The newest of T Mobile’s messaging-centric Mobile Phones is the Samsung Comeback SGH-T559 – see CNET review. At first glance, this phone makes a strangely awkward impression, appearing large and boxy while still being obviously modern in design. It’s definitely not a subtle design, but there are quite a few features that make this product worth considering when shopping for a Mobile Phone.
Completely loaded with bonus features, the Comeback offers Mobile Phone standards like texting, email, a music player, and a camera as well as some unusual extras. GPS with TeleNav support means you’ll never get lost for long, Audio Postcards can make it easy to send funny messages to friends, and the full HTML web browser makes it easy to surf the web.
Samsung Comeback SGH-T559 Quick Stats:
- Dimensions: 4.3” x 2.2” x .7”
- Weight: 4.6 oz.
- Screen: 240 x 400 pixels
- Camera: 2 MP
The HTML web browser is a big highlight of this phone, which in several other ways could be found lacking. Connections are fast when supported by T Mobile’s 3G network and even allow video playback and download. Although the relatively small size of the screen means you’ll have to scroll a bit more than usual, it’s a very accessible and impressive browser.
With a great feature like that, it’s strange that the creators of this Mobile Phone didn’t put a little reworking the texting keyboard a little. While there is a full keyboard, it is ironically on the small side, feeling cramped despite the size of the phone itself. The buttons often require the delicate art of texting with fingernails to press.
Everything is a little give and take, and this Mobile Phone is no exception. Leave us a comment below to let us know what you think: is Samsung’s Comeback going to get you to return or does it have you heading out the door?
Design
Even though the Samsung Comeback has a similar design to the LG enV3, they couldn’t be more apart in style. While the enV3 struck us as sleek and stylish, the Comeback is definitely wide and clunky. Measuring 4.33 inches long by 2.2 inches wide by 0.73 inch thick, the Comeback has the aesthetic of a cheap kitchen appliance with its plastic body, curved sides, and blocky corners. One of our co-workers commented that it looked like a cross between a Storm Trooper and a George Foreman grill. Weighing in at 4.6 ounces, the Comeback is not too heavy and feels comfortable when held in the hand. The hinge feels sturdy when opening and closing the phone.
On the front of the Comeback is a 1.0-inch PMOLED display with 65,000 colors. Though the screen looks a bit dark even at its brightest setting, the images look sharp and the text is bold and legible. You can adjust the brightness of this display separately from the main display. All other display settings–the backlight time, the dialing display (where you adjust the color of the background and the type and color of the dialing font), and the color theme–are the same for both the external and internal displays.
By default, T-Mobile’s MyFaves (also known as your five favorite contacts) are shown on the display’s home screen. You can press the End key to minimize the MyFaves display, and then bring them up again by hitting the OK key. You can also add a MyFaves contact directly from the home screen by selecting an empty slot on the MyFaves carousel.
Underneath the display is the navigation array, which consists of two soft keys, a square toggle with a middle OK key, a dedicated camera key, a Back key, and the Send and End/Power keys. The up and down directions on the toggle double as shortcuts to the Call Log and the Contacts list. The right and left directions on the toggle double as shortcuts to a new text message and a new audio postcard respectively, but only when MyFaves is minimized.
The navigation keys felt easy to use for the most part, since they’re raised above the surface of the phone. The same goes for the number keypad, which is directly beneath it. The keys are well spaced and it felt easy to dial and text with a reasonable amount of speed. Still, we would recommend using the QWERTY keyboard for texting. The volume rocker and charger jack are on the left spine and the camera lens and external speaker are on the back. The microSD card slot is inconveniently located behind the battery.
If you turn the phone 90 degrees to the right and flip the phone up, you’ll reveal a bright 2.7-inch display plus a full QWERTY keyboard. The display has 262,000 colors and a 240×400-pixel resolution, which result in crisp and colorful graphics. Right on the home screen of the main display are five shortcut icons that lead to MyFaves, the message in-box, the Web2go Web browser, the apps menu, and a link to your T-Mobile account page.
There are two soft keys underneath the horizontal display, and a navigation array sits to the right of the keyboard. The navigation array consists of a dedicated text messaging key, a camera key, a square toggle and a middle OK key, the Send and End/Power keys, and the Back key. The toggle has the same dual functions as the external toggle. The messaging key can be mapped to one of five messaging shortcuts–create a new message, the message in-box, a new audio postcard, e-mail, or instant messaging.
We wanted to like the Comeback’s keyboard–the keys are all raised above the surface, they have a nice give when pressed, there’s a dedicated www.com key (which helps a lot when entering URLs), and even a dedicated emoticon key. However, we wanted more room at the sides of the keyboard–it felt a bit enclosed when we were typing, especially with keys on the far left and right. The keys themselves are also quite small, requiring us to use our fingernails most of the time. We imagine those with larger digits might find it more difficult to use. It’s not a terrible keyboard by any means, but it might not be for everyone.
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