Samsung Glyde SCH-U940 (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: Samsung Part number: SCHU940VZW
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Samsung Glyde is a powerful cell phone with decent performance, but its touch-screen design and controls don't complement its features.
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CNET editors' review
Samsung Glyde SCH-U940 (Verizon Wireless) price range: $349.99
- Reviewed by: Kent German
- Reviewed on: 05/08/2008
- Released on: 05/08/2008
The good: The Samsung Glyde offers great call quality, a broad selection of features, and a full alphabetic keyboard.
The bad: The Samsung Glyde's display is too small to do its touch interface justice. Also, the photo quality is poor, and the e-mail support isn't easy to use.
The bottom line: The Samsung Glyde is a powerful cell phone with decent performance, but its touch-screen design and controls don't complement its features.
Ever since we first played with the Samsung F700 last year at CTIA, we've been waiting for it to come to America. And starting today, it finally has arrived on our shores--at least in a way. The new Samsung Glyde SCH-U940 for Verizon Wireless offers the same slider design that attracted us to the original F700, but in making the transition to CDMA, the phone has been thoroughly revamped to a Verizon device. The weighty feature set includes Bluetooth, a full HTML browser, GPS navigation, a 2.0-megapixel camera, and 3G. You can also bang out messages quickly on the full QWERTY keyboard. It's a powerful and well-performing handset by most accounts, but the display is too small to do the touch-interface justice. As such, we prefer the LG Voyager VX1000 and even AT&T's iPhone. The Glyde is $249 with service.
Design
You could say the Glyde resembles the iPhone, but to do so neglects the fact that the Glyde's GSM cousin, the Samsung F700, was born before Apple's device. But even so, the similarities between the handsets are obvious. At 4.09 inches by 1.97 inches by 0.7 inch and at 4.13 ounces, the Glyde is slightly smaller than the F700, but they both rely on a touch screen with a single button just below. Touch-screen handsets certainly are "in" these days; in the past year we've seen not only the iPhone and the Voyager, but also the LG Prada, the LG Glimmer, the HTC Touch, and the LG Vu. And coming up shortly, Sprint will start selling its attractive Samsung Instinct.
Though the Glyde has the added benefit of a full alphabetic keyboard, when you compare it with the rival handsets listed above, it's the least successful at integrating its touch interface. Though the 262,000-color display is bright and beautiful, it measures only 2.75 inches, which is pretty small as touch screens go. It left us feeling a bit cramped, and at times we had to take care to avoid hitting the wrong selection. Nimble-fingered users and those with small hands probably won't have a problem, but anyone with decently-sized digits will need to practice. Normally we hate a big clunky cell phone, but bigger really is better on a touch-screen device.
On the upside, we were glad to see that the Glyde's touch screen offers haptic vibrating feedback, and we like that you can adjust the length of the vibration. The adjustable touch sensitivity is another plus, but even on its highest setting, the display felt a little sluggish. It wasn't a huge problem, but on a few occasions we needed to press a selection twice. Also, there were other times, particularly when we were touching the edge of the display, where the display wouldn't register our choice correctly. From the home screen you're offered a few selections. At the top of the display are three touch controls for the dialpad, the main menu, and your contacts list. The dialpad has a traditional 12-button design, plus dedicated Talk and End controls, a clear button, and shortcuts for your contacts and recent calls lists. This is the best way to dial numbers, as the QWERTY keyboard lacks dedicated numeric keys. Fortunately, the touch dialpad is easy to use. You also can use it to type messages, but we're not sure why you'd want to.
The main menu shows the new Verizon design that uses icons instead of the confusing tabs seen on other Verizon handsets. Unfortunately, the convoluted organizational system remains. We still don't get why the camera is under the "Get it Now" menu. On the other hand, we like that on the main menu page, intersecting blue bars show where you're pressing. And even better, the bars will follow your finger around the display as you swipe.
In the center of the Glyde's display is a small blue square. Though it's not marked as such, it takes you to a shortcuts menu with 12 user-programmable icons. Though we like having everything at our fingertips, this is one menu where we felt a little crowded. You can choose from a variety of wallpaper including two options that are interactive. One allows you to move stars in constellations around the sky, while the other lets you interact with a two-dimensional graphic of a Rubik's Cube. The former is fun, but the latter is enough to drive you crazy. At the bottom of the display is another shortcut bar that takes you to seven set functions including the speakerphone, the message in-box, the missed calls list, the calendar, and the alarm clock. It's a nice feature, but we wish that the bar was a little bigger.
