Samsung Glyde

A powerful and sleek multimedia and messaging phone, the Samsung Glyde for Verizon boasts a robust feature-set, an innovative and colorful touchscreen, and full QWERTY keyboard. The 2.8-inch advanced touchscreen offers a tactile response as you tap onscreen buttons, and the slide-out QWERTY makes it easy to stay in contact via text and instant messaging...

Features

• Sleek multimedia phone with 2.8-inch touchscreen and slide-out, full QWERTY keyboard
• Access Verizon's V Cast Music and Video service via fast EV-DO data network; GPS-enabled for turn-by-turn directions
• 2-megapixel camera with video capture; Bluetooth for headsets and music streaming; microSD memory card expansion (up to 8 GB)
• Up to 3.5 hours of talk time, up to 250 hours (10+ days) of standby time; measures 4.09 x 1.98 x 0.71 inches (HxWxD)
• Includes: handset, rechargeable battery, charger, USB cable, quick start guide, user guide

Reviews

Great phone/POSSIBLE FIX FOR THE TOUCH SCREEN

by Analog Heart from on 2008-06-16
UPDATE: 6/7/09 - I recently swapped out my original Glyde for the "Refresh" version. This version has the U940.11 hardware. It also has a resistive touchscreen as opposed to the capacitive touchscreen that is on the original Glyde. My touchscreen works PERFECTLY now that I have the "Refresh." I have a full review on the other Samsung Glyde page. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Less than 24 hours ago, I went into my local Verizon store to purchase the Glyde. The sales girl told me that a lot of people had been returning the Glyde due to the touch screen's unresponsiveness. I decided to give it a try anyway. After playing with the phone for an hour and a half, I wasn't so sure I would keep it. I found the touch screen to be responsive about 90% of the time. There were times when I had to tap the screen two or three times to get it to work. It didn't bother me that much though. After reading tons of reviews online, I was expecting that to happen. The only real problem I had with the touch screen was that I just couldn't get certain screens to scroll. But at that point, my main problem with the phone was the QWERTY keyboard. I'm not used to them at all, since I've always had a standard keypad, however it was the size that was the problem. I have small hands, but even the buttons on the keyboard were pretty small for me. Being a big texter, the keyboard was the deal breaker. I decided to return the phone. I went back to my Verizon store but for some reason I changed my mind once I got there. I figured I would give myself 24 hours to get used to the keyboard and the touch screen. I'm glad I did. I've been texting with the keyboard like crazy, so I have gotten used to it. I also found that trimming my thumbnails helped too since I text with my thumbs. Haha. I have since gotten used to scrolling on the touch screen. I have also tried a fix that I read on a forum. Here it is: 1) Turn the phone off and remove the back cover. 2) With the battery in the phone, put electrical tape along the bottom of the battery to the plastic of the phone. Use enough tape to really secure the battery in place. 3) Place a piece of electrical tape on the inner shell of the back cover, across where the battery is. This will provide padding when the cover is on. 4) Replace cover and turn the phone back on. Since that fix, the touch screen has been 99% responsive. I also use the phone with the sensitivity on low. This works the best. It seems most people use it on high. I have completely changed my mind about this phone. I love it now. It's definitely not the best phone out there, but it's a pretty good phone. I recommend people try that touch screen fix. It has worked for me and quite a few others. It's worth a shot.

This is the best phone!

by P. deepan from USA on 2008-11-27
I love this phone of mine. I will say some things are bad but most of them are good. The glyde's call quality is great, and the texting is easy thanks to the keyboard. The camera is OK, but the color is a little drab. The background and menus are exquisite. The touch screen is great even on medium sensitivity level. I think that it is better than the Voyager, personally. The only other bad things is that if you accidentally touch the screen, it will 99.9% of the time react on any sensitivity. The screen size is perfect, and the call and txts are amazing, touch screen's fine, and the camera is exceeding it's expectations. If you want a sexy phone that is user-friendly, I strongly recommend this phone.

A First Hand Review of the Verizon Glyde

by Anne P. Mitchell from Boulder, Colorado on 2008-05-11
This is a review of the Verizon Glyde - the newest of Verizon cellphones - which some are calling the Verizon iPhone (and technically it's the Samsung u940, and conflated by some as the "Samsung Glyde"). The Glyde is perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated new Verizon phones ever, and definitely the sexiest of Verizon cell phone models (and one of the sexiest Samsung cell phones as well). As a bonus, this Verizon Glyde review also includes a comparison of the Glyde and the Verizon Voyager. While they are unlikely to ever get the iPhone Verizon really doesn't need to worry about it - this newest of Verizon Wireless cell phones is sure to be the brightest star in the Verizon mobile constellation. As the only Verizon telephone to feature both a touch screen and a slide out QWERTY keyboard (the other Verizon phone with a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard is the Verizon Voyager, which requires flipping the screen to access the keyboard), it's easy to see why Verizon cellular phone fans have been clamouring for the release of the Glyde, and why those who up until now had eschewed Verizon Wireless phones are now considering a switch to Verizon phone service. In short, this is one hot phone. The first thing that strikes you about the Verizon Glyde is how it feels in your hand. Yes, sure, the way that the Glyde slides open to reveal it's keyboard is slick, but the phone also just feels good in your hand. It's small, yet feels sturdy - when you open the screen to type, it doesn't feel as if the screen might snap off, as it does with so many screen+keyboard phones. And speaking of the keyboard, it is a feat of engineering and design. Seriously - Samsung really got this right - a full QWERTY keyboard that is only 3 rows deep (how do they do that, you may ask? The space bar is in the middle of the zxcvbnm row, rather than dropped down below it. And this is a hint at how it stacks up against the Voyager. The Voyager's keyboard, although larger, inexplicably has the space button (not bar, button) up on the side of the keyboard! Worse than crazy - unusuable for anyone who actually knows how to ..you know ..type! Now, let's take a moment to talk about the size of the Verizon Glyde. This is definitely a palm-sized phone - but only just. It's noticabely smaller than the Voyager, and that is a happy thing for those of us who found the Voyager just a bit clumsy because it was just a tad too big to hold comfortably while actually using the phone for anything other than dialing. Now, of course, any phone I test gets compared to my trusty T-Mobile Sidekick. For ease of photo taking and sending, the Sidekick just can't be beat. But still, the Glyde isn't bad. As soon as you snap a picture or video you are offered the option to "send", and while "via email" is not an option, the "as text message" option does support sending to email addresses. Woohoo! [For my full review, with pictures, see http://www.theinternetpatrol.com/a-first-hand-launch-day-verizon-glyde-review ]

