Samsung Chrono 2 (U.S. Cellular)

If phones like the Chrono 2 were your only frame of reference for Samsung, you might think that the company hasn't progressed at all in the last decade. Indeed, Sammy has replicated this simple flip-phone design many times. Like the original Chrono, it has a postage-stamp-size external display, a flat alphanumeric keypad, and a smooth, slender profile that resembles a pebble.

Thankfully, Samsung has grown quite a bit in the last 10 years, but it's good to know that the company hasn't completely abandoned the tried and true. Like its many predecessors, the Chrono 2's retro design is perfectly suited for making calls and basic phone functions. No, you don't get the kitchen sink, but you do get a user-friendly phone that does exactly what it's supposed to do.

The Chrono 2, aka the SCH-R270, is available with U.S. Cellular for free by singing a new contract or just $19.99 if you prefer to go prepaid.

Design
I have to admit that in this age where almost everyone has a smartphone, I felt a little strange using the Chrono 2 on the street. Indeed, it's been years since I've owned a flip phone or even had one in for review. Yet, I have to admit that it also left me feeling comfortably nostalgic. Perhaps it was a combination of flipping the phone open, the familiar clacking sound when it closes, or trying to remember how to text using T9 (believe me when I say that T9 isn't like riding a bicycle). Then again, maybe it was the fact that the Chrono 2 is so small (3.79 inches long by 1.88 inches wide by 0.73 inch deep) and lightweight (3.6 ounces) that I forgot I had it in my pocket. As far as I could tell, only one person gave me a weird look when I was using the Chrono 2 to snap photos, but that could have been due to entirely different reasons.

As I mentioned, the Chrono 2's smooth lines and rounded ends will remind you of a small stone that you find on the beach. The red accents add some style to the basic black skin, and I like the textured battery cover. The skin is plastic, so I'd avoid banging the phone around, but the hinge is large and sturdy. The 1.3-inch external display supports full color and you can change the wallpaper and clock style. It shows the date, time, battery, life, and signal strength and you can use it as a viewfinder when taking self-portraits. One word of caution, though, is that the display disappears entirely when the backlighting is off. What's more, you can't change the backlighting time and you have to open the Chrono 2 to get it to get it to light up again (none of the side buttons will activate it).

Above the display is camera lens and around back is the single speaker. On the left side there's a large volume rocker and a Micro-USB charger port and the right side is the camera shutter and a 3.5mm headset jack. The rear cover is easy to remove, but there's nothing behind it except the 1,000mAh lithium ion battery.

 The Chrono 2's keypad is flat, but spacious.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

Inside is a 2.2-inch TFT display. Obviously, its resolution won't blow you away, but it's perfectly fine on such a simple phone. You can change a few options including the backlighting time, the color theme, the wallpaper, and the font size. The menu interface is easy to understand, from the grid of icons on the first page to the simple lists on the internal pages. The navigation array has a rectangular toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, a clear control, and the Talk and End/power buttons. Though it's a spacious arrangement, all of the keys are flat. It's the same story with the alphanumeric keypad. Though you get a lot of room and the backlit keys are covered in a comfortable rubbery material, it's difficult to dial by feel.

Features
The Chrono 2's phone book holds 1,000 contacts with multiple fields for each entry. You also can save contacts to groups and pair individuals with a photo and one of 26 polyphonic ringtones. Other basic features include speed dialing, text and multimedia messaging, a calculator, a calendar, a world clock, an alarm clock, a tip calculator, and a unit and currency converter. On the whole, that's everything I expected, but I was glad to find that Samsung also added Bluetooth, USB mass storage, and voice commands and dialing.

 The Chrono 2's camera lens lens sits above its external display, which is invisible when the backlighting is off.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

The 1.3-megapixel camera is straight out of 2004. There's no flash and you get just three resolutions, but it also has a decent set of editing options, including a self-timer, three image quality choices, an adjustable white balance, a night mode, 29 frames, a digital zoom, a brightness meter, a mosaic mode, and a series mode. Just keep in mind that not all options are usable at the highest resolution. And in a real blast from the past, the Chrono 2 will not shoot video.

