Samsung Katalyst SGH-T739 Specs, Features & Reviews

It is really exciting to see a new Hotspot @ Home phone released to the lineup. I really think that what you get with the phone is amazing for its price. The UMA connection ability is incredibly useful and cool because it makes the phone unique from 95% of the other phones T-Mobile offers.

Pros:
UMA connection
Slider (if that's your cup of tea)
Handsome phone being trimmed in chrome
Very useful practically
A unique phone for a middle of the road price

Cons:
Memory card slot located underneath battery

All in all I am satisfied. Is it a top of the line phone and feature rich? NO! But there is something more appealing about that to more of the customers out there that don't want to pay an arm and a leg.

The only reason i gave it a 3.5 is because I do not have this t-mobile network, and I couldn't call anyone- my friend asked me to list the phone on eBay and I sold the phone for 309.000 it was almost brand new.

While I was getting ready to send the phone out, I went and went to see if the owners info was still in the phone, he had included his sim card for testing for the pictures on the listing, and I played with the phone as well. I really think the camera was a great camera, so was bluetooth etc, except I couldn't call anyone because I was in a bad area. T-mobile just doesn't work while I live.

Bottom line- if you want to get this phone (now discontinued as they now have a new upgrade to this phone) but this phone is seriously something u would want to check into. I am not much into the slide up- more to the slide to the side era now, so it wasn't really my style, but if I did have t-mobile and I had to get this phone, I wouldn't complain the phone is pretty dang cool.

This phone is great!!!! I had it only for the past week and I love it! I also love T-Mobile. My brother has the Samsung T429 and I have the Katalyst and we both love our phones! You should get these 2 phones! The 2 phones have a 1.3 megapixel camara. People say say 1.3 is not good enough but I think this is good of a phone(including the T429) I love it, love it love it!!!!!!!!

This one is one solid performer without any of the physical weaknesses that plagued the U600.

Here's The Rundown:

What I Liked About This Model

1- The slide mechanism is crisp but well damped.
2- The LCD lens is nicely inset which protects it from incidental bumps and hits.
3- The navigation and soft keys are clearly defined and easy to use.
4- The numeric keypad is well backlit in white and incredibly easy to read.
6- The screen is bright and clear.
7- Another fast User Interface. Nokia - take notes!
8- UMA is a breeze to set up with T-Mo router and only slightly more complicated with a "Brand-X" wireless router using encryption.
9- Voice is loud and clear
10- Signal is strong for both Tower and Router signals.
11- Goodies include MP3, a couple of demo games, IM.
12- Fairly complete PIM functions.
13- The grey and chrome is a nice understated approach. I'm getting tired of black phones and I'm not ready for a red one, not yet.

What's Not So Hot

1- The numeric keypad is slick and flat and you have to look at it to text and dial numbers because it is pretty homogeneous.
2- PIM functions are buried under "Fun and Apps" icon on the main menu.
3- Way too many opportunities to visit T-Zones in the sub-menus.
4- Camera is only 1.3 megapixels. T-Mobile seems to have an aversion to offering decent cameras on their phones.
5- Charger port does triple duty as headphone and data port.
6- No flash for the camera.
7- What is up with that funky microSD interface?
8- When in a sub-menu that takes you to the Internet if you cancel out of the Internet you fall back to the standby screen rather than the sub-menu. This is annoying.

The Wrap!

As you see despite my gripes I give this phone an excellent rating. There is very little in the list above that actually detracts from the functioning of the device.

The Katalyst has very nice sound quality and signal from T-Mobile in Orange County, CA. I opted for the HotSpot@Home package in order to take advantage of free unlimited minutes anywhere with a WiFi signal.

At home, I have a Linksys WRT54G router, and run many security features and options, and was figuring I'd have to turn most of those features off in order to get the Katalyst to work. Boy was I wrong! I don't broadcast my SSID, I run MAC address filtering, as well as I use a static IP network. I was very surprised to find out I could set up the Katalyst to give me it's MAC address, and program static IP info into it. The only thing I had to turn on was mixed mode broadcast on my router - 802.11 B&G. I was originally only set to broadcast G.

Multiple times at home and work, I tested call quality and switching by starting on WiFi and going outside, watching the screen for when it 'switched' to the cell towers. It works flawless, and I've no dropped calls in the past 10 days since having the phone.

