Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Product: Samsung t609 by T-Mobile
Price: $149.99
Rating: Average - 6.825/10.0
Pros: Battery life, bright screen, speaker phone, comfortable, size, fun features, and the microSD card slot.
Cons: Decent reception, monochrome exterior screen, and slow download speeds.
Overall: Average phone with standard features. However with its small size, steady performance, and summer style’n you will be satisfied if you are stuck with it for a two year contract.

Design - 7.0 - Tell you what folks, it may be a basic looking phone according to today’s standards, but I was happy with the size and the way it felt. Nowadays companies go crazy over outdoing the rest, when really all they need to do is try to design a phone that is comfortable for the user; One that will look pleasant to the eye and feel good in the hand. The t609 has done both. With the amount of time I used it, I was more satisfied with it than my other phone. For the men, it fits great in your pocket, and for the ladies throw it in your purse and you’ll have extra room for everything...plus the kitchen sink, should you choose to bring it. The keypad is spaced out well with dedicated call and end buttons as well as right and left soft-keys, a 5 ways navigational pad, and a clear button. The * button doubles as the activation for voice commands while the # buttons mutes the speaker. The left side has volume up and down keys and the headphone jack. The right side has a dedicated camera button and the microSD slot.

Continue reading about the whole host of features in this small phone and the overall experience.

Features - 7.0 - The quad band world phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) handset has messaging with AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, and ICQ, a decent 1.3 Megapixel camera, an OK video camera, a MP3 player that makes good use of the microSD card slot, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, voice-activation, and a wireless address book back-up. The great thing about the t609 are the amount of features packed into it. With a good camera and decent video (albeit a short amount of recording time) you can take a pic, record your voice, type a message, and send it to your friend. So take a picture of their bad side, tell them how they look, and then type it in...just in case they didn’t get the message the first time.

The Experience - 6.5 - Nothing extraordinary, If you’re looking for a phone that is usable and workable...especially for those of you tied to long contracts, you will not be disappointed. It is a reliable phone that will last a long time (assuming you treat it the right way). The calls are perfectly clear (assuming your area has a strong signal). When the signal faded, instead of dropping the call I heard static and the call cut in and out.

Folks, if you’re looking for a phone that will not only do the trick but keep you happy for your those lengthy two year contracts, then I would say the Samsung t609 from T-Mobile is right for you. Packed with the features you would want your teenage kids to have, or even your significant other. The sparkling white color and comfortable size looks great on any day at the beach or picnic in the park. With a strong reception and average download speed you’ll be jammin to the sounds of summer with your new Sean Paul Ring tone. Remember It maybe dressed for the beach but it’s no swim partner.

Editors Note: The categories were weighted in the following manner to reflect the importance of some features over others (in our humble opinion). Design 35%, Features 30%, and Experience 35%.

Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed →