Samsung C170 phone review
While waiting for my partner to pick up some extra prepaid credits at the local Optus store, I noticed a demo model of the Samsung C170 lying on the front counter. My initial reaction was surprise at how thin it was. I assumed it must have been expensive and was subsequently surprised a second time when I learned it was AUD$80 on prepaid. Three days later, I became a new owner.
Truth be told, I don’t demand much from a handset. The only functions I use are calling, SMS’ing and an alarm clock.
However, when it comes to usability, I am picky. Button presses it takes to complete common tasks, the intuitiveness of those button presses and the responsiveness of the screen are all critical to me. Four years ago, I found my “handset nirvana” in the form of the Nokia 8250 and quite frankly, have not had any compelling reason to upgrade since. The Samsung C170 was an impulse purchase after finding it online, already unlocked, for only AUD$90 including delivery.
Damn, it’s tiny
The phone comes packaged in a cute little box no larger than your hand. Inside you will find:
- Samsung C170 handset
- Battery Charger
- Earphones
- Manual and warranty
I have seen the handset available in four colours - metallic red, metallic gray, black and metallic pink.
Here you can see how thin this phone really is. It definitely falls into the pocket size category. Official dimensions are 105 x 42 x 8.9 mm and it weighs in at a paltry 67g.
I found the overall build quality excellent. It feels very solid, the LCD is well protected and the assembly looks top notch. The keypad keys have a well-defined “click” and do not creak. If you have large hands, you might find the buttons a little difficult to press accurately. For example, I found myself hitting the Cancel button accidentally while pressing the Down key.
There is only a single port on the right hand side of the phone which is kept concealed by a small plastic cover. It feels a little flimsy but does the job. The port is used for earphones, charger and data cable.
Features
Even though it’s a budget handset, it does come with additional features:
- Calendar
- T9 dictionary
- WAP
- Alarm (Mon-Fri, Mon-Sat, Once off, Daily)
- To-do list
- Voice memo
- Calculator
- Currency converter
- FM Radio
- Built-in speaker for both phone and radio
- Vibration
This handset does not support MMS.
The radio works well but the earphones are required as they also act as an aerial. Unfortunately you can only use the supplied earphones as they require the special connector to plug into the handset.
Speakerphone is loud and works well in quiet spaces and the car. Not much good in outdoor or high wind areas.
User interface
The C170 offers a bright, colourful user experience, full of animations and sounds.
Text colour is customisable and I found the LCD to be sharp and legible.
The UI is intuitive and quick to pick up. Menus are scrolled up and down, and the left and right buttons are used for Select, Cancel or specific tasks.
In regards to number of clicks to complete a task, I find the Nokia 8250 provides a faster, more streamlined process.
For example, assume I wish to call “Thomas” on the 8250. This would require the following key combination:
- Down > 8 > Dial
To complete the same task on the C170 I would need to press:
- Phonebook > Select > 8 >Ok > Dial
There are other situations where the Nokia is simply faster, primarily due to its menu item order. Creating a new SMS requires me to press Select three times whereas the C170 requires you to press three different keys (a slower process if you’re memory isn’t so good).
Customisation
The phone comes with about seven wallpapers all of which are fairly average.
The ringtones are polyphonic and if you love tacky, poppy tunes, you’ll love them. If you’re like me, you’ll find each and every one an assault on your senses. Personally, I want my ringtone to sound like a telephone ringing and with great dismay, I am sad to report that no such option is available.
There is 600k of internal memory to store your own pictures and sound, however it cannot be accessed with a data cable. The only way I have found to customise the phone is to upload your wallpapers and ringtones onto a server and access them via the WAP browser. Certainly not the cheapest solution.
Conclusion
For an AUD$80 phone, the Samsung C170 offers great bang for your buck. If you’re after something small and can live without a camera, I definitely recommend giving it a try. It’s exclusive to Optus prepaid in Australia but if you shop around, you should be able to find it unlocked for about the same price.
Filed under Everything else. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 11th, 2007 at 5:48 am
you should really cut your nails more often. those are some really long nails.. yuck
December 26th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Hi I have this phone and, like you, hate the supplied ringtones. Have you managed to find a free, sensible “ring-ring”-type one online?
