Review: Samsung Moment Touch Screen Cell Phone

If you are looking for the latest Google Android smart phone, you will find everything you were expecting and more in the Samsung Moment. With it's sturdy design and comfortable physical keyboard, it is a nice alternative to HTC Hero and Motorola's Cliq, and at $99.99 with Sprint service, the Samsung Moment, or M900, is valid competition against T-Mobile's Cliq XT at $129.99.

Samsung Moment : Design
You won't fit the Moment in your trouser pockets without feeling the extra weight (5.67 ounces), and seeing the bulge showing through your clothes. Just like Motorola's Cliq, the Moment is a large phone (4.6 x 2.34x0.63 inches) with a sturdy feel and a nice design. With its rounded ends and soft smooth feel it reminded me of the Hero.

Design wise, I think I would opt for the Cliq rather than the Moment, but if you are looking for a sturdy phone that feels right in your hands, you should definetly consider this model. I particularly liked the 'click' of the stiff slider mechanism as you open and close it. I read reviews that pointed out that once the slider is open, the Samsung Moment feels top heavy, but I think this smart phone still feels comfortable in your hands as you type.

Samsung Moment : Display and interface
Samsung Moment's display is smaller than the iPhone but still large enough to allow comfortable navigation and the resolution is good. In addition the accelerometer settings that rotate from a landscape to a vertical position look great.

Samsung Moment : Android features.
The Samsung Moment cell phone comes with Android OS 1.5 and has the various home screens and phone dialer interface Android users are expecting. Though the dialer has a quick access to your contacts, it lacks some of Motorola's Cliq short cuts, but this smart phone offers an extra cool feature where the display gives you a vibrating feeling for the virtual keyboard.

Though I've read reviews where Samsung's Moment was considered a bit slow when opening the menu and selecting icons, I still feel it is quite responsive and this should not be a deal breaker, if you are considering the purchase of this cell phone.

Samsung Moment : Keyboard and controls
Samsung Moment's keyboard is as comfortable as the Motorola Cliq's. The display will rotate once the keyboard is open, but you can also use the standard virtual keyboard so you can type when the phone is closed.

The keyboard and controls of the Moment are quite comfortable and work fine if you have a firm and accurate touch. The only glitch seems to be that the optical mouse is tiny and sensitive and you need to be extra careful when you swipe your finger across the controls to go between home screens because this device is very sensitive.

Other features include a volume rocker, a camera shutter and a voice dialing button on the spine. A Micro-USB port accommodates the charger and a USB cable. The 3.5mm headset jack sits on the Moment's top end and the camera lens, flash, and mirror is on the back part of the device next to the speaker.

Samsung Moment : Super Cool Extras
The list of cool software features of this phone is long.

• The Samsung Moment will ask you to sync new contacts from your email accounts which means you can import your existing contacts really quick. Beside Gmail, you can also sync with Yahoo, Hotmail and Outlook so that you can easily merge all your calendar, tasks and contacts into this phone.

• The Samsung Moment is also integrated with apps from Face book, the Weather Channel and CNN and ESPN.

• In addition to Google Maps, Moment also has Sprint Navigation on board, which will give you real time directions, a 3D map and a point of interest database.

• When it comes to downloading music you can buy songs at the Amazon MP3 Store or transfer your music using Bluetooth, the microSD card or the USB cable. For Video you can check the YouTube app but if you are using the Sprint carrier you can also see Sprint TV, Sprint Movies and Sprint Radio, plus Nascar Sprint Cup and NFL Mobile Live.

• Since the Samsung Moment is an Android phone, you will be able to download apps and games. The only downside is that your app storage is restricted to the handset's integrated memory i.e. 256MB of RAM and 512MB of ROM.

Samsung Moment : Camera
The Camera feature on the Samsung Moment is definitely not a winner on this cell phone. At 3.2 megapixels, you will get good pictures with bright colors but you don't have any options for color effects, zoom or even image size and the movements in the video will not be as crisp as you expect from other non-android phones.

Conclusion
When it comes to performance and battery life the Samsung Moment does well on both counts.With an 800MHz processor, which is slightly better than competition, applications open quickly and you should not have any system crashes. Youtube video quality is usually on the blurry side but the videos stored on the phone are good.

Thanks to many it's great features, good performance and sturdy design, the Samsung Moment is a very valid competitor in the android race and is a great alternative to the other models on the market.

If you are still undecided between the Motorola Cliq and the Samsung Moment, you can follow this link to learn more about the Motorola Cliq before you make your purchase.

To reach the Samsung site and learn more about the Samsung Moment features and pricing, click here

Works cited
Samsung Moment (Sprint) Kent German www. reviews cnet.com