Released for Verizon Wireless, the Samsung SCH-U740 offers form and function. Replacing the multi-device syndrome by ingeniously blending the best of a mobile phone, personal data assistant (PDA) and email messenger in one easy-to-use compact device, users can use the SCH-U740 two ways as it opens in portrait mode to take and make calls and switches to landscape mode to type messages. The dual-band device is a truly essential entertainment business tool, with advanced features such as a built-in 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, and VCAST Video and Music. The SCH-U740 also takes advantage of a 262K-color display to provide an impressive 176 x 220 pixels... [Continue reading Samsung U740 Review]
Samsung U740 Features
Innovative dual-hinge design for convenient calling and text messaging
Send text messages and emails quicker with the built-in QWERTY
keyboard
Enjoy handsfree operation utilizing
a Bluetooth Car Kit or Bluetooth Mono Headset or sync the Phonebook with a computer so contacts are always up-to-date
MicroSD external memory port to store pictures, videos, sounds and music
Integrated with Verizon Wireless' VCAST Video, and Music service to catch the latest music videos and listen to and download songs
WAP 2.0 compliant browser with EV-DO for high-speed data transmission
Samsung U740 User Reviews
1. Posted by WilliePete
Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:23 am
To solve the navigation issue on this phone - Go to phone settings - Display setting - Display Themes - and then choose anything but "My Desk" My desk is the reason this phone has failed and gotten bad reviews for the navigation - once u've changed this to anything but "My Desk" it's just like any other verizon wireless phone because it's their traditional interface.
ONCE U DO THAT - THIS PHONE IS EXCELLENT! - it's even smart enough to know that im only going to use T9 text when I'm in the traditional phone orientation and using the key pad instead of the horizontal Querty Keyboard.
Problem Solved!
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35 out of 38 people found this review helpful.
2. Posted by WilliePete
Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:46 pm
A Futher look:
The Samsungs - Navigation can be cumbersome, however, after spending sometime scrolling through every option conceivable I have come to conclusion that I believe Samsung most likely realized that there were way too many options on the phone to make it as streamlined as they would have liked - from editing pictures, world clocks, tip calculators, currency converters, etc. So to solve this problem they added 2 features
Quick Search & Shortcut Keys/ Hot keys
Quick Search: Works as a tool that allows u to navigate directly to what you want by just typing the first letter of the option so if I type "2" I'll get every option from A to C since the number "2" key has ABC on it. So the options that comes up would be Alarm Clock, Banner, Converter.
This is broken down into 2 catagories. One for Contacts and one for the Options as in the example above. This makes the phone even easier to cut thru.
Also the phone has enabled the user to set up their own hot keys using the 4 directions of the "D-pad" the Cirle! So I can go directly to my inbox if I hit left - Go to my calendar if I hit down, go to my alarm clock if I hit up, etc.
All this helps make the phone much more navigation free because of instead of navigating thru the phone one just simply jumps thru the phone. But not matter what, you still have to know the options available in order to know that if I type in "C" on the quick search that I'm going to get Converter and all the other C's if I didn't know the converter was on the phone I wouldn't know to just hit C to find it -
Samsung dropped the ball when they didn't not make these options obvious - U have to actually go into the phone and turn all these features on. This takes some digging thru the lousy navigation system but once they are on ur good to go. Sucks to do it the first time but once you have ur phone personalized U won't have to do it again - and then ur phone becomes a breeze to jump thru. Literally Jump thru - because ur skipping menus altogether going straight to the source. This phone just jumped up 5 points in my book. But it still doesn't take away from the fact that they really could have made the manual navigation alot better. I give this phone an 8 out of 10.
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22 out of 25 people found this review helpful.
3. Posted by WilliePete
Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:55 pm
This phone is a decent phone - Not excellent but a decent phone -
Problems:
The camera phone is only a 1.3 megapixel - doesn't matter to most until you see the clarity and defintion on a 2 megapixel phone such as the lg8700.
As the review says phone menu navigation is not streamline - you continuously have to open window after window after window. Way too many prompts - just to reply to a message. About 3 or 4 steps before you even get to the page to type the words. U'll become faster over time but still annoying especially when ur tryin to be fast. U can't simply get a message, read it, and rely - you have to start from the beginning everytime as if u just turned the phone on.
The none streamline menu navigation is the main hinderance of the phone. Eventually you will become tuned to the menus and funtions of the phone but there is a definite learning curve, so be aware.
Factory Ringtones - Suck!
Video Not the greatest - Voice out of sync with the video like an internet web cam or Iraq Bagdad satillite News Broadcast
Good things:
Trendy def an attention getter. Looks sophisticated when texting due to its slim nature an athestically pleasing and modestly large screen.
