I am all Smiley about my new Samsung SGH T359 phone. It was time to get a new phone. Small problems plagued my old t-Mobile flip Samsung.

Samsung SGH T 359, Smiley Phone
 
My flip top Samsung still works but it was the slide out QWERTY feature on the Smiley Samsung T359 that caught my interest. My 11 year old grand-daughter has this phone.  I tried it out a few times and liked what I saw making a purchase of my own through T-Mobile.

I did wonder why the name "Smiley." It has a Smiley button on the key pad on the bottom right so if you are into Smiley Emoticons, you're set. Truth is, I use it texting often. It's convenient and cuts out a couple of moves making the key board faster and easier to use.
This is pretty much a basic phone. It doesn't have all the very-cool and up-to-date features of any smartphones and such but I made a decision NOT to have that cool stuff of touch screen and many apps for at least two more years.

I've wanted to continue my talk and text features, the only two features I use extensively. I did not want to get super-fast Internet, (this does have an internet feature)  better GPS, book apps and so much more. I'm still at a point in my life where I want to simplify.
That said, I liked the QWERTY feature. I thought my fingers might be too fat and large for it but I seem to have grasped the feel. There's enough space between the letters due to the bevelled shape of the keys. Each push has a good feel and response.
 
pops Experience
 
I was attracted to the look and feel of this phone. It's sleek and fits well in my breast pocket or pants pocket.
 
When I opened the box I found a starter guide that's easy to follow. Please follow me here. I am NOT a tech sort of guy. It takes me time and hands on work to get used to a product. I am happy to say, I could follow the directions well.

This phone came with a plug in charger and a battery. The manufacturer states five hours of talk +. I can't say I get five hours but it sure feels like it. I go days without having to charge the phone. The port is easy to get to and the wire easy to use. It also has a sim card. I understand some come with it and some don't.  I do take a photo and send it from time to time. The 1.3 mega pixels camera works well enough for that though I have never used the phone to date to collect any images.

This doesn't come with headphones or such for hand-less use. Ya gotta spend more bucks for that.  It does have a 2.6" display that is exposed. It's bright and useful to my eyes. All the other phones I have ever owned were flip top so I am a bit anxious as to whether the face will stand up to my use over the long haul. To date, about a month, it's fine.
The menu button in the middle does organise well and makes it easy for this non-tech guy to navigate the guts of the phone so I could set it in different ways.  The volume is very good for me. I do have a hearing problem but I can set this volume just fine. The speaker-phone works well too. 

Looking around I know I can organize, check out my call logs and such. Setting up phone numbers is pretty basic. Being able to place my old T-Mobile sim card into this phone saved me hours of detailed entering.

I'm quite happy with this phone. The only problem I have is when my grand daughter is over the house. I am afraid she is going to grab mine instead of hers. I do wonder why this is found ONLY in black. The mix-up problem would be next to nill if I could get a pretty pink phone.

In the end I finalize stating again that I use this for talk and text and no apps so I can'r give info on such. I can tell you that the phone works well for what I want. The sound is clear and clean. The speakerphone is loud yet doesn't have any distortion. I can text faster than I did with my old phone that didn't have QWERTY. That's important to me because I do text often with my children and grand children. Also, to date this phone has never dropped a call. 
 
I can recommend this phone to the person who wants a sleek looking phone that looks cool but is basic in its offerings. Talk-and-text that works well + a bit more with OK quality pics. That's fine with me.

An entry into Sleepers Lean n Mean W/O X

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 100
Recommended for: World Travelers - Works Anywhere and Everywhere!