Samsung Zeal Phone (Verizon Wireless)

Great Feature Phone! November 28, 2010

Reviewer:  Gary A Anderson  (Wallingford, CT United States) -

I got this phone 3 days ago and I'm loving it! Love the dual keyboard. What really surprised me was the voice recognition...it kicks a**! I didn't have to train the phone to know my voice and you can have it do anything with a few words. I wasn't even concerned with that feature when I bought it, but I'm enjoying it very much. If you don't need a smartphone, this phone is an excellent choice.

Love this phone! November 17, 2010

Reviewer:  Michelle Hatfield  (SIOUX CITY, IA, US) -

This phone is very similar to the Alias, but BETTER! It became available on November 15th (the day I bought it), so I've only been using it for 3 days, but so far I'm very happy with it. Three major selling points: It's a flip phone (no accidental dialing), it has an excellent texting keypad, and Verizon does not require that you carry a minimum internet access fee.

Good microphone for soft spoken users December 18, 2010

Reviewer:  S. Stamatov  (Novi, Mi United States) -

Tested this in a Verizon store. Left myself a voice message.
My voice mail messages sounded noticeaby better than the LG Octane and slighty better than the old non-touch LG Cosmos. The Cosmos has better speakerphone though.
The keyboard is not perfect for one handed dialing, but at least the sound is decent.

Samsung Zeal from Verizon Wireless August 12, 2011

Reviewer:  Richard G.  (Minneapolis, MN USA) -

I agreed to a 2-year family contract with Verizon Wireless in December 2010. I got this phone for myself and a different phone for my wife. I don't use many of the features this phone offers. I needed only a good quality flip phone that could handle text messaging and had a decent camera. There are tons of phones that meet those qualifications. But I wanted to go with Verizon as my carrier, mostly because my employer offered a good discount if I went with Verizon and took the two year plan. This phone was featured on Verizon's main sales page so I agreed.

First of all, I don't use many of it's features. I didn't get a data plan so I rarely use anything that requires a data connection with the web browser. I only stick to data connections that are free. The phone comes with three email options [Mobile, Mobile Web, and Microsoft Exchange for Corporate email], and an App called "Social Beat" to connect to your facebook, twitter accounts etc. I don't make use of those features so I won't comment on them. I also do not make use of V CAST Music or Rhapsody music service. I also do not have a bluetooth headset. Nor do I use the VZ Navigator application. So I can't comment on those.

What I like is the microSD card reader, which allows you copy and transfer just about anything, including videos, music, photos and contacts. It is convieniently located and doesn't get in my way when using the phone. Very easy to transfer content in either direction...(Phone to Card, or Card to Phone.) I can take photos with the camera and easily copy them to my laptop at a later time.

The call quality is fine. Previously I had an old model AT&T flip phone. It dropped several calls while on the AT&T network. I don't drop as many calls on the Verizon network, but I'm not sure to credit this phone or Verizon's network. (I changed both my Phone and Wireless Carrier at the same time, so it's hard to know which deserves to credit.)

A feature that works great is Voice Commands. You speak certain commands into the phone and it responds to your instructions. I tested it and haven't found any command it didn't understand. I have about 80 contacts in my phone, and it was able to FIND all of them. I even CALL a number of them using Voice Commands. I'm very impressed with the speed and accuracy of it's voice recognition software.

Another great feature is the dual-hinge design, which makes it easy to use the phone as a phone or as a text input device. I rarely send texts, but it's such a hugh improvement from my previous flip phone. It's makes use of eInk to change the keyboard depending on what you're doing. I had to manually enter all of those 80 contacts by hand when I first got this phone and found it to be a huge help. It was still a chore, but a lot easier.

I like the fact there are touch buttons on the front to play music. Only once did I use my phone to listen to music. However I really appreciate that you can disable those touch buttons. They're quite easy to activate when the phone is in your front pocket.

I have a few minor nits to pick. There's no way to make the front panel display the time and date without fliping open the phone. Sometimes I just need to check the time. It's easy to flip open the phone and look at the home screen, but it would be nice if I could just hit one of the side buttons and view it. Also, the back panel which covers the battery is exremely difficult to remove. I strugled a lot trying to remove the thing so I could install the batter when I first got it.

Battery life is fine for what I do. I charge the phone about every 6 days, which is fine with me. But I will say that once in awhile, I make frequent use of the camera (for photos and video.) The battery is drained very quickly on those days. So if you're the type who snaps a lot of photos, or makes heavy use of texting or uploading photos to facebook, the battery will probably drain on you quickly.

Anyways, this is the best non-Smart Phone you can buy. Highly recomended.

Best Phone I've owned May 5, 2011

Reviewer:  Bob Sokol  (SLC, UT) -

I was looking for a simple flip phone to replace a Palm Centro. I hated all the free phones that Verizon had to offer when extending my current contract. They had this for a reasonable price, but I was initially turned off by what I perceived as a "gimmicky" phone with the dual flip action. I decided to give it a try mostly due to lack of better options in the price range. I have really loved this phone. I admit that I do not use many of the features that this phone has to offer. I rarely text and I have never used Bluetooth or the web browser, so I can't speak to the usefulness of these features. Generally, I talk for about 15 to 20 minutes a day on this phone. I have found that I only recharge the battery every 5 to 7 days. Other users who have experienced poor battery life must talk an awful lot to require daily charging. There may be other explanations such as leaving your Bluetooth and/or other features on all of the time...

I like this phone for its excellent battery life, sturdy construction, and clear sound. It has exceeded all of my expectations.