Samsung's SGH-P520 is the Armani Phone

It's been awhile since we've heard from Samsung's SGH-P520. Now we know why. The pretty little touchscreen was undergoing a couture refitting in preparation for launch as the Armani Phone -- take that LG Prada. Priced at €400 (about $557), this FCC-approved tri-band GSM / EDGE candybar is listed with a 2.6-inch 240 x 320 pixel display, stereo Bluetooth, and microSD expansion to augment the 50MB on-board. Funny, we heard it also has WiFi though there's no mention of it by the folks at GSMHelpDesk who tracked this pup down. Expected before the end of the year in Europe.

[Via Unwired View]

[sola6loria @ Sep 13th 2007 8:21AM]

omg, EDGE? Where's the 3G? Apple is ripping us off, etc etc.

Oh, wait.

[riggs @ Sep 13th 2007 8:26AM]

of course apple had to be mentioned in the comments =\

[sola6loria @ Sep 13th 2007 11:31AM]

Sorry, tradition and all that.

[LondonConsultant @ Sep 13th 2007 8:28AM]

Damn, I'll need to buy a good suit to go with it.

[aron @ Sep 13th 2007 8:30AM]

OMG iPhone CLONE. Nah, just kidding, but seriously, where's the innovation? With everyone and their moms making touch-screen devices, this phone looks as mundane as every other no-name device out there. Sometimes having nothing but a screen makes it look like, well, nothing but a screen.

[Xzavier @ Sep 13th 2007 10:00AM]

"Sometimes having nothing but a screen makes it look like, well, nothing but a screen"

Isn't that the look that lots of companies have been going for, for a few YEARS now? It suppose to be something futuristic... Just touch the device and things magically happen, just like in the Sci-fi movies!

[thudson @ Sep 13th 2007 4:27PM]

Cellphone design follows trends. From brick phones, to flip phones, to candybar phones to sliders. It has always followed trends across brand names and Samsung has been one of the most innovative over the time. Touchscreen devices just happen to be the latest trend in cellphone design.

--Travis Hudson, MWW Group on behalf of Samsung

[Eric M @ Sep 13th 2007 8:31AM]

Can we move past 320x240 screens now? They are not impressive.

[LMAO @ Sep 13th 2007 8:34AM]

Because, for such a tiny screen, 320x240 resolution is more than adequate.

[Eric M @ Sep 13th 2007 8:38AM]

...yes, just like 5mp cameras in other phones are "more than adequate"

For a $600 based on looks and images, I'd like a better screen.

[Johan S @ Sep 13th 2007 4:27PM]

@LMAO

320 x 240 is not even close to "adequate" on a 2.6" inch screen. I wish people would stop spreading that myth. The human eye can discern up to 1200 (ppi) pixels per inch. That is why laser printers offer that dpi.

320x240 is not even 200 ppi. Have you ever even seen a 400 ppi display? Let me tell you that you can view web pages readably on a 400 ppi display of around that size, while at 200 ppi you can't.

[Jons @ Sep 13th 2007 8:43AM]

Oh hi, arm an iphone, and you are?

[harveyhanson @ Sep 13th 2007 9:31AM]

LOL, good one :)

[Nick @ Sep 13th 2007 9:07AM]

This phone makes the 8GB iPhone's original price ($599) look reasonable.

[jd @ Sep 13th 2007 9:07AM]

oh come on, a cell phone SHOULDN'T Cost more than a decent laptop. $500 is way out of reach.

Cell phone giant like Nokia is the biggest blood sucker of all, repackage their old crap as new for a price tag above $500, plus thoe european design phone are fugly. Serious, Nokia need some innovation like iPhone.

my next cell phone will be iphone unless someone make a phone with same functions but less expensive.

[Josh L @ Sep 13th 2007 10:21AM]

I tried to figure out what you were trying to say with "iPhone" and "innovation" in the same sentence without any other words in between like "laughable" or "not in any way". Then I realized, in the context of this story, Apple DID innovate! They were the very first to hype up a less-than-mediocre touchscreen phone and then sell it for a ridiculous price. These Samsung losers are just ripping them off, clearly.

[riggs @ Sep 13th 2007 12:20PM]

The iphone in history is in comparison to the caveman who made ANOTHER wheel, just with a bigger hole.

[thudson @ Sep 13th 2007 4:27PM]

Believe it or not, the iPhone isn't the only innovative device out there. You criticize Nokia, they have plenty of innovative devices. So does Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and more.

The cellphone industry is a big world and just because Apple released their iPhone, which wasnt even the first touchscreen phone (see: HTC, others) doesn't mean all other manufacturers are crap.

