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(More customer reviews)I'm a proud owner of the Samsung Blast for roughly 1 month. My motorla phone finally took one fall to many and stop functioning. Of course I initially wanted an Iphone or its likeness based on all its cool new features, but quickly realized that both the phone and the monthly plan was to expensive. My criteria for a phone was cheap, be cool, and have a qwerty like keyboard.
I was initially drawn to the Blast because of its mini-qwerty keyboard. The pearl 8100 was my only other finalist. Afters days of indecisiveness and research I choose the blast because A)surfing the web wasn't important feature for me {and i wasn't impressed at all with the speed of the 8100's net}. B)Blast was noticeably cheaper.
Most sales rep's are useless about all the features this phone carries. After purchasing it I had mixed fixings but let me tell you, the more you know of the phones features, the more you're GOING TO LOVE IT! Things I love about this phone, in order of coolness determined by me!
Keyboard: I found myself typing more and more on the phone this year so having extra buttons has been a great addition. Auto-complete is almost always on par(to the point I only check right before i send). Once you understand the rhyme and reason to how its laid out you'll be sending messages faster. Except, somethings like, :) , make you go through an extra set of menu to type out which makes me very :(Checking email without paying an extra $20-$30 a month. Had no idea my phone had this feature til after i bought the phone (again, thanks to useless sales guys)!I mainly use gmail and I connected very easily - not sure why people had problems. Yahoo's built in so that too was easy. Very surprised how easy it was based on other peoples problems.
Voice Activated Commands - Typically anything voice activated sucks. My GPS has one, voice dictation, my other phone. Heck, my other phone made me record the name and then when i went to search by voice it couldn't find it. This phone makes every entry in your contacts callable by voice, without any set up! With one button i say "call mike". If its sure it will connect you directly, if not it will give you three choices. These two options are right about 98%, amazing! Theres many other voice commands like say, "Call 555-555-1234" or ones that take you right to a function.
There's also this cool feature that will sound out what number your dialing. Don't have it turned on, but a fun feature, possibly great for the blind community (but how will they know this from my review?)
Auto-Complete - lets say its noisy, voice activation won't work that well, so dont worry. After you type in the first 3 numbers, it automatically brings up numbers fitting that sequence stored in your phonebook for recommendations.
Seach phonebook by name: This feature was a big pet-peeve of mine with my motorola. Lets say i wanted to get the number for mike. Well i had 20 friends that started with M and i had to scroll down past everyone til i got to his name. Not anymore, just spell his name in the directory and takes me right there. This isn't a new feature, but my motorola didn't have this feature and I never got over it (my 1st phone did)!
Large picture ID when your friends call and you store their photo.
Bluetooth works great. Nothing really special but no problems either.
Tip Calculator that factors in percentages a user can define (no big deal really to me as this is a simple math equation) but it then has a feature dividing it by number of paying customers and the total for each person, pretty nifty.
Unit Calculator: Whats 1.5 oz in pounds, or whats 83 fahrenheit in Celsius. It converts length, weight, volume, area, temperature 100's of different ways - very cool feature i discovered & now my friends turn to me and say " Hey, whats ..."!
Lock out feature: Letting somebody borrow your phone doesn't have to feel like an invasion of privacy. By pushing some buttons you can make the phone locked out to only the most basic features like dialing digits. Haven't found a use for it just yet but i predict it will come in handy someday.
It also has tons more basic features and some other nifty programs waiting for you to discover. The phone had a bit of a learning curve, new keyboard layout, new features all took time to get use to but once you learn them you'll love the phone for what it can do.
So my experience isn't 100% rosy. Here's what i don't like.
The Manual. Since you'll find yourself referring it dozens of times it didn't always give you a clear answer. Example:
The phone has tons of icons on the main page and one of these icons kept blinking - for the life of me i couldn't figure out what it was. Checked the manual 10 different ways and it was finally 3 days later, annoyed at my blinking phone i call the friendly customer support tmobile lady who luckily had a similar phone. Same exact problem and went through pulling her hair out to get rid of it. She guided me to the fix. Come on Samsung, go through the book fill those holes (theres more I could go into but for the sake of your time and my blood pressure i'll skip)
Comfort - I've always had the flip phones and like that design. The slide design doesn't contour that well to your face and i find myself either blocking the mic with my finger (who's the genius engineer who places the mic where you naturally rest your finger) while trying to wrap it around my head . I'm getting more use to it, positioning my hands. If i'm goign to have a long conversation I tend to use my bluetooth anyways.
Mini qwert problems. Since you now have letters assigned to different buttons you can no longer make a call based on letters (IE: call bob at 800-CALL-BOB) because the letters now don't properly align. This could be an easy fix but Samsung doesn't have any solutions that i'm aware of.
Cases: Because of its unique design, finding proper, form-fitting cases has been somewhat of a challenge. Although i've found some options, there not readily available. Shortcuts - You've probably notice a tendency in my review to make a call or function in as few steps as possible. Samsungs done a great job in this regard except you can only program one button on its face (out of a possible 12) to your preference. Sucks because some shortcuts i'll never use (like memo voice recorder) and would love to change it out.
