The
Samsung Glyde was one of the most hyped phones on an American carrier in recent memory leading up to its launch, and there's one small problem with that: it's hard to live up to the fanfare, no matter how good (or bad) the phone might be. A common early complaint coming out of the gate seems to be the lack of support for Verizon's
MediaFLO-based
VCAST TV service, a service that the Glyde's main competition, the
Voyager, supports. The UI's also getting panned for being a little more confusing that it needs to be; compounding matters is the fact that Phone Scoop describes it as a "push UI" on account of a fiddly touchscreen. For what it's worth, it seems that the keyboard is at least quite good -- so if you can put up with the negatives, the Glyde might still have a place in your pocket. Otherwise, the Voyager's still looking awfully good, isn't it?
Read - LAPTOP Magazine (2.5 / 5 stars, "...limited by a poor UI and unreliable performance")
Read - Phone Scoop ("The Glyde pairs a few of the best things from the physical and touch worlds")
Read - PHONE Magazine ("The Verizon Glyde isn't a bad cellphone, but it's outshone by its rivals")
posted May 10th 2008 10:50AM
Well, its just as bulky in size as the Voyager, but i hope it doesn't have the software issues of the voyager. The screen is not as wide, but just as tall, but not too many people get Mobile TV anyways, so why rag on a phone when your not going to spend the $25/mo for it? 7.5 out of 10 for this beauty
I agree. This phone has merit for some. Personally, I stick with Windows Mobile phones, but for a Samsung it looks good.
http://www.VerizonGlyde.net
The only reason I'm not a huge fan of this phone is the OS. I suppose I could get used to the differences between this and other phones. But one thing that seems to be present in all the reviews is the frozen menus and temporarily unresponsive touch screen.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8jqjw4TKeY goto 5:55 )
I'm a Verizon Customer, and its kind of sad that the whole reason i want a Smartphone is that i don't have to deal with Verizons Poorly developed, ugly, non intuitive crippling OS.
Maybe someone can get Android working on this phone?
Yeah I'm a verizon customer too, and I seriously wish they'd get their butt in gear an offer some sweet gear.
The ONLY reason I'm still on VZW is because of their network, customer service, instore replacements and the fact that 90% of my friends and family are on VZW...
Otherwise I'd jump ship in a heartbeat and get a real phone. And once I'm out of school and actually make my own money you can bet I definitely will!
Phone Scoop has probably the best review I've read on this phone. I won't get it (mainly cause I still like my SMT-5800) but I do like it more than the Voyager, mainly because it is NOT as big or bulky as the Voyager (like someone commented above). I've got some serious playing time under my belt with this Glyde now as well and yeah at times it seemed slow but I can guarentee you within a month or two there will be a software update released that fix a lot of these issues.
I've played with this thing, and I'm completely disappointed. I (stupidly) thought that this might just be Samsung's answer to the iPhone, and comparatively it's just as bad as all the others.. When will ANY of the Asian companies figure out how to make a phone?
The interface is crap and lags all the time. The touchscreen sucks, you have to press harder than most, and it misses the recognition of your finger like at least 10% of the time which makes it incredibly annoying..
Of course I don't have to tell anyone the major problems with having a proprietary OS. I would say if you really want to have a phone with a hard keyboard and on Verizon, go with the SCH-i760. If you were waiting to check this out before thinking about switching to AT&T for the 3G iPhone, I'd say you'll be VERY disappointed.
Horrible phone man am I disappointed. I went to the verizon store today with intentions of buying one, played around with it, just horiblble. Terrible touch response, the keyboard is horrible, buttons are a little too tiny and not to mention the top part of the keyboard, your thumbs hid the top part of the phones border. I had high hopes for this phone. However, after playing with the curve, deff. enjoyed that a lot. and even surprised , I actually liked the new EnV(2), at first it looked horibble in pictures but the size and everything of it all is perfect, and even the large keypad on the front made it nice to text on that front little screen.
its funny that engadget originally talks about how media flo is such a waste of time yet brings the lack of it up on the glyde as a bad thing. heck in their prerelease post about it the commented on how no one would miss it. and asian companies know how to make iphone quality products seeing as the iphone is produced in china.
I am a tmobile customer using a Sidekick - though, I am obsessed with everything wireless, so I am always in the other carriers stores checking things out, and today, I checked out the Glyde.
It is a very cool phone and, for all intents and purposes, is basically the same as the voyager, though it does not have the vcast tv (though it does stream). It also doesn't have certain features like the voyager like the chaperon feature (who cares?) other than that, we are talking the same phone (with some GUI differences). I like this better than the voyager actually. The keyboard feels better than the voyager, though the voyager has a nice dpad, which I think all multimedia email type phones need. The browser is good rnough, the GPS is pretty cool... the buzz-feedback on the touch type is nice too. Its also cheaper.... If I were with verizon, I would get this Glyde. Definitely.
i think this phone wasn't meant to compare to the iphone. It is a nicer looking phone for people who don't want everything. Sure the Voyager has mobile tv and what not but im sure not everyone likes the clamshell design ..i prefer the slide out key board but i have to admit the two screens on the voyager does help.
I just got the glyde. well it aint too bad cant really complain about it but it aint the best thing smoking though considerin that i jumped from a BB. I am not a techie so I need yalls help with the bluetooth. It doesnt let me send or recieve any pics from any other phone wassup with that? it keeps sayin "the device has no supporting services" what does that mean and how can i change that? need help bad.
I jus got the phone on Sat. n Im not sur I lik it @ all. I switch frm a Palm Windows 2 this n some of you r right about the touch screen n how hard it is to send n receive pic's I cnt even take the bac off 2 put my memory crd in what's up with that Im still not sur if I will keep it.
i have the new LG chocolate phone...its just horrible, im wanting the glyde because of all its futures it has. But i DO NOT want to have amymore mayjor issues with a phone, my cholcolate has a number of problems, A NUMBER OF PROBLEMs that i cant even begin to explain. Should i go for the glyde? Or try to find another phone that catches my eye? Im stuck...
having the glyde for about two weeks, i'm pretty pleased with it. the user interface took me a while to get used to, but i dont had any problems with it now. As a lot of people said, the touch screen is funky (occasionally it freezes or misreads a touch), but the more i play around with it, i've noticed it less and less. The web browsing was pretty slow for me, but i don't use it much anyways. Also to note that the buttons are small (on the touch screen and keyboard), so it probably wouldnt be good for people with big hands.
For my needs, the glyde's pros outwieghed the cons and i have really grown to like it. i would recommend it to those big on texting because qwerty keyboard has really helped me and is greatt.