To expose the alphabetic keyboard, just turn the phone to the left and then slide up the front face. The slider mechanism is well constructed; you can open and close it with one hand, and it snaps into place. The keyboard is spacious and tactile even if the buttons are almost flush. We had no issues with banging out long messages, but the Glyde doesn't balance well on a table when opened. There's a dedicated button for each letter of the alphabet. As previously mentioned, however, there are no dedicated numeric buttons. Other buttons include a shift key, a function button for typing punctuation and numbers, a back control, a return key, and arrow controls for moving around a typed message. The space bar is well positioned in the middle of the bottom row. You can make calls with the phone open, but they go directly to the speakerphone.
In contrast to the Voyager, the Glyde's keyboard does not offer any navigation controls so you must use the touch screen at all times. You can move through a long menu or a Web page by pressing and dragging your finger across the display. That display responds smoothly most of the time (more on that later), but constantly moving your finger back and forth between the display and the keyboard can take a little getting used to. When opening the keyboard, the display changes to a landscape orientation automatically. The onscreen menu options remain the same except that you also get a handy messaging shortcut.
The Glyde's right spine includes a volume rocker/camera zoom, a camera shutter, and a power control. The latter control also locks the display to avoid any misdials. To unlock the phone, just press the icon on the screen. It's an efficient arrangement, except when you're on a call and you need to unlock the screen to hang up, turn on the speakerphone, or mute your line. You can turn the autolock off, but we much prefer how the iPhone's display goes dark when you put the Apple phone next to your ear. Also, when you're on a call and the backlighting turns off, you must press the Home button to light the screen again.
As we said earlier, the Home button just below the display will return you to the standby screen. The camera lens, flash, and self-portrait mirror are on the back of the device. When it's held horizontally with the camera buttons pointing up, the Glyde takes on the ergonomics of a standalone camera. The headset port and the headset jack are (thankfully) separated, but you'll have to remove the battery cover to access the memory card slot.
Features
The Glyde is packed with features, but we'll first start with the basics. The 500-contact phone book is a tad small, but each entry can hold the standard five phone numbers, two e-mail addresses, and notes. You can save callers to groups and pair them with a photo or one of seven, 72-chord polyphonic ringtones (a measly selection, to say the least). Other essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a calculator, a calendar, an alarm clock, a stop watch, a world clock, and a notepad. You also get text-to-speech functionality.
More demanding users will find a decent selection of other options. There's stereo Bluetooth, speaker independent voice recognition, a voice memo recorder, and instant messaging. Verizon's VZ Navigator provides turn-by-turn directions and a host of other features. E-mail support is included, as well, but without a dedicated e-mail app, the experience isn't easy. The Glyde supports Yahoo Mail, Windows Live, Gmail, and AOL Mail accounts, but you must log onto the Web browser to use them. Also, you must access each account individually and you can't view attachments. IMAP4 e-mail is an even trickier proposition. The Glyde doesn't offer e-mail MicorsoftActive Sync, so it's not the best option for road warriors. Also, there's no Wi-Fi for times when you're away from 3G coverage.
Streaming video quality was comparable to other V Cast phones. The picture was relatively sharp with decent graphics, but there was some color distortion, and quick movements were pixelated and blurry. Also, small text--like subtitles--was difficult to read. Videos never paused for rebuffering, and the player didn't freeze. Sound quality on videos was rather hollow, but voices matched the speakers' mouths. Fortunately, music quality was more satisfying. The sole speaker provides decent output, but as is usually the case on a music phone, the sound is distorted at the highest levels. A headset will provide the best experience.
The Glyde offers a full HTML browser, which lets you view Web pages as they were meant to be seen. It's a great idea, but the execution isn't as elegant as on the iPhone or even the Voyager. The display defaults to landscape mode (there's no iPhone-like accelerometer here), but the screen's small size means you need to do a lot of finger sweeping to the see a page in its entirety. That's not a problem for simple Web pages, but for busy sites like CNET.com, the pages move rather erratically and the whole thing feels a bit clunky. You can zoom in on a page by using the volume rocker/camera zoom on the side of the phone; tapping the screen or using an iPhone "pinching" motion won't do a thing. The load time for pages depends on how graphics-heavy they are, but most pages loaded relatively quickly thanks to Verizon's EV-DO network. We noticed, however, that you need to let a page load completely before you can click other links. If we didn't wait patiently, the page tended to freeze. Also, because of the display's size, you may need to zoom in to hit small links.
The full duplex speakerphone is easy to use. You can activate it before you make a call by pressing an onscreen button or by dialing a number with the phone open. To activate the speakerphone during a call, you can press an onscreen control or you can slide open the phone. To deactivate the speakerphone, just perform the reverse actions.
