. The model supports various profiles, in particular, Headset, Handsfree, Serial Port, Dial Up Networking, File Transfer, Object Push, Basic Printing, A2DP. Bluetooth version 2.0, EDR supported. Working with headsets does not raise any questions, everything is ordinary.

USB connection. In the menu, you can select one of four possible operating modes: Samsung PC Studio, Mass Storage, Printer.

In USB Mass Storage mode, the device is perfectly picked up without additional drivers, you can copy the necessary data. USB version – 2, data transfer rate – about 600 Kb / s.

When connected to a PC, simultaneous operation of USB and Bluetooth is not allowed, the device requires Bluetooth to be turned off regardless of the current state (whether there is a connection and transmission or not), this is extremely inconvenient.

When connected via USB, the device is charged.

Class 10 EDGE is provided for GSM networks.

Memory, memory cards

The device has 16 MB of built-in memory, the microSD memory card slot supports cards up to 32 GB. There is a "hot" replacement of memory cards. The built-in file manager allows you to copy information from one type of memory to another, in the settings of each application you can specify where to save files by default (phone or card memory).

Camera

The phone has a 3-megapixel camera with autofocus, it provides good quality pictures. However, see for yourself in this example. The set of settings is standard for Samsung phones (white balance, contrast, frames, and so on).

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Video. Video recording is possible in resolutions of 320×240, 176×144, 160×120 and 128×96 pixels, while there may be a size limit for an MMS message, or recording will occur without it. The video quality is average, not at the level of modern devices, where VGA resolution is not uncommon. The same effects are applied to videos as for photos, the same quality settings.

Working with two SIM-cards

There are two slots for memory cards under the battery, you can install the cards as you like, from the phone menu you can assign the main card, which is used by default. The slots indicate which card is the first, which is the second. This only affects the order in which the SIM manager will offer them to you and nothing more.

How does the device work? You turn on the phone and with the help of the SIM-manager you can name the cards that you have installed in the device by any name. Accordingly, when working with cards, confusion disappears, it is more convenient than just the names SIM1, SIM2, as in other devices. There is a small set of icons for each card, the icons are displayed in the status bar, as well as in all lists where the card number is indicated.

In standby mode, the name of both networks is displayed, the number indicates the map. Moreover, the signal level of the first card can be found in the usual place in the upper left corner, and the second indicator – on the right in the same line. With an incoming call, the device shows which card it comes to. It is more interesting that the user for each card can choose not only his own call option, but also a profile. For example, for the first card you choose a ringtone, and for the second you put a silent profile. An excellent setting, which is simply not available on devices from other manufacturers.

To emphasize the peculiarity of the device, the call control key and call the SIM manager are placed on the side. It is not only responsible for access to the manager, but when dialing a number or typing SMS, it allows you to change the line and, accordingly, the SIM card with one touch. Unlike previous models of the DUOS series, the card is not selected from the menu, there are no large icons, the icon in the status bar is highlighted. The phone has two indicator lights, they are located above the screen. The indicator of the card that is selected by default is on, and in standby mode, the indicator blinks.

The advantages of DuoS include the ability to disable the use of a particular card from the menu. Someone may consider this stupidity, because this is the main function of the phone. But in the conditions of a discharging battery, this will not be redundant, because the power consumption of two cards is almost twice as much.

The two cards are equal in terms of capabilities, you can not only make calls or send messages from any card, but also use GPRS/EDGE with any of them without rebooting the phone. When you select the main, main card, the device reboots. This is due to the fact that the SIM toolkit is only available for one of the cards. Otherwise, no reboot is required. You can use your phone as a modem on any of the two cards.

All lists of calls indicate which card they received. The phone book displays entries from both the phone memory and the SIM cards. The presence of two radio units dictates the need for two IMEI numbers, and there are exactly two of them in this device, which allows you to easily comply with all standards. Hardware model consists of two radio parts, one inherited from Samsung D880, the second – from Samsung M610.

The device now has the ability to automatically make this or that SIM the main one according to the schedule. For example, during the day it is one card, and at night the second. Specify time intervals in the menu, and the device switches automatically. A small feature, but convenient for those who change cards at different times of the day.

In the Russian delivery, it is worth noting those profiles that are preinstalled in the phone. So, for the browser, wap.operator.ru is indicated as an access point, which is charged more.

The main menu is represented by a matrix of icons (3×4). All submenus have horizontal lists. The menu remembers the last position in each of the submenus and in the main menu. The device remembers which function you accessed the last time, and by default, when you enter the menu, it highlights it. For example, you selected the list of calls in the main menu, worked with it and left. The next time you enter the main menu, you will see the same item highlighted. When you select one or another item in the list, it is highlighted, the font size (which is already rather big) increases.

The menus are navigable by number sequences, but the control options don't stop there. Three different applications can be assigned to the navigation key from the list provided by the manufacturer (there are no references to their own Java applications in all cases). The quick launch menu in the form of a horizontal ruler is present in this model (uMenu). Several themes are available, here this refers to the color design of the menu and nothing more. There are several topics, but they are all monotonous to disgrace.

