Samsung SGH-T629 Review

Trying to target every possible customer, T-Mobile offers versions of basically the same phone in various form factors that would suit different tastes. We've already showed you the ultra-thin candybar T519, which is almost half the thickness of a RAZR and is very small in size, but the carrier and Samsung also offer a stylish slider – the SGH-T629. It is not a successor of the T809 as some people stated, as its display is of lower resolution (not QVGA) and its camera is still 1.3-megapixel instead of swiveling one, but it is just a middle class phone. The T629 is targeted to people who don't need extremely small device but like the advantage of phone that can be closed and utilizes the modern slider form factor.

In its box, it comes with just basic accessories:

• Phone
• Battery
• Charger
• Mono headset
• Manuals

As it uses the fashionable slider form factor, its size when closed is smaller than that of the candybar version (T519), but compensates it when it is opened. A drawback is its thickness, which is the same as the RAZR V3 and almost twice the one of the slim T519. Combined with an average weight, you will be able to locate the phone in your jeans without any problem, and won't love to carry it in a shirt's pocket.

As a compensation for the weight, we can point the solid construction of the phone. Similar to the T519 when squeezed only a minor movement of the slider is noticed but it is not something that will disturb you at all. Opening and closing the phone can be easily done with one hand only, which is one of the main advantages over clamshell phones. It is not released by a button, but an excellent spring mechanism will assist the movement of the upper part up and down. Slide it up a little, and it will open it for you. You may encounter problems if your fingers are bigger, though, but once getting used to the phone you will be fine with it.

	T-Mobile MDA, T519, T629, T719, Smartflip	T519, T629, T719, Smartflip	From top: T719, Smartflip, T629, T519, T-Mobile MDA

The Samsung T629 uses standard TFT display with resolution of 176x220 pixels. Its size is 2 inches and unlike the Trace, this one has common portrait view. It also supports up to 262k colors, but when you directly compare it to the T519 Trace you will notice that the one of the thin phone has more saturated colors and its image looks prettier. Otherwise the display of T629 remains visible in daylight, and it is good enough for displaying pictures.

The keypad of the phone consists of two parts – upper, and lower, which is due to the sliding form factor. On the upper part are the software keys, the D-pad and the answer/reject, with the clear (delete) key between them. Except for the D-pad, the other keys cannot be easily felt, and pressing them is on the hard side. The D-pad is raised, and although its small size you will easily press the central OK key.

The left side houses the volume rocker and connector for charger or headset, while on the right are the camera and the microSD port. Just as in other models, Samsung has covered the port and the connector with hard plastic protective cover in the color of the phone, which may be a problem because of its tiny size. The bottom and top sides are empty, but the hole for strap on the top-right corner. The microphone is on the bottom part of the upper slider, while the speakerphone is on the back next to the camera, which may lower the sound power if the phone is put on a table or in a pocket. As always we'd prefer a single speaker on the front side or stereo speakers on the sides.

Interface:

When it comes to software, the phone is almost the same as the T519 and only minor differences in the interface are present. This is due to the different size of the display, and because the slider's is in portrait mode, while the bar's is in landscape. The larger height of the T629 allows it to show submenus when viewing a list, and moving through them – this allows you to enter an option of a submenu, without listing it. It's strange that the headers in the main menu of the T629 are not colorful, while those of the T519 are.

A strange change is another little drawback of the menu: with the T519, when you are in some sub menu, using “left and right” directions you can move to the next submenu without going back to the main. This is not working with the T629.

As they are not very similar, but almost the same, we will use the text from our T519 review with only slight changes.

In stand-by, the T629 is similar to other current Samsung models – it displays the system information, the carrier name and the soft keys functionality. You can change the wallpaper image with another (there are about a dozen coming preloaded with the phone), with option to use any image you have stored on the phone. Pressing the sides of the D-pad will act as shortcuts, but the central “OK” doesn't work in standby mode – it would have been much more logically if it opened the main menu, as it is with most other phones. We found ourselves pressing it often in vain trying to access the main menu.

We'd also like it to display 3x4 grid of icons, as the bigger size of the display allows for it. It will allow for more icons in the main menu and this way groups like “Games” and “Organizer”, as well as “Camera”, won't be packed into one single menu but on their own.

Dialing a number can be displayed with large numbers, and an option allows every digit to be in different (Rainbow) color – a great feature some people who do not see very well. It lacks the animated pencil from the D900, though.

The whole menu of the device is extremely easy and logically arranged and you can easily find what you are looking for without reading the manual, even if you haven't used similar model before. The reactions of the phone are instant, and it won't lag while moving through the menus.

Phone Book:

The memory of the phone can store 1000 contacts, each of which can store multiple numbers, email, group, picture and ringer ID. Adding a new contact is extremely easy and logically, just as anything other in the phone. Unfortunately the Caller ID Image displayed on an incoming call has useless small size.

