With a blinding orange color and slim profile, the Samsung Magnet SGH-A257 is one hard phone to miss. Whether you react with adoration or disgust, it's just one of those handset designs that's bound to press some of your buttons.
An entry in the long line of Samsung's messaging handsets for the year, the Magnet foregoes the typical side-sliding QWERTY aesthetics in favor of a more straightforward candy bar frame. It sports 4.2 x 2.3 x 0.4 inch dimensions and 3 ounces of weight, which leaves it pretty pocketable and easy to handle. Build is fairly good with a nice textured backside, allowing it to be held in hand for extended periods without slipping.
Display is a low point in the Magnet, sporting a small 2.2-inch LCD with an unbelievably low 176 x 220 resolution. Needless to say, Samsung isn't kidding when they say this phone is meant for pure messaging glory. With that said, the screen is very usable, especially for the intended text-based features. Both the control buttons and QWERTY keys were pretty well done. The keypad, in some ways, actually resemble the Blackberry Bold's implementation, albeit a bit more stiff to the touch.
Messaging, of course, gets the treatment it deserves. Email is available via the Mobile Mail app, which easily sets up and connects to numerous email accounts. Actual interface is a bit simplistic, although it manages as promised - you can read and compose emails without much to complain about. On the instant messaging end, it comes pre-installed with AIM, Yahoo, and Windows Live.
SMS is just as easy, maybe even more so, as email, while the call quality is downright excellent. You get a bevy of phone features too that work as advertised, including Bluetooth headset support, quad-band world roaming, three-way calling and speakerphone. It's important to note how good the speakerphone was - it facilitated better communication than even most high-end smartphones we've tried! Other features include a bottom-end VGA camera (with 4x digital zoom) and some basic music playback.
The Samsung Magnet SGH-A257 doesn't purport to do much. Those it can manage, though, such as email, IM, SMS and voice calls, it did at a truly impressive level. Personally, I think they should make this available in a color other than orange - I know plenty of business folks who want a cheap phone with just the exact level of performance this thing comes with, minus that embarrassingly bright finish.
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 Samsung SGH A257 Magnet ATT Unlocked US $92.99--> Ends In 18h 39m <-- |
Photo Credit: Geek Cellulars
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