Samsung SGH-T259

Although reviewers like the Samsung SGH-T259's midnight-blue color scheme, there's "nothing exciting" about the flip phone itself, says PhoneArena.com's reviewer "John V." The 4-by-2-inch body has a 1.3-inch external display and a microUSB port. There's also a 2.2-inch internal display with 240-by-320-pixel resolution and a keypad that PhoneScoop.com's Eric Zemen says is "nice and roomy." The phone's memory is expandable to 32 GB by way of a microSD card, which Alex Colon of PCMag.com says can be "tricky" to insert. The headphone jack shares the microUSB port with the phone's charger, which means an adapter is needed for standard headphones -- and headphones can't be used while the phone is charging.

Citing its cost and call quality, PCMag.com editors give the Samsung an Editor's Choice award. At the same time, reviewers say the phone's features -- such as a music player, camera and messaging capabilities -- are not terribly sophisticated. Both Dolcourt and John V. test battery life for talk time; Dolcourt reports nearly five hours of service, while John V. squeezes over eight hours.

PhoneArena.com's review draws the clearest portrait of the T259, while both Colon and Zemen build the case for value. Professional tests focus mainly on the phone's ability to make and receive calls. Colon suggests that T-Mobile subscribers have an alternative in the LG dLite or for those willing to step up to a "more complex feature phone" they might consider the Samsung Gravity 3.