Review: Samsung T259
Calls
It's been so long since I've tested a phone with a physical dialpad, I forgot how nice it is to have. Aside from simply dialing numbers on the keypad, the T259 supports shortcuts for up to 99 contacts. If you actually dial a number, you can hit send to call it, or the soft key to access the options menu. This lets you add the number to contacts, etc. As you type numbers, it will sort through our contacts and display relevant matches. Pressing the send key before you dial a number opens the call history. The call history lumps everything into one tab (dialed, received, missed), but you can sort them out by tapping the d-pad sideways.
In-call options are pretty extensive. Aside from muting the microphone or turning on the speakerphone, the options allow you to access the web, calendar, contacts and other applications during a call.
Contacts
The contact application in a no-frills job that handles the basics well enough. The T259 comes preloaded with the usual assortment of T-Mobile contacts, but adding your own doesn't take too much effort. For existing customers, you should be able to use T-Mobile's account back-up service to retrieve contacts from T-Mobile's servers. If not, adding them one at a time is a little painful via the 12-key dialpad. Though you can access Facebook and Google accounts from the browser, it's not possible to sync data from those accounts to the T259.
Each contact holds 4 phone numbers, one email address, one street address and other items such as notes, birthday, ringtone and picture ID. Disappointingly, you can't add an IM handle or web address.
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Samsung SGH-T259
