Behold, the newest touch-screen T-Mobile phone

T-Mobile built its reputation as a no-frills wireless service specializing in simple cellular phones to run on its relatively slow data network. Text messaging was offered, but you could forget about music downloads, GPS navigation, or services other carriers provided on their faster, 3G networks.

Now the times, and T-Mobile, are changing. The carrier now has a 3G network, and is launching phones that take advantage of its capabilities. One of the first such offerings, the $180 G1, a.k.a Google phone, has now been joined by the $150 Samsung Behold, a sharp-looking touch-screen model with a decent 1.6-in. x 2.6-in. display. (Click on the image at right for a closer look.)

The display has vibration feedback for a more realistic button-pushing experience. The virtual QWERTY keyboard, which you can peck with your finger or the included stylus, seemed to function rather well when I used it at a recent press event. The phone itself, which measures 4.1 in. x 2.1 in. x 0.5 in, fits comfortably in the hand. Color choices include rose or espresso.

While the Behold lacks the G1's Wi-Fi connectivity, document-handling capabilities, and other advanced features, it does offer GPS navigation with audible, turn-by-turn directions. That's something very few T-Mobile phones, including the G1, can yet do. It also comes with a 5-megapixel digital camera, among the highest resolutions we've seen on a cell phone. We haven't yet tested the phone, so we can't comment on its photo quality. But the photos I saw at the demonstration appeared sharp and bright on screen. The phone's photo album arranges photo previews in filmstrip fashion, which looks rather nifty.

You can customize the Behold for easier access to favorite functions. A tool called TouchWiz allows users to drag and drop "widgets" onto the phone's main screen that are linked to the applications and features they use the most. Other features include a full Web browser, and support for Bluetooth stereo and data and microSD cards of up to 16 gigabytes (the phone comes with 1-gigabyte card).

Bottom line: Samsung's Behold appears to cram a lot of promising features into an attractive case. Our upcoming lab tests will determine if it has the performance to match.

—Mike Gikas

Comments

[JESSA]

Thank you for all this helpful information.. my friend has the behold and is unhappy with its gliches, and i wanted to make sure it wasn't her lack of touch screen experience.. i was looking into getting it as well, but i'm not sure anymore.. any suggestions as to what touch screen phone can be used with tmobile that is similar.. you can respond to sunny142@live.com if you like.. thank you

jessa
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[Robby K]

This is how you change your message tone, go to your menu, sound profile, and then click on them it SHOULD open up to the next page showing you all the settings, then on the top right corner click to messages, and then select tone from there.

[Chris]

The touch screen isn't very precise but you can get used to it. Definitely not the same kind of touch as the iPhone. (Quality)
There's a lack of many functions that I'm used to on most standard models, and the way everything is set up can be confusing.

The camera seems nice, although it will easily blur pictures if not very still. There is no "Light" feature (flash from camera)
for uses besides picture/video. (Flashlight)

As I'm writing this my USB charger/file transfer cable just broke inside from cable bend (even though I barely moved it)
Also many friends who own this model are having trouble with chargers.

Strongly recommend a screen protection strip, as the screen will scratch.

[Luis V.]

I recently purchased this phone and I already have been through two exchanges for the same phone. I mean it has its positives but it all has its negatives. Negatives to include that the screen is not responsive at times and also it has some technical glitches that need to be corrected. The applications as well need some working on. Positive side it has the 5 megapizel camera and flash. The phone calls do drop alot though. This phone is mostly built to take photos.

[Michael]

This was the first smart phone that I have owned. Our main reason was to obtain real time traffic. The salesperson stated that the Telenav system that was loaded on this phone could provide traffic updates on secondary streets. This information proved to be false. The signal for the GPS was very weak at my house. In 13 days of use only twice did I receive a signal near my house. It would take nearly 10 minutes to load and i was typically 8-10 miles from my house. When I called TeleNav's support team they said that they were receiving several complaints about the behold not having good reception.

Overall the reception for the phone resulted in dropped calls in the same "dead zones" that my previous phone had.

The camera did not seem to take very sharp pictures. It was very sensitive to motion. Out 5 megapixil Canon camera took much better pictures.

[tre]

How big is this phone

[Eric]

I have one, just bought it about 5 days ago, was considering G1 but wasn't sure about being forced into an internet plan, bought this guy outright with no plan, it was expensive that way (400). The software is pretty easy to follow, with a couple of qwerks (which I would say every phone I've ever used has) in figuring out how to do certain things. Figuring things out isn't too difficult. I've yet to figure out how to change the recieved text message tone, i don't think you can. However, I think the phone has a software update feature which can keep software working in line with user feedback over months.

The touch screen is a responsive, though not to the degree of the iPhone (I have an iPod touch and so far no touch I've used responds as well as it). I find myself accidentally selecting the wrong things because, while sensitive, some of the things you need to push are small and it's not super accurate (yes, I calibrated it). Scrolling by sliding your finger up or down a list of say contacts or features should be avoided, the phone often confuses scrolling with selecting and this is annoying. However, buttons on the side are well programmed to control ringer volume and scrolling as necessary which is my preferred method for scrolling anyway. Ringtones sound good, navigating through texts is simple, saving things is simple and straight forward. I'm not sure how web browsing works, since I haven't use it.

Bluetooth is a little qwerky as well. It appears that you have to make any file you want to share over bluetooth visible. I haven't toyed with this much yet, but it sounds cumbersome and unnecessary. Also, I haven't used the USB features, but it sounds like there are some useful navigations features available when connecting the phone to a computer via Bluetooth.

I like the phone a lot. I'm dissatisfied with 3G on T-Mobile just yet. Actually, I'm disappointed with the reception of T-Mobile in general, but none of these guys to very well with the whole basic concept that these things are phones FIRST and media devices second. I lose signal often and this phone is little different from my previous phone.

Also, sound quality of the ear piece on the phone is very good, is able to get a little louder than other phones I've used. Voice quality on the other end seems to be crisper as well, as I'm told by the people I've talked to. Overall, good phone. I'd rate it an 8.5 for usability, an 8 for performance (software navigates pretty quickly) and a 6.5 for reception.