A Closer Look on Samsung Reclaim: a Preview

Ok, after we discussed about the questionable green side of the Samsung Reclaim, let us continue to the next thing: Samsung Reclaim First Impression (a Preview). As you might already know, the Samsung Reclaim is a budget phone, and it comes for only $50 on 2 years contract. Therefore don’t expect too much of this phone… Here I present you a Samsung Reclaim preview based on several aspects which was initally done by our folks at MobileCrunch, which are Reclaim’s hardware, software, keyboard and camera. So let’s start then….

Reclaim Hardware and Design

Well, it is a pretty decent device, regarding the price. The keyboard looks great, as do the sides and rear of the phone. The face, however, looks pretty tacky. Several less frequently used buttons are smaller than the frequently used ones. The grip is quite comfortable, and the sliding mechanism is also good. The 3.5mm headset jack is also a great addition. Talks about the keyboard, it is better than expected. Nice pressure mechanism. Too bad it’s a bit small, but it is the form factor.

Reclaim Software and Camera

We really like the idea of Sprint’s One Click UI. Your homescreen is essentially a looping carousel, filled from left to right with “Tiles” of your choosing. They’ve got the basics covered: Facebook and Myspace are there for your social needs, quick (basic) access to just about every Google service is available, and customization is quick and easy. However, there are some bugs on the sotware and some delay too.

The camera is not the best feature on this phone. It seems to have a fixed focus outside of any known dimension; whether near or far, things are blurry messes.

Conclusion:

In today’s day of incredible smartphones costing just $100-$150 bucks, we’d never, ever recommend a $50 feature phone. If we did, we’d consider recommending the Reclaim Not because of the supposed eco-friendliness – because, to be honest, we think that’s a bit of a sham. At the very most, it’s a well intended but way off the mark gesture. Samsung makes some 50+ phones a year; in the grand scheme of things, a few small changes across all of Samsung’s models would make more of a difference than one ultra-green phone.