With its large speaker on the face of the phone, the Samsung T539 Beat puts its music capabilities front-and-center. At first look, the device has the appearance of an iPod. This is due to the circular ring, colored iridescent green, at the bottom half of the phone. However, this is not a scroll wheel but a speaker instead. And when playing music, the rich sound that emanates from the compact mobile phone is striking.

Inside the center of this front-mounted speaker are music controls, so you don't have to open the flip phone to listen to your favorite songs. Unfortunately, the buttons are somewhat small and are flush with each other, making it difficult to distinguish one from the other. However, there are only five keys so, as with any device or remote control, once you become accustomed to the unit, your thumb will find the appropriate function automatically.

The Samsung T539 Beat has a small form factor, and weighs a mere 2.7 ounces. Above the iridescent speaker is a 1-inch external LCD. The screen supports Photo ID and doubles as the viewfinder for the phone's 1.3-megapixel camera. Otherwise, it offers up the usual information: time, signal strength, and battery level.

Flipping open the phone reveals a 1-2/5-inch LCD that supports a somewhat disappointing 65K colors and an uninspired menu layout. While you can adjust such things as brightness, backlight timing, and font size and color, the overall experience harks back to earlier generations of cell phones. The lack of color definition and detail is especially apparent when viewing photos that you've taken: pictures appear grainy and dull.

Operation of the camera starts with the dedicated button on the side of the T539, and the pictures taken (if viewed elsewhere) are of reasonable quality. There are quite a few editing features available: In addition to things like fun frames, you can adjust the color effects, play with the brightness and white levels, and you can take multiple shots in succession, which is great for getting that perfect self-portrait. There is also a self-timer and a 4x digital zoom. Pictures are taken in six resolutions, and video in two options. clips, as long as they are under 105 seconds in length, can be sent via MMS. This length is considerably large, as most phones cap the length of message-able media to 15 seconds or, at most, 30 seconds. If you have no desire to send the video out, you can record for as long like, until you run out of memory.

The dial pad and the buttons for navigating the menu have similar problems with the external music controls, being that they're flush with the rest of the phone. And, in a bit of design whimsy, the dial pad has a slight arc in the arrangement of buttons, which is somewhat annoying to get used to. The good news is that the keys are well spaced and amply backlit. Above the dial pad there are buttons to initiate and end phone calls, as well as a clear button, a shortcut key to access the Internet, another customizable shortcut key, as well as two soft keys. Following the unusual design of the dial pad, these buttons are arranged in a circular manner around the multi-directional toggle. Accessing these features takes some getting used to, but the toggle works as one would expect--except that the central OK button does not bring up the main menu. One handy feature, though, is that you can program the toggle so that you can have one-touch access to four different features.

On the side of the phone is a volume rocker, making it easy to adjust the sound level of conversations while you are on a call. And, in addition to the aforementioned dedicated button for the camera, there is also one for the music player.

A reasonably large internal memory of 30MB holds your files, while a microSD card can store the rest (a 1GB card is supplied, but the slot can handle cards up to 2GB). It bears mentioning that the slot is on the side of the phone, rather than behind the battery, making it much easier to transfer songs between the device and your computer. As for the music itself, sound is quite good over the speaker and the unit supports stereo Bluetooth. But, being that it's billed as a music phone, the Samsung Beat doesn't have a lot of options for organizing and playing music.

One unique thing about the phone is part of the myFaves feature: users can text pictures to other myFaves users that have audio messages attached to them. It's a fun feature for families and those that travel a lot. Call quality for the phone was quite good with few breakups, and signals were easy to obtain even in the interiors of large buildings. The microphone was quite clear and, being that the speaker for the phone is so prominently placed, hands-free calls were a very pleasurable experience. Battery life was exceptional, offering about five hours of talk time and nine days of standby.

The phonebook stores up to 1000 contacts (with the SIM card allowing for an additional 250), and each entry holds five phone numbers, an e-mail address, and notes. If you're someone who often loses their phone, the carrier (T-mobile) who contracts exclusively with the Beat allows you to store your contact list on their servers, so you can immediately retrieve your information should you need to replace your existing model. Other features include: voice-activated dialing, alarm clock, vibrating ringer, world clock, currency converter, and a stopwatch. Overall, the Samsung T539 Beat Mobile Phone is an inexpensive phone that offers good performance for people who like to play their music aloud.

Pros: Inexpensive, good speaker, music player, good battery life
Cons: Disappointing LCDs, awkward keypad design

Warranty
1 year, limited