Samsung's Texting Trio for T-Mobile
Samsung's newest, cheapest messaging phone for T-Mobile is called the ":)", as in the smiley-face emoticon. I think "Burp" would have been a better name for a phone than ":)", but that's just me. Thankfully, Samsung has given everyone permission to refer to it as the "Smiley", so that's just what I'm going to do.
The Smiley is a cute little phone that reminds me of the Strive for AT&T. Both phones have a large vertical QVGA display with a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the bottom. The Smiley is noticeably smaller and more rounded than the Strive, though; it makes the Strive look downright chunky. Build quality seems decent.
While the features are largely similar, the Smiley is a slightly lower-end phone then the Strive. The camera is only 1 megapixel and there's no multi-tasking function.
The Smiley does have a large 2.6-inch display, though, and a great QWERTY text keyboard. The display doesn't have great viewing angles, but otherwise it's decent. The keyboard keys have an unusual shape, but it works; they feel good and work perfectly. Other keys on the phone also feel good and work well.
As you've no doubt guessed, there's a dedicated emoticon key. Personally, I'd prefer a dedicated question-mark key, but then I suppose they couldn't call it the ":)".
The Smiley has a whole lot in common with the Gravity 3. The interface is essentially the same. They both have 3G data, memory card slots, and GPS navigation. The Smiley is a slightly lower-end phone, with only a 1-megapixel camera.
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