Worth Reading?
+61 [81 votes]
When you’re making cellphones it can be tricky finding a unique selling point that pushes your new handset out in front of the crowd. It’s made doubly difficult when the phone is neither high-fashion nor smartphone; that’s what’s left Verizon championing their latest 3G clamshell, the Samsung SGH-U700 Gleam, not so much for its high-speed internet access nor its 2-megapixel camera, but for the attractively evolving interface.
Hyperbole aside, though, it’s perhaps a cause for concern when your headline feature is wallpaper - in the Gleam’s case, Samsung have been seriously over-egging the “living wallpaper” that changes as the day progresses. Getting too distracted by it would be a shame, though, as behind the pretty pictures lurks a reasonably decent cellphone.
We’re not talking about revolution here; at 3.9 x 1.9 x 0.55 inches and 3.35oz it’s neither the lightest nor smallest handset, but the Gleam will get attention because of the EV-DO and 1xRTT high-speed internet access, full-featured Bluetooth and support for Verizon’s V CAST music and video download services. All that media and browsing takes place on a bright, impressively crisp 2.1-inch, 240 x 320 262k colour QVGA internal screen. Contrast is rich and streaming TV really shows off how far Samsung’s display technology has progressed.
Sound, meanwhile, is either via the internal stereo speakers, wired headphones or Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP headphones. Don’t expect miracles from the (wired) set Samsung include in the box, but quality generally is decent with even the speakers coming across full-bodied and easily capable of annoying whoever is around you on the bus (until you crank it up all the way, at which point it begins to distort). External touch-sensitive playback controls below the 96 x 96 sub-display are a classy touch, and work well. It’d be nice to see Samsung (or Verizon) bundle a set of wire-free cans, though, or alternatively offer a “premium” package including a set as well as, say, a 4GB microSD card. As it is, your $149.99 gets you a two-year contract and seemingly no extra card, unless you can sweet-talk your salesperson.
With all that functionality, it’d be a shame if navigating the Gleam was like juggling with treacle. Thankfully apps and media move at a fair clip, with little of the lag sometimes associated with mainstream handsets. Conversely, battery life is pleasantly prolonged; Samsung claim up to eight days standby or up to 3.5hrs talktime and, while it’s too early for us to say how close it gets to that, after a fair amount of surfing, music playing and general use we’ve only dropped a single bar out of four.
Of course, you’ll be wanting to talk and message on your Gleam, not just sit back and enjoy all the V CAST media, and so you’ll be pleased to hear there’s a full range of IM and text-message options onboard. Besides basic SMS messages you can send images and video, and there’s Samsung’s usual email client and a multi-platform IM app called Mobile IM that supports simultaneous connections to AIM, MSN and Yahoo! We were surprised at how well the voice-dialling speech recognition works, needing no training and coping with a variety of unusual names (not that we tried to trip it up on purpose, of course…). The same system will also read out text messages, menu options and tell you who’s calling.
The usual brace of accessory applications are present - calendar, note pad, alarm clock and calculator, among others - which while unremarkable all nonetheless prove useful at some point or another. As is, of course, the ability to transfer music (in MP3 and WMA formats) and images to your PC via a data cable; we’re not yet certain if Verizon will be bundling the Gleam’s cable with the handset. Playlists can either be established on your computer and swapped over at the same time, or set up on the Gleam itself.
As for the camera, at 2-megapixels it’s par for the course in terms of quality compared to rivals, but the lack of autofocus or a nifty LED pseudo-flash limits usefulness in all but reasonably-lit situations. Still, both video and still images are possible (the former limited to the capacity of memory card you’re using; the latter available in resolutions up to 1600 x 1200). Meanwhile, Verizon’s VZ Navigator assisted-GPS service - which uses triangulation by cell tower rather than the usual satellite tracking - is present and can be used for directions and points-of-interest. Of course, like the V CAST media, it’s a cost-option on top of your line rental.
Just as it’s difficult for manufacturers to position their handsets apart from the crowd, it can be tricky to say conclusively whether a mainstream mobile is better than the rest (or, even harder, if it’s “the phone for you”). The Samsung Gleam is undoubtedly a capable and function-packed cellphone, and at $149.99 (after a $50 rebate) with a standard two-year contract it comes in at a reasonable price. It’ll be particularly tempting for anyone looking for a straightforward way to get their laptop online at EV-DO speeds, and equally happy in the hands of keen messagers, although would-be photographers should perhaps look elsewhere.
Rating:
This cellphone is phenomenal! I have gad it for about two weeks, and it is great. The Samsung Gleam is very underrated, especially since there are no advertisements out for it. To anyonr looking for a very good mid-range cellphone, purchase this one. It is a good phone, plus it has an attractive look.
Sorry about the errors in my typing, it is because I am using my iPod Touch to type this up, so my apologies!
I purchased this cell phone on saturday. its now Wednesday and i have to return this phone. The battery life is nothing to be proud of. I fully charged it saturday night and had it off all night and turned it on sunday and it died monday. and again on monday i charged it and it pretty much was on its last bar tuesday. I recharged the phone tuesday evening and it died today completely. I will admit im an avid texter and avid talker. i turned off the living wallpaper hoping that it would help. but it didnt. the reception isnt great and the review is right when u put it up to full volume good luck hearing anyone. the interface is a little slick and hard to get used to. but i guess thats with all the new phone.