Glyde - UPDATED - 2 Stars not 5 - Full Review With Current Firmware

by Artemaria from New York City on 2008-08-30
NOTE: EDITED REVIEW - TWO STARS NOT FIVE - Having seen the phone I was seduced. Because Verizon has a 30 day try out, and having learned about a recent firmware fix that addressed the issues, I decided to try out the phone. After having the phone for about 3 1/2 weeks I returned it because I became frustrated in using the phone. This is one case in which the reviews were not wrong. Here are my findings. PROS: LOOKS - this is one sexy phone. Smaller than an iPhone but much much thicker. About as thick as a Voyager, but otherwise smaller. Very sleek, has a few dedicated buttons on the side (volume, etc.). The design is very appealling. Gets lots of comments on looks. DISPLAY - the display is incredible. Bright, extremely well detailed and clear. Very comparable to the best out there. The display takes up nearly all of the face of the phone and works very very well. The fonts chosen for all of the displays are very clear and easy to read. SLIDE OUT KEYBOARD - this is a must for me. And this keyboard is really really good. The side of the phone that abuts the keyboard is angled (the other side is not) to allow your fingers to type on the keyboard without hitting the phone. That's an example of the thinking that went into putting so many features in such a small package. The keyboard is nicely spaced and much easier to type on than that of my work Blackberry. The keyboard slides out very nicely. SIZE - If you want a smallish phone with a touch screen, then right now, this is the only game in town. INTERNET DOWNLOADS - the internet pages come with a full HTML browser and look great. Much better than my work Blackberry, and comparable to other good phones. The font is really good for reading pages on the small screen, but if you need to enlarge the pages, you can just use the volume rocker (up for increasing size, down for decreasing size). It doesn't have the wow factor of size scaling with your fingers, but it works well. You can move the page around by moving your finger on the touch screen (just like the iPhone). VOICE DIALING - the phone has voice dialing which works very well without training. CALL QUALITY - call quality is very good, but not exceptional. You can hear other people clearly and they can hear you. However, the call quality is not as clear as on my wife's no-frills phone which admittedly has exceptionally good call quality. On this phone, the call quality makes the "Pro" list just barely because call quality is very very important to me on a phone. NEUTRAL FACTORS PRICE - the price after rebate and taxes was less than 100, which is good for a phone of this kind right now. However, I am used to getting free cell phones, so paying for a phone was a little annoying. SCREEN SIZE FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES- because of the phone's form factor, there is nothing that can be done about this, but the screen is a touch small for viewing internet pages, etc. I have no problem reading the pages, but some people who will do alot of browsing might opt for a bigger screen if this will bother them OTHER FEATURES - the phone also has GPS, and a music player. I've not tried these features yet, so I can't review them. If I do use them, I will add them to my review, but generally, these are not features that I use on a phone. Phone does have some other interesting features such as a tip calculator, etc., which are pretty neat to use. CONS - TOUCH SCREEN - the touch screen on the phone worked poorly after awhile. This was even after the much vaunted firmware update. Happily this happened to me while I was still in the 30 day period. I got rid of this phone and went back to a hard button phone and could not be happier. I will not get a Verizon touch screen phone unless and until the iPhone comes to Verizon. VERIZON INTERFACE - Verizon has some silly aspects to its interface that are annoying, such as the "Get It Now" menu being the first button on the settings menu, which you cannot change or delete. Also, the menus have been split up for no apparent reason other than to confuse the person who buys the phone. There is a glowing blue box in the middle of the screen, and this is a shortcut menu, but there is no indication anywhere on the phone that this is the case, so you have to learn this from the Verizon sales rep or from reading the manual, which you shouldn't have to do on a phone of this type. SPECIAL FEATURES COST - using some of the other features, GPS, Internet, etc. is an added cost if you get the basic plan (like I have) so if you don't watch yourself, you can end up with a pretty high phone bill. TOUCH SCREEN WITH SCREEN PROTECTORS - the screen protectors make the touch screen's poor response even worse. ---Overall, this good choice if you want a small touch screen phone. It gets annoying after the WOW factor wears off. I think that the phone has some functionality, but it is in the end defeated by the really annoying touch screen. Good, but I would suggest other better choices (Voyager, etc.) Hope this helps. Good luck with your phone shopping.

Samsung finally righted their wrong

by Robert D. Leviness from on 2009-04-13
well i got the samsung glyde originally 2 months ago and the touch screen was great at times and than out of nowhere it got all funky hitting buttons on the totally other side of the phone, and the fact u could not hit the buttons at the edge of the screen, when mobile iming it is totally a pain, well a few weeks ago i was reading online about a new model being snuck in by samsung into the verizon lineup, by people it was termed the glyde refresh, samsung actually switching from the capacitive touch screen to a pressure resistant screen (like the lg voyager or dare). well after a quick phone call to my local verizon store, i talked to someone in the technical department saying yes there is a new model out and the screen is a millimeter or two bigger. well he put it on hold for me b/c of the year warranty through samsung and i picked it up that day and all i have to say is this phone finally touches its original billing, although not the termed iphone killer, i say its pretty darn close. on both models the speaker is better than the iphone or ipod touch (which i own and ive compared), the layout is simple and i love the option of either using the touch screen or QWERTY keyboard to text, the touch screen is perfect now and every button u want to press it presses it, i can dial numbers no like i use to on my RAZR or my cordless phone at hoome. i am soo happy with this phone now and i have to say it is my favorite phone ive ever owned. DEF 5 STARS!!

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