Digital Trends

Samsung Juke SCH-u470

February 20th, 2008 | by Damon Brown

Testing Cont'd

The Juke music setup is solid. Go into Music mode and the phone asks you to switch the top half down, essentially turning the Juke into a thick iPod shuffle. Hold it horizontally. With the radial dial (now on the right) you can control the music, skipping, playing and pausing songs. The now horizontal screen displays the current list of music. It’s a basic, what looks to be 16-color display, but it gets the job done.

The phone speakers are pretty good, at least for solo use – look to another music phone, like, say, the MOTORAZR2 V8 for strong sounds. On the other hand, the included headphones are as good as any pair of iPod earphones.

There’s not much else to the Juke. The camera is easy to use, but requires the phone be fully extended – imaging taking a picture with a long, tall camera. The vertical design of the actual display makes for odd pictures. There is no flash.

The camera is surprisingly supple. Press the camera button, push the first bar up and turn the phone on its side. Now using the vertical screen as a viewfinder and the horizontal touchscreen as a button, the Venus actually feels like a real camera. The pictures are solid, too, especially considering we’re getting the now-standard 2 Megapixel resolution and no flash. 

Conclusion

Samsung should be commended for creating an affordable, sole purpose phone. The problem is that the sound quality is weak. Discounts make the price comparable to an iPod Shuffle, but music connoisseurs should just pony up another $100 and get a better music phone.

Pros: 

• Great price
• Clean design
• Pick up and play

Cons: 

• Throwaway camera
• Below-average speakers