Samsung Comeback T559 Review

Introduction:

Looks can always be deceiving when you view something from one angle only – sometimes you never know what to expect. It is quite clear now that texting has become a major part of the landscape of mobile communication. Always trying to keep it fresh, Samsung has a decent mix of messaging oriented devices to offer for T-Mobile subscribers. The Samsung Comeback T559 utilizes an interesting form-factor to make it transform from one device to another. Aiming to be a suitable text messaging phone for teens, we hope that the Comeback may be interesting enough to keep users wider awake and alert.

The package contains:
•    Samsung Comeback
•    Charger
•    Hands-free Headset
•    Start Guide
•    User Guide
•    T-Mobile Services Guide

Design:

From afar, one would think that the Samsung Comeback T559 might be a hefty looking candybar handset. In fact, it uses a clamshell design to secretly hide away its QWERTY keyboard. There's no doubt that it doesn't have a modern look to it when compared to some of the other QWERTY devices Samsung has produced. Despite the toyish feeling plastic material used for the casing, it does feel remarkably well built all-around. We're sure that this can withstand most of the normal wear and tear users tend to dish out. For a clamshell device, it's quite bulky and thicker (0.73”) than other comparable handsets. Additionally, its large dimensions for its class are accompanied with a weight (4.6 oz) that's fit for its looks. For those who prefer a retro design, this will definitely be in your class.




You can compare the Samsung Comeback T559 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

The 1” external PMOLED screen has that Tron-like look that makes it stand out when the black theme is selected, but it's limited to what it can display (such as photos). On the other hand, the internal 2.7” LCD screen is a sight to behold – one of the areas it managed to impress us. It has a resolution of 240x400 pixels and 262k colors. Images are detailed, filled with colors, and bright enough to make it an enjoyable experience anyone can expect. You'll have some issues with visibility when you attempt to use it in direct sunlight. Both screens become dim and require you to shield it so you can see what's on screen.

The buttons used for the keypad on the front of the phone are slightly raised, decent-sized, and have a tactile feel to them. The square shaped navigational pad is balanced and we were able to move around the menus without any mispresses. Other than the usual send and end keys, the only other dedicated ones are the camera and back buttons. They have a light red backlighting which doesn't make for a good contrast – making it difficult to see with the white plastic. The volume rocker is appropriately found on the left edge with the proprietary charging port next to it. There's a 2-megapixel camera and speakerphone on the back of the device – no flash or self-portrait mirror to be found. Sliding off the plastic rear cover will reveal the battery, which needs to be removed in order to reach the SIM and microSD card slots.

Opening up the device from its side will give you access to the four row QWERTY keyboard.  It's size, feel, and style is somewhat reminiscent of the one used in the Samsung Alias. The oval shaped buttons are tiny and equally spaced from one another, but still feel cramped as you begin typing. They do not have as good of a tactile feel than the ones found on the keypad – it feels stiff when pressed. Individuals with larger fingers will have a difficult time feeling out each key from one another. There is also a d-pad with some dedicated buttons (camera, messaging, send/end, and back) on the right side.

Software/Features:

You can operate and navigate through the phone using either screens – with more functions allowed to be completed through the internal one. The home screen is set up with five icons: inbox, web2go, apps, my account, and music. Getting into the main menu will present you a rotating carousel of animated icons whenever one is selected. There isn't much to change when it comes to personalizing the phone - you'll have either a black or white theme to choose from. We preferred the black one because it gave the external PMOLED that Tron-like look. It's fairly simple to navigate through the phone and there was no indication of any sluggish performance. 



There's nothing to it when attempting to create a contact for your phonebook. Like other basic phones, you'll have the option to place information such as phone numbers, email addresses, screen names, home addresses, and birthdays for each individual. The Samsung Comeback T559 is able to hold up to 1,000 contacts directly on the phone.



The focus of the Comeback is its messaging capabilities. You can access most of the messaging applications by pressing the dedicated buttons on the QWERTY or keypad. Sending a text message is done in the same fashion as other basic devices with the ability to attach a photo to make it an MMS. There's even an option to send an audio postcard that places a border around an image and sound clip to it. For the most part, it was an effortless procedure to send a message to someone.

There's nothing like chatting with a friend in real time with the IM client powered by Oz. You'll have the option of selecting AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo for your instant messaging needs. It'll continue to run in the background if you do exit back to the home screen. We were pleased with the email client as well with it's ability to set up any email – it'll require an incoming/outgoing server address if you're using a specific provider not found on the default list.



