Samsung Glyde Cell Phone Review - Messaging
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Alfredo Padilla Published on May 28, 2008 Comment on this |
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Like the LG enV2 we feel like the lack of an email client on a device with a full QWERTY keyboard is just a waste. We also wish there was a unified interface for creating all types of messages, text and multimedia.
Supported Email Services (0.0)
Like the LG Env2 the Samsung Glyde lacks a built in email client. This means you can only access your email via the built in web browser. Although this will be a sufficient solution for many we don't award points for web based email. This is because web based email does not allow you to save messages on the device so you can access them quickly and when you don't have a data connection. As a result the Glyde will receive a zero in many of these sections.
Push Email (0.0)
Push email allows you to receive your email instantaneously like you would on a BlackBerry. Lacking an email client the Samsung Glyde does not support push email.
Multiple Email Accounts (0.0)
Although you can obviously check multiple email accounts on the Glyde via the web browser by simply browsing to the appropriate email's website there's no way to save emails from multiple accounts on the device as it lacks an email client.
HTML and Attachements (0.0)
Without the ability to download emails to the device itself there's no way to view attachments. Viewing of HTML emails depends on what online service you use to view your emails on the web browser.
Email Customizations (0.0)
Without an email client there are no options for custsomization.
Time to a New Email Message (0.0)
As there's no email client we can't time how long it takes to create a new message. If you're checking your email via the web browser you can expect it to take awhile as the browser is fairly slow to load and then you'll have to browse to the appropriate site and take the time to log in.
Email Usability (0.0)
A zero here as there's no email client for us to consider its usability.
Instant Messaging (0.0)
Like most modern cell phones the Samsung Glyde includes an instant messaging client that allows you to sign into AIM, Windows Live Messaging or Yahoo Messenger. Unfortunately it's also similar to many modern phones in that every instant message you send or receive is charged as text message to your account. Although this might be acceptable to those who don't have a data plan we feel strongly that if you do pay for an unlimited data plan you should not be charged additionally for this particular type of data. As such we don't award points for instant messaging clients that use a text messaging gateway like the Glyde.
each instant message will cost you a text message
MMS Support (7.0)
The Samsung Glyde has good support for sending multimedia messages. You can take a photo or record a video and send the resulting picture or video directly from the camera interface. You can also easilly send a multimedia message from the album software, or create a new one from the messaging menu.
multimedia messages are well integrated
SMS Smiley Face Interpretation (2.0)
Those who like to see little smiling faces in their text messages will be disappointed by the Samsung Glyde as it does not turn smiley faces into graphical representations, instead it leaves them in simple text format. Strangely, though, it does allow you to insert graphical smiley faces into your outgoing text messages. We have to say that such inconsistency irks us.
no smileys here
SMS/MMS Ease of Use (6.0)
The SMS/MMS interface on the Samsung Glyde is fairly easy to use and straightforward. When you enter the messaging menu you see a shortcut to create new messages at the top and below that your mailboxes, including inbox, send and drafts folders. These are shared by all message types, which is integration we like to see.
we like unified messaging inboxes
What we don't like so much is that when you go to create a new message you have five message types to choose from, including text, picture, video, sketch and postcard. We much prefer phones that have a single unified message creation interface with the ability to add any multimedia you might want to any message you create. We found the Glyde's plethora of choice confusing.
Time to a New SMS Message (4.35)
It took an average of 2.3 seconds to get to a new text message interface on the Samsung Glyde. The operation is simple, tap on the box in the center of the home screen to bring up the shortcut menu and then choose the new text message option at the top of the resulting menu. Although 2.3 seconds is slightly faster than average, only the iPhone amongst our comparison phones took longer to create a new text message.
the Glyde was slow to get a new text message on screen
This was due to lag on the device to recognize our finger presses on the touch screen and the time it took for the interface to come up. Given that there are only two steps involved we would have liked to see a shorter time. For example on the LG Voyager, another touch screen device, it took only 1.1 seconds to get to a new text message interface. For more information on how we conduct this test see this article.
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