Samsung Blast for T-Mobile Cell Phone Review - Making/Receiving Calls
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Mark Brezinski Published on August 30, 2007 Comment on this |
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Dialing Speed (5.95)
To test how easy it is to make a call, we time how long it takes to dial each of five different test numbers, then average the results. We use a pool of numbers to better approximate an actual user's experience -- a user is most likely not going to dial just one phone number all day. The Blast was able to get a call out in an average of 3.36 seconds, which is toward the quick end of the spectrum, especially for a flip phone. We probably could have gotten calls out even faster, but the keypad has an annoying tendency to ignore two consecutive number inputs when entered quickly. As all our test numbers begin with 555 (so we don't call you accidentally), we found we had to start out dialing slowly, or else the middle five wouldn't register. At times only one five registered. This problem will most likely be only a minor inconvenience, but it could be a problem if you're trying to dial a cool phone number, such as the White House switchboard at (202) 456-1111.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Samsung Blast | 3.36 | 5.95 |
| Apple iPhone | 3.96 | 5.05 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 3.76 | 5.32 |
| Nokia N73 | 3.26 | 6.13 |
| Sprint Upstage | 3.38 | 5.92 |
| Motorola Razr | 4.90 | 4.08 |
Talk and End Buttons (3.0)
The talk and end buttons are found on either side of the clear key, underneath the directional pad. They really don't offer much tactile feedback, as the finger can easily glide over the little chasm separating them from surrounding buttons without registering it. The raised edge of the d-pad would provide some help, but it's round, so navigating by a sliver of its circumference isn't much to go on. They are located in the bottom left and right of the key array, which should make them easy hit blind They share their respective corners with other buttons, however, making quick location difficult. We can see a few people hitting the t-zone button instead of send, or the shortcut key instead of end.
Call Management (5.0)
The Blast's call history is labeled "Call records," and is available in the phone's Main menu. This allows you to sort your view by missed, incoming, outgoing, or all calls. There is also a call timer that displays the last call's length, as well as running totals for outgoing, incoming, and both combined. Calls are listed by their number, along with an incoming/outgoing symbol and a parenthetical number that refers to the number of times that number has been contacted. Clicking on a call displays the name and number at the top, while underneath is a list of each call's dates and lengths. The list can only display two calls at a time, which makes navigating a bit difficult.
During a call you have access to the standard options, plus a few rarities. The select key mutes, the right soft key toggles speaker phone, and the left soft key brings up the Options menu. The menu lets you make a new call, open up the phone book, create a message, open your inbox, enable Whisper mode, or send DTMF tones. Whisper mode amplifies the microphone so you can talk discreetly in a library or similar place. Send DTMF is an option you most likely will never use, unless you have some fancy system rigged up to let you dial your house to open the garage.
Startup to Call (4.66)
In this section we score based on how fast a phone can boot up and call. We begin with the phone closed and off, and stop the timer as we hit the send key. The Blast was able to power up and complete a call in an average of 21.48 seconds, which is a good time. Most of this time was booting up the phone, which is where the Blast's simplicity may have helped it. Phones with complex operating systems like Windows Mobile often take longer to boot up, simply because they need to launch more programs at startup. Then again, phones with similar functionality also dominate the other end of the spectrum, like BlackBerry devices or the Helio Ocean, all of which clock in at less than ten seconds.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Samsung Blast | 21.48 | 4.66 |
| Apple iPhone | 26.12 | 3.83 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 24.26 | 4.12 |
| Nokia N73 | 36.70 | 2.72 |
| Sprint Upstage | 28.90 | 3.46 |
| Motorola Razr | 35.70 | 2.80 |
Ring Volume (8.55)
For this test we play the phone's ringtones four inches away from a sound meter and register the maximum output in decibels. The Blast was able to score 85.5 decibels, which isn't the loudest we've registered. It is, however, pretty firmly wedged in the midst of the majority of most phones we've reviewed. Ringtones at 85.5 decibels are likely catch your ear, especially the more shrill ones. If you're in a loud environment, however, it might not be enough.
| Cell Phone | Volume (decibels) | Score |
| Samsung Blast | 85.5 | 8.55 |
| Apple iPhone | 84.9 | 8.49 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 85.7 | 8.57 |
| Nokia N73 | 85.3 | 8.53 |
| Sprint Upstage | 81.0 | 8.10 |
| Motorola Razr | 88.0 | 8.80 |
Ringtone Customizability (8.0)
The Blast offers quite a bit of freedom with ringtone customization. You can set an MP3 file or voice recording as your ringtone. The phone also does the brunt of the work for you, as it'll allow you to set a file as a ringtone right from the memory card.
Non Audio Alerts (4.0)
Non audio alerts were pretty weak. We couldn't feel the phone vibrate if it was in our pants pocked and we were standing. We also missed it a few times when we were sitting. If your phone is in your bag or a purse, you don't have a chance at catching a call. We did appreciate the animation that took up the screen when a call was coming in, but it wasn't particularly eye-catching.
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