View the original article here

Read More

Samsung Freeform 4 (U.S. Cellular)

Lightweight and compact, the Samsung Freeform 4 isn't anything fancy. But its BlackBerry-esque QWERTY keyboard is great for fans of texting, especially those with petite hands.

However, because of its low specs, don't expect it to wow you in other areas. Its 2-megapixel camera understandably takes poor photos, and its data speeds are slow.

But if you're not on the lookout for a high-tech handset, this sleek feature phone might do the trick to let your messaging fingers fly. By itself, the device will set you back $160, but if you agree to a two-year contract with U.S. Cellular, it'll be free.

Design
The Samsung Freeform 4 has simple rounded corners, tapered top and bottom edges, and a sleek dark strip of chrome framing the device. It measures 4.38 inches tall, 2.38 inches wide, and 0.42 inch thick. It is extremely light, weighing only 2.4 ounces. Due to its small frame, I was able to type out messages, albeit slowly, with just one hand using my thumb. You can easily throw it in a small purse or clutch, and it's compact enough to fit in front or back pockets of jeans.

To the left are a volume rocker and a slot for a microSD card, which is covered by a small piece of plastic. Up top is a 3.5mm headphone jack, and on the right is a shortcut camera button. At the very bottom is a Micro-USB port.

The handset sports a 2.4-inch TFT display that has a 320x240-pixel resolution. Though it's bright and text rendered crisply, the screen has a narrow viewing angle and menu icons were ill-defined. Color gradients were streaky and the default wallpaper designs were grainy and pixelated.

Below the display are send, speakerphone, back, and end/power keys. There are also two soft keys that change functions depending on what you're doing, four directional keys, and a select key in the center. Below this entire set of buttons is a QWERTY keyboard.

The Freeform 4 has a small four-row QWERTY keyboard.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

The QWERTY keyboard is not for large fingers. I have small hands, so typing was cramped but not painstaking or impossible. I also appreciated some of the built-in shortcuts: holding down the space bar puts the phone on vibrate, and there are two designated keys to open the calendar and e-mail applications. Each button is elevated with a bubbled texture.

The backing is made of a smooth plastic that's textured with a small diamond pattern. The black plate's glossy finish is slippery, and the phone almost slid out of my hands a couple of times. In the top center is a 2-megapixel camera and on the right of that are two small slits for the output speaker. To get to the 1,000mAh battery inside, you can remove the backing using a small indentation at the top.

Features
The Samsung Freeform 4 is powered by a 480MHz Qualcomm processor. The phone holds up to 1,000 contacts, each of which can be associated with multiple phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and a note. Every contact can be differentiated with a photo ID and one of 29 ringtones. The device also employs calling groups, speed dials, and favorites.

Basic task managing apps include: a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, native music and video players, Bluetooth, voice command, a stop watch, a world clock, and a memo pad. There's also a Web browser and an app called Social Scene, which connects you to online news, as well as your Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, and Google Talk accounts. In addition, there's U.S. Cellular's app store for feature phones called easyedge, where you can download games, ringtones, and other apps like AccuWeather.

 The Freeform 4 has a 2-megapixel camera on the back.
(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

The 2-megapixel camera includes a few options like three different shots (single, series, or mosaic); four photo sizes (ranging from 1,600x1,200 pixels to 320x240 pixels); three qualities (superfine, fine, and normal); five white balances (auto, sunny, cloudy, tungsten, and fluorescent); a timer; and six color tones (normal, black-and-white, sepia, negative, green, and aqua).

Video options include the same white balance, timer, and color tone modules, but video quality is restricted to only normal and there are two video length options (30 seconds for MMS, and normal, which depends on how much memory you have). The device has 80MB of internal memory, and up to 32GB for external storage through the microSD card slot.

Performance
I tested the tri-band (800, 1900, 1700) Samsung Freeform 4 in San Francisco on U.S. Cellular's network. Both signal and call quality were impressive. No calls dropped, audio didn't cut in and out, and there was no extraneous buzzing or static. Voices sounded excellent and clear, even on low volume. Speaker audio was also solid, though at times my friends sounded tinny. I was told that I sounded crisp as well, and one of my friends couldn't even tell the difference in my voice when I was speaking through the in-ear and speaker mics.

View the original article here

Read More