For the longest time my oldest son kept telling me I needed a new cell phone as mine was “ancient”. He told me I needed a new “modern” phone. But my phone worked fine, it made phone calls and received them. I could text on it and take pictures, which is all I needed. Obviously I am not a technical person, just a mom that wants a basic feature phone that works when she needs it. When we went to upgrade his phone he insisted I get a new phone. It was close to Mother’s Day and since I refused to buy a new phone, he bought one for me as my gift for Mother’s Day.

With looking around and with the help of my son I decided on the Samsung Intensity Sch-u450 Verizon Phone. For me the Samsung Intensity is an attractive, compact phone that has a great slide keyboard. The phone is sleek looking with rounded corners. The phone measures 4.25” x 2” and is .65” thick. It is also very lightweight.

The first thing that attracted me to the Samsung Intensity was that it had a full four row QWERTY keyboard and I liked the look of it. I liked the orange trim on the phone and that it fit nicely in my hand. The only features I was really looking for was that it was capable of making calls, receiving them, I was able to text and take a picture if needed. Of course this phone did all that and more.

So he purchased the phone for me and we took it home. Instead of reading the manual and read over the one page setup sheet. The initial setup of the phone was easy. You place the battery in the phone, charge it and then follow the setup steps. I was able to follow the steps without any issues.

The Samsung Intensity has a slide to the left full keyboard that I love. For me it is much easier typing a text with a full keyboard. The phone features a 2.2” screen which to me is ample size. The numbers on the screen are easy to read and are easy to make bigger if you need to. The display changes from portrait to landscape mode when you slide the keyboard open. The phone gets great reception and I rarely drop calls. I have never had any issues with hearing anyone on the phone nor have they had issues hearing me. The phone also has a megapixel camera, music player, speakerphone and GPS. Also in the box was a charger to charge your phone and a user manual.

The Samsung Intensity features two menu keys, the send and call keys, a round toggle key in the middle, a speakerphone key, a clear key, along with the number pad. The keys are curved and easy to distinguish. The buttons have good response time are back-lit well. I like that the number keys are on the front of the phone, I don’t have to flip open the phone to call anyone. On the left of the phone is a 2.5mm headset jack, a volume button and the charger jack. There is a voice command key and camera key on the right. On the back of the phone is the camera lens and external speakers. The phone also has a spot under the battery cover for a micro-SD card.

This is one thing I don’t like about the Samsung Intensity. I don’t like that the SD card slot is located behind the battery cover. You don’ have to remove the battery to get to it but it just seems like an odd spot to me for it.

The menus are easy to follow but I do sometimes do get confused as to which button I need to push to get to which menu.

Another feature I like is that the Samsung Intensity has a 1000 entry phone book. In each entry you can put up to five phone numbers, two email addresses, an IM name, the street address and notes. This is great for my business contacts. I keep all my contacts all in one place. You can also add a photo for each caller and have unique ringtones. The contacts are easy to manage. I also like that it has In Case of Emergency contacts. Hopefully I will never need this feature but it’s nice to know my emergency contacts are on the phone if needed.

Some of the other features I like and use a lot are the speakerphone. I do think the sound quality could be a bit better on the speakerphone but I do use it as needed. I also use the calculator, calendar, alarm clock, note-pad and stopwatch. I also like the volume control and that you can put the phone on vibrate.

I do occasionally use the 1.3 megapixel camera on the Samsung Intensity which is easy to use. I think the pictures look nice and are clear. Now of course my digital camera takes a better picture but that is to be expected. The pictures are also very easy to email or send to someone using the phone book. You can use email via mobile email or mobile web email. The only issue I have is with the button on the side of the phone to activate the camera. I think it is rather small and a bit difficult to get too. I would like it better if it was a bit larger. The phone does not have video recording capabilities.

The Samsung Intensity was easy to personalize and I even downloaded a game and a ringtone. I wasn’t crazy about the selection of ringtones that came with the phone.

The Samsung Intensity has a decent battery life. I normally have to charge my phone once a week. The battery is said to have five hours of talk time and 12.5 days. I’m really not sure how long I talk on my phone before it needs charging but I always charge it Sunday nights.

The phone is well made and durable. I had my phone for almost two years and it is still holding up. I did purchase a case, which I love and will review at a later time, which helps to protect my phone. I have dropped my phone three times and it is no worse for wear.

There are lots of features on this phone that I have never used. As I stated, I wanted a phone to make calls, receive them and to be able to text with. Some of the features I have never used the built in music player (I have an mp3 player so I have never bothered with this), the gps, it has Blue-tooth connectivity, instant messaging, and the ability to search the web. I did play with the voice commands once but haven’t bothered since. It was convenient to just say a name and have the phone call that person. Maybe I will play with that feature again.

Even though I don’t use the music player one thing my son did tell me was that if I wanted to use it I would have to download songs to my PC and then move them to my phone. My phone does not let you directly download songs to it. This is not important to me but it may be for some.

The biggest problem I have with the Intensity phone is that it is very easy to accidentally access the web browser. If you hit the top left – key it takes you to the web. The right – key takes you to the menu. Sometimes I confuse them and hit the left key. This is a small problem but I find it very annoying as I do it quite often.

Another problem I have with the phone is that I keep my phone on vibrate during the day at work. There is no way to distinguish between a phone call or text message while in vibrate mode. I have grabbed my phone and hit a button only to hang up on someone calling. This is a minor problem and may be more my problem but it is annoying.

My son has a different phone and has problems with it calling people from his pocket. My screen locks and I have never had my phone expectantly call someone.

I received the Samsung Intensity as a gift but I think my son paid less than fifty dollars for it. I guess it would depend on where you are in your plan and upgrades as to how much you would pay for your phone. We purchased the phone from the Verizon wireless store. You can also find the phone online.

I really like my Samsung Intensity. I love the keyboard and how easy the phone is to use. There’s nothing real fancy about the phone but that is OK with me. I would recommend the Samsung Intensity Sch-u450 Verizon Phone to others.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): gift
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy