If a great phone is all you need...
Written: Sep 28 '03 (Updated Sep 28 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Clarity: |
|
|
| Portability: |
|
|
| Battery Life: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Lightweight. Inexpensive. Straightforward. Excellent on the basics. Not necessarily for "power users." Euro-compatible.
Cons: Not as high-tech as other costlier models. Vibrating ring could be stronger.
The Bottom Line: Great if you want a solid phone at a low price, and aren't interested in an expensive gadget phone.
|
|
|
| gk14's Full Review: Samsung SGH-R225 |
I have used this phone for approximately 15 months on Voicestream (now T-Mobile).
I think the 225 is a superb "basic" phone. Slim, light, great backlighting, and, in my opinion, good sound. Fits nicely in lapel pockets. It doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
I think this phone is designed for a specific kind of user -- who only needs a rock solid phone in order to stay in touch. It has enough customizable features to make you happy, a pretty blue backlight, nice chassis, and most importantly, it has a relatively low profile.
If you want gee-whiz features, such as a camera, games or an address book, or if you use a cel phone as your only telephone, this is not be the phone for you.
With regard to preserving your phonebook-- the SIM card that you get with the phone solves the problem of having to reenter everything when you get your next phone. I LOVE the SIM Card technology!
The setup features weren't as intuitive or as easy to use as I thought they should have been, but there are no deal breakers here (i.e. no reason you should rule this phone out) and they go away with time as you learn the menus.
A couple of items that you can customize will contribute greatly to prolonging battery charge -- for example, the all-important key lock feature (vital on non-flip models), customizable backlight duration, key tones, and nifty service indicator light that you can shut off.
I have never used the Calender feature, so I can't say if it's good or bad, and I am not sure if you can synch it with anything. (I use my Palm Pilot synched up with Outlook for that.) And anyway, I'm just old fashioned enough to think that merging phones with PDAs makes for one critical piece of equipment that you do NOT want to lose, so I'll take them in two different devices, thank you very much.
Curiously, the little icon that tells you that you have a voice mail does not disappear when you check the voice mail. You have to delete it separately -- a minor annoyance that we did not have on our prior Samsung model on Sprint PCS. Perhaps this is something specific to the T-Mobile or GSM system -- I don't know.
Basic text messaging is easy enough to do. The predictive text software seems easier to use than the version I've seen on some Motorola phones. Later models of the R225 have AOL IM installed if you want it.
3 way calling and call waiting are easy to figure out. I don't know if they're easier or harder than other brands, but I have no complaints.
I have never regarded dropped calls or signal strength as a fault of the phone itself. I think that's more of an issue with the service provider, and I don't think T-Mobile has coverage everywhere they ought to be - but it's in their self interest ot expand coverage as quickly and widely as possible, so I'm not worried.
Also, since the phone uses GSM technology, you can use it in Europe when you travel. This is an underrated feature, but one that should be mentioned. I am not sure if the other cel carriers (Verizon, Sprint, etc) offer European compatibility, but this was a selling point for me even if I don't go to Europe that much.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
Recommended for: World Travelers - Works Anywhere and Everywhere!
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
gk14
|
|
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.