January 8th, 2008 at 7:39 am
i want to known that,Is this mobile have data cable(cod)
plz reply me
January 8th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Mine didn’t come with a data-cable for good reason - it doesn’t support it.
The side slot is purely for charging.
In regards to sensible ringtones, I have had little luck. It accepts .mid files but finding a ringtone with the supported notes is another matter.
February 4th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I was looking for a cheap phone without bells and whistles so i bought the C170 mainly because it wouldn’t take up much pocket space. Having used it for a couple of weeks i can say:
battery life is ok
feels a little flimsy - wouldn’t want to drop it or walk into a table for example with it in my pocket
menu system is slow and painful, including calling, texting, saving numbers etc.
very few customisable settings eg. speakerphone volume etc
ring tones are shocking.
I wouldn’t buy it again, mainly because the menu options are a pain in the butt and not intuitive - it takes 3 or 4 buttons instead of 1 or 2 to do anything.
But it looks ok
March 1st, 2008 at 7:10 am
I bought this slim phone recently. Any idea how to set SMS messages to be stored in phone memory instead of SIM?
March 14th, 2008 at 8:31 am
THE C170 is just an average phone.DO U think that it could have provided data cable feature,and 2mb+ memory at the same price.the device is a bit slow and its interface is bad compared to any similar nokia phone.i got this after dumping my nokia 2100.I GUESS I WILL NEVER BUY A SAMSUNG PHONE AGAIN.oh and my x120 s alarm doesnt function.i think samsung will lose customers if they continue like this…i agree with all that was said in the review…i am not biased in anyway…long live nokia,long live sony ericsson,LOSERS ARE samsung and motorola….
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:31 am
If anyone works out how to get half-decent ringtones on this phone PLEASE tell me how!! Also, how does setting up a WAP page etc. work? As this is what seems to provide accesibility to self-downloaded ringtones.
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Download midi files (filename.mid) from the internet.
Upload the midi files to a personal website.
Using the WAP browser on the phone, enter the web address where you uploaded your midi file.
Eg: http://psytoy.net/files/ringtones/doom-level1.mid
The midi file will be downloaded to your phone and can be used as a ringtone
Note that most midi files sound different when played on your phone compared to your PC (The PC is capable of a lot more sound instruments). It might be a matter of trial and error to find a ringtone that sounds semi-decent on your phone.
Hope that helps!
April 29th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Plz help in getting good ringtone. Available ringtones are….
I am sad bez I don;t have GPRS through Trump..
By the way this phone is good if compared with its price.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:02 am
I got this phone as a gift from a friend of my dad. I got just the phone and the charger (no earphones/datacable).
1st thing…
The phone had no SIM card in it.
2nd thing…
The phone was locked to Movistar -a company in Spain-.
3rd…
The company in town has skyhigh prices I can’t pay for getting a SIM card.
[Solutions]
1st…
A friend lend me an used (no cash in it) SIM card for unlocking and testing but I will have to return it soon.
2nd…
UNLOCKING Samsung C170 temporary (till you turn it off) without a data-cable.
a) dial *#06# and copy your IMEI number (skip blanks and / ).
b) insert a new SIM card.
c) type your PIN (or 0000)
…after the WRONG SIM banner…
d) *#2767*688xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx#
where X’s are your 17 figures IMEI number.
…wait for some 5-10 seconds and it will self-reset…
e) dial *0141# and press CALL green button.
… CUSTOMIZED banner shows…
f) Turn it OFF… and ON again.
g) if password is asked, type: 00000000 (8 ceros)
h) go to MENU>CONFIG>SECURITY>SIM LOCK>DISABLED.
DONE!!!
3rd…
I can’t find a solution yet. So, if you feel gratitude for my info and you hate your Samsung C170 phone so much… please buy and send data cable to me. Those cables can be found here:
[SERIAL]
http://bestselldist.com/samsung_c170_serial_data_cable.html
[USB]
http://bestselldist.com/samsung_c170_usb_data_cable.html
If cables are too expensive for you… then just buy a SIM card and mail it to me with the lowest cash possible (even empty) in it to my home address.