The phone has a nice amount of display and sound options. Decent camera. It took a little getting used to pressing the top keys when texting, because they are so close to the slider - I do have big hands and fingers though. Could not seem to program shortcut keys.

*Note* I might be returning it ONLY because I found an incredible deal on a BB Curve through Costco.

I use T-Mobile because I travel overseas a lot and found the Verizon CDMA/GSM phones a hassle. I put up with the less broadly available T-Mobile network in the US and the slower data speeds as a trade-off. My primary goal is good voice coverage. Prior phone: Motorola PEBL.

My experience with this phone has been extremely positive. Handoffs from my router to the T-Mobile network are seamless. As I work from a home-office, this means that 70% of my minutes each month are not charged against my bucket.

I can now travel to places with weaker coverage and use the UMA feature while in range of a router. I carry my own Apple Airport when traveling. Wherever I log onto an unsecured network or can plug in the Airport to the Internet, I get stellar reception. A vacation rental in an area with weak coverage goes to full coverage, and with no charge to minutes. My AT&T wired phone is a bad memory.

Pros:

>UMA connection (free US calls from overseas saving tons of money)

>With a $10 USB cable, that also charges the phone (do an Internet search) you can synch with your entire Outlook Contacts folder (forget T-Mobile’s very limited synchronization feature)

>Same as above for Outlook Calendar (with memory limits)

>The phone allows for blocking (to voicemail) of selected numbers or of any number with no caller ID

>Voice recognition is excellent, even with a Bluetooth earpiece

>Simple navigation and included shortcuts

>Plenty of customization options

>Camera seems decent

Cons:

>A bit slippery (meaning can easily be dropped, fall out of a pocket, or slide off a surface, but I pasted on some EGrips material on the back to deal with that)

>No Bluetooth connection for Outlook synchronizing (but $10 charging cable is cheaper and lighter than a charger and works off a laptop)

>A bit larger and heavier (by 1 oz) than I would like

>Not a clamshell (so screen and navigation buttons are not protected)

>No shortcut customizing.

I got this phone for my birthday last week and I must say I really do love it! The only complaint that I do have involves texting. I noticed that my text messages are saved to my SIM automatically. In order to keep from having to constantly erase them, I have to manually save them to my phone. Wasn't too happy about that especially when I called the carrier to ask if there was a way to bypass that and they told me no. Other than that, I LOVE IT!

This phone works quite nicely with my Wifi network. The phone makes for an overall nicer user experience than the t409, which my wife has for the UMA service.

Most people who purchase this phone are not really looking to replace their standalone mp3 players. This is good, as the music player limits you to 30 songs per playlist, with only four playlists. This means I frequently switch out songs in my playlist. I purchased a $10 USB cable for the phone, so I don't have to pull out the memory card to transfer pictures and music. The same cable also works with the t409 for transferring pictures.

My only other complaint is common to 2G T-Mobile Samsungs... You can't even use the new signed versions of Opera Mini or Mobile Gmaps with the phone. When downloading, it states "Authentication Failed." The new 3G T-Mobile Samsungs let you use the signed versions of both apps, so it must something with the older 2G software.

I'd recommend the phone for use with UMA.

PROS :

No dropped calls

Hot Spot @ Home works like a champ !!!

Camera quality is decent

Roaming capability is good

You can use you're MP3's or voice sounds as ringtones

Fast as lightening text to other peeps even non TMobile customers !!!

Customer service is good

Nice display ( quality )

Battery life is 4 outta 5 which is great !!!

My Faves is cool

Lots of options in the menu !!! ( Hope you like the color Pink ) !!!

CONS:

Speaker volume is not good.

This phone is not for Text Messaging Peeps

No date on phone. ( weird )

Calender option is bad. If you need a calender handy, don't buy this one.

Gets dirty too easy

No 3G when it comes available

Low memory

NO Shortcuts !!! There are some but you have to hit 2, 3, 4, maybe even 5 buttons !!!!

All n all its good but not the best !!!

Overall I like the ease of use and how quickly it connected with my router non tmobile.

Pros
screen size
sounds great with tmobile @home service
price was amazing
Wife was really happy with it.

cons.
Not many that I see its only been a week though.
Reception was horrible at my house without the at home service that was for any phone. @home service took care of that in Southern Cali.