Samsung Glyde U940
Phone Scoop Review
May 8, 2008 by Eric M. Zeman
Samsung bundles a touch screen and QWERTY keyboard into one, pocket-friendly phone. Reach out and touch the Glyde. With video tour. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Keep on Glyding!
Overall this is a really nice phone. As everyone stated don't compare it to the iPhone but do compare it to the voyager which I think is almost identical to this phone except for a few differences.
Texting was a breeze with the slide out keyboard, HTML browser does a good job, camera is great, music player super, mobile email, mobile IM, and VZ Nav all work great...now a few negatives...battery life seems a little subpar, but hey thats what they make car chargers for. Also, as others stated the touch screen is good but not great...you do have to double hit the screen a few times.
I have only had the phone a few days but overall a 4 out of 5...I love the phone. It is sexy, small, and packed with multimedia options!
Pros:
1. Camera
2. HTML Browser
3. Size
4. VZ Navigator
5. Qwerty keyboard
6. Texting
7. Packed with multimedia options
8. Call quality
Cons:
1. Screen unresponsive at times
2. Battery
3. Signal strength seems weak, but I have never had a problem. Even with only one bar calls sound great!
What? No youtube fun! That's so V-tarded!
I purchased this phone for the upgraded technology: which Iâm questioning. Itâs been over a year since the iPhone came out and Verizon still wonât let its non-PDA phones view anything close to YouTube on there phones. Iâm sorry, but if you have a phone that surfs the internet reasonably well, you should be able to watch a silly little video on a mobile sight (thatâs half the fun of the internet these days and you canât just ignore what the competition is doing).
With that said, I just donât see how its browser is a huge advantage over the WEB 2 technology. On web 2, I could still go to web sights and look up emails; yes, not as detailed or fluid as the Glydeâs browser, but still, it could be done. I think Verizon missed the boat on this one. I guess itâs just not worth it to them if they canât make a huge profit on the air time.
Pros:
The look and feel of the phone are both great.
The slide keyboard is smooth and easy to use
Sound quality and speakers are great.
Quick web browsing for a phone.
Nice camera.
Cons:
You must hit 2 buttons to end a call, but I see why. The phone locks when you begin a call in order to prevent premature hang-ups from happening (like your cheek or finger accidently hitting the touch screen).
Canât watch a simple mobile internet video thatâs not on Vcast and when Iâve tried, the phone reboots (totally V-tarded!).
Touch pad can be annoying when it doesnât recognize your touch or hits the button next to the one you wanted.
Navigation through the phone could have been easier. Sometimes itâs difficult to locate things.
Battery lasted about a day and a half for me.
Navigation on the internet can be challenging at times due to the finicky touch screen vs. the size of the icons needed to touch.
Conclusion:
Overall, I might return the phone for the Env2. It still has a keyboard and can do almost the same stuff, but with buttons. Weâll see.
Samsung chaps my Glyde
It said it was pretty and sexy and sweet, I saw it had a keyboard between the sheet. I took it home and that was that, this cute little phone turned into a complete rat. Samsung you have done it this time for sure, I am a huge fan of the worst nature. You can run and you can hide, but if its an emergency good luck with the Glyde. I write this review with a sense of humor, So you may all know this phone blows for sure. Others have wrote details you heard what they say, I want you to know they're true all the way.
Nice little touch phone
I see some are complaining about how small the touch screen is and that it's difficult to operate. I've found the touch screen to be no problem at all, and I have massive hands and wide fingertips. My girlfriend complains a bit with the touch screen when trying to use my phone, but I notice she always tries to use the flat of her thumb instead of her fingertip, which I believe gives her a problem. Overall, it's one of the easiest touch screen phones I've ever operated, in my opinion.
The only small complaint I have with the phone is that to end a call, you have to first light the backlight, then unlock the phone, then hit "end." I can see why this is done though, the phone automatically locks after the backlight goes out so you don't accidentally hang up the call, so it makes sense you'd have to hit a few buttons to unlock the phone.
After two days of use, I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase. It took me all of an hour to get use to the touch screen after I selected my preferred sensitivity level. I've owned many cell phones over the years and I think the Glyde is by far the nicest, easiest to use device I've had yet. I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants a touch-screen + QWERTY keyboard in their cell phone.
Glyde..a little too small?
I'm the recent purchaser of the Samsung Glyde, having gotten it for about $150 with my online rebate and my New Every Two. I recommend the phone first and foremost for pocket tech geeks like myself.
