Between the craziness of work, home and all of my extracurricular activities, I stay connected to my friends and family through Facebook and Twitter. Sad, I know. But very commonplace today. It’s with my phone that I uploaded photos of my daughter eating a cupcake, as it was happening, for her grandparents to see. It was with my phone that I tweeted about my baby walking for the first time. Sharing those moments instantly with our loved ones is something I enjoy being able to do. The new Samsung Continuum phone from Verizon Wireless helps keep you up-to-date, even while you’re on the go.
The Samsung Continuum provides the Android operating system, but the layout and menu options are slightly different than any other Android phone I have used. Rather than scrolling down for applications, the user scrolls from side to side. Minor things like that. It took me a little while to get used to the way the phone operated, but not too long and I was well on my way.
Keeping it full
My biggest frustration is a phone that dies before I get home at the end of the day. I need a phone that is going to last from the time I get in my car until the time I walk in the door after work. I turned the Samsung Continuum on and left it on. Three days later, I heard it chirp that it needed to be juiced up. While I didn’t use the phone during that time except to check e-mail and get Facebook updates, it just kept going. Its battery life was pretty impressive.
The Purse Test
The entire screen on the Samsung Continuum is a touch screen. I am a touch-screen convert. I love them. Before I purchased one myself, I had my worries. Would it break? Would it scratch? Would it get all marked up? The answer is no in most normal situations. I’ve dropped my personal phone (not this review model of course) and it hasn’t done any of the above.
The Samsung Continuum’s screen is bright, colorful and basically amazing. Pictures look fantastic, the web looks great and video has gone to a new level.
The phone held up well in my purse, including the screen. The sleek and smooth body appeared unscathed, even after spending some time in the my purse, which is basically like a junk drawer with a strap.
The Ticker
With such a large screen, there are lots of areas for “stuff.” On this phone, one of those things is the Ticker. While the phone screen is turned off, the Ticker, which appears at the bottom of the screen, e-mail messages and social networking pings are displayed in a small box. You’ll always know when something has arrived and it’s up to you to deal with it then, or wait until a better time.
Overall, this phone provides a user-friendly Android experience. It’s a pretty simple phone that still offers a lot of options and a lot of room for personalization.
The Samsung Continuum is available from Verizon Wireless for $199.99 with a two-year contract with $29.99 data pack.
And for those who want the details:
- 480×800 pixel display
- 3.4” display
- Touch-screen
- 312 hours standby time and 420 minutes of talk time.
- Bluetooth capability
- GPS capability
- HTML Browse
- Microsoft Outlook compatibility
- USB connectivity
- WI-FI enabled
- 5.0 Megapixel Camera with 4x digital zoom and LED flash
- Multiple video modes
- Music storage capability and headphone jack
- microSD up to 32 GB supported
- Document viewer
And now the fine print: I was provided with a demo Samsung Continuum by Verizon Wireless for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated. The views and opinions written here are my own.
