The Samsung SGH-D500 is a
slider-style mobile phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
developed and designed by
Samsung
Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
. It was announced on October 8, 2004 and released at the end of the year as a replacement of the SGH-E800. Considered to be stylish, and incorporating multimedia features such as a 1.3
megapixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a Raster graphics, raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, p ...
digital camera
A digital camera, also called a digicam, is a camera that captures photographs in Digital data storage, digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film or film stock. Dig ...
with integrated
LED
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...
flash,
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...
and a
MP3 music player, the D500 became very popular and is credited with popularising the 'active'
sliding phone concept across all brands.

The D500 won the prestigious award "Best Mobile Handset" at the
3GSM world congress in Cannes, 2005. The phone sold 10 million units worldwide.
Other Samsung handsets that reached this milestone in the 2000s include: the
E250, the
E700, the J700, the
T100 (the company's first million seller), and the
S5230 (Star/Tocco Lite).
The D500 was succeeded by the
D600 introduced a year later.
Flashing
Due to wireless networks supplying the D500 to customers with branded software, this phone is very often
"flashed" by owners. This removes/changes onscreen branding, the unpopular shortcut sidebar and non-optional sounds (e.g. branding sound on power-on/off). The new software can add features such as voice-dial and voice-command, and increased memory availability.
Criticism
The SGH-D500 was popular with consumers because of the large screen-size to front-surface ratio, the smooth button and sliding action, powerful flash, and good video/photograph/sound quality. However it received some criticism for not having expandable memory (via a memory slot). There are known issues with the screen of this phone. The screen connector can disconnect, resulting in various display issues. The screen is also vulnerable to being damaged through careless use or accidental impact.
Variants
* SGH-D500C: Asian variant
* SGH-D508: Chinese Anycall variant
* SGH-D500E: Variant with
EDGE
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
support
Related phones
*
Samsung SGH-E800
Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous affiliated businesses, most of which operate under ...
: Predecessor
*
Samsung SGH-D600
The Samsung SGH-D600 (and its successor, the D600i) is a GSM mobile phone released in the first quarter of 2005 made by Samsung Electronics.
The SGH-D600i is a later version of the SGH-D600, released in 2007 to address issues concerning microSD ...
: Successor
*
Samsung SGH-E730
Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous affiliated businesses, most of which operate under ...
: Clamshell equivalent
References
{{Samsung phones
D500
Mobile phones introduced in 2004
Slider phones