Why You Can Trust CNET Samsung SPH-M360 - blue (Sprint) review: Samsung SPH-M360 - blue (Sprint)
Samsung SPH-M360 - blue (Sprint)
Samsung SPH-M360 - blue (Sprint)
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Samsung's Galaxy S series has won the manufacturer a lot of attention over the past few months, but Sammy hasn't ignored the basic phone market. Just take its new SPH-M360 for Sprint. Armed with satisfying call quality, a bright display, and a straightforward design, the M360 does exactly what a cell phone should do. We wouldn't count on its camera, but it manages to pack in a couple of extra features, including voice dialing, accessibility options, and a loud speakerphone. And even better, it's free if you buy it online and sign a new service contract (the regular price is $209).
Design
Samsung's M360 comes about a year after its M330 and more than two years after the M320. Like those earlier handsets, the design of M360 doesn't go out of its way to impress with a loud color or flashing lights. It comes back to the flip phone fold--the M330 was a slider model--but its clean lines and royal blue color have a minimalist appeal. At 3.9 inches long by 1.9 inches wide by 0.7 inch deep, the handset is larger than many basic phones, but it still fits easily into a pocket. And at 3.6 ounces, it won't weigh you down.
The external display measures 0.92 inch on all sides and packs in all the information you'll need, including the date, time, battery life, and signal strength. It has a 65,000-color, 128x128-pixel resolution, so it doubles as a viewfinder for the camera lens. You can change the clock style and the contrast. On the right side you'll find a 3.5-millimeter headset jack, a camera shutter, and the Micro-USB charger port. The volume rocker sits by itself on the left spine; it's easy to find when you're on a call.
The internal display measures 2.25 inches and supports 260,000 colors (320x240 pixels). Though it would pale in comparison to your average smartphone screen, it's more than suitable on a handset like the M360. We enjoyed the bright resolution and vibrant colors, even if it's a bit difficult to see in direct light. You can change the backlight time and brightness, and you can personalize the display with wallpaper and a screensaver.
We particularly liked the spacious and comfortable navigation array. The diamond toggle and central OK button are raised above the surface of the phone, making it easy to navigate by feel. Surrounding it are two soft keys, a back button, and the Talk and End/power keys. The big keypad buttons are raised slightly, but we didn't have any issues dialing or texting. What's more, the keys are brightly backlit, and the numbers should be large enough for most users.
Features
The M360 has a 600-contact phone book with room in each entry for six phone numbers, an e-mail address, an instant message handle, a URL, a street address, a birthday, a job title and company name, and notes. You can assign contacts to groups and pair them with a photo and one of 20 polyphonic ringtones.
You can send and receive text and multimedia messages. The M360 also offers a fair number of texting options, like autocomplete and a personalized dictionary. Other essential features include an alarm clock, a calendar, a task list, a countdown timer, a calculator, a world clock, an airplane mode, a memo pad, and a voice recorder.
As mentioned, the M360 comes with a few options that are quite welcome on such a budget device. You'll find Bluetooth, speaker-independent voice dialing, parental controls, GPS support for Sprint Family Locater, and Sprint MobileSync. The handset also has a Voice Guide feature that will read out menu functions as you navigate over them.
The 1.3-megapixel camera takes photos in four resolutions and three quality settings. Other editing options include six white-balance modes, adjustable brightness, a self-timer, five color effects, three shutter sounds, and a 10x zoom. Keep in mind that the latter feature isn't available at the highest resolution. You also can use four shooting modes: night, panorama, mosaic, and continuous. The M360 does not record video.
When done shooting, you can send photos to friends using Bluetooth and a multimedia message and you can upload them to a variety of services like Facebook, MySpace, Snapfish, and Photobucket. Internal storage is capped at 128MB of ROM and 64MB of RAM. That's not a lot, but this isn't a phone that's geared for high-powered use. Total download capacity is limited to 2MB.
The wireless Web browser offers a standard WAP experience, though Samsung added a shortcut to Google Search, and a list of recent sites visited. You also can set your own home page, change the font size, and adjust privacy settings. The M360 doesn't come with any games or applications, but you can download titles and additional personalization options through the browser.
Performance
We tested the dual-band (CDMA 8900/1900) Samsung M360 in San Francisco using Sprint. Call quality was quite satisfying on all fronts. Conversations were clear, the signal was strong in our testing area, and our friends' voices sounded natural. And, just as importantly, the volume was sufficiently loud for most environments.
Callers also reported good conditions. They could hear and understand us most of the time, and none of our friends reported problems beyond a trace of static. A couple of people told us that M360 picked up some wind noise, but they said it was only minimal. Speakerphone quality on both ends was quite good. The M360's volume level gets quite loud, and we didn't have to sit right next to the phone to have a conversation. Voice clarity on the speakerphone could be slightly distorted.
Automated calling systems could understand us, but it was best if we were in a quiet place. The voice commands also perform well provided you speak slowly and deliberately. Also, make sure that you say each number in a phone number individually (for example, say "eight-zero-zero" instead of "eight hundred"). You can train the Nuance-powered feature to adapt to your voice, but it's not necessary.
Samsung SPH-M360 call quality sample Listen now:
The M360 has a rated battery life of 6.2 hours talk time. Our tests reveal a talk time of 6 hours and 17 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the M360 has a digital SAR of 0.82 watt per kilogram. The M360 is compatible with M4 and T4 hearing aids.