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Hands-On: Samsung Restore

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Apr 22, 2010, 6:02 PM by Eric M. Zeman

Phone Scoop spent a few moments with the Samsung Restore, a new eco-friendly phone for the Sprint network. With devices such as this, it's easy to be green.

The Restore is another phone from Samsung that is made out of recycled materials. According to Samsung, 24% of the phone was made from recycled stuff, and 80% of the phone can be recycled when it has reached the end of its life.

It's is a sideways slider messaging phone, which is not a new form factor for Samsung. Samsung's first recycled phone, the Reclaim, felt a bit on the cheap side. The Restore feels much more solid and strong. It's not flimsy at all. Of course, this comes at a small price, which is the phone's size and weight. It is a bit on the heavy side and is definitely thicker than I'd like my phone to be.

That aside, all the controls feel really good. The 12-key dial pad feels good and the keys have excellent travel and feedback. The optical mouse on the front was a bit unresponsive, but I did notice that this can be adjusted in the Restore's menus.

The slider mechanism was very strong and solid. It felt great. The spring assistance is just right in helping to snap it open and snap it shut.

The QWERTY keyboard has four full rows, which means there is plenty of space for extra keys, such as a Web key and Text key to launch those apps. The keys have a nice shape to them and feel good under the thumb. Travel and feedback was spot on. I have to say, I was impressed with the quality of the keyboard. Frequent senders of messages will be pleased with the Restore's typing capabilities.

The operating system of the Restore is Sprint's OneClick user interface. In the few moments I spent with the phone, I couldn't find any major differences between the Restore's version of OneClick an what we've seen on other phones running this software from Sprint.

For the environmentally conscious, the Restore is not a bad place to start when it comes to living a green life style.

Samsung Restore

About the author, Eric M. Zeman:

Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.

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