vB Easy Archive - My Review of the Samsung U700 Gleam

Pages: 1

My Review of the Samsung U700 Gleam
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: cl347bv

This is my first review here for the HOFO'ers, I will do my best.

I got my Gleam almost 2 months ago, lets say early december. The exact date escapes me.

When I first found out about the phone, I was pretty anti-Gleam, due to the color and the shinyness of the phone. Once I actually got my hands on one, I realized that was a foolish reason to not like the phone.
I hear alot of people complaining about the battery life, and the reception, two things you will not hear me complain about much at all.

Initial Impression:
This phone is slim. I was previously using a Q, and an 8300. I find my Gleam to feel better in hand than my Q, most likely due to its slimmer waist, and definatley smaller than my 8300.
Upon opening the box, I found the usual, Phone, battery, Users Guide, FAQ guide, Charger, and not much else.

Call Performance:
So-So, I cant really say the Gleam is better or worse than any other phone, cause I cant tell an apperciable difference from phone A to phone B... But it hold signal relatively well in the same areas my 8300 and Q previously did. There is one problem spot where i drop a call, so I just dont call people when I am there. I would attribute this to its intenna, but my Q was fine in the same area. Oh well.

Looks:
I think this is a very good looking phone. Very smudge prone due to the shinyness, but a sharp peice of gear. I espicially like the very monolithic black peice in the middle of the flip. The keypad reflects the sunlight sometimes, but if I am lost at sea, and have my phone, no worries! The chrome-like bezel that surrounds the display is very nice.

SMS, MMS, and Text Entry:
The Gleam is equiped with T9, which I am up in the air about. I like it, but I dont like it. I prefer the predictive text in my 8300, but my Gleam learns the curse words I use to text my siblings with so I am ok with it. Text and Pics messages go through just fine. I can store more than 100 messages in my inbox, espically if I turn off auto save for sent messages. I dont really care about this feature, I started doing this on my 8300 this last winter, and I like it.

Pictures:
It takes adequate pictures, I am not that much of a shutter-bug, if I take a picture, its for a purpose. Like to take a picture of someones misfourtune so I can laugh about it with my peers later. Wish it had a flash, but I will live without one. I have a Boxer that has a very deep brindle coat, that also has some red in it, and I can actually see the different colors in his coat in some of the pictures I have taken of him.

Enhanced Features:
Meaning Get-It-Now apps, and other such goodness. VZ Navigator works like a charm, even when the phone is closed. Something my 8300 did not do. That is nice. Still wish it would give me my nav prompts through my bluetooth... Backup Assistant is now available for the phone. But I still have my 8300, so I dont bother with BA.

Bluetooth:
The Gleam supports A2DP, and Headset, the two profiles I really use the most. I rarely use any other bluetooth functions.
The phone paired perfectly with my moto S9 stereo headset, as well as my Jabra 320 Stereo headset. I use the Plantronics 655 Discovery headset, and it rocks, nice and loud for me, and no one complains much about background noise, unless I use my S9 for calls.

Battery Life:
The first week or so, the battery was terrible, like Motorola Q terrible. But, I work in a Verizon Wireless store, so a charger is never far from me. Now, with all of my usage, I get two solid days out of my battery. I typically send 45 to 70 text a day, about 5 pictures, talk for about an hour, and listen to music for almost 2 hours.

MISC:
I dig the Gleam, I would recommend it to anyone that wants a good looking phone that is very light, slim, and is functional.

Accessories I have for my Gleam:
4GB Sandisk T-flash - with SDHC card reader
Holster
USB Cable
Motorola S9 stereo bt
Plantronics 655 mono BT
Jabra BT320 stereo bt

I also use QPST to access the file system on the phone, which works via USB cable. If you have both QPST and a Gleam, and need to know what stuff is in what file, PM me and I can share said info with you.

Thanks HOFO for reading!

Ben

Constructive criticism is always apperciated.

Posted by: samsung.user

Nice review. Maybe some pictures of the phone itself and pictures you took with it? Pictures always go great with reviews.

I remember when I first saw it online, I was like wtf? This phone is lame. Then I saw it in person and was impressed. Called gleam for a reason.