The Samsung SCH-8500 arguably has one of the better form factors for personal cell phone use on-the-go. It's closed face design is good for those 'not-so-graceful' moments we may all have when the phone happens to inadvertantly jump out of our briefcases and on to the ground.

The voice activated dialing system is a nice idea from the phone manufacturers for those who are on-the-go and a safer alternative (although using cell phones during vehicle operation is not recommended, and in many places illegal) for those that must maintain communications with parties while on the drive. By using a headset designed for use with the SCH-8500, at the press of a button on the headset, one may simply say the name of the person they have pre-programmed into their call list (this however may take some working, and perhaps some creativity to avoid dialing the wrong person, as voice matching software is a developing area). What I think would make the phone more useful is a more pro-active voice operated system which would interpret numbers by voice in order to dial those who are not in the call list.

An accessory designed for this phone (packaged by SprintPCS), a neoprene case ($19.95) with belt clip, is an even more effective way to protect those scurrying little phones. However, access to the phone with this case can be quite unwieldy as accessing the phone requires several motions simply to answer a call, perhaps resulting in missed calls. In addition, this case provides no access to the headphone jack on the side of the phone for hands-free use. The only case which provides this access, and allows for simple opening/answering of an incoming call is entirely inadequate for protection of the phone -- such a design can be improved upon, both protecting the phone and allowing for easy access. Other accessories (chargers, hands free kits, AC adapters, etc.) for this phone are plentiful and reasonably useful.

The battery life of the product (2-2.5hrs standard) is in rather short supply, mostly wasted in an inordinate amount of heat given off by the phone. The phone tested never reached the advertised 2 hr talk time on the standard battery. In addition, the phone was prone to dropping signal more often on this battery, the cause of which is not understood. There is an extended-life battery ($59.95) that is advertised to support 5 hours of active talk-time. Although in testing this product, reaching roughly half of the advertised battery life, it was far less frequent to experience dropped calls.

Dropped calls, as mentioned above, were frequent, and annoying. And when comparing the tested phone with the same phone purchased by 4 other users, on different cellular/digital providers, the reports were the same. This phone simply has a penchant for losing signal, perhaps through overheating or some other unknown problem. While for a casual user, dropped calls may be, at least, a nuisance. For a business user, there could be much more profound results. And for the $200 price tag, there are other makes/models that would perform the job much more adequately.

This phone does have calendar and To-Do reminder support as well as World Wide Web connectivity. But considering the price of using the service, I could certainly wait to read my email when I get to the home/office.

The phone could also use an airtime log spent inside/outside a programmable peak/off-peak limit. This would help with keeping up with minutes..as the providers themselves often have trouble keeping their records updated (ever ask an agent for your true balance or overrage? compared that to an online balance or airtime tracker or maybe another billing agent -- I've seen as many as 5 different balances -- and it can be frustrating and confusing).

Bottom Line: Redesign the case, nix the fluff, add a good, detailed airtime log, improve signal handling, improve power handling and battery life -- ditch this phone :)

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 200