A sleek slider that boasts Bluetooth, 1.3-megapixel camera, and an MP3 player, the SGH-T629 is full of fun features. But how good is this fashionable handset for making routine calls?
Review summary of the Samsung SGH-T629:
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 Fashion-conscious chatters looking for a smart-looking (if fingerprint-prone) handset could do much worse than Samsung's SGH-T629 slider, which offers several cool extras (including Bluetooth, an MP3 player and a decent 1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder) while still packing in solid calling and messaging features. That said, the crowded design of the navigational keypad gave us some trouble, and we were annoyed by spotty sound over the otherwise workable speakerphone.
Release: September 2006. Price: $100.
Pros: Solid calling features, including Bluetooth, voice-tagging, and conference calling; slim and sleek design; MP3 player; 1.3-megapixel camera; clear messaging interfaces.
Cons: A sub-par speakerphone with spotty calling; typing was awkward resulting from poor placement of the clear key; screen has a strong tendency to attract fingerprints from the slider's design.
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55%
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Full Samsung SGH-T629 Review:
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Design
The Samsung SGH-T629 is sleek and stylish, with an eye-catching, thin (0.6 inches) profile (similar to the older Samsung SGH-T809, which has disappeared from T-Mobile's handset lineup) and matte silver finish. However, the slider opens from the middle instead of the bottom, making it too easy to smudge the screen with fingerprints. Still, the petite T629 will go over well with the fashion conscious looking for a handset that has the basics in a cute package.
Calling - Very good
The T629 fared quite well in our calling tests, giving us a clear call with no static or echoing, but the reception was a bit spotty on the streets of New York and Northern New Jersey. The quad-band slider did pick up on a bit of ambient noise, but our pals could always hear us over the clamor. The T629 scored big with its solid array of features, boasting Bluetooth, voice tagging (although not speaker-independent voice dialing), a speakerphone, and conference calling. Sound quality on the T629's speakerphone was plenty loud but tinny (as we have come to expect from most speakerphones), and voices on the other end occasionally dropped in and out, which wasn’t much of a problem during our non-speakerphone calls. Conference calling, however, was a big hit, allowing us to add five lines to a single call. The phone also lets you maneuver between calls, allowing you to put one or more on hold or hang up on one line without losing the entire conversation. Unfortunately, these functions require a great deal of searching within the menu, making them really easy to miss (we almost did). On the other hand, the phonebook is very clear and simple to use and has live search, eliminating the need to scroll through a long list to find a contact.
Messaging - Very good
The T629 boasts some strong messaging features, but typing was surprisingly difficult. The messaging menus are simple and colorful, but typing was surprisingly difficult. The clear key is extremely close to the down arrow, making it all too easy to accidentally jump back a screen when we just wanted to scroll down. We were also annoyed by the keypad's poorly designed backlighting, which only became visible under very dark conditions. Once we got used to being very precise while navigating through menus, we appreciated how easy it was to include pictures, emoticons, voice memos, text, and phonebook entries with our SMS messages. We also managed to fit about 150 characters onto the T629's screen, just 10 characters shy of a full 160-character capacity of a text message. Finally, the phone earned some bonus points with its instant messaging abilities, supporting AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo services.
Odds and ends
The handset does pack a 1.3-megapixel camera and a camcorder, but the photos and video aren't exactly stellar (typical for a phone in the T629's class) and there's no built-in flash. That said, image quality is perfectly adequate for sending photos to your mobile buddies via MMS (or Bluetooth, for that matter), and the camera app does include its share of fun, with frames and the ability to adjust the colors on your pictures. The T629 also boasts an MP3 player with decent sound quality, but there are no dedicated music buttons, and downloading full music tracks over T-Mobile's 2.5G EDGE connection is, of course, out of the question.
Related phones: Samsung calling and messaging handsets
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Samsung SGH-T619
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Score: 55% When: September 2006 Worth: $Free - $200 Carrier: T-Mobile
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Sporting simple, intuitive menus and features like Bluetooth, conference calling and instant messaging, the SGH-T619 makes for a cheaper option to the flashy SGH-T629. Will it give you enough bang for your buck?
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Read » Gallery »
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Samsung SGH-T809
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Score: 63% When: December 2005 Worth: $150 - $300 Carrier: T-Mobile
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Sindre Lia goes about looking cool with Samsung's most recent slim slider, the SGH-T809 from T-Mobile, finding that good things - well, mostly - really do come in small packages.
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Read » Gallery »
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Price and availability
Available immediately from T-mobile for $100 with a mail-in rebate and a 2-year service agreement
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