As an alternative, you can use Verizon's Optimized Web option, which reformats select sites into smaller pages. We're not fans of this option, however, since you have to scroll through several pages to see what would normally be on one page. Also, not all sites are supported (CNET.com is not). The Web browser main menu offers a selection of dedicated Verizon-branded content including news, sports, and weather. There's also a dedicated Facebook application. When you're done surfing, the Home button will close the browser.
The Glyde's voicemail is somewhat unique as cell phones go. When you receive a voicemail, Verizon will send you a free text notification that includes the number of the caller. The texts end up in a dedicated in-box where you can review them at will. Though it's not nearly as practical as the iPhone's visual voicemail--you can't listen to individual voicemails--it still can be pretty useful.
As an EV-DO phone, the Glyde supports the full range of Verizon's 3G services, including V Cast streaming video content and the V Cast Music store. When using both applications, the display orientates automatically to landscape mode. Both the V Cast menu and music store interface are pretty much unchanged, but the touch-screen navigation takes a bit of practice. For example, in a long list of songs, the scroll bar on the right side of the screen is tiny. We had to be careful not to select a song by accident. The music player is about the same on other Verizon music phones, but it shows a few changes. You don't get album art but it's there is a scrollable playlist. Player options include the usual limited shuffle and repeat modes, but V Cast Music also will recommend other songs based on your playlist. The Glyde includes an airplane mode for listening to your tunes while aloft.
The Glyde has a 2.0-megapixel camera. You can take pictures in six resolutions from 1,600x1,200 down to 176x144, and you can choose from three quality settings. Other options are plentiful and include a self-timer, a multishot mode, six color tones, four white-balance effects, spot metering, a brightness control, and three shutter sounds (plus a silent option). There's also a nifty autofocus option and a 9x digital zoom, though the latter is unusable at the highest resolution. The flash is quite bright, and we appreciate the self-portrait mirror. The camcorder takes clips with sound in two resolutions (320x240 and 176x144). Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 30 seconds; otherwise you can shoot according to the available memory. Camcorder editing options are similar to the still camera.
The Glyde offers 45MB of shared internal memory. That's a decent amount of space, but we recommend using a microSD card for maximum storage. The Glyde will accommodate cards up to 8GB. Unfortunately, the Glyde's photo quality was disappointing. Colors were washed out and our images were blurry. Videos weren't much better; our clips were choppy and grainy.
You can personalize the Glyde with a variety of wallpaper, banners, alert tones, and clock styles. Also, you can change the dial font size on the display. More customization options are available from Verizon using the Web browser. The Glyde does not come with any games.
Performance
We tested the Glyde in San Francisco using Verizon Wireless service. Call quality was quite good on the whole; we encountered little static and had no problem getting a signal. Voices sounded natural, and the volume level was loud. Indeed, we could understand our callers when we were in noisy environments. Our only complaint, and this is a small one, is that there was a slight hiss in the background at times.
On their end, callers said we sounded fine. They could tell we were on a cell phone, but that's a common experience. They didn't report the background hiss that we noticed, but they had more trouble if we were talking someplace loud. Similarly, automated calling systems could understand us most of the time, but we had more trouble if, for example, we were outside on a busy street. Speakerphone calls were about the same. There was more distortion, but the volume on our end was quite loud. We had to speak close to the phone in order to be heard, but that's typical with speakerphones.
The EV-DO and data reception remained strong even when we were inside buildings. As mentioned in the Performance section, Web pages loaded relatively quickly but your experience will depend on how cluttered the site is. V Cast videos loaded in just a few seconds, but song downloads took longer than we expected. It took about 2 minutes to download a 3.7MB track.
The Samsung Glyde SCH-U940 has a rated battery life of 3.5 hours talk time and 10.4 days standby time. Our tests revealed a talk time of 4.83 hours. You can get an extended battery for more juice. According to FCC radiation tests, the Glyde has a digital SAR rating of 1.08 watts per kilogram.
User reviews
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3 clicks to end call after leaving VM says it all
by mikeb83 on June 14, 2008
Pros: Nice Display
Cons: So many...Locks/Unlocks on its own easily - keep hitting wrong keys on touch pad
Summary: The most frustrating phone I have ever had and didn't think in this day and age it would be possible to have so many faults in a phone.
1) ...Summary: The most frustrating phone I have ever had and didn't think in this day and age it would be possible to have so many faults in a phone.
1) When on a call you often have to hit menu, unlock, and then END.
2) Back screen goes black quick and if you change the setting to extend phone dies within one day.