We're a bit taken back with the lack of software offerings on the Samsung Comeback T559. There are a total of only three apps (TeleNav GPS Navigator, Need for Speed Undercover, Monopoly Here & Now) available out of the box – with two of them being demo games. The TeleNav Navigator is your typical turn-by-turn location based software to give you directions to specific locations. Your standard set of organizer tools like the calendar, calculator, memo, world clock, converter, timer, stopwatch, RSS reader, alarm, and voice recognition are found on the Comeback.



Taking photos with the 2-megapixel camera on the Comeback with automatic mode produced mostly images that were decent in detail. Colors for the most part looked accurate in images taken in good lighting conditions. You receive blurry looking photos with plenty of detail lost when shooting indoors though. Running the uncluttered photo application can be accomplished using either screens – we prefer using the internal one to get a better look of what you're taking. There are some options like white balance, resolution, color mode, and others to modify when accessing the photo menu. Photo lovers will enjoy the depth of options that the Comeback has to offer. Although it produced mediocre images, modifying the settings may result in better quality in any condition.





Video quality was rather good despite its maximum resolution of 320x240. It resulted in a smooth and somewhat detailed running video with no slowdown during quick movements. At first we were expecting pixelated videos, but it was not as prominent as we thought it would be. Captured audio though sounded muffled without any noticeable background noise. On top of using it for MMS use, we found it rather usable for any conditions.

Your typical music player is found on the Samsung Comeback T559 – it has a rather boring look with the usual layout. It'll display the album cover, artist, track name, and time remaining as the song is being played. The on-screen commands are linked to the d-pad so you'll be able to play/pause, reverse, stop, or forward a song. The music will continue to play even when you exit back to the home screen, but there are no playback shortcuts that appear – requiring you to run the player again to change it. Sound from the rear speakerphone was good at the medium level while the highest setting strained and crackled during heavy tones.

Using the internal screen is your only option to watch videos. Running movie trailers in MPEG4 320x240 and H.264 320x136 formats proved to be no problem. They ran smoothly with no hint of choppiness during playback. Colors and detail looked extremely good on the Comeback – definitely worthy of viewing videos. Just like the experience we got with music playback, sound during the video was audible except for some crackling on the highest volume being evident.



If you're going to be using the phone for its media features, you'll need to get yourself a microSD card for storage. It will accept cards of up to 16GB in size.

Using the device internationally is the same with most of T-Mobile's lineup – it's a quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 Mhz) handset with 3G connectivity in the US thanks to the dual-band UMTS (1700/2100 Mhz).

The NetFront browser is used to load up web sites on the Comeback. It managed to load up complex sites like ours and displayed it in a desktop view - there's a smart-fit option that rearranges it for a column view. Overall it looked fairly accurate, scrolling proved to be slow, and images had a slight delay in loading as you scroll extensively. There's no page overview option but you can adjust the zoom – it does it fairly quickly. We like how the browser works and found it tolerable to use for most of our web surfing needs.

Undoubtedly this phone is geared for its messaging features, but we received some good results for its phone call quality as well. There were no background noises during our calls while voices sounded clear and vibrant. On the other end, callers said our voice was muffled but were still able to make it out. Using the speakerphone resulted in the same experience – we preferred having it placed on the middle setting, which was still loud enough and prevented the crackling sounds from being heard when set to the loudest volume.

It held up well in keeping a signal in the greater Philadelphia area. We did not experience any fluctuations in the amount of bars displayed on the Comeback.

If you're a heavy user, you'll probably see yourself having to charge this device more often. We were able to get 5 days out of the Comeback before it was completely drained. We had both displays set to the highest brightness during our testing. We would assume that using the external PMOLED more than the internal one would extend the battery life. Samsung has it rated for 5.5 hours of talk and 300 hours of standby.

Conclusion: 

We really can't complain too much about the Samsung Comeback T559. Despite its retro looks, it works remarkably well with its beautiful screens, intuitive interface, and good media features. If the  QWERTY keyboard was more suitable for larger fingers, it could've been a text messenger's dream phone. This may not be the comeback device that Samsung might have been hoping for, but at least it serves to be a well all-around mobile phone.

Samsung Comeback T559 Video Review: