No More Cold Leftovers for Me!
Written: Jul 27 '04 (Updated Jul 27 '04)
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Pros: Light weight, intuitive, attractive, affordable
Cons: No Bluetooth, no camera, no MP3, no external screen
The Bottom Line: I recommend this phone for folks looking for a nice looking, solid, affordable phone with a great display and web/email/messaging capabilities.
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| Trawma's Full Review: Samsung SGH-X426 |
My husband is a cell phone junkie. Every year, he’s laying out for the newest, the prettiest, the most appealing phone he thinks we can afford. And me? I get last year’s model.
This year, he picked up the Motorola v600, leaving me his Motorola V60i. I wish I could say that I liked the V60i, but unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to find out . . . he’d forgotten his password. After discovering that it would cost $75.00 plus shipping to have the phone “reflashed” so I could use it, we decided it would be cheaper to just buy me a new phone.
Enter the Samsung 426. Normally goes for $99.00 or more, but only $29.00 through our AT&T contract. In other words, it was cheaper to get me this new phone than it would have been to “reflash” the old one. Considering the larger display and additional features, I think it was a great deal.
Now I’ve always been a Motorola kinda gal. Call it brand loyalty. But I do have to say that I like this phone. I like it a lot.
The Samsung 426 has a good-sized display, especially for the price. With a 128x160 px screen and 65,000 colors, display quality is crisp, clear, and vibrant. With a great array of downloadable graphics, the phone is highly customizable. Add to that the java capability, screen savers, and games selection, and the display becomes truly marvelous.
The Samsung 426 offers 40 chord ring tones, with a large polyphonic ring tone library to choose from. Unfortunately, it does not play MP3s, but that wasn’t something I was looking for. I was looking for a broad selection of fun ring tones with full sound, and the phone delivers. I’ve assigned a distinctive ring tone to all my “usual suspects,” so I always know who’s calling even before I flip open the phone.
Sound quality is top rate, with clear, crisp reception that may be too loud for some, but seems to suit me perfectly. That may be the result of too many rock concerts as a kid, but I like my phones clear and loud. This one is.
As the administrator of a large gaming league, one feature I really needed was mobile messaging, utilizing both my AIM service and Yahoo. Again, the Samsung 426 delivers. Sign on is easy, and with predictive text, whipping off messages is a breeze. Accessing my AOL mail is also a snap, which will certainly come in handy when my poor, laptop-less self goes on vacation this fall.
Navigation both through menus and on the web (via Mmode) is accomplished through the use of the 4 way keypad. For the most part, this is pretty intuitive, though sometimes the browse buttons and select buttons perform the same browsing functions. This can get a bit confusing, and has led to a few miss-clicks here and there. In all, however, I’m happy with the web-browsing capabilities, and am even able to visit my league website. However, I would be remiss if I failed to point out that some websites just are not accessible with this phone. I find no real pattern to what is and isn’t, though I’m sure there is some formula.
The Samsung 426 has far better talk time/standby time when compared to my old Motorola Talkabout. The Samsung offers 7+ hours talk time, and 216 hours standby with the standard 810 mAh Li-Ion battery. One small caveat, however—the first bar seems to last forever, but once the phone hits two bars, it’s not long before it sinks to one. Something to keep in mind when estimating how much time you have left before needing to recharge.
In a nutshell, here are the pros and cons to the Samsung 426:
Pros
*Clam shell design (always a pro for me)
*Fixed “stub” antenna
*Vivid display
*Predictive Text
*500 name phone book capacity
*Very light weight (2.8 oz)
*WAP browser
*Multiple messaging options
*Web access, including email and instant messaging services
*Terrific array of polyphonic ringtones and vivid graphics
*Alarm Clock, Calendar, To-Do list, and Calculator
Cons
*No external screen (which is why I assign different ringtones to everyone in my book)
*No voice activation/Voice commands
*No Camera, a perk I would love to have
*No Streaming Multi-media
*No MP3 capabilities
*No loudspeaker/speakerphone
*Some websites not accessible
*No Bluetooth
*No International service
In all, I found the Samsung 426 to be a great phone. Easy to use, intuitive, lightweight, and attractive. Is it the Motorola V600? Nopers, but it also doesn’t cost nearly as much. If you’re looking for an affordable, attractive phone with a nice bunch of features and bits of fun, I recommend this one wholeheartedly.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 29.00
Recommended for: Professionals On-the-Go - Internet and Email is a Must!
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