In the menu, when entering individual items, there is animation, you can apply two effects, they are selected in the menu, they can also be turned off. In terms of animation, the device is interesting, attracts attention, and in a week you start to like it, a good design element.

Phonebook

You can call contacts by pressing the right soft key, you will see a list containing all entries, both from the phone memory and from SIM cards, you can select only one type of phone memory to display. The line below the name shows the default number, you can choose it yourself from the numbers stored in the phone's memory. There is a quick name search by first letters, this device can have up to twenty of them, and for any language. Pressing the OK key will take you to the single entry view menu, a small icon is displayed here if the image is associated with a name. Any graphic file, as well as your photos or videos, can be used as a name picture. You can record up to 10 phone numbers of various types (mobile, office, home, fax, other) for a name, one of them will be the main one (by default, the first one entered). The fields are not fixed, they can be changed at your discretion. If necessary, you can add new fields – notes, addresses, mail, birthday with date registration in the calendar, the number of such fields is large.

The phone has two fields for first name and last name (search only by the first field), when displayed, the fields are summed up, the first field is First Name. Moreover, the summing field was created explicitly. For example, Eldar Murtazin is shown in this sequence. The length of each field is 20 characters, and for any of the supported input languages. You can also alternate between different languages ​​when typing the name.

Sorting records in different languages ​​is done in order: first all contacts in the local language (for example, Russian), then all names in English. This is quite convenient and familiar to computer programs. Given the ability to quickly switch languages ​​when searching, it becomes clear that entries in different languages ​​are not a problem in this unit. The list is sorted by first or last name.

Let's go back to filling in the name; in addition to phones, you can write down an email address, a small text note. For the name, you can select any sound file as a ringtone, including mp3 compositions. You can easily create the required number of groups, choose your own melody, picture for each. For SMS messages, you can choose your own ringtone.

Up to 1000 names are stored in the phone's memory with all numbers and data filled in. If you do not fill in all the fields, then the number of names will still remain equal to one thousand. In the settings, you can specify where all new numbers will be recorded by default. There is a setting for transferring records from the SIM card memory and vice versa. The developers felt that the best way to synchronize is a PC, in particular, using MS Outlook. Any entry can be quickly sent to another device as SMS / MMS, mail, and also via Bluetooth. There are no difficulties with sending, the phone book entry goes to another device without problems and is recognized in the same way.

You can have your own business card https://tonaton.co.ke/c_kitchen-appliances in your phone, its format is the same as a regular phone book entry.

You can have up to 8 numbers in the speed dial list, and individual numbers of the same name can also be entered. Buttons are labeled with the selected name, but not with the phone type.

You can create any number of subscriber groups yourself. For each group, you can choose a picture and a melody. The group can include up to 20 subscribers.

When there is an incoming call, the picture is not displayed on the entire screen, but only on part of it.

Call lists

Each list contains up to 30 phone numbers. There is a combined list of recent calls (90 entries in total), here the icon marks the type of call. By deflecting the navigation key horizontally, you can quickly move from one list to another. For a separate entry, when viewing in detail, you can see the date and time of the call, as well as the name of the SIM card to which it was received. Identical calls are summed up, opposite the number their number is shown. The detailed view shows the time for each such call. Traditionally, in this menu you can see the total time of all calls and their cost (if the service is configured).

For certain numbers, you can maintain a black list, then calls from them will not be accepted.

Messages

The phone memory can store up to 300 messages, the device supports the EMS standard, compatible with Nokia Smart Messaging. When sending, you can select names both from the phone book, and from the list of recently used or from groups. Traditionally, there is the possibility of maintaining a black list for all types of messages, then any messages from the specified numbers will be automatically deleted. It is possible to transfer messages to your folders. For e-mail, blocking is possible not only by the address, but also by the subject of the message.

There is a 295 KB MMS message size limit, and there is no size limit for received messages. Of the additional settings, it should be noted the ability to reject advertising messages, the choice of the type of message reception in roaming and in the home network. Messages are stored in shared dynamic memory, same for email.

The built-in mail client is ordinary, it has no special features. In total, you can set up up to 5 accounts, the limit on the number of messages for each is 100. Attachments are supported, but the limit on the message size when sending is the same 300 KB, there are no restrictions for the received message. The resulting files can be viewed on the device using the built-in browser. There is no html support in emails, which causes a violation of the formatting of most received emails, and it is not very comfortable to view them.

There is also a useful function for sending SOS messages. If it is activated, then in an emergency, after pressing the volume key four times, the message “I am in emergency. Please help me" will be sent to the previously specified contacts, and incoming calls from these numbers received after the message was sent will be accepted automatically. Subscriber numbers (no more than 5) and the number of repetitions of the message can be specified independently, but the text is not edited.

Organizer

Up to 1000 events can be stored in the phone's memory, the type of events is meeting, anniversary, personal, miscellaneous, task. For each entry, except for tasks, the time and date of the event are set, and the end time is indicated. You can set a signal and the interval for which it will work, there are repeatable events (moreover, the repeat time is set, exceptions are indicated, this is convenient). Viewing the calendar for a month and a week is implemented conveniently, each type of event has its own color, everything is clear.