It's funny how quickly a phone becomes antiquated. Lucky for me, Tmobile lets us get free phones every couple of years. It seems like each time I shop for a phone the list to choose from gets longer.

I found my phone of choice online strategically by eliminating the ones I didn't want. This was the last phone standing. It is called the "Samsung Beat" which I imagine has something to do with the MP3 player. I have two of these phones and I'd have to say I'm not overjoyed with the choice.

I don't think it's the best made phone. There are little tabs on the sides. My memory card pops out occasionally and then takes 5 or 6 tries to get it seated back in it. The little tab on the their side has to be removed every time I charge it. I occasionally hit the side buttons on mistake as well. The phone in general doesn't seem as sturdy as I'm use to. I don't like the buttons either. They're all flat and it's difficult for my finger to distinguish between them. It's even harder for me to write a text message. It's no Blackberry.

I also got my son the same phone on the same day. Initially he really loved it because the MP3 player and camera were new features for him. Since he uses the phone in different ways than I do I was surprised to find that my son was not impressed with the phone either. His biggest complaint is that since day one the phone shuts itself off for no reason.

My teenage son has always taken really good care of his phones in the past, but he managed to bust the face of this on the second week of school. Of course he has no idea how this happened, according to him it just self destructed. Not the best phone choice for a boy with attention problems. I know that he was playing with his phone at school because he accidentally rang me a couple of times. He likes to take pictures with the camera and play video games on it during class. (Not a problem anymore, heh.)

Appearance
The appearance of the phone is attractive enough with a modern look. Several people have noticed my phone and commented on the style. It has a sleek look.

It has a shiny coat that makes it look bright and shiny in the light, but looks disgusting up close and personal because it collects finger prints. This is actually a huge issue for me. I am constantly wiping it off.

I carry my phone in my pocket most of the time like I have for years. The first week it slipped out of my pocket many times before I realized I could not carry this one in my pocket. It's pretty much the same shape and size as my previous phone. The shiny slippery coating is the only thing that I can think of.

Not carrying it in my pocket means I have to carry it in my purse now. I have a side pouch that works well, if I can hear it ringing. It doesn't receive reception at the bottom of my purse.

MP3 Player
The MP3 player was the best feature on the phone to me. I love the idea of being able to listen to music whenever and not have to keep up with my traditional MP3 player. I prefer the phone over a traditional MP3 player because there's no recharge hassle. I can play the phone all day without the battery going dead. I dock my phone every night anyway so it's much easier than charging batteries for a MP3 player.

A pair of ear buds come with the phone and fit in the the same jack that the headset would. I've never been a huge fan of ear buds because they hurt my ears and this pair is no exception.

On the lowest volume setting I can hear someone talking to me and faint mumble of people in the background. I wish the volume would go just a little bit lower.

There is an external speaker on the phone so you can hear the music without ear buds. This actually goes up really loud but isn't the best quality for long use. It's ideal for certain situations like letting your friend hear something you found. It's also nice for walking or jogging since you can be aware of the traffic and still hear the music.

The phone will notify you if you if you have an incoming call while the MP3 player is playing.

Camera
The camera is very simple to use. My son loves having the option and used it all the time before he rammed a pencil through it. The pictures can be downloaded to the computer. They're not camera quality, but you wouldn't expect it. It's good enough to get a fast mug shot of a person. It's only 1.3 mega pixel so don't expect too much.

One time I received a photo from the wrong number at 3 am. The phone made a bunch of binging noise. Annoying. I don't use the texting stuff, but hopefully there's a do not disturb button for those that do. It is nice to have the option of receiving a photo.

Alarm
The phone has an option to set up to three alarms. I use the alarm every day for waking up. I can change the sounds of the alarm or wake up to music which is more enjoyable than the piercing beep of a traditional alarm clock. Pushing the side button will put the alarm on snooze. To turn the alarm off the phone needs to be opened and turned off through the drop-down menus.

Battery Life
I charge my battery every night, it's just habit. I have never had an issue with battery life. It holds well even when I use the MP3 player all day.

Talking / Listening
My calls are rarely dropped and I have never noticed static on the line.

It's difficult to hear all of my kids even when I'm using a different phone so it must have something to do with the microphone placement or sensitivity of this phone. When they talk fast the words sound muffled and run together.

I've had Tmobile for over a decade and many different phones but this one has the worst antenna. I never had the problem of loosing or finding signal like I do with this phone. I can be sitting at my desk and have signal one minute and 0 the next minute. I can have my second identical phone right next to it and have 5 bars. Frequently I can have the phone right in front of me and receive voice mail because the phone doesn't ring for whatever reason. It's not the carrier, it's the phone.

Features
The phone holds a list of calls, missed calls, incoming calls, outgoing calls, and call time.
T-zones Home, go to URL, bookmarks, saved pages, history
IM - aim
Bluetooth
Calendar (month view, week view, day view, schedule, anniversary, miscellaneous, missed alarm events, memory status)
Wallpaper
Photos
Ringtones

Overall
This is not the best phone that we have had as far as performance and durability. If I were to buy another phone I would look for one with a stronger antenna because I just can't take the chance of miss calls and it's severely frustrating for me not to have signal in all of the places that I have always had it before.

I am okay with the feel of the phone and think that voice sounds good enough. I've never had anyone on the other end complain about the reception, and I've always been able to hear everyone fine. My experience is that reception decreases and the phone gets older so that remains to be seen.

It does have the most features for the price and is a pretty good deal if you get it free through Tmobile. I love all that it does. Not impressed with how it's put together.