3) I dialed an ex from a year ago because I thought my finger hit another person's number on the touch pad. Same with dialing a number. You rarely hit the right key.
4) When dialing my VM pin it is tough to enter the numbers exactly on your first try as noted in #3 above. Yet there are times the screen shows the wrong pin yet I must have typed it in correct b/c my VM now sounds.
Do yourself a favor and get even a beeper instead.11 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
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First cell phone I've ever returned
by CJMLB90814 on June 3, 2008
Pros: Great design, robust feature set, good call quality
Cons: Literally unusable touchscreen/user interface
Summary: I wanted to keep this phone badly. Cool looking, loaded with features, nice call quality....all effectively nullified by a touch screen that ignores and/or misinterprets even your most ...
Summary: I wanted to keep this phone badly. Cool looking, loaded with features, nice call quality....all effectively nullified by a touch screen that ignores and/or misinterprets even your most carefully positioned and weighted stabs. Live with this device for a week and you will find that it is simply not ready for the marketplace.
11 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Cool but requires a little patience
by repo33 on September 5, 2008
Pros: NOT A LG, Keyboard, lots of features, touchscreen and 'flick' scrolling, supports up to 8gb memory card, came with usb cable for pc, very sleek look and feel.
Cons: touchscreen can be annoying at times when batt is low, crappy ringtones, no games, memory card slot is under battery cable.
Summary: My LG Chocolate's screen went bad, this was just the icing on the cake after tons of other problems with that piece of junk. DON'T GET A CHOCOLATE!!!!!! ...
Summary: My LG Chocolate's screen went bad, this was just the icing on the cake after tons of other problems with that piece of junk. DON'T GET A CHOCOLATE!!!!!! JUNK!!!!!!! I am on the new every two plan with Verizon. So after a small tantrum in the store they let me upgrade early and after all rebates and other promo's I ended up paying only $3.56--really--three dollars and fifty six cents for the Glyde. I was already used to the annoyance of touch buttons from the Chocolate so that wasn't an issue for me. If you are coming from a phone that doesn't have any touch stuff you may have bouts of total rage with the Glyde. But remain calm, do some deep breathing and keep practicing. The key is to remain calm...it knows when you are mad and seems to take great joy in it.
Also, I forgot to mention this phone has a very solid build quality.
This really is a cool phone and intuitive for the most part. Everyone complains about the touch screen (by the way a stylus won't work and nor will fingers with long nails) but it is doing what you're telling it...the problem is the user. YOU MUST READ THE MANUAL!!! I will admit the response does slow down if the battery is low. Understandable. I think people are expecting it to respond like normal buttons and touch buttons don't work that way. The software is different. If you want the new tech, you must take the time to learn the new tech. Thats life.
The Glyde has more features than I could explain here. They only give you 5000 characters for a review. One of the coolest features is the number pad screen (which you can also use to text but why would you? It has a full keyboard). The stereo speakers are located on top of the phone...different. Alot of camera/camcorder features. The display does a auto-rotate when you slide open the keyboard. The animated wallpaper (there are three different ones) and other Verizon programmed wallpaper will also rotate with the phone, but if you use your own pic for wallpaper it will not rotate. The "home" button on the front is basically a panic button...when all else fails-go home. One thing that I just don't like is when you are on a call and you have to "press one for english" the screen has started to hibernate and it's a little irritating to hurry and get it back before the call gets screwed up. This can also be an issue when putting in your passcode for v/m. But these are just minor bumps on an otherwise smooth road.
In summary, if you are 'old school' in your ability to adapt or have zero patience and want a phone for just basic calling then steer clear of this phone (and all touch screens). All the bells and whistles do you no good if you wont take the time to learn and understand them. Once you understand the technology it's a breeze.
By the way, you can adjust the touchscreen. And you can save battery life by turning down (or off) the vibrate feedback for the touch screen
I ACTUALLY OWN THIS PHONE AND NOT JUST PLAYED WITH ONE AT THE VERIZON STORE FOR A FEW MINUTES LIKE ALOT OF OTHER POSTS HERE. I HOPE THIS HELPS. I ALWAYS APPRECIATE A GOOD HONEST REVIEW BEFORE I BUY SOMETHING I WILL BE STUCK WITH FOR A FEW YEARS!
Updated on Sep 5, 2008
Updated on Sep 28, 2008Here it is...three weeks later and I love this phone even more. I have learned shortcuts and other neat tricks which make it more efficient. I also bought a really cool two-piece snap on case with belt clip on ebay for $10 (there are actually ALOT of accessories for this phone). The case also protects the phone and the screen and it's fully functional with the case on. The Glyde is a good conversation piece, my niece is really jealous and the chics dig it!
