Samsung SGH-T109

The Samsung SGH-T109 is a low-end clamshell cell phone with no camera and few features, but professional and owner reviews say it's fine if you just want to make phone calls. You can also send text and instant messages, but one credible professional review says the keypad is "uncomfortable," so it's probably not a great option for people who do a lot of texting. The Samsung SGH-T109's primary attributes are its inexpensive price tag and "undeniably unique" green shell. PC syncing is listed among the features, but some owner reviews indicate they could not achieve data transfers of any kind. Other owner reviews say it's simple -- you have to use a USB hookup. There's no Bluetooth and no microSD slot.

CNET's Kent German says call quality is acceptable, but volume is a bit low. German also conducted a battery test and got about 20 minutes less than the promised four hours of talk time -- not a huge deal. The Samsung SGH-T109 has some other basics like a basic WAP 2.0 web browser, a speakerphone and a voice recorder. There is a tiny monochrome external display. The internal display screen is 1.75 inches and has the low resolution common for a very cheap cell phone -- 160 pixels by 128 pixels. By comparison, the top-reviewed basic cell phone in reviews, the Pantech Breeze, has a resolution of 176 pixels by 220 pixels.

We found the best review at CNET. It covers more inexpensive cell phones than any other source and performs thorough hands-on testing. It also publishes a frequently updated roundup of the best basic cell phones; the Samsung SGH-T109 doesn't make that list. ConsumerReports.org tests a lot of Samsung cell phones, but the Samsung SGH-T109 isn't among them. We found no owner reviews at Amazon.com, but about three dozen users rate the Samsung SGH-T109 at GSMArena.com, and we also found a few reviews at Target.com.