Samsung DoubleTime Review

Introduction:

Oh Samsung, they continue to be one of the more aggressive manufacturers out of the bunch, mainly because they poke their nose in almost every handset category out there. Surely, when you boast a massive market share, it’s only common to find them even going out of the norm to reel in some people. Well, we have to give them credit for steering outside of the box, now that their clamshell dual-touchscreen device in the Samsung DoubleTime is ready for the taking. Of course, it’s not trying to win over power users, but rather, it’s ducking to entice feature phone users to transition over.

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• microSD card adapter
• Wall Charger
• Quick Start Guide
• Health & Safety and Warranty Guide

Design:

Right off the bat, the Samsung DoubleTime easily reminds us of some kind of feature phone because of its clamshell dual-screen form factor, and rightfully so, everything about its construction and design confirms our suspicions. Blatantly, it exudes a design that’s akin for a feature phone with its all-white plastic exterior, though, it still feels a bit weighty (5.22 oz) in the hand. Fortunately, the added weight aids in keeping it somewhat durable feeling, as opposed to being completely cheap in overall build.



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

Indeed a distinguishable quality, the Samsung DoubleTime as its name implies, features two 3.2” HVGA (480 x 320) displays with support for 262k colors. With the internal one, it’s locked in landscape orientation, but the quality of the two are rather lacking due to their poor viewing angles and washed out colors. Details on the other hand are decent, especially when you factor in their screen size and resolution – albeit, fine text have a soft tone to them.


Flipping the front portion of the handset to expose its 4-row QWERTY keyboard, it locks into position at a 135-degree angle to give you that laptop-like feel, and can go further to a full 180-degrees. Sporting uniform squarish buttons, they’re flush to the surface and offer minimal distinction, but at least they exhibit a nice clicky feel. More than usable to keep a constant rate of input, its layout is further supplemented by its incorporation of a directional pad and typical Android menu buttons.


Not something we typically see, it boasts physical Android buttons as opposed to capacitive ones, which seemingly prevents any accidental presses from happening. Meanwhile, around the sides, we find its microUSB port, microphone, 3.5mm headset jack, power button, and volume control.

Lastly, laying flush to the surface, it sports a 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera in the rear, but lacks any sort of flash whatsoever. Moreover, two notches for the handset’s speakerphone are placed nearby. Prying off the rear plastic cover, we gain access to the microSD slot, 1,200 mAh battery, and SIM card slot.

Interface and Functionality:

The DoubeTime is running the TouchWiz UI that we’re all so accustomed to seeing by now, but it’s running on top of Android 2.2.2 Froyo. Yes folks, you heard that one right on the dot, it’s running Froyo rather than Gingerbread! Of course, some of us might be appalled by this revelation, but nonetheless, it boasts all of the wonderful and deep personalization aspects we’re normally presented.


Holy smokes Batman! This thing is running an aging single-core 600MHz Qualcomm processor with a heart wrenching 260MB of RAM! Obviously, some devices are able to muster up a decent performance even with such an unflattering CPU, however, we must admit this is downright abysmal with the Samsung DoubleTime. Almost everything we do, it’s muddied tremendously by instances of slowdown, lag, and delays. In the end, it’s simply unnerving to use and makes you wonder how this could all happen.

You’d be crazy to even fathom about using its on-screen keyboard over the physical one, but if you must go and use it, you won’t be impressed by it for one bit of a second. Not only are our thumbs fighting over its cramped spacing, but its performance is rather delayed at times as we speed type very quickly. Trust us, you’ll want to stick to that physical keyboard.

Luckily, the email experience is uncompromised, as both the Gmail and Samsung Email apps offer us plenty of control in organizing our emails with its extensive features. Additionally, the setup process is straightforward enough to get most popular accounts properly onto the handset.


AT&T’s presence is once again at full force with the Samsung DoubleTime, seeing that we find apps on there like AT&T Code Scanner, AT&T FamilyMap, AT&T Navigator, Live TV,  and myAT&T. Strangely, the only third part app found preloaded is YPmobile and nothing else.



Internet and Connectivity:

There’s absolutely nothing pretty with the web browsing experience, especially when it’s diminished by sluggish navigational controls, a low resolution display, and lack of Flash support – though, we saw the latter coming. In all honesty, it’s good enough for basic things, but if you prefer a much more fuller experience, your best bet is to look elsewhere.


Global trotters can choose to bring the Samsung DoubleTime abroad seeing that it’s your tried and true GSM enabled device – plus, it’ll offer 3G connectivity in a good amount of places, but there’s no HSPA+ connections with this one. As usual, it features other connectivity items like aGPS, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi, and mobile hotspot functionality.

Camera:

Ehh, it’s no point and shoot replacement, but some might still find its 3.2-megapixel camera tolerable enough to accept. During the day, it performs decently, but since it lacks a flash, it is unusable in a dark room.

In our modern smartphone age, we’re spoiled by devices that offer high-definition video capture, but every once in a while, we find one that simply brings us back to yesteryear. Well, there’s nothing nice to say about the QVGA (320 x 240) video recording found with the handset, except for its 29 frames per second capture and distortion-free audio recording.

Samsung DoubleTime Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Using the stock Android music player, there’s nothing interesting about its presentation, but it’s functional to get us by listening to some tunes on the go. With its built-in speaker, which offers a few different equalizer settings, its quality is satisfactory enough to withstand – though, it has a subtle hissy sound.


Unable to play high-definition videos, the highest quality one that we’re able to load is encoded in MPEG-4 800 x 480 resolution. Luckily, its smooth performance in playing the video is acceptable enough to enjoy, but it’s simply not the most optimal thing out there because of its small display and washed out colors.


Although it’s better than nothing, the handset is preloaded with a 2GB microSD card, which can be removed to accept cards up to 32GB in capacity. In addition, there is 48.47MB of storage reserved for strictly applications.

Performance:

On our end, the earpiece’s volume output is extremely low, requiring us to mash it next to our ear to make out voices – also, they’re very mute and indistinct in tone. Fortunately, there’s no problem on the other end of the line and using the speakerphone, since they exhibit good clarity and natural tones.

Moreover, we didn’t experience any dropped calls during our testing.

Packing a 1,200 mAh battery, we’re able to achieve a maximum talk time of 5.5 hours on a single charge, which is slightly less than the 6 hours rated by the manufacturer. On top of that, it’s everyday normal usage is limited seeing that we’re able to barely get by through a normal working day with it.

Conclusion:

Seriously, for $49.99 on-contract, you’re better off investing the money on something considerably better – especially when there are a variety of other smartphones that tastefully show off the beauty of Android. To tell you the truth, the Samsung DoubeTime is somewhat of an injustice in the Android family since it’s packing an aging Froyo build and suffers from a very sluggish overall performance. Yes, its dual-screen clamshell form factor is intriguing, but it simply isn’t accompanied with an acceptable experience. For $50 more, you can experience some of the better smartphones for the carrier – like the LG Thrill 4G or Motorola ATRIX 2.

Android Version: 2.2.2
Kernel Version: 2.6.32.9-perf
Build Number: FROYO.UCKI1

Samsung DoubleTime Video Review: