Samsung Gravity SGH-T459

If you want a handset with a full QWERTY keyboard at a low price and you don't mind limited features, reviews say the Samsung Gravity SGH-T459 slider cell phone is not a bad choice. Aside from the keyboard, it's a "thoroughly average midrange phone," says PCMag.com's Sascha Segan. You'll make do with no 3G network support, no GPS, a paltry 1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder, basic music player and call quality that reviewers describe as anywhere from disappointing to "good but not great." One plus is that the Samsung Gravity is a quad-band (world) phone that can operate in most places around the globe. Owner reviews frequently criticize battery performance, but professional reviewers usually get at least six hours of talk time -- PCMag.com recorded nearly 11 hours.  

Reviews are divided about where the Samsung Gravity SGH-T459 stands in the market. PCMag.com's Segan says that with the demise of the T-Mobile Sidekick iD, the Samsung Gravity is the best low-end choice for a full QWERTY keyboard. InfoSyncWorld.com's Philip Berne, however, suggests the Samsung Rant as "a much better option at the same price." Multimedia fans should note that while the Samsung Gravity is supposed to accept microSD cards up to 4 GB, Segan said he could not get anything higher than 2 GB cards to function. As with any T-Mobile phones, reviews complain that T-Mobile blocks third-party apps like the Opera Mini browser, so the web surfing experience is a bit lacking.

We found the best coverage at PCMag, CNET, InfoSyncWorld and ConsumerReports.org. MobileBurn.com usually has longer reviews than many people might want to read, but the Samsung Gravity SGH-T459, covered by a guest contributor, gets a shorter treatment, and the regular battery test appears to have been skipped in favor of less formal testing. CNET has by far the largest pool of owner reviews, about 40. There is just a handful at Amazon.com.