Sum n substance:

Thumbs up:Excellent call quality, Bluetooth connectivity, lightweight, 1000 entry phonebook.

Thumbs down:VGA camera, low resolution screen, dull graphics.

Inside the trunk:

• Technology CDMA
• Band CDMA 800/1900 (Dual band)
• Phone Design Flip
• Caller ID Yes
• Wireless Interface Bluetooth
• Additional Features TTY compatible , Voice recognition , Speakerphone , GPS , Call forwarding , VZ Navigator
• talk Time Up to 300 min

THE WHIZ-KID SPEAKS: This one is for all those who have been looking out for a basic phone just to make or receive calls. Before I start off with the review, if you’re looking out for a phone with lots of multimedia and web browsing capabilities this is surely not the one you’re waiting for.

Razzle-dazzle: If I just have to rate this phone on the basis of its looks then this one probably won’t even feature in my list of fab looking phones. If I got to use a metaphor for its looks… it’s the girl next door. It’s a basic flip phone which easily fits into your pocket. Weighing 3.35 ounces this one definitely lightweight though its flip mechanism is pretty much solid.

On the front there is a postal stamp size display that shows the usual information like the time, date, signal and battery strength and message notifications. It comes loaded with a VGA camera which is fitted onto the top of the flap along with the speakerphone button and charger and headphone jack on the right side.

I was least impressed by the display of this one which offers 1.9-inch TFT screen that shows 65,000 colors at a 128×160-pixel resolution. The graphics and the images didn’t offer anything much to talk about, but then again being a basic phone its display is pretty much clear enough just to read the messages or the name of the caller etc.

Below the display there are two soft keys i.e. the send and the end/power buttons, a clear key and a four way directional keypad. Being pretty much roomy the keys didn’t pose much of a problem with hardly any mispressess.

Inside dope: Comparing it with the T239 this one has a 1000 entry phonebook as opposed to the t239’s 300 entry phonebook. You could assign each contact with a picture and a ringtone. Apart from the normal features that a basic phone offers this one has Bluetooth added to it which provides support for wireless headsets, hands-free kits, serial port, object push, and phone book access.

As I mentioned earlier this one isn’t for you if you’re looking out for web browsing, especially considering its low resolution screen. I tried connecting to the web browser using the WAP browser, but I really had to squint my eyes to make out what was actually displayed on the screen. So it’s like a really bad option if you want to use this one for web browsing.

All I could have asked of this phone was a 1.3 megapixel camera but here again I hardly had any option with the drab VGA camera which was provided. The images were below my satisfactory levels plus there were hardly any grayscale variations. Most of them being drab and unsatisfactory. Still if you’re happy with the quality of the images you could go ahead and send them to your friends using multimedia messaging or just plainly upload it to Alltel mypics.

Coming to the quality of the calls, I would say that Samsung has definitely lived upto its claims of this being a basic phone which can be used to the maximum for making calls. The call quality was quite good with hardly any static or interference. There was hardly any display of background noise except for a few occasions. I would rate it 4 on 5 atleast as far as call quality is concerned.

To my surprise unlike most of the basic phones, the voice on the speakerphones was  quite clear, so even if you don’t have your headset with you rest assured, the voice on the speakerphone is also clear and offers rich sound quality. You could also use it with a Bluetooth headset and be rest assured of the same sound sound quality.

It offers 6hrs of talktime along with 12 hrs of standby time.

Nitty- gritty: This one would definitely come in handy as a second phone just to make and receive calls which is peppered with a few more features. Also its design is quite decent though not outstanding but then again that’s just what basic phones are like. And coming to the best part of it, you could get this phone absolutely free with a one-year contract and after a $30 mail-in rebate from Alltel.

Popularity: 22% [?]