I have the Gleam in Purple and I love it! It is so small and stylish! I have had the phone for 3 days now, and I must agree with “Rand” that the battery life is not great. It fingerprints easy, so that is kind of annoying. I am trying to get used to the “flat” buttons. They make it harder to text. Im not too happy with the camera, it seems dark. I am not sure if it has a flash or not. (but thats what a digital camera is for) Overall I am satisfied for the price. It does everything I want it to do. I just hope I dont drop it and scuff it up!
This phone sucks. it deletes names out of my contacts and leaves only the number. it has did that to about 30 so far. it deletes pictures that are on the phones memory also. and the sound messes up it gets really low to where you have to put it next to your ear to hear it. I have had this phone twice already in under a month. both of them do the exact same thing and my dad got one also and his is deleting the pictures. I guess its just a bad phone i wouldnt suggest anyone buy it unless you wanna get aggravated and have to keep getting a replacement.
I had the first Chocolate phone so what how could I get a worst phone? Well the Gleam made it possible. I did not get a chance for the phone to erase names or drop calls, it would not charge after battery lasted 20 min. Bought it on Sunday and needed to take it back that night.
The Gleam has got to be the worst phone in the world. I continuously have to restart it every time I want to text somebody or in won’t sent. It’s constantly telling me I have no service area and I live in the city. I lose a call even when I have signal. Just don’t buy this piece of crap.
This phone is a piece of junk!!!! First off I am on my second phone. The first one I had no battery life and after about two months every other call I would received nobody could hear me. I could hear them talking however they could not hear me speaking. I received the replacement and after less than a month this phone is worst than the first. I have not had problems with it deleting pictures or names in my contacts. However, the phone has really bad static on the calls. I can hardly hear anyone when they are talking, and now the phone is doing the same thing with connecting to a call. Every other call I answer I hear them, but I am left to shouting Hello, Hello and having to hang up on the person calling me. If I call them back then the phone works fine. I have called Samsung and they were down right RUDE! They said it was a problem with the Verizon network. The crack pot technicians at Verizon said there is nothing wrong with my phone. Now I am about to go back to get another of the Same phone from Verizon because they will not give me another phone. Please DO NOT waste you money on this phone. It is not worth the headaches.
This phone is really pretty…but it STINKS!!! I’m on my 3rd phone! The first one worked well for about the first 2 months, then every other call I answered, I could hear them, but they couldn’t hear me. I would have to hang up and call back. The 2nd phone started doing it after about 2 weeks. The 3rd phone arrived doing it. I am going to the Verizon store tonight and am not leaving until I have a new, DIFFERENT, phone. This is a perfect example of why you shouldn’t be sold on looks alone!
All I can say is that I am really impressed with this phone… I mean it’s not the fanciest or most savvy phone out there in terms of its functionality so why am I impressed?? Well, because I had this phone completely submerged in a hot tub for about 3 minutes before it started vibrating nonstop and realized it was in my pocket and I let this phone dry out for just one day and it began to work again… now it’s a week later and the phone is completely dried out and it works perfect… no problems at all. I have gotten other phones wet in the past (and never were they completely submerged like this one) and they never worked right again afterwards. Again… all I can say is I’m IMPRESSED!!!!!
I purchased this phone and it really sucks. The battery dies every 2 days!!!!! It is very hard to text due to the flat buttons. Also, when I transfered all of my contacts from my old phone, they all lost their assigned number for quick dialing. This phone was a waste of money! I hope I can still return it. I am going to try to do so this weekend or tonight if they’re still open when I’m going home.
so i got this phone about a month ago and its a peace of crap. i treat my phones really good and after a month when i pressed the number7 that would b * and when i pressed * it would be 7* all the buttons are screwed up and i get no service and when i actually do get service i can receive calles or texts yeah its a pretty phone but its horrable done ever get this phone its just a waist of money !!!!!!!!! verizon should really test there products so we dont all get screwed over
Ok So I’m on my second one within a couple of months. The first one broke because it would no longer take charge. The phone charger that comes with it is also a POS because it doesn’t stay in the charging port, and cars are constantly moving. The battery life is terrible. The picture quality is terrible and it has no flash. The “RAM” gets full all the time. It says it has sent messages that it hasn’t sent. I get a lot of static in my ear when i talk to people. It’s constantly restarting itself and erasing all of my settings. It’s pretty… but that’s about it. I’m going into Verizon and asking what’s up because this is a very terrible phone.
I just purchased this phone from a person on Craigslist, a couple of days ago. After I activated it, I added the backup assistant to it and was able to get all my contacts successfully transferred. I charged my phone all night. The charge did not impress me whatsoever and my contacts…well half of them disappeared. Luckily for me I had Backup Assistant.
I DO NOT recommend this phone for anyone. It is a POS phone that Verizon should recall. I have decided to allow the aliens to abduct my phone as a joke.