Available in three colors (red, blue, teal) for exclusively Verizon Wireless, Samsung's new music phone is a uniquely designed phone marketed towards teens.Phone Design
At first look, we are amazed. The phone looks like more of an MP3 player than a phone. It swivels up like a switch blade knife. While it may be fun to open, the tiny screen may be too small for some users.
The keyboard is small and virtually impossible to dial by feel. This would not be a good phone for those who like to text message often.
Though the phone is small, it is quite fat at .83 inches wide. We would of liked to see it a bit thinner. The front of the phone reveals a intuitive scroll wheel which was a big hit with our testers. It is silver, and works in a similar fashion to the LG chocolate wheel. Out only gripe is that the menu button in the middle of the scroll wheel is a bit small and hard to press even for those with small hands.
Overall, it is a very nice design to the phone. It is certainly going to turn some heads, though it may be a bit to small for some people
Phone Features
The Juke has many great features, by is lacking many necessary features for a music phone.
Lets start with the good. The Juke comes with 2 GB built in memory (rare for a phone), stereo bluetooth, a USB cable to connect to computer, and a set of 2.5 mm headphones. I like how the juke comes right out of the box with everything you need to listen to music. You don't have to spend extra money like you do with the chocolate.
There is a external speaker located in a poor location (back) and it isn't very loud and of low quality, but it's better than nothing.
There is also VZ navigator, which is a nice feature, but on such a small screen how much help could it be?
The phone lacks V Cast, which is very disappointing. This is a music phone, and to not have V Cast is a real curve ball. It was easy to sync music from the computer, but the inability to download music is a shock. The phone also lacks a mobile web browser.
The VGA camera is poor quality, and includes no flash. It does include a self portrait mirror which is easy to use. Oh, and no expandable memory or voice recorder.
Phone Performance
The call quality was great on the Juke, but the antenna is located on the bottom of the phone and often we would place our hand over it while talking which will lead to static. The phone fits perfect on the face while talking and is very comfortable.
The MP3 player is very easy to use and sounds good. It offers EQ, shuffle mode, and all standard features you would expect on an MP3 player.
Phone Grade C+
Although the juke offers a truly unique design, it fails to impress us. It is marketed as a music phone, and yet the absence of V Cast makes it no more of a music phone than any other phone you could find.
The phone lacks many features, and non of its built in features inpress up (poor camera, bad external speaker).
The phone is priced very cheaply ($49.99 with a contract) so it is a good value for teens on a budget. It does inlude 2 GB of built in memory so your good to go right out the box.
