Samsung SGH-T539 Beat

This new quad-band GSM/EDGE music phone has a slick, trendy look that should appeal to music lovers. It weighs a mere 82g (28.4oz) and measures only 90mm x 45mm x 18mm (3.5" x 1.8" x .7") in size - small and light enough to go virtually unnoticed in both pockets and purses.

The most obvious feature on the outside of the Beat is the bright green speaker grille that surrounds a music oriented d-pad controller. The small, square external color display located above the music controls provides status and music player information. It is reasonably bright and colorful. A 'hold' button on the right hand side of the phone can be used to lock or unlock the music controls as well as flip back and forth between the music player screen and the time/signal/battery screen. Also located on the right edge of the phone are the dedicated camera shutter button and the microSD memory card slot. A 1GB card is included in the box, but the slot supports cards of up to 2GB in capacity. On the left hand side are the volume control and the power/headset jack. Both a wired stereo headset and a 3.5mm headphone jack adapter with microphone are included in the box. A USB cable is also included. It can be used for charging or synchronizing music and data with a desktop PC.

The internal display and controls on the T539 are all adequate, but not stellar performers. The TFT display is bright and colorful, but its low resolution and pixelated images remind one of phones from a few years back. It works, but it just looks old-school. The keypad, however, looks quite modern in a Motorola RAZR way. It is a flat membrane keypad. It offers reasonable tactile feedback, but lacks any significant finger guides to aid users when using it without looking at their fingers. A dedicated shortcut key that can be configured by the user is located to the right of the d-pad. That's a good idea.

The Samsung Beat supports EDGE data on any of the four GSM bands. The EDGE connection seemed quick enough for the simple tasks that the Beat's web browser could throw at it. The Beat also supports Bluetooth headsets and stereo headphones.

The music player on the Samsung Beat is pretty decent. It has the typical shuffle and repeat modes, a few preset equalizer settings, and even a 3D expansion mode. Keypad shortcuts can be used to quickly change these settings when the phone is opened up. The player also allows for the creation of playlists on the phone itself, and music can easily be synchronized with a desktop PC.

The Samsung Beat comes equipped with the typical organizer type applications. Users will find staples like a calendar, alarm, and task list, as well as a tip and normal calculators and a couple of timers. The Beat also comes with 4 Java games pre-loaded. Additional games can be purchased directly from T-Mobile's web portal on the phone.