Searching through the list of the phonebook is done by directly typing characters, but the phone will search only through the “First Name”s first word. 

Organizer:

The organizer is situated in the Fun & Apps menu. You won't find anything extraordinary here, but all the things that are often used. There are three alarms, with option to automatically power the phone ON if it is off, Calendar and Tasks, Simple calculator and Timers, and World clock with interface displaying the Earth map. The unit converter looks ugly but is very usable.

A simple file browser is also situated here. It browses the files stored on the phone or on its card by types: music, videos, etc. It's not as good as advanced explorer on a smartphone, but makes the deal.

The T629 has about 8MB of internal memory. Hopefully, it can be upgraded with microSD cards, the slot for which is situated on the right side. They can give you gigabytes of additional memory.

Messaging:

T629 isn't a messaging device but has some extras – it comes with some preloaded templates for fast sending of messages; Pictures messages are also easily composed, and you can add multimedia files (pictures, videos) to them in a few steps. The phone lacks email client, but compensates it with incredible Instant Messenger that supports all major clients: AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo!. You can easily connect and have a chat with your friends.

Connectivity:

To connect the phone with a computer, you can use an optional USB cable or Bluetooth connection. The phone has Bluetooth v1.2 antenna but unfortunately lacks A2DP profile for stereo sound over it. It's easy to pair it with any Bluetooth accessory like a headset for example, and you won't need a manual for doing this.
 For data it supports EDGE that upgrades the slower GPRS. As it is quad-band GSM phone it will work on all continents, but even if it is unlocked, you won't be able to use its data (respectively internet and instant messengers) if you are not on a T-Mobile network or haven't “hacked” the phone. For use overseas with other carrier, after you've SIM unlocked the phone you should “hack” it and so enter other DATA (GPRS) and MMS settings manually. In order to do this, enter the following code: *#87927# , and then you can change the settings.

Unexpectedly, its browser is a real HTML browser and you can open pages, previewing them as on a normal computer browser. We loaded up phonearena's homepage, but unfortunately you may experience some troubles with pages as big as this. The phone will definitely deal with pages such as Google without any problem.

Camera:

Hold down the camera key (on the right side) for a couple of seconds and after four to five seconds the camera interface will be started. It is similar to those of other Samsung phones and is not very comfortable. The icons are small and hard to understand, while the options are in list menus. You can use a selection of color effects and frames to add to your images. The phone can capture video in low 176x144 pixels resolution that is worth using only for sending to another phone via multimedia message.

The camera quality is about the one we were expecting from it – a simple 1.3 mega pixel unit. The color representation is unrealistic; the images are sharpened and have enough detail for use on the Internet. Rarely, you can capture a decent image that's close to the real situation. Those are not shortcomings on this particular camera, but on all 1.3 mega pixel ones.

Indoor images:

Bright

Average

Complete darkness

Real life indoor

Outdoor images:

Audio:

The music player has interface similar to those of all other Samsung phones. You can change the visualization, having two options preloaded. Additional equalizers should change the way your music sounds, but if you have no stereo headset it is pointless. The music is played through the speakers situated on the back of the phone, and it is usable even at higher levels, sounding clean. Unfortunately it is not very powerful and even at level 10 of 10 you may miss an incoming call. The vibration is not any good and it's ridiculous that you cannot use them at the same time – the only option combining them is “Vibrate than ring”.

The phone comes preloaded with five games: Bobby Carrot (arcade game), AirShip Racing, Arch Angel (spaceship action), Freekick (soccer game) and demo of Midnight Pool (8-ball game). All of the applications load up fast, and if you get bored of them other Java MIDP2.0 games can be added.

Performance:

The overall speed of the device made very good impression to us. As we've mention earlier, the reactions of the device are almost instant and there is no waiting while moving through the menus, which is something rarely found. When we also add the fast time for loading JAVA applications, the phone is one of the best in this class.

In our signal strength test the T629 had similar results to the T519, which is one of their negative sides. Unfortunately, it won't be able to pick up signal in locations with weak one, and you may experience call-drops in some areas.

After you are connected, the incoming sound is clear and with enough realism, with good representation of the lower and higher frequencies, but the strength is so-so and we experienced problems conducting a call in noisy environment – the speaker even pressed next to our ear was hard be heard. The other party heard us without any undesired noise, but the power was again just the normal.

The manufacturer claims for 200 hours of stand-by time, but during our usage the phone lasted for about three days with small usage of about ten minutes a day and Bluetooth left constantly on.

Conclusion:

The Samsung SGH-T629 is a device worth trying; it has fashionable slider form-factor, and if you are looking for such type device, you may like it, as its construction is very solid. You won't be surprised by any extraordinary features, like advanced multimedia, but the phone comes with goods like microSD slot for example. Combining this with good-looking and very fast menu, and average calling experience, the T629 is a nice mid-level phone.

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