Menu not at easy to navigate liek the EnV 9900 - However - THIS PHONE IS NOT A BRICK LIKE THE ENV.
Quite vibrator won't rattle the table if on a desk - but noticibly felt if in pocket
Good sound quality -
Overall: This phone is a decent phone if u can get past the navigation issues. If you want better controls and navigation go with the EnV but if you don't want a brick and just want a slimmer phone go with this Samsung - It's all about what's more important to u.
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26 out of 30 people found this review helpful.
4. Posted by firechick1721
Sat May 03, 2008 11:18 pm
this is a phone that i just had to have. i looked at it for months on the verizon site, and when they offered it for free, i had to take it up.
for a good 6 months, i liked the phone. i didnt like however, if someone sent you a forwarded text that had more than one page, you could not forward it to someone else. i know your not supposed to text and drive, but it is virtually impossible with this phone, other phones i never had to look at while texting. the 1-9 buttons were too small to text that way, and the qwerty way you need both hands. it would power off for the fun of it. the signal was the worst on any phone i have ever had. but still, i liked the phone, until one day i picked up my old v710 and realized how easy it was to push the buttons on it. then when the vibrate quit working (i keep it on vibrate and never use ringers) i decided it was time for a new phone.
for looks, fun, and conversations, its a good phone. but i am happier with the u620 that i have now.
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3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
5. Posted by Tipsdaturtle
Tue Nov 13, 2007 11:52 pm
When I went to the store and got this phone I was over joyed, not only did it somewhat satisfy me as much as my older Motorola E815(definitely the best phone I've ever had), the qwerty keyboard and side display all together made me go nuts. The phone was all I needed, the camera was fine enough, it had a very good and somewhat clear speaker phone, the phone placement on the ear was good, and I know a lot of people don't like the touch screen music control, but I loved it. It was fine for me, I really don't understand what's so tricky about it.
It's just.the battery life is absolutely abysmal. They say 200 hours standby time, that's fine for me, 3.5 hour talk is fine, but it really isn't. I charge my phone all night and un plug it at 7 every morning. By 12 the battery meter is at one bar. If I decide to buy a ringtone, I should expect to lose a bar or two, it always happens. By the end of my school day at 2:15 the battery is completely depleted and the phone shuts off. If it did not do that, I would have absolutely no qualms, but it's just annoying to know that I can't use my phone whenever I need to.
Not only that, but I get in so much trouble with my mom when the battery's dead and she's trying to reach me on weekends, so I'm just going to get a new phone, something that reminds me of the E815 if not the E815 itself.
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6 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
6. Posted by flannyhfd
Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:23 am
oh man i love my phone its got everything i need in it . i do alot of txting so the keyboard helps out alot. the camera is amazing on it and so isnt the videos on it. the menu is so easy and fast to go threw . only really problems i had with it is that cleanning is like a 24.7 job and the the girls voice when you go in the menu , she says everything that you on and it gets annoying after a while. um the speaker on it is good at school i would be playing music when theres nothing to do .
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7. Posted by nissandave
Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:11 am
I purchased this phone and kept it for nine days. Function-wise, this is a great phone, make no mistake about this. However, if you are looking for a phone to be a phone first and a text messaging, image capturing, mobile internet, and mobile email device afterward, then this phone is not for you.
This phone is very functional, minus great reception. The dual hinge screen is exceptional. The two speakers on the flip part are a huge plus. The construction of this phone is also great. It seems as though it may be made of some sort of alloy. If it is plastic, it does not seem to be plastic. Although I never dropped it, I would imagine it would probably withstand some drops here and there. The camera is decent. As with all Verizon phones, it does not have a good selection of factory installed ringtones. The keys are very small when being used as the numeric keypad for a phone. When you flip the other way and use the qwerty keypad, it is a world of difference. If you get this phone, it is heavily recommended that you spring for a bluetooth headset and get used to using the voice command capabilities. At night, driving down the road, you cannot drive, safely that is, and dial a number easily with this phone. Big fingers or little fingers, this is especially dangerous with this phone.
Now for the great to know stuff. First, let me explain that I have used a slew of different Verizon phones in the last year, which include:
Motorola V710
Motorola E815
Motorola V3m
Samsung 650
Samsung 740
Samsung 850
Samsung 340
Samsung 870
LG VX8300
LG VX8600
LG VX8700
I buy phones off ebay and fix them to resell them or use them myself. Consequently, I have a credible, unique perspective on any cell phone review.
The Motorola E815 is the standard that all Verizon cell phones should be measured against. Rest assured, you cannot and will not find a better reception phone as a Motoroal E815.
