Ask anyone familiar with cell phones, and they'd have to admit that the samsung 8500 is one of the sleekest phones on the market right now. Available in silver or black, this phone screams style with a light-to-carry body and a flip screen. But beauty is more than skin deep...

This phone comes packed with features. A large, readable screen illuminates in green when active, making the menus even easier to see and dual mode (digital and analog) gives you the ability to roam off the digital network whenever needed.

Basic functions include phone book (with a feature that allows you to assign multiple numbers for work, home and cell to a single person), a mini browser to access the web, and a calendar. The calendar includes the ability to enter in items to a to-do-list but if you're like me, and hate trying to enter text on a cell, you'll probably enjoy the Samsung's voice recording feature more.

The Samsung offers a variety of ring tones to use, and you can set the volume of incoming calls easily by pressing two buttons on the phone, set it to high, medium, low, or vibrate with just a few touches. You can assign a different ring type to each type of call (ones with caller id, and ones with it blocked) and you can also assign different rings to different people in your phone book. The phone also will display the name of the person who's calling, rather than their number, if you have them in your phone book. One of my favorite features is the ability to see all my most recent incoming, outgoing and missed calls.

Beyond the basics, the Samsung has a world of perks:

- Voice activated dialing lets you call a person simply by saying their name.
- Sprint Voice Mail is easy to access with by pressing and holding a single button. If you have new messages, you're automatically notified by a message icon on the screen, and a red light on the phone itself.
- Built in calculator
- An alarm feature where you can set up to three times.
- Data connection port
- Call waiting
- Three way calling

Overall, this is one of the best phones out on the market currently. At a reasonable price, and loaded with a great set of features, you won't be disappointed with this purchase.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 199