[Steve @ Sep 13th 2007 9:17AM]

I like Samsung stuff, I even have a Samsung cell phone, but DAMN, they have got to be the least original company I have ever seen. If they were based in China they would have to change their company name to K.I.R.F.

[thudson @ Sep 13th 2007 4:28PM]

This is a ridiculous comment. Just because the trends are moving towards touchscreen phones doesn't mean the P520 is a direct rip-off of whatever other phone you are referring to, I assume the iPhone.

Samsung has won plenty of design and innovation awards and has plenty of phones that no other manufacturers have even touched (Upstage, for example).

[Steve @ Sep 13th 2007 7:44PM]

No, I was refering to that *OTHER* Korean company that put out a cell phone with touchscreen and tagged it with a famous fashion designer's name. Nahh my bad, just coincidence...

[FrankTheCrank @ Sep 13th 2007 9:17AM]

I'll keep my 4GB iPhone that I bought for $299.

thanks.

[Argot @ Sep 13th 2007 9:37AM]

Hey, if you are poor and stupid you buy an iPhone. If you are rich and stupid you buy this. Smart people, both rich and poor buy something completly different.

[Vincent @ Sep 13th 2007 11:28AM]

Do you mean rich and smart will make their own phone?

[riggs @ Sep 13th 2007 12:21PM]

or you can be completely stupid and buy both

[Vincent @ Sep 13th 2007 9:22AM]

Looks like KFC Phone is coming soon as well :)

[Khalifa @ Sep 13th 2007 9:40AM]

don't forget the Levi's phone, versace 7270, D&G Razr, rumoured Gucci Mobile, and so on

[Mokujin @ Sep 13th 2007 9:40AM]

I notice that it's only American's that often complain about anything above 500 dollars. Believe it or not, mobiles have been priced in this range for YEARS now. I wish I lived in the US where everything was cheap and anything I couldn't buy was expensive.

[marklar @ Sep 13th 2007 9:41AM]

are people's lives really that sad that they think if their phone has some kind of fashion brand attached to it that people are going to think they are cool. get a life

[Mokujin @ Sep 13th 2007 9:47AM]

it's a damn FASHION device. We don't need to buy brands! However it's something that people want to have for exclusivity.
Relax! If you don't like it, DONT buy it. Nobody shoved in in your face and pulled your wallet out your pocket.

[ilh @ Sep 13th 2007 10:03AM]

Um, I take it that means you're in that sad group then Mokujin.

[marklar @ Sep 13th 2007 10:11AM]

woooo look at her and her hissy camp fashion tantrum,,,

its a fashion device? how exactly - it looks like a touchscreen phone to me, what is the difference between this and a normal phone a hotline to the editor of vogue magazine? personal advice about your shoes that day.

i am allowed comment as i wish as it was put up on endgadget with the comments left open.

just be aware that anybody with any judgement about what really is 'cool' is going to think a person who gets this or the prada phone out of their pocket is is a tosser becuase they think they can buy what 'cool' is.

[Geo @ Sep 13th 2007 10:15AM]

Its the same goes for almost anything, why buy a million dollar car when a 100k car can get you to point and and point b as fast as the million dollar ones (same goes with a 100k car and 50k car). Or how about a $100 shirt vs a $50 dollar shirt, the difference is the brand. Fashion is fashion, it is not limited to what you wear. It can be what you drive or something else (cant think of anything else lol). Its sad to see people who dictate what to buy and what NOT to buy. Im pretty sure most if not all people in here have indulged themselves. Like mokujin said its not like they force you to buy it. If some people wants to buy why do you care its their money. They can do pretty much what they want with it.

[marklar @ Sep 13th 2007 10:23AM]

not saying people cant do want they want with their money,

you are missing my point, this so obviously about slapping a brand on it to give it some kind of kudos, rather than about the product, its just embarrassing.

[randy @ Sep 13th 2007 10:24AM]

"Armani"? Who is Armani? The fashion designer? What does a fashion designer have to do with cell phones?

[t-bone @ Sep 13th 2007 11:06AM]

Cell phones can be fashion statements just like clothes, purses, earing, necklaces, rings, and shoes.

[Wolfticket @ Sep 13th 2007 1:40PM]

I'm still waiting for a Nokia suit.

[Jeff @ Sep 13th 2007 6:10PM]

actually 400 GBP (pounds) is not $557.00 the current rate is would be $807.00 USD ( a easy way to estimate pounds VS dollars is to multiply by 2 or subtract in half)

[James D @ Sep 13th 2007 10:14PM]

looks like it's 400 euro though, not 400 GBP... and 400 euro is about $550-something, in US Dollars