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Samsung Juke Cell Phone Review - Software

Robin Liss Published on November 05, 2007 Comment on this

Intro Making/Receiving Calls Software Other Features

Tour & Design Messaging Battery Life Value & Comparisons

Audio Quality Organizer Connectivity Conclusion

Imaging Multimedia Hardware Ratings & Specs

OS (3.0)
The Juke's OS is typical of Verizon's BREW interfaces. They are responsive,  but the downside to this is the size of everything. The tiny screen makes navigation a pain, especially when filling in fields. Little features are left out as well, including a way to set the sensitivity of the scroll wheel, which just makes navigation even harder. Navigation on the BREW interface has always hinged on keypad shortcuts for efficient navigation, and the Juke is no exception. The calendar is buried three menus deep, so if you've don't know the keypad path, scrolling around with a low-sensitivity scroll wheel is annoying. Regardless of the annoyances, the menus are still intelligently laid out, if a bit layered, and you aren't left waiting for the screen to update as often happens with Windows Mobile phones. If you can get past the tiny layout, you should be fine.

Home Screen Score (5.0)
Again, it's Verizon and BREW, so the home screen will look familiar, if really, really cramped. The top of the screen is still where battery life and signal strength call home. Toward the bottom is the time and date, and at the very bottom are the soft key shortcuts, as well as a reminder that the select key opens up the Main menu. Though there's no visible clue, the four d-pad direction shortcuts are intact. These are fairly important, as the Juke tends to bury things beneath menus. We would've liked an on-screen reminder of what they were, however, but we understand screen real estate is premium on the Juke. If you don't like the shortcuts, you can always change them in the Settings menu. Overall, the home screen is clean and well laid out, if slightly claustrophobic.

Extensibility (0.0)
While there are a surprising number of menus that contain prompts for Verizon-provided BREW applications, the actual selection of BREW applications is far less expansive. As third-party software isn't allowed, we would've liked Verizon to provide a bit more so we didn't notice. The lack of extensibility is an unfortunate standard among the less-advanced phones.

Customizability (3.0)
The Juke allows for basic customization. You can change the wallpaper, the banner, or one of two themes. Neither theme changes the interface significantly. As mentioned earlier, you can reassign the four d-pad shortcuts. You can alter the dial font size and style, but there aren't very many options. An analog clock can also be added to the home screen. One area we would've liked to see was some sort of sensitivity adjuster for the scroll wheel.

OS Responsiveness (6.0)
The Juke is a responsive phone. We never felt as though we had to wait for menus to open, and even large applications like the camera load  quickly. Judging how quickly the music player boots up is a bit difficult to do, since the phone must be closed in order for it to open, which could mask load time. In any case, when closed, the player pops up immediately. Overall, we're impressed with how responsive the Juke is.

Browser Features (0.0)
The Juke doesn't have a browser, which is an odd exclusion on a modern cell phone. It is understandable, however, given the size of the screen; browsing the web on this screen would be a real pain.

Browsing Interface (0.0)
N/A: Doesn't have a browser.

Browser Access (0.0)
N/A: Doesn't have a browser.

Gaming (1.0)
Though the Juke has a folder for games, it doesn't come with any preloaded, not even demos. The folder's only item is a "Get Applications" link for downloading Verizon-offered BREW games. If you do decide to get games, the Juke seems like it would offer average controls with one exception: using the d-pad in tandem with any other button. The depth difference between the d-pad and the keypad is enough to throw us off normally, and having soft keys far below the d-pad is hard to get used to.

Calculator (6.0)
The Juke has a simple BREW calculator. The four basic operations are assigned to the d-pad. The right soft key allows you to insert parenthesis and exponents. It was able to perform all our basic calculations, but as it had no square root button we had to use fractional exponents. Its interface is simple and clean.

Alarm (4.0)
Basic functionality here. You are limited to three alarms, and they can only be set by time, not date. Recurrence options include daily, during the business week, or on weekends. You can set their ringtone.

Document Software (0.0)
We weren't able to check if the Juke could view PDFs, spreadsheets, Word documents, or PowerPoint presentations because we were unable to get them onto the phone. Normally we attach our test files in an e-mail, but as the Juke has no e-mail client or browser we weren't able to test this.

Other Software (0.0)
The Juke has no other software of note. We're actually a bit disappointed that the Juke's tip calculator doesn't contain the garish startup animation we saw on the LG Chocolate Vx8550. We like our tip calculators to be flashy.

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