Review: Samsung Blast
The Blast has two separate messaging entries in the main menu. One is for text and multimedia messages and a second is for email and IM.
You can set the square shortcut key on the navigation pad to start a new message. If you do not do this, 3 clicks straight in on the select key from the main menu (4 clicks if you count launching the main menu) will bring up the next text window. You compose your text and then can address it from the contact list, from a list of recent texts or manually. Addressing and sending the message is different from each of these 3 choices.
The SureType keypad should makes composing a message faster and easier than regular T9. However it takes some time to get used to; partly because of the design flaws we pointed out earlier, as well as the fact that the numbers are far more prominent on the keyboard than the letters, tricking our brains into believing this is a 12 key numeric keypad.
The IM clients allow you to sign on to any major service, but only one at a time. They use text messages instead of data to send messages back and forth, which means you can stay signed in even if the phone is in standby, which is nice. But messages can quickly pile up, so it would be wise to get on an unlimited messaging plan if you plan on using this. The predictive software of the SureType keypad falls short when IMing. It simply can't deal with common IM abbreviations, and makes entering them by hand difficult at best.
The mail application can check for mail from AOL, Yahoo! and/or two other user selected accounts. Unlike IM, you have to select "keep me signed in" in order to receive email after you have exited the application.
Hands On with the Motorola edge (2022)
Motorola's new Edge Offers a Lot for $500
Google Pixel 7 Series Tweaks Size, Adds Pro Cameras
Cricket Doubles Down on White-Label Phones
Samsung Blast SGH-T729
