Samsung SGH-T629 (T-Mobile)
Manufacturer: Samsung Part number: SGH-T629GRYTMB
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Samsung SGH-T629 is a great-looking, slim phone with a solid feature set, despite a few design flaws.
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Where to buy
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CNET editors' review
Samsung SGH-T629 (T-Mobile) price range: $119.95
- Reviewed by: Nicole Lee
- Edited by: Bonnie Cha
- Reviewed on: 10/16/2006
- Updated on:10/18/2006
The good: The Samsung SGH-T629 has a slim profile and a large screen. Features of the quadband phone include a Micro SD card slot, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a music player, and Bluetooth support.
The bad: The Samsung SGH-T629 has very slippery keys, and the keypad is difficult to dial by feel. We also experienced spotty call quality.
The bottom line: The Samsung SGH-T629 is a great-looking, slim phone with a solid feature set, despite a few design flaws.
Of course, the primary attraction of the Samsung SGH-T629 is its thinness. Measuring 3.9 by 2.01 by 0.55 inches and weighing in at 3.2 ounces, the T629 is certainly one of the skinniest phones to come our way. The phone itself is covered in a silver-gray hue, and though it's a little blocky around the edges, the device felt lightweight and comfortable, both in the hand and when held against the ear. A charger/headset jack and a volume rocker reside on the left side, while the right spine is home to a Micro SD card slot and a dedicated camera button. Flip the phone around, and you'll see the camera lens and self-portrait mirror at the top. You can take photos with the phone closed.
Sliding the phone open is a tad more difficult than with other slider models we've tested, however. Instead of pushing the phone up from the bottom lip, you'll have to slide it up by pushing the front of the phone. There is a slight plastic ledge jutting out from underneath the display that helps you do this, but we still ended up smudging the display with fingerprints when sliding the phone upward. You can adjust the phone's slider settings so that it answers the call immediately when you slide it upward, and you can also set it to stop any operation if you slide it downward.
The 2.2-inch display is absolutely stunning. It supports 262,144 colors, and it looks vibrant and bright, with colors that pop from the screen. The Samsung menu interface is pleasing to the eye, and we enjoy the animated icons and colorful graphics. You can also view the submenu of each main item as you're scrolling down the list, which makes for handy navigation. The backlight timer can be adjusted, as well as the screen's brightness. As with most Samsung phones, the dialing text can be configured with different backgrounds, font sizes, and font colors.
Underneath the display is the navigation keypad, while the dialpad is revealed when the phone is slid open. The navigation controls consist of two soft keys, a four-way toggle with a middle OK key, a call key, a cancel key, and an end/power key. The toggle also doubles as shortcuts for the camera, the voice memo recorder, the contacts list, and text messaging. We found the keypad extremely slippery, and the keys on the dialpad are set nearly flush with the surface of the phone. This made it tricky to dial by feel and navigate the phone easily.
The Samsung SGH-T629 has quite an impressive feature set for such a skinny device. Each entry in the address book can hold as many as five numbers, one e-mail address, and a memo; you can also assign a picture ID, one of 16 polyphonic ring tones, and a caller group for caller ID purposes. The SGH-T629 also supports MP3 ring tones, which you can upload yourself or download from T-Mobile. Other basic features include text and multimedia messaging, a speakerphone, a vibrate mode, instant messaging (AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo), Bluetooth, voice dialing, voice recording, an alarm, a calendar, tasks, a calculator, world time, a unit converter, a timer, a Micro SD card slot, and a wireless Web browser via T-Zones, T-Mobile's mobile Web portal. The SGH-T629 is also a quadband world phone that supports the T-Mobile's EDGE network, which allows for faster downloads.
We're quite pleased with the phone's 1.3-megapixel camera. It doesn't come with a flash, but it does have a 10X digital zoom and a brightness setting. Other camera settings include five size resolutions (1,200x1,024; 1,152x863; 800x600; 640x480; 320x240), the viewfinder size (full screen or actual screen), shooting mode (single shot, multishot, or mosaic), effects, fun frames, a self-timer, default photo name, and sound options for the shutter, the zoom, and brightness. All camera sounds can be shut off if you choose. The camera took great photos, and we were pleased with the results, especially from a 1.3-megapixel camera phone. You can also record video in two sizes, 128x96 or 176x144, but they didn't turn out as well as the photos and ended up shaky and blurry. The phone comes with 21MB of built-in memory, but you can always upgrade to more storage with the help of a Micro SD card.
The SGH-T629 also comes with a built-in MP3 player. There aren't any external music controls, so you'll have to scroll to the Fun & Apps menu in order to access it, plus you'll have to use the navigation keypad to control the playback. Uploading music from a computer is fairly straightforward and is a simple matter of drag-and-drop. The MP3 player also has repeat mode, a shuffle mode, an equalizer, a visualization tool, a backlight mode (Always On or Normal), and a dedicated volume control for the player.
Personalization options are pretty standard for the Samsung SGH-T629. You can customize the wallpaper, the background colors, and the greeting message, and you can choose to have the calendar appear on the main display or not. You can also assign different tones for incoming messages, alerts, the keypad, and the slider, as well as when the phone powers on and off. The phone supports Java games and comes preloaded with Bobby Carrot, Airship Racing, Arch Angel, Freekick, and Midnight Pool. If you're not satisfied with any of the options, you can download more graphics, sounds, and games from T-Mobile's T-zones Web portal.
We tested the quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; EDGE) Samsung SGH-T629 world phone in San Francisco using T-Mobile's service. Callers said they couldn't hear us too well most of the time, and we found that service was poor in certain areas. However, in areas with better reception, call quality was much improved, with clear call quality on our end and vice versa. Speakerphone quality was surprisingly good, thanks to the full-duplex speaker. Music heard from the MP3 player was crisp and clear, though it obviously sounded a lot better with a headset on. We had no problem pairing the Samsung SGH-T629 with the Nokia BH-800 Bluetooth headset.
The Samsung SGH-T629 has a rated talk time of 5 hours and a tested talk time of 4 hours and 56 minutes. It has a rated standby time of 8 days. According to FCC radiation tests, the SGH-T629 has a digital SAR rating of 0.814 watt per kilogram.
User reviews
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Great looking phone poor software
by jsauce75 on January 16, 2007
Pros: Thin design and a beautiful display
Cons: terrible music player and memory card support
Summary: This phone has a great design and the display is one of the best that I have seen. With that being said there are a whole slew of issues that ...
Summary: This phone has a great design and the display is one of the best that I have seen. With that being said there are a whole slew of issues that I have with this devise.
The ringer is too quiet, the music player is sub par. It doesn't let you fast forward or set a playlist for more than about 50 songs and changing the playlist is much more cumbersome than it should be making my 1GB memory card not so useful. It does support mp3 ringers, but they have to be of a small file size. I picked the smallest of the 200 songs that were on my memory card and it was still too large. The way around this problem is to shorten an mp3 using some mp3 editing software, which is a ridiculous oversight by Samsung. It also doesn't let you change the colors in the menus. You are stuck with a pink highlight color. Furthermore, you cannot grant network access to java apps like opera mini, mobile gmail, and mobile google maps. It's just too bad that the OS isn't better because it is a great looking mobile device.7 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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There isn't much this phone can't do!
by The_Syren on January 7, 2007
Pros: camera, video, mp3 player, you can add memory, clazzy look, beautiful display...
Cons: Doesn't have flash and the camera would be way cooler if it was more pixels.
Summary: After a long search for a phone that would make me happy, I found the Samsung T629. At first I really had to think about it just because the keypad ...
Summary: After a long search for a phone that would make me happy, I found the Samsung T629. At first I really had to think about it just because the keypad was a turn off, but after purchasing the phone and actually using it, I found the keypad was actually not problem at all. It is slim and reminds me of the Motorola Ghay-Zer... The only reason I don't like those phones are because they are flip phones and everyone has one.
The Slider feater is personally a favorite... I was looking to get the Nokia 8801i since I previously had an 8890 and the 8801i had many features I wanted... But I didn't want to spend 500 dollars on a cell phone. The Samsung T629 has all the same features plus it plays MP3's and you can add memory to it with a micro sd card.
Theonly thing that would make this phone more awesome is if it had a better camera with a flash, but then, this is a phone not a camera, I rather use my bad ass camera to take pictures with. All in all even the camera does a really good job.
Personally I absolutely love it! I would rate it a ten, but the immediate doubt I had with the keypad, which I ended up happy with, and the fact that there are other phones out there with a camera that has flash, I give it a 9.
Still if you think about it, the phones that have the camera with the flash don't always have all the cool features that this one does. So you know what, I'm sticking to my rating of 10!!!
Another thing I noticed from other user reviews... People complained that they couldn't turn off the auto text feature when text messaging. This is easy, you just turn off the t9, refer to the manual, but the button it the top right button above the hang up/power key. You just press it once and you'll notice the t9 is gone...
Another thing is not many people knew how to turn it to silent or off of silent without having to go in through the menu settings... This phone was programmed for convenience... All you have to do is press and hold the # key and it will go into or out of silent mode...
Everyone has their own tastes of course. This phone simply felt right in my hand and the more I use it the happier I am with it. Plus I got it on sale so it was only 70 dollars. If you find the right place and they have them in stock you can get it for 50 bucks after rebates... I had to go through T-Mobiles customer Service to order since everyone was out of stock... I guess everyone knew it was a bad ass phone so they went looking for them.6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Keypad is difficult to use, call quality only fair.
by trav86 on October 21, 2006
Pros: Thin, good looking phone with large screen.
Cons: Hard to dial, only nine speed dials, call quality not great.
Summary: I've had several Samsung phones. This one looks better, but works less well than the others. The menus are different than my previous Samsungs and less intuitive. Shutter lag ...
Summary: I've had several Samsung phones. This one looks better, but works less well than the others. The menus are different than my previous Samsungs and less intuitive. Shutter lag on camera is insupportably long, though I'm less concerned with how it functions as a camera than as a phone. Highest ring volume is not really loud enough. You can probably do better.
Updated
The longer I have this phone the more irritating I find it. Not only is the call quality very poor on the receiving end, my friends complain that I sound completely garbled on their end. Dropped calls are also a problem (though it may be the tmobile service.) I really don't like this phone.7 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Phone. Excellent display, great sound quality.
by jgabriel66 on October 8, 2006
Pros: Sound quality, Camera quality, size, weight, Battery, Excellent display, Menu navigation is very good.
Cons: Soft keys cannot be changed, keypad lock when closed cannot be disabled.
Summary: The Screen real estate of a clam shell and the size of a smaller bar phone. The phone has a great array of tech. MP3 player, voice recorder, Vary quick ...
Summary: The Screen real estate of a clam shell and the size of a smaller bar phone. The phone has a great array of tech. MP3 player, voice recorder, Vary quick wpb browser, intuitive text Messaging, good camera to name a few. I also found The phone quality to be excellent, much better than the Razer. Talk and standby times are very good, but not as great as stated. I never liked candy bar phones and found clamshells cumbersome at times, so the slider form factor has definitely won me over. Overall, one of the best phones I've used.
5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Sleek, user-friendly phone!
by Bagelsaurusrex on November 11, 2007
Pros: Gorgeous outside display, sleek form factor and design, study feel.
Cons: No included data cable, somewhat cramped keypad, backlighting on keys a little weak.
Summary: Let me say first that my first phone was a beat up, used Motorola v330 with a damaged camera, and almost unreadable keypad. To move from that monstrosity to this ...
Summary: Let me say first that my first phone was a beat up, used Motorola v330 with a damaged camera, and almost unreadable keypad. To move from that monstrosity to this has been an absolute godsend. This phone is honestly such a breath of fresh air, and for me, it really comes to show that you can get functionality and style without paying through the nose.
First off, when first unboxing the phone, the first thing that I noticed was the sheer size of the phone. After viewing some comparison shots online, I really imagined the phone to be a LOT larger, and thicker, but looking at it in person really proved me wrong. The phone may not be as thin as the Trace, or RAZR, but it certainly isn't a large phone. The phone has a sort of "heft" to it, that makes it feel very sturdy, and the overall design of the phone just appears very sophisticated, and shiny. My one quip about it is that the power on/off switch, and some of the keys on the front feel a little odd when pressed down. Personally, I prefer a more tactile buttons, but they were by no means hard to use, just a little hard to get used to.
The keypad inside the phone is very nice. The sliding mechanism is very, very smooth and fairly sturdy, which I prefer. The slider has this useful thumb grip on the front that helps give you a bit of a handle to slide the screen up to reveal the keypad, and it just feels very sturdy, but smooth when sliding up and down. Aside from this, the review from CNet mentions that the keyboard flush to the surface can be a little inconvenient, and I'd have to agree. While I no problem dialing by feel by the little ridges between most of the keys, I find it just a little annoying that the first row on numbers is a little difficult to press down, as the sliding portion tends to obstruct my thumbs slightly. That being said, I have pretty large hands, and this could just be a problem for me, but again, I really appreciate a more tactile button-feel. Aside from this, however, I was also disappointed with the backlighting on the keys. Instead of being illuminated in that sort of trademark white-ish blue that is more common in phones, the t629 has a sort of greenish-yellow color that comes off as just a bit odd. It's not that it's hard to see at night, but I wish they would've just kept with the traditional backlighting, as it sort of reminds me of glow-in the dark paint, and takes away from the sleek feel of the phone itself.
The display on the t629 is fantastic. It's not only bright, but it's very, very crisp, which looks great as it takes up a good deal of the frontal display. This screen is great for displaying photos, and also browsing the features of the t629. Now, I don't have much experience with some of the newer cell phones, so I was blown away by the feature set on the t629. I found the menu system was really user friendly, and after about 3 minutes with the phone, I had it personalized to my taste. The MP3 player on the phone is nice, but it's certainly not going to replace your current MP3 player, or iPod. It's great for making your own ringtones, but without an included USB Data cable, this can be a little difficult. While this wasn't really a problem for me as I used a USB dongle connected to my computer to move over some of my music, it could be a little problematic to some to have to deal with that extra expense. Although the interal capacity on the phone isn't exactly ideal, it does come with a microSD expansion slot, which I'll be sure to make use of later. This is probably characteristic of most phones, but I was also a little irked that the phone uses a proprietary headphone jack, and doesn't give you the option of just using a standard 3.5 MM jack. Especially having a music player included, I wasn't thrilled to have to listen to my music through the hands-free headset. In light of this, however, the music playing feature is really mean tot be a sort of convenient addition, not a replacement for your current music player. The other features in the phone were also convienient, although I'm not really the type of person to make use of them all. In all honesty, the mere fact that I could text and use MP3 ringtones was more than enough to keep me happy, and I think that this is a great choice for anyone looking for a cheap phone from tMobile.
With all this being said, I absolutely love my new phone! Most of the problems I had with the phone were a matter of taste, more than a problem with the actual phone itself. Really, I don't have much to complain about, as the phone was completely free with my plan, and just knowing that sort of smoothes over any problems with the phone I had. Initially, I was worried that being free, the phone might feel a bit cheap, but after playing around with it for the last few days, I'm positive that, that is certainly not the case. Overall, the Samsung t629 is a sturdy, stylish phone with a great set of features, although I'm not really the type to make use of them all. I would definitely suggest this to anyone looking for a cheap, great looking slider!2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Perfect for Me
by goldberg3971 on October 25, 2006
Pros: Slim design, Micro SD slot, Bluetooth
Cons: Camera shudder doesn't turn off
Summary: I love this phone! Slim design, Bluetooth, music player, and megapixel camera. The keypad takes time to get used to. So don't whine if you press the wrong button. ...
Summary: I love this phone! Slim design, Bluetooth, music player, and megapixel camera. The keypad takes time to get used to. So don't whine if you press the wrong button. Also, the clear button is close to the down button. And, when charging the LCD doesn't dim. This doesn't decrease the quality of the phone. I tried a Nokia phone and I only got up to 3 bars in my house. With this phone I got 6 bars (perfect) of reception. Call quality was nice and people on the other line heard me clearly. The camera has no flash but a self portrait mirror so it isn't that bad. I just wish I found a way to shut off the shutter on the camera. Overall I like this phone but there are a few drawbacks. That shouldn't affect anything.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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User-friendly phone with a gorgeous display.
by lIlIlIlIlIlIlIlI on July 30, 2008
Pros: Very sleek and attractive, easy to slide up and down
Cons: Keypad takes some getting used to; Camera takes incredibly blurry pictures.
Summary: This phone is jam-packed with features, but there's nothing too great about the major ones. I was especially disappointed with the camera. You need a still hand to get ...
Summary: This phone is jam-packed with features, but there's nothing too great about the major ones. I was especially disappointed with the camera. You need a still hand to get a clear shot. The MP3 player's quality was alright. The display was beautiful; definitely no complaints with that. The keypad, in my opinion, is definitely NOT for texters. It often tires my thumbs. I'll be getting a Samsung BlackJack II for that. The phone is still definitely worth buying with its exceptional call quality and its thin, classy design. Two thumbs up to Samsung!
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Phone
by IlikBenz on April 11, 2008
Pros: Lots of Internal Memory
Cons: Poor Camera
Summary: The phone is very great. I actually think the keypad is fine. It has lots of internal memory but the camera is average. When you are playing a video of ...
Summary: The phone is very great. I actually think the keypad is fine. It has lots of internal memory but the camera is average. When you are playing a video of listening yo music, you cant rewind or fast forward, which is think is sad. But overall I think the phone is practicall perfect.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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This is an amazing, way easy to use, cute phone.
by shelbixxlove on April 6, 2008
Pros: Great keyboard, not slippery at all. Its also really easy to get to anything in the phone.
Cons: You kinda have to be careful with the screen.
Summary: I've had this phone for over a year now, i find it hard to buy another from how addicted i am to this one. In the video they said ...
Summary: I've had this phone for over a year now, i find it hard to buy another from how addicted i am to this one. In the video they said the keys were slippery, but they really arn't. I text a great deal considering im 16, and my fingers never slip. I just love this phone, it has great features and i can get to anything really fast and easy. Now im not gonna lie, i am on my third one. My first one i cracked the screen, my second one the graphics started messing up cuz my screen got loose, but my third one is just fine. Now don't let that scare you, i am a teenager, i meant to go through phones. but you really do have to be a little careful with the screen, you can just go sliding it all the time when your bored like i did or shaking it around. Oh but one more thing, i have dropped this phone a lot, and it hasnt broken, so dont worry about that. It has a good lasting battery too.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Quick and easy out of the box
by kgloffice on January 11, 2008
Pros: Excellent display, intuitive menues, easy switch between alpha, T9 and numbers for text messaging
Cons: Odd connector for the power and headset (minor)
Summary: This phone is a free upgrade at T-Mobile (except for the $18+taxes activation fee). The display is excellent and clear and does not wash out in sunlight as much ...
Summary: This phone is a free upgrade at T-Mobile (except for the $18+taxes activation fee). The display is excellent and clear and does not wash out in sunlight as much as other displays. The text is large: for those of us who's eyes require a bit of an optical assist, it's very nice.
The keyboard is solid and responsive, which I prefer (no problem with "slippery" as noted by C/net). The slider is solid and smooth.
Voice recognition is incredible as compared to other technologies: no training required. Just activate it and then remember to ask for names the same way you have them in the phone book, e.g., say, "Smith, James" instead of, "James Smith". If the phone doesn't recognize the name, it will give you choices....best I've ever used.
Transferring files to and from the phone is easy via an add-on microSD card, T-Zone or bluetooth file transfer.
The on screen calendar, alarm, stop watch and timer are all very useful for me during daily activities.
Only "downside": the power and headset connector is not a standard phono or USB type of jack...so if you have any other USB adapters.....they can't be used on this phone.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Samsung
- Part number: SGH-T629GRYTMB
- Description: Sample the sliding action on the Samsung T629 just once, and you're sold. It's smooth, effortless and has a quality feel you simply have to experience for yourself. But what feels even better are all the features you'll find inside. Like a 1.3 megapixel camera with zoom, MP3 player, Bluetooth Wireless Technology and an external memory card, for starters.
General
- Product Type Cellular phone With digital camera
- Service Provider T-Mobile
- Width 2 in
- Depth 0.6 in
- Height 3.9 in
- Weight 3.2 oz
- Body Color Gray
Cellular
- Technology GSM
- Band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband)
- Phone Design Slider
- Antenna Internal
- Vibrating Alert Yes
- Polyphonic Ringer Yes
- Call Timer Yes
- Caller ID Yes
- Wireless Interface Bluetooth
Messaging & Data Services
- Short Messaging Service (SMS) Yes
- Messaging / Data Features Text messages
Multimedia Features
- Downloadable Content Ring tones, Wallpapers, Audio files, Video files
Digital Camera
- Sensor Resolution 1.3 megapixels
- Digital Zoom 4
- Self Timer Delay Yes
Organizer
- Alarm Clock Yes
- Calendar Yes
- Reminder Yes
- Calculator Basic
Display
- Type LCD display
- Technology TFT
- Display Resolution 176 x 220 pixels
- Color Support Color
- Color Depth 18-bit (262000 Colors)
- Multi-language Menu Yes
- Features Backlit, Screensaver
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Supported Digital Audio Standards MP3
Power
- Type Power adapter
Battery
- Talk Time Up to 192 min
- Standby Time Up to 200 h
Accessories
- Samsung WEP870 (33769487)44.99 - 48.14
- Samsung WEP 410 - headset (33206032)69.99
- Samsung WEP200 Bluetooth Headset (black) (31995314)29.99 - 33.56
- iLuv i913 Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Stereo Headphones (32575962)56.95 - 61.35
- iLuv i903 Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Stereo Headphones (32575961)87.58
- A-Data Speedy Series flash memory card - 2 GB - microSD (33795596)8.99
- Centon 2GBRSD3-1 - flash memory card - 2 GB - microSD (33503634)8.99 - 12.00
- Centon flash memory card - 4 GB - microSD (33362243)16.49 - 20.87
- Centon mediaPOWER flash memory card - 2 GB - microSD (33686796)66.99
- Samsung WT17200000113 - holster bag for cellular phone (33311579)9.58
Manufacturer info
- Samsung
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Samsung products on Shopper.com
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- 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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