I won't mince words; if I had AT&T, I'd be an iPhone user. Totally forgoing the UI of both handsets and carriers, the iPhone has a leg up on the Glyde in one major way; it's wider. Believe me when I say that the screen, while not as inaccurate as some may have you think, is somewhat too small for normal hands. I'd say the inaccuracy some have had actually is due primarily to the screen size alone.
To get myself familiarized with not only the touchscreen but also the slide out keyboard, I entered all of my contacts in manually. I would advise you do the same; it helps teach your brain where everything is and how the touch sensitivity works.
I haven't fiddle with the music player or browser whatsoever, and I really doubt I ever will.
I'll try to touch base on some pros and cons others haven't:
PRO:
- Overall form factor is much thinner than you may otherwise assume. Very pocketable. Think LG Chocolate. A bit thinner even than my LG VX-8300.
-Vibrate for messages/calls is shorter than my VX-8300 but still very noticeable. This will wake me up.
-Screen is super bright, sharp and vibrant!
-QWERTY keyboard a delight to text with.
-Housing is best called 'Blueberry'. At most times the Glyde looks like a 75% graphite-gray however.
CON:
- Camera is frustrating. Wants to activate camcorder first. On-screen sliders for brightness really inaccurate to the touch. Found the detail of photos somewhat blurry.
When taking images of yourself, it's tough to know if the shot took.
- When texting on the touchscreen, 'Space' and 'Back' are too close together.
- Get a pouch. The screen unlocks often in your pocket if you carry the phone by itself.
-Get used to imputting contact numbers via QWERTY.
1 day post with the glyde
OK OK first i have only had it for a day so take this with a grain of salt and i will post another around the 30 day mark that verizon gives us to return it.
that being said- i came from small flip phones and this is not one of those. the touch does not always react where a traditional button there is no gray area. the qwerty buttons are very close together and maybe for a girls hands they are good. the good thing is you don't need to use the qwerty at all BUT w/ or w/o it, it adds thickness to the phone.
it will take getting used to but i may switch phone
Not a Bad Phone but could be better
As touch screens are the current trend this one is not to bad. And as a Samsung fan i was very happy when I heard this one was coming out. I purchased this phone the day it came out in stores. (It was only online at first)
-Pros-
-Smaller then the Voyager
-Easy to use touch screen
-HTML browser
-QWERTY Key-pad
-Modified Verizon UI (i cant stand the standard Verizon UI)
-Made by samsung
Cons.
-Samsung removed the ability to block individual phone numbers phone calling or texting (you can now only block all or allow only from contacts
-Key pad is a little small
-No zoom in HTML browser
Overall this is not a bad phone if samsung would bring back the ability to block individual phone numbers again and fix the zoom on the browser this would be a 4.0 or a 4.5
Not for the impatient
This is a great looking phone but if you want a phone that works the first time you do anything, this one will drive you crazy.
Pros: Stylish
Great layout
Keyboard it easy to use
Good sound quality
voice activated controls work great
Cons:
Bluetooth headset sounds bad
Weird connection, sounds metalic
Buttons are hard to hit, even for someone with small fingers. When I try to hit one button on the touchscreen I almost always hit another.
Really hard to do things like call voicemail and delete messages because the screen keeps turning off and by the time you get it turned back on it is too late.
All in all, this is a great toy for those you like ipods but it is not a great phone for people who want to make calls.
Glyde..not that cool
First of all I wanted to love this phone but after using it for one whole day, I think the phone needs some improvements, as do all of Verizon's touch screen phones, with the exception of pda's and LG Venus.
Pros:
-Cool and neat applications
-slide out keyboard
-ergonomic design
-crisp pictures
Cons:
-Battery life is very poor
-Touch screen is only ok; doesn't respond at all to finger nails, must touch the screen square on with your fingers.
-Phone unlocks itself too easily in the pocket, the only way the phone should unlock is with the hard button.
-BRICK - huge phone!
Good Phone
Ok. This phone is a great phone, don't get me wrong... but in the long run, it may be a bit too intriguing. It supports killer texting, but a "kill-yourself" touch screen. sometimes when you touch the screen it is unresponsive. Therefore, you must tap a few more times, or start all over again. This is a bit frustrating, but something easy to get used to. I love the full HTML browser, but it does lack space due to the over-sized navigational buttons. By the way, if you want to zoom on the browser just use the volume toggle keys. The full QWERTY keyboard is awesome, and insanely easy to use. The camera is unbelievable. For a phone to support a 3.2 megapixel camera, autofocus, and flash, now thats good. This is a cool and sleek phone, that may be a let down at first but is great in the long run.
