Last year Samsung introduced the Intensity (SCH-U450). It was a very basic handset. This year the Samsung Intensity II (SCH-U460) has been released. This model is accompanied by a nicer look and a blend of useful features.
The Samsung Intensity II is the successor to the previous year’s release, the Samsung Intensity. The phone, at first glance, seems a mid-range, basic messaging phone, aimed primarily at teenagers or tweens. It is available in two colors: metallic blue and deep gray, and even the colors seem suitable for the young end of the user base.
The feature-rich, stylish Samsung Intensity 2 comes with a horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard, one-touch access to social-networking websites, a digital music player and a 1.3 MP camera with night vision option.
Design (5 out of 5)
The Samsung Intensity II is a light and sleek phone, which weighs around 4 ounces. Its rounded corners add a nice touch to the overall
design. Its dimensions are 4.3 by 2.1 by 0.6 inches, and the plastic exterior doesn’t feel cheap at all. In fact, Samsung’s eco-friendly approach is actually appreciated, because the body is made up of recycled plastics, and it comprises 35 per cent of the phone. The display size is 2.2 inches and the resolution is 240 by 320 pixels; nothing very fancy, but for basic users, this will work just fine
User Interface (5 out of 5)
The Intensity II has a square d-pad (left and right soft keys, back key and speaker phone key), and is very comfortable to use with the thumb. The buttons on the right/left of the pad are a bit cramped together, due to which navigating the buttons with one finger sometimes becomes difficult. On the sides of the Intensity II, the volume buttons, microUSB port, headset jack, microSDHC memory card slot, camera button and voice command keys are located. The Samsung Intensity II has the full QWERTY keyboard, which can slide out easily and the phone can be used in landscape mode. The keyboard has four rows, and the layout is easy to navigate. The buttons are rubbery, and your fingers won’t slip over them easily.
The display of the Samsung Intensity II is bright. The phone uses QVGA 262,000 colors screen for displaying sharp, clear images and fonts. The menu items on the phone look funky, and are very easy to navigate
Features (5 out of 5)
The Samsung Intensity II comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera; nothing great, but you can take decent shots for caller ID photos. The camera also includes the ‘night vision’ mode that makes it handy to snap pictures at night, when the lighting is poor. The internal memory of the Intensity II is around 100 MB, and the external memory card slot supports up to 32 GB of memory.
The phone has the eco-calculator – a nice thing for eco-conscious people. Basically, it can help you to calculate the fuel consumption of a vehicle, or the amount of carbon dioxide that has been emitted. Also, when the phone has been fully charged, it will give an alert to users, in order to save power. Other features of this phone include voice messaging, Bluetooth, vCalendar, basic imaging, speakerphone, voice recognition, and apps for accessing social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc
The phone does not support 3G, the speaker phone is a bit quiet, and the camera is not of good quality. Lacking the 3G support means slow internet access, but for basic users, this won’t be a big problem.
Performance (4 out of 5)
The Intensity II has been tested for call quality, and performed reasonably well under most conditions. Sometimes the call quality dropped below average, and the speakerphone was also too hard to hear, even at the maximum volume. The battery life is pretty good; up to 2 days in heavy use, and up to 6 days on standby.
The Verdict (4 out of 5)
The Samsung Intensity II phone is a very good choice for the young crowd. It is mainly a messaging phone with the full QWERTY keyboard and lots of features. So if you are looking for a bright, colorful phone for social networking addicts, then the Intensity II is surely a worthy option.
