Samsung B2100 Solid Extreme SIM Free Mobile Phone
Product Description
The Samsung B2100 Solid Extreme is a new rugged mobile phone from the house of Samsung. The mobile coalesces the useful feature of sturdiness with elegance and visual appeal.
It has comfortable dimensions of 113×49×17.5 mm. The phone is light weight at 102.8 grams. The display of the phone sports a 1.77 inches wide screen. The screen is endowed with a high resolution of 120X160 pixels for better quality images. The TFT LCD screen supports 256K colors.
The phone supports SMS, MMS and voice memo. It is equipped with predictive text T9 technology for quick input entry. The phone has a stop watch and a noise cancellation attribute as well. The Samsung Solid Extremes phone book can store 1000 entries. The phone supports call records to store a list of dialed, received and missed calls. The phone also supports many types of wallpaper.
Although the phone does not feature 3G technology it does have EDGE technology to enhance data transfer rates for more pleasurable internet browsing experience. The phone supports browsing technologies like wap and xhtml for better internet browsing experience.
- waterproof & shock resistant
- stylishly rugged design
- GSM&EDGE Band
- FM radio
- MicroSD Slot
I’ve lived with my B2100 for a couple of months now. Interestingly my work phone is a Blackberry Bold … whilst the Samsung’s functional design is more 1990’s Nokia by comparison, I have become strangely attached to the little quad band pocket rocket … and indeed prefer using it to anything else.
First up, this is a seriously tough phone. Most of the exterior is constructed from urethane and has a very pleasant tactile feel. The handset does not require any precious handling and indeed I think even the most casual user would be challenged to make any marks on the phone under normal use (of course if you want to challenge its IP54 military certification that’s up to you …). It’s also relatively compact and WAY smaller than the current offerings from Sonim and Durrocom.
Full marks for construction. I’ve dropped mine on hotel floors, covered it in mud, made calls (and listened to its radio) in pouring rain. No problems.
Using the handset is also a bit of a breeze. Most pleasingly its audio quality is sublime. Both the ear speaker and external speaker providing crystal clear sound (well done Samsung!). Chunky buttons on the side of the unit also facilitate easy volume toggle during calls and a third activates the unit’s xeon bulb torch – which is incredibly bright – its now scary how many times its came in handy.
Phone and SMS aside, the remaining technical features are surprisingly ok. It has MMS, send/receives my personal email ok, takes microSD cards up to 8Gb and is a great little radio / music player.
The battery is also worth a special mention – a full 10 days of charge under normal use with me (5-6 calls / 2-3 SMS per day).
Downsides? Well I feel I’m being REALLY picky but would have liked a higher res screen with more resistance to direct sunlight (although the latter is overcome by creating a mono custom colour scheme). The camera is VGA, although this does not actually bother me and the image quality is surprisingly good.
In summary I think Samsung have done a great job … its a WAY better phone than the Sonim’s XP3 (or indeed other tough mobiles out at the moment). It’s also newer and cheaper than Samsung’s higher spec’d B2700 (which I’ve actually been put off buying as the B2100 has pretty much everything I need).
This little guy sits on the EXTERIOR of my rucksack during a daily cycle commute and hasn’t complained. It won’t score highly on the phone-snob-review sites and quite honestly …
I don’t care (I’m keeping mine!)
Rating: 5 / 5
I would have LOVED to have this phone 10 years ago!
I got a SonyEriccson C905 about 9 months ago, but working in the Oil/Construction/Foundry industry, the fancy phone was getting murdered. So I went for a tough-type phone. I’ve never had problems with Samsung, so that was my choice.
It’s like the Jason Bourne of phones. You can leave it on a brick wall in the rain, 30 feet up, and don’t worry if it gets knocked off. Just get someone to call it, and the mud starts ringing. Dig your phone out, and it’s perfect. Wash it off, and it keeps on going. After about 9 months, I’m getting the odd scratch on the screen, but it’s been hammered with sand, rocks, you name it. The casing is scratchproof, the buttons are fine, Even the exposed camera lens is not marked in the slightest, and i’ve never covered it with anything. that’s the externals sorted. Durability 10/10.
Downsides? The PC interface software is a bit sketchy, it loses USB connection when uploading or downloading my shots. Not all the time, but enough to be a bit irritating, and not as good an interface as Sony’s PC Suite. PC Connectivity 7/10
The only other downside? Hearing my phone ring when machinery or stuff is going on, that can be difficult. And so to be safe, sometimes I’ll set it to Sound Off/Vibrate On. If it’s not actually in my pants, I can’t feel it all the time. I’m told it’s because the case is so SO TOUGH the shell won’t transmit the vibration very well. So Ring Vol/ Vibrate mode 5/10.
Internals? The interface is dead easy, like the anti-motorola of phones. Pick up and play. The screen isn’t beautiful, it seems a bit basic, but the colours are bright, photos look brilliant, and it’s got everything I need, including internet access, as good as any other phone i’ve used. Get a memory card, (SD, fits behind battery) and you’re sorted. The sound is great, never get anyone at the other end saying “Can’t hear a thing…it must be your end” The torch now seems totally essential, is blinding, and obviously lasts as long as the battery is charged, i.e days and days (the battery life is brilliant), and i even use the compass, especially when i’m in a city i’ve not been to, very useful in Prague new town or Barca. So, Features 10/10.
Basically if you treat your phone like it’s not a precious jewel, but still want all the stuff you need this side of an i-Phone, this is the phone to get. As i said at the top… Bulletproof! It may not look pretty, but neither does a Land Rover Defender.
Rating: 5 / 5
Love the robust nature of this phone. It’s tough, has the water resistance (although I’ve not yet tested it) that I feel I need being an outdoory kinda person.
I’ve had the phone just a few days and am still finding my way around the menus, most is easy to follow but sending txt to multiple people seems a bit hit and miss.
Torch fab, best ever, Camera not too bad, but lets face it this is a phone for people who like thier gadgets simple and rough-ty tough-ty.
The one annoying thing is that the middle selector button immediately connects you to the WAP application and there is no way (I have 3 friends who also have this phone) that we have found to change this option.
If you are the sort of person that drops your phone, leaves it in the garden in the rain, takes it hillwalking, skiing or any damp place, and are the type of person who generally abuses technology then GO FOR IT.
Get a micro SD card though, or you will fill the memory pretty quick by bluetoothing over those fave ringtones! Not much choice came with my phone.
Enjoy.
Rating: 4 / 5
The Samsung B2100 is an average phone but its main selling point is that it is meant to be rugged and hardwearing.
From my experience this isnt true. I dont treat phones bad but in less then a week a nice crack had appeared on the screen. Another day in the jacket pocket and it now has another huge crack. Screen not covered by warranty and Samsung dont really want to know.
Beware this phone isnt as tough as it makes out to be.
Rating: 1 / 5
I have been known to drop my mobile phone so I was looking for something both practical and robust. This is it, I have dropped it a couple of times now and it has survived. The speaker is excellent.
Rating: 5 / 5