Updated on Oct 12, 2008The way i've been doing it is to 'move' pics to card (sold separately), then using a card reader transfer pics to pc. The Glyde takes the smallest memory card...I think its called a micro. You must remove the back cover of the phone like you are accessing the battery. There is a tiny slot by the camera. The Micro card goes in there with the print facing you. Make sure it is all the way in. Its a spring loaded slot so try not the shoot the card across the room (have done that before...lol). Once you have moved the pics to the card, then you simply put the card in the card reader (if your pc doesn't have one you can get a cheapo usb card reader...thats what I have). You should get a card with the different adapters so it'll work in any card reader. My pics get downloaded through Adobe Photoshop on my Toshiba laptop. It's good and free! Then when you go to My Pictures on your pc, Adobe puts it in a file called Digital Camera. Hope this helps.7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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big disappointment
by gamble11 on May 15, 2008
Pros: colorful screen, cool wallpapers
Cons: poor camera, non-responsive touch screen and battery life
Summary: To be perfectly honest to consumers, Lets face the music and say this one was a huge let down. I bought the phone 2 days after it was released for ...
Summary: To be perfectly honest to consumers, Lets face the music and say this one was a huge let down. I bought the phone 2 days after it was released for Verizon. I thought it would take some getting use to but, in fact
it is clear that it cant compete to other phones on the market that dont even have a touch screen. To start, the touch screen is to small to selct options without either hitting the wrong option or getting no response from the first touch. Samsung has made unnecessary steps to send a quick text, or even making a call. The battery was dead after a day of normal use and is even a little bulky for most people. There needs to be more "Quality" phones, rather than "Quanity" to choose from. Don't belive the hype like I did and waste your time and money with this one.7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
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From someone that "has" the phone
by Big16X on May 11, 2008
Pros: small and sleek
Cons: battery life, small keys
Summary: I dont care what people say, but this phone is nice... and yes its not for business people, but its still a very good phone. The sound and call quality ...
Summary: I dont care what people say, but this phone is nice... and yes its not for business people, but its still a very good phone. The sound and call quality is good. The only thing that gets you is that the buttons are small, but once you have been playing with the phone for a while you will exactly know where to touch. I wish they couldve done better with the battery life..but i can deal with it. Also once you slide down the keyboard you still can touch on the screen which is neat. If you want to know more about this phone just comment under me.
Updated
Aslo i forgot that you can change the touch sensitivity and take of the vibration to save battery life.10 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Overrated and Disappointing despite the hype
by ascendingmango1 on May 12, 2008
Pros: Looks good other than that there are no exceptional features
Cons: poor battery life, poor touch screen - too small, annoying user interface
Summary: Picked up on May 9th and got rid of on May 12th
Cons:
Poor battery life.
After a full nights charge, I started using it at 9am and by 3 ...Summary: Picked up on May 9th and got rid of on May 12th
Cons:
Poor battery life.
After a full nights charge, I started using it at 9am and by 3 pm it was at half charge. Just to give you an idea on usage? I sent 45 test messages and received about 45, browsed the internet for about 15 min, took and sent one picture ? of the LG Env2 for an opinion on how bad its calculator look really was, I?ll probably get that in place of the Glyde ? and made 3 calls totaling 8min and 36 sec.
Touch Screen is poor in general.
I frequently hit the wrong buttons on the screen, and I like to think that I have fairly average fingers. It?s annoying.
Poor navigation goes hand in hand with this too. It?s just a pain scrolling through menus because the screen is so small and the text is so large (i.e. scrolling through contacts list or scrolling through inbox text message list). It also auto scrolls the screen up or down to fit a full block menu list or contact name. It?s not a bad idea but its irritating most of the time.
On occasion the touch screen doesn?t register at all. It?s happened to me a few times, and it makes me want to throw the phone quite frankly. No matter how you touch the screen or orient your finger the phone simply doesn?t respond. To resolve this I slide the phone open and then slide it back closed and it works, but no one wants to have to do this. The equivalent is trying to start a new car by feathering the gas and turning the key at the same time just right so it starts like you would have to do on your 1972 Pinto. No. That?s ********. When you buy a new car you expect it to start right up, every time, no exceptions. I expect the same in my phone.
If you turn up the sensitivity to high and ?hover? above your finger above the screen it will register and select something you don?t want, or it will scroll the screen which is also annoying. If it is on low it is pretty much useless. I couldn?t really find a happy medium with the sensitivity level.
It seems to me R&D needs to spend some more time in development.
