Samsung U740 Alias Black Phone Verizon Wireless
Samsung U740 Alias Black Phone Verizon Wireless
Form meets function as you open the u740 in portrait mode to take and make calls, then switch to landscape mode to type messages, check email or surf the web. Sending text messages and emails is a breeze with a QWERTY Keyboard. Open the u740 in landscape mode and type. Download and view video on the multimedia capable u740 and while you are at it,download and play music and more with V CAST Music. With optional accessories, enjoy hands-free operation utilizing a Bluetooth Car Kit or Bluetooth Mono Headset. You can also sync your phonebook with your computer so your contacts are always up to date.
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Turns itself off when it feels like it
I’ve had this phone for 18 months and have generally been satisfied. I have enjoyed having the ability to flip it to a keyboard for text messaging. Recently the phone has begun to turn it self off, frequently, for no good reason. It must be some sort of planned obsolesence. It would be nice if some manufacturer made a phone that lasted longer than the length of your provider contract.
2 Stars Unintuitive and unrealiable
I got this phone because of text messaging and hoped it had good response with its GUI because it could also play music.
The keyboard is too small and I end up hitting other keys many times. This cellphone is really bad for games because the thick section that connects the phone to the screen is right next the the arrow keys for games and its cumbersomeness causes me to loose continuously in even Pac-Man.
The speaker-phone doesn’t go very loud. And the loudness that it achieves is difficult to understand. Even talking on the phone regularly, with the phone to your ear, it sounds muffled and have to ask the person to repeat themselves repeatedly.
Update:
After about a year with this phone, we noticed that it is starting to have hardware issues. My girlfriend’s phone speakers don’t work, so she has to put the phone on Speaker Phone in order to talk to people. Also the phone shuts off automatically after light shocks. My phone doesn’t have the speaker issue, but does shut off with light shocks.
2 Stars Spoiled from LG EnV
After owning an LG EnV and being very satisfied with it, I purchased this phone after much prodding from my sister who owns it as well. I can say that I am very displeased with this phone. Being an EnV owner, I will compare them appropriately.
Things that spoiled me with the LG included a very functional full keyboard with distinct and dedicated adjunct keys (separate number keys instead of having to press NUM LOCK, full symbol and character keys, etc). Being someone that is a total klutz using T9, I felt that this phone would be a perfect balance of size (very slim) and voice recognition with QWERTY along with quality as I have owned samsungs before and they have been bulletproof (yes, I am a phone abuser).
CONS:
1) The sound is terrible at times. When speaking with my sister (also another u740), I can barely hear her and it sounds like talking into a tin can.
2) The keyboard is frustrating due to the inefficiency with layout. Now I have some very small hands (ring size 7) and I can barely type on this thing without hitting the wrong keys frequently. Furthermore, if you are using mobile web and need to input your password (hidden) on mobile Gmail or whatever, you are required to switch between shifting between number layout and qwerty layout… it’s not as simple as a pressing a “shift” key along with the number as it is with the EnV…
Ex. to input “p4ssw0rd”
-”p”
-hit button to shift to entry mode, select “123″, type “4″
-hit button to shift to entry mode, select “abc”, type “ssw”
-hit button to shift to entry mode, select “123″, type “0″
-hit button to shift to entry mode, select “abc”, type “rd”
As you can see, it’s very inefficient and with the password frequently hidden in asterisks you can easily make a mistake and lose track of what you’ve type due to the constant switching.
2) Good luck with voice recognition. It’s hit or miss. You’d have better luck with that 50% they had landing that mars mission. At times it’s spot on… other times you’re way out in left field. It’s very frustrating and would probably be quicker to just type your message.
3) MSG only holds 51 messages…. however, I can’t complain. The older model EnV held the same.
4) Cannot adjust ring volume/vibrate with clam shell closed.
5) Screen resolution is terrible. Go to the Verizon store and compare this with the EnV and you will notice a marked difference. Larger screen size on the EnV makes Mobile 2.0 web surfing much easier.
PROS:
1) Size, fairly small and gives the RAZR a run for it’s money. Although, phones are getting smaller now so compare first. I did enjoy the slim size after owning the candy bar size EnV. Sleek.
2) Pictures are decent in resolution, but don’t take my word on this… I don’t use the camera very much.
3) Quick charging times
4) Speaker phone is decent.
5) Reception is actually pretty good as well.
I must say that this phone is a NOT a piece of junk, it’s actually very solidly constructed and does not feel cheap at all. However, it’s extremely inconvenient and frustrating enough that I am tempted at the moment to pay full price $300-400 for another phone to replace it after owning it for 3 months.
It may be satisfactory for certain people but for someone accustomed to full qwerty (EnV or blackberry or the like) it could be very frustrating which would not be initially evident. Good luck with your phone pick!
5 Stars The best most rockin’ phone ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why do I love this phone? Well, I’ll say first that I’ve never taken the time to write a review about anything… but considering what this phone has survived, I felt I owed the little thing some gratitude. First off, this little guy was dropped into a toilet (don’t ask how that happened) and totally submerged. I thought Oh great, there’s no way it’s going to work again. At first the keyboard didn’t work, but in an hour it was fully operational again! Second, this phone was zapped when I tried one of those cheezy universal chargers from a manufacturer I won’t name. I plugged it in and in 5 minutes it was so hot it burned my hand! The phone died for several hours. I drove to a Verizon store two cities away and had them look at it. We figured it was dead and that I needed to buy a new one, so I did. Then amazingly 2-3 hours afterwards, my little phone came back to life! This speaks to the quality of Samsung phones, and this model in particular. It’s tight, meaning the buttons are nearly flush with the key pad. This didn’t allow the water to get in and destroy the chip. And it must have a great chip inside to allow it to survive being zapped! I highly recommend it. Plus, you can get email at any time, which is great for people like me who can’t access mail servers from work.
2 Stars Entry Level qwerty with little else to offer
Overall this phone is a good choice for people who use text messaging and/or mms messaging but don’t need pc to phone options like synching and file transfer.
Good:
The phone feels good in your hand
Takes decent photos/video (for a 1.3mp phone)
Bad:
Reception is inadequate (my last phone (SCH-i730) had much better reception in the same usage area that this phone is being used.
Picture Review is so slow as to be painful with large numbers of files stored.
SD Card insertion is problematic — sometimes hard to get it to click in the slot.
MP3s stored on sd card dont always show up in the music library (and for reasons I cannot fully determine based on documentation and website.
Ugly:
There is virtually no available communication (file tranfer or otherwise) to a PC. The standard usb-pc cable doesn’t charge the phone and the enhanced usb cable is still limited to being used as modem. No file transfer. Additionally, mp3’s cannot be set as ringtones.
As far as I am concerned, this phone is useless, but I am a PDA/Smartphone user and have not had a good time transitioning to this low-end offering.