Compared to the E815, this phone is AWOL when it comes to reception. It seems like all Samsungs are mediocre at best when it comes to signal strength and reception. While an external antenna will defenitely improve reception, I think one other main issue, which I cannot seem to find mentioned, is the fact that all Verizon phones using software which is written by Verizon are inherently lacking in viable and consistent reception. But the opposite holds true for OEM manufactured software that is used in other Verizon phones. For example of course, the E815 software is not wrote by Verizon, it is written by Motorola. I think there may be something to this. Anyway, the reception of this phone is horrible. If you live right beside a cell tower and never go out, then this is your phone. If you travel any (for purposes of this review, the defintion of traveling is considered as if you ever go outside of your house), then be prepared to have subpar reception with this phone on your trip.
After nine days of mostly 1 to 2 bar reception, I decided to take this phone back and swap it for the LG VX8700. Needless to say that I defenitely have a better phone now.
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7 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
8. Posted by lukester01
Tue Jan 08, 2008 7:44 pm
I like the phone. I got it mostly for the qwerty keyboard to enter calendar events. I soon found that the calendar has some programming issues.
One big problem is that if you make a daily, or weekly event, that if you go to a single instance of this event and erase it (mind you, not choosing erase all, just erase), that it always deletes EVERY instance of the event! Unacceptable behavior!
The second issue is with the display of events for a day. It shows you a list of events for that day, for each event the start time is displayed, and the name of the event, as well as icons indicating if an alert is set. But the programmers failed to have the end time displayed! So you get a list of events for the day with start times, but not end times, and then you have to view the individual event to see when it ends. Just dumb! Who checks this stuff? I'm guessing no one.
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1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
9. Posted by lukester01
Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:29 pm
Needed to add another flaw found with this phone.
You cannot disable alerts for events. I can only figure that some where along the design process someone confused events for appointments, an appointment I need to know about, the time my wife works today I dont need to be alerted to, just need it in my schedule. The best you can do is to set the alert "light only". The problem with this is that it pops up a silent dialog for the alert that interferes with the bluetooth headsets ability to voice command dial. This is due to the phone needing user input (click OK) to clear the alert dialog! If the phone is in your pocket and you are on the road, you go to use your headset (hold for 2 sec to get the voice command) and it wont work. So you have to dig in your pocket to see what is going on with the phone, only to find the stupid alert disabling your voice command.
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10. Posted by sasschick
Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:37 pm
I have had my phone for closing in on two years now. I've dropped it lord knows how many times on lord knows how many different surfaces. I've gotten it wet, stuck in the recliner, and all sorts of stuff. My phone has been through hell and back. But I've never had to get a new one, which is good since I didn't get insurance for it. There's a small crack on the screen, and scratches on it. One of the few downfalls is that after you've had it for a while, if you're not careful when you close it, you'll wind up with scratches on the screen that match the D-pad and other buttons. The large number of buttons takes a little getting used to, but once you master it you'll be a speed demon while texting. The menu is somewhat complicated and takes some time to conquer.
Only in the past few months have I started to have problems with the phone. My mother's works just like it did when she bought it, because hers doesn't get the punishment mine does. What has started happening is if I go into my music or any other application for the first time in a while (maybe a few hours) the phone "reboots." It'll turn itself off and back on. This is very annoying. It will also happen occasionally when I get a text. Usually it will "reboot" a couple times a day.
The picture quality is very good, if I want to put a picture on the internet I send them from my phone, you could ever tell it wasn't a digital camera.
Over all this is an excellent phone, I would definitely suggest it to anyone.
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11. Posted by Kawika
Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:57 pm
love the phone.only 1 problem
it keeps changing my mp3 ringtones that im sending to it into qcp format.i never had this problem on other phones.and i just had the LG enV and everything went fine with that one.
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12. Posted by bswonger
Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:21 pm
This phone is awesome. I can text super fast, see who's calling without opening the phone, and the colors, menu is nice. Thanks to Active Communicaition for helping me pick it out.
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13. Posted by a-man
Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:53 pm
SCH-U740 review
Ok, i dont personally own this phone but one of my best friends does, I have it all of the time. First off, the full qwerty keypad is one of the coolest and one of the most creative keypads i've seen on a phone, but the keys are somewhat small. but i do have fat fingers so its probably just me! The hinge is surprisingly strong for the small size. does get a little loose at some points, but mostly strong. The interior screen is completely dazzling. Lage, B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! and bright.
The only thing wrong with the phone is that the battery life is terrible! its soooooo small! I have about zero to one bars at my house so that may be the issue, but still it could have been better. it lasts for about three hours! thats crazyness! And the outside screen and the touchpad mp3 buttons were not that great. Samsung has somewhat dissapointed me with this phone.
All in All . i give this phone a 7.5.
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The hinge is surprisingly strong for the small size. does get a little loose at some points, but mostly strong. The interior screen is completely dazzling. Lage, B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! and bright.