Difficult to hang up after a call.
When you accept or make a call about 30 sec into talk time the phone ?hibernates? and turns off the screen. When you are finished with the call and want to hang up you have to hit the ?home? button, unlock it, and then press end call. If you wanted to hang up on a ranting girlfriend it would take a few extra seconds to do so. It?s quite different from a clam shell phone in which you just snap it closed terminating the call. I don?t like to go through a series of steps to hang up. You can turn off the auto lock feature (which eliminates pressing the unlock key) but then you end up randomly calling people because you forgot to lock it. I?m not sure which is more annoying to deal with. Also, if you wanted to check your call time you would have to press the ?home? button midcall, which would be inconvenient. Let me know if I missed an option to correct this, but I explored the phone pretty well.
Found texting interface annoying.
It seems like there are a lot of steps involved in selecting a new contact and sending the message, and there are. It goes?
1. press short cut menu on screen
2. press ?new text message?
3. press ?touch here? to add contact
4. press ?add?
5. press ?add from contacts?
6. press ?touch here to find? (can avoid if you know the number or scroll 5 contacts at a time manually)
7. type in first few letters to navigate to contact
8. press contact you want to select
9. press ?done?
10. press ?touch here to type message?
11. after message is typed press ?done?
12. press ?send?
Poor camera. ? Expected it to be a lot better, I was disappointed.
The menus are really repetitive. There is a crowded ?shortcut menu? button with 12 short cuts, a regular menu button, and a second short cut bar all on the main screen. This isn?t necessary.
This is the only touch screen phone I have used so I don?t have anything to compare it to. All I know is I?ve used it a lot over the last few days, and I?m not getting used to it. The phone is cool and all, I like the slide action, its pretty sexy, but bottom line is it doesn?t work as well as it looks. I?m pretty disappointed in it and I?m bringing it back and probably getting the Env2. That?s my 2 cents, you should probably consider some of it before you buy this phone, or at least test it out thoroughly and make sure you like it.6 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Worst phone ever!
by mynamespat on August 21, 2008
Pros: The spacebar in the middle of the keyboard was the only thing I liked about this phone.
Cons: 1. I went through 4 of these phones before exchanged it.
2. The touch screen never worked.
3. It would restart every time I changed a setting or received a picture message, or sometimes no reason at all.
4. The battery sucked.
5. Verizon SUCKS.Summary: Worst phone ever only to be outdone by verizon's atrocious customer service!
Don't buy this phone. You will regret it. In fact, if you are thinking of switching ...Summary: Worst phone ever only to be outdone by verizon's atrocious customer service!
Don't buy this phone. You will regret it. In fact, if you are thinking of switching to Verizon, DON'T DO IT.
I am switching to AT&T in October as soon as my contract ends.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Dont Listen to the Negative Reviews
by coolguy087 on August 4, 2008
Pros: keyboard, small form factor
Cons: battery life could be better but its not that bad
Summary: Dont listen to the negative reviews. This phone is actually really good and I have had it for two months and still love it. First and foremost this phone has ...
Summary: Dont listen to the negative reviews. This phone is actually really good and I have had it for two months and still love it. First and foremost this phone has a small profile which is awesome. I was a little worried about the touch screen after reading some reviews but let me tell you its not as bad as they say it is. I find the touch screen works a lot better with the vibrate level turned off. Before I got this phone I had the voyager and let me tell you that I prefer the glyde over the voyager. Scrolling in menus works really well. The qwerty keyboard is great once you get use to it. I give samsung props for making a small qwerty keyboard that actually works. While the voyagers keyboard is really good so is the glydes and its smaller too. For me having a smalller phone is more important so thats why I prefer the glyde. Its small and sleek with a really good touch screen and a nice slide out keyboard. Also the browser works pretty well too and loads quick. Battery is alright but seems to drain quick if you like to browse the internet a lot and listen to music. Some people say that icons are too small but I dont think they are. As long as you hit them right the screen seems to respond well. The call quality is really good too but that is to be expected with any verizon phone. I also dont have any of the problems that other people seem to be having. Maybe i've been lucky but my phone doesnt seem to restart on its on or randomly call people. I love having a phone with a qwerty keyboard and now I dont have to sacrifice having a bigger phone to get one. Overall its a small compact phone while not perfect which no phone is I highly reccomend it. Go out and try it and trsut me I see no reason why anyone wouldnt like it. Have anymore questions feel free to ask.
4 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Single handedly, the worst phone I've ever owned. EVER.
by aidanbox on January 10, 2009
Pros: It looks cool and has a keyboard. So if you like looking like a trendy, affluent, hipster with no concern for substance, this one's for you.