Very limited choice of ring-tones/msg tones. I'm surprised by this,well, maybe not 'that' surprised considering if you want something cool sounding on your phone be prepared to fork over $2 a pop. No thanks, i'll figure out the free way, eventually. Overall i'm happy with my choice. Receptions good, volumes are about average of a cell. I initially only resigned with Tmobile for a year because i figured in that time Tmobile will have phones more like the iphone. But each day i discover something new within the Blast and it's been a fun, rewarding learning experience. Still have a few more unknowns to solve & can't wait to figure them out. I'd recommend it as a great mid-range cell. Price was right & rich with feature. Perfect stepping stone to those of us that want something more then a basic boring phone but don't want all those unspoken of fees associated with those latest & greatest snazzy phones. Hope my review gives you some insight to my experience and helps you on your journey to a new, exciting phone.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Samsung SGH T729 Blast - Cellular phone - GSM - slider - T-Mobile
Perfect for people who want to stay on top of their email as well as stay connected wherever they roam, the crimson and black Samsung Blast slider-style phone is an affordable alternative to smartphones. Available exclusively from T-Mobile, it communicates over GSM/GPRS and EDGE networks and offers quad-band network capabilities for global connectivity. It's first T-Mobile phone to provide direct access to personal e-mail--including AOL email, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail--in addition to text and instant messaging. Composing messages is easy thanks to the hybrid QWERTY keypad that uses SureType technology, also found on RIM's BlackBerry smartphones. (See more about SureType below.) Other features include stereo Bluetooth connectivity, MicroSD memory card expansion, 1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder, speaker-independent voice control, and an integrated digital audio player.
Here's the biggest bonus--with the Blast you can send and receive e-mail for the same cost as a text message. No data package is required! With a basic voice plan and text messaging option, the Blast becomes your ultimate communication device with text, picture, video, and instant messaging as well as email--without the monthly cost of a data plan.
The Blast also is the first phone to feature compatibility with T-Mobile's myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts--on any network, even landlines--without using any of your minutes. Blast users who are myFaves subscribers can now also send an audio postcard--a photo accompanied by a voice message--as well as send an e-mail or launch an IM client, in addition to a text message, right from the myFaves home screen. Learn more about myFaves.
Compatible with IMAP4, POP3, and SMTP email protocols (including integrated access to AOL email, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail), the Blast makes it easy to check in with your inbox. It also includes access to instant messaging--with built-in support for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), ICQ, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger services--in addition to SMS text, MMS multimedia/picture messaging. For added convenience, email messages on the Blast can be read and responded to for the same pricing as text and picture messagesÑmeaning there's no required data package to purchase.
The bright TFT display has a 176 x 220-pixel resolution and support for up to 262K colors. Below the screen resides a four-way navigation pad and dedicated shortcut and T-Zone keys, with the numeric keypad available by sliding phone's front upward. The QWERTY-like keypad provides ample space to let fingers move at a faster pace, making typing more intuitive, with greater control over the letters and words being entered.
The 1.3-megapixel camera shoots still photos in seven resolutions (from 176 x 144 to 1280 x 1024 pixels) and it offers up to a 4x digital zoom, self-timer, multi-shot capability, and five picture modes (auto, daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, and cloudy). It can also capture video clips in two resolutions--176 x 144 (QCIF) and 128 x 96 pixels--at a length dependent upon the available space on an inserted MicroSD memory card. The digital audio player supports playback of MP3 and AAC files saved to memory card.
This phone provides Bluetooth version 2.0 wireless connectivity, and includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, audio/video remote control, and printing. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones. You can connect your laptop (either via Bluetooth or wired USB) and enjoy dial-up networking (DUN)--surf the Internet, send email, and access files from a server--using T-Mobile's EDGE network.
The built in memory provides room for up to 1000 contact entries in the phone's address book. A voice dialing feature makes calling friends and associates as easy as saying their names. Enjoy easy, hands free communication with a full duplex speakerphone that lets you hear callers loud and clear. It comes with a number of handy tools including a calendar, notepad, alarm clock, to-do list, tip calculator, and unit converter. It also sports an airplane mode feature, which allows the user to safely use the non-wireless functions of a phone (such as music, games, or organizer functions) on an airplane during flight. Other features include an 11 MB internal memory, four pre-loaded games (Forgotten Warrior, Cannonball, Midnight Casino, and Brain Challenge) with more downloadable from T-Mobile's T-Zones, USB connectivity (with mass storage capability), and a built-in Web browser.
SureType Hybrid Keyboard Through an integrated keyboard and software system, SureType effectively combines a traditional phone keypad and a familiar QWERTY-based keyboard to create an efficient and familiar typing experience. When you type on the Samsung Blast, SureType technology automatically changes the letters on the screen and lists suggested words below the text.
SureType allows you to quickly and accurately compose messages using single-handed operation or two-handed thumb-typing--without the limitations of traditional phone keypads. There are no dual keypads, peripherals or hardware transformations required and there is no need to learn a new way to type. Since the software understands what you're typing, you can concentrate on composing your message rather than on the input method. To help facilitate easy spelling and composition, SureType includes intuitive software with a word list of over 35,000 words and the ability to increase that list based on the frequency of use and the names and addresses in the smartphone's address book.
Vital Statistics The Samsung Blast weighs 2.8 ounces and measures 4.16 x 2.04 x 0.5 inches. Its 800 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5 hours of talk time, and up to 199 hours (8.3) of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
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