JOSE J. MARTI
Eduardo Marmol #284 altos
e. Arnaldo Ramirez y 4ta
Ciego de Avila. CP: 65200
Cuba
Earphones are also wanted.
And just as extra info for your time and charity… here are some codes you can type to get into your phone’s hidden menues.
[Battery]
*#0228# then UP/DOWN or EXIT
[Browser Agent]
*#92782# write anything you want
[Contrast]
*#0523# then UP/DOWN or EXIT
[Display test]
*#0*# Press HANG ON to exit
[Errors]
*#9998*377#
[Firmware]
*#1234#
[GPRS tool]
*#4777*8665#
[GSM Logo]
*#5646#
[Hardware]
*#2222#
[Audio Interference ON]
*#3243948#
[Audio Interference OFF]
*#32436837#
[Melody test]
*#0289#
[Product number]
*#9998*76#
[Service table]
*#0778#
[SIM info]
*#0746#
[Software]
*#1111#
[Time]
*#0782#
[Vibrator test]
*#0842#
[Yamaha test]
*#9998*968#
August 20th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Hi, no one interested?
August 20th, 2008 at 9:40 am
I got this phone as a gift from a friend of my dad. I got just the phone and the charger (no earphones/datacable).
1st thing…
The phone had no SIM card in it.
2nd thing…
The phone was locked to Movistar -a company in Spain-.
3rd…
The company in town has skyhigh prices I can’t pay for getting a SIM card.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:41 am
[Solutions]
1st…
A friend lend me an used (no cash in it) SIM card for unlocking and testing but I will have to return it soon.
2nd…
UNLOCKING Samsung C170 temporary (till you turn it off) without a data-cable.
a) dial *#06# and copy your IMEI number (skip blanks and / ).
b) insert a new SIM card.
c) type your PIN (or 0000)
…after the WRONG SIM banner…
d) *#2767*688xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx#
where X’s are your 17 figures IMEI number.
…wait for some 5-10 seconds and it will self-reset…
e) dial *0141# and press CALL green button.
… CUSTOMIZED banner shows…
f) Turn it OFF… and ON again.
g) if password is asked, type: 00000000 (8 ceros)
h) go to MENU>CONFIG>SECURITY>SIM LOCK>DISABLED.
DONE!!!
August 20th, 2008 at 9:42 am
3rd…
I can’t find a solution yet. So, if you feel gratitude for my info and you hate your Samsung C170 phone so much… please buy and send data cable to me. Those cables can be found here:
[SERIAL]
http://bestselldist.com/samsung_c170_serial_data_cable.html
[USB]
http://bestselldist.com/samsung_c170_usb_data_cable.html
If cables are too expensive for you… then just buy a SIM card and mail it to me with the lowest cash possible (even empty) in it to my home address.
JOSE J. MARTI
Eduardo Marmol #284 altos
e. Arnaldo Ramirez y 4ta
Ciego de Avila. CP: 65200
Cuba
Earphones are also wanted.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:44 am
And just as extra info for your time and charity… here are some codes you can type to get into your phone’s hidden menues.
[Battery]
*#0228# then UP - DOWN or EXIT
[Browser Agent]
*#92782# write anything you want
[Contrast]
*#0523# then UP - DOWN or EXIT
[Display test]
*#0*# Press HANG ON to exit
August 20th, 2008 at 9:44 am
[Errors]
*#9998*377#
[Firmware]
*#1234#
[GPRS tool]
*#4777*8665#
[GSM Logo]
*#5646#
[Hardware]
*#2222#
[Audio Interference ON]
*#3243948#
[Audio Interference OFF]
*#32436837#
[Melody test]
*#0289#
[Product number]
*#9998*76#
[Service table]
*#0778#
[SIM info]
*#0746#
[Software]
*#1111#
[Time]
*#0782#
[Vibrator test]
*#0842#
[Yamaha test]
*#9998*968#
September 9th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
can i use internet in this phone??