Cons: It's unusuable. Completely and utterly unusuable. The bugs in the touch screen, craptastic starting ringtones, and RANDOM phone calls to friends and relatives when left sitting on the counter...
Summary: I'm a really laid back person, but countless times, this phone has managed to enrage me to the point of spiking it into the floor. From the time the ...
Summary: I'm a really laid back person, but countless times, this phone has managed to enrage me to the point of spiking it into the floor. From the time the ringtone didn't go off with an important phone call from my parents that at the time got me grounded, to the endless instances where the touchscreen would not respond, the Glyde has been complete and utter trash.
Bear in mind this is after having replaced it once and having the glitches "fixed" by some pimply faced teen at the Verizon store with the software patch.
In order for you to understand just how unresponsive the screen is, let me give you a description of its classic **** cycle:
Say you go and touch messages because you've just recieved a text from a friend. The phone is closed and locked. With the new software, you have to push and drag the key into the lock which are both located at the bottom of the screen. You attempt to do thus, and the key inexplicably rockets to the top of the screen and the phone remains locked. With a roll of your eyes, you press the unlock button on the side.
With your lovely Glyde unlocked, you go to press the Messages button at the top of the touchscreen. For reasons only known to Satan, the phone activates the shortcut secton at the bottom of the screen. This allows you access to New Messages anyways, so alls well that ends well, right?
If you believe that, you're either stupid or niave.
Attempting to hit New Messages at the top of the screen, your beloved, new, shiny Glyde gives flips you the bird and selects the Back button instead depositing you back at the main screen. Blinking with confusion, you attempt again to reach your text, this time selecting the bottom Shortcut Section.
Enraged by your attempts to outsmart it, your Glyde proceeds to flash back and forth from main screen to Shortcut Section Menu at seizure inducing speed--while your fingers aren't even touching it (!).
You decide you've had about enough of that nonsense, and finally slide the phone open, only to have it proceed to be petulant and ignore your furious stabbing fingers.
You close the phone, only to be treated to more seizure inducing flashing. Exasperated, you attempt to restart the phone and power on and off. Restarting the phone takes almost a whole minute to do. Your friend who sent you a slightly off color text message is now growing concerned that they've offended you by your lack of response. They send you another text asking if they made you mad.
With your Glyde apparently tamed, you open your first text and begin to respond with something fairly lengthy. You press Send, after minor touch sensativity battling, and you receive a text. Your Glyde, showing its devilish side again, decides its touchscreen is too good for you and is refusing to work as long as the phone itself is slid open so you can't even recieve this new message. Your replying still sending, you slide the phone shut--
Only to have the phone suddenly die (!!!!).
Restarting your phone again, you repeat your earlier battles of opening the text, reading, replying, resending the text that didn't send because it was being sent when the phone died.
Only to find that you have a phantom New Text alert that you can't see or open and can only be removed by erasing all messages (a 3 minute ordeal of its own).
Total time for the nightmare: 12 minutes. For one text.
The Glyde is pure garbage.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Unresponsive Screen... Always hitting the wrong button...Returned Phone
by netspirit on June 28, 2008
Pros: Keyboard is great for texting if you like a full keyboard
Cons: Touch Screen and access to features.
Summary: I really wanted to like this phone. I liked the text messaging keyboard and wanted to keep the phone. But there was so many problems with the phone that I ...
Summary: I really wanted to like this phone. I liked the text messaging keyboard and wanted to keep the phone. But there was so many problems with the phone that I took it back after 3 weeks and got the LG Decoy which I absolutely love.
Here are the reasons I took it back.
* Dial Pad... I could NEVER hit a complete phone number without at least one or two wrong numbers. Even after 3 weeks. And this can be a real problem when you are trying to hit the right number on a phone call where you get the voice menus to Dial 1 for this and Dial 4 for this. Or dial the right numbers for your voice mail. I hated this the most.
*Unresponsive at times. Sometimes I could touch a button and no response, even after several presses. Almost like the phone is frozen.
*Sometimes I would press one button and another button on the other side of the screen would light up. Like the button was stuck.
*Could not see the screen in the car. Not bright enough. Almost wrecked twice trying to answer the phone because you have to look at the phone to answer it.
*I turned off the autolock, but everytime the phone rings, the Lock was on, probably because it locks itself when you hit Answer. And I would have to remember to unlock it after the call. So to answer the phone I it to hit UNLOCK and then answer. Several times when the phone was unresponsive, the caller hung up before I could get the phone to answer.
*And if I left the phone in the unlock position and put it in my pocket, I would press unwanted icons.
*Could not hit Send and see the last number that called. You have to hit Dial Pad, and then hit Recent to get to those calls.
*You cannot drive without trying to look at the screen. So to get to Voice commands, you have to LOOK to see where the icon is for voice command. Again, almost wrecked trying to do this.
*To me, uncomfortable to hold and talk on.
*MISSED TONS o phone calls because the ring is so quiet I could NEVER hear it.
PROS:
*Text messaging...nice keyboard and large screen...easy to read.
*Small button on bottom would hang up easily and go to hoe screen easily.
*Could unlock the phone with the side button.
So... I took it back. I drive a long way to work and have two teenages, which means I talk while driving. After almost driving off the mountain where I live trying to answer the phone, I decided it was worth dying to keep it. Changed it for the LG Decoy and I love it because it is SO easy to use.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Samsung
- Part number: SCHU940VZW
- Description: Some people are talkers. Some are texters. Some are all touchy-feely. Well, the Samsung Glyde is the stylish phone for all three. It has a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out when you need it. And a beautiful 2.8" touch screen display to show off your emails, your favorite web pages or your photo album. In fact, you'll like your Glyde so much, you won't be able to keep your hands off it.
General
- Product Type Cellular phone With digital camera / digital player
- Service Provider Verizon Wireless
- Width 2 in
- Depth 0.7 in
- Height 3.9 in
- Weight 4.1 oz
Cellular
- Technology CDMA2000 1X
- Band CDMA2000 1X 1900/800
- Phone Design Slider
- Antenna Internal
- Polyphonic Ringer Yes
- Voice Dialing Yes
- Call Timer Yes
- Conference Call Capability Yes
- Caller ID Yes
- Speakerphone Yes
- Wireless Interface Bluetooth
- Additional Features QWERTY keyboard layout, Intelligent typing (T9)
Communicator Features
- Synchronization With PC Yes
- User Memory 57 MB
Phone Memory
- Phone Book Capacity 500 names & numbers
Messaging & Data Services
- Short Messaging Service (SMS) Yes
- Mobile Email Yes
- Internet Browser Yes
- Included Services VCAST
- EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) Yes
- Messaging / Data Features Text messages, Multimedia messages (MMS), XHTML Browser
Ring Tones
- Polyphonic Ring Tone Voice Qty 72
Multimedia Features
- Playback Digital Video Formats H.264, MPEG-4, H.263 video and AMR audio
- Downloadable Content Ring tones, Wallpapers, Audio files, Video files, Screensavers
Digital Camera
- Camera highlights With a resolution of 2 megapixels, this camera phone will give you better pictures than other phones.
- Sensor Resolution 2 megapixels
- Still Image Resolutions 176 x 144, 320 x 240, 640 x 480, 1012 x 768, 1280 x 960, 1600 x 1200
- Focus Adjustment Automatic
- Features Multi-shots
Organizer
- Alarm Clock Yes
- Calendar Yes
- Reminder Yes
- Calculator Basic
- Conversion Currency
- Additional Timer Functions Stopwatch
Display
- Type LCD display
- Technology TFT
- Display Resolution 240 x 440 pixels
- Diagonal Size 2.8 in
- Color Support Color
- Color Depth 18-bit (262000 Colors)
- Features Wallpaper, Screensaver, LCD touch screen
Memory
- Internal Shared Memory Yes
Power
- Type Power adapter
Battery
- Technology - Lithium ion
- Talk Time Up to 210 min
- Standby Time Up to 250 h
Accessories
- Samsung WEP200 Bluetooth Headset (black) (31995314)23.43 - 41.94
- Samsung SBH500 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones (black) (32674689)42.50 - 48.87
- Samsung WEP 410 - headset (33206032)35.85
- Jabra BT8010 Stereo/Mono Bluetooth Headset (32327768)49.89
- Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones (red) (32363768)38.99 - 149.99
- A-Data Speedy Series flash memory card - 2 GB - microSD (33795596)
- ATP SD Trio Professional PLUS card adapter - flash: microSD - Hi-Speed USB (32128464)17.00
- Centon 2GBRSD3-1 - flash memory card - 2 GB - microSD (33503634)8.99 - 11.84
- Centon flash memory card - 4 GB - microSD (33362243)11.48 - 16.64
- Samsung WT17200000113 - holster bag for cellular phone (33311579)8.46
Manufacturer info
- Samsung
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Samsung products on Shopper.com
-
- Website: http://www.samsungusa.com/
- Address:
105 Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 - Phone: 1-800-726-7864
- Fax: 1-973-601-6001
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