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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 July 2022
UPDATED. Some irritations crop up but not enough to drop a star. Also typos / sense.
I almost never give 5 stars BTW.
Where do I start?
What you get then mostly software issues - they rock on this phone.
To be clear: in the box is the phone, on top of a little box containing a USB C cable, a SIM tray pin and papers (too small to read I found). NO CHARGER PLUG OR CASE!
I have bought a total of 3 Samsung 45W PD Power Adapters (£40ish), they work fine and quickly!
For ease I now use seperate ones for phone / tablet.
Various listings for the chargers, available in black or white, I bought the 45W to future proof, 25W would probably be fine.
Also numerous cases / wallet cases for this model - cheap enough.
NB 2 issues with USB port - Fast charging USB 2.0 OnTheGo - NOT USB 3 fully featured - so external drive / memory yes, but no external monitor.
You need the £9ish adapter for headphones etc, but bluetooth is fine. I use one for an external mic - Google LiveTranscribe is patchy with internal mic's.
It has NFC etc, but no Wireless Induction Loop, USB charging only.
That said. charging only takes around 30 minutes from 40ish percent up to 85 - standard setting for longer battery life - charge still lasts a day or 2 for me - light use.
One charger for all devices - very handy.
Even in high temps recently, I have not noticed significant heating and use a battery app to monitor this (have done for years). BUT I do use a thin heat dissipating case in summer; armoured or wallet rest of the time.
The box is: 7 1/4 by 3 3/4 by 1 1/4 inches, 820 by 95 by 30 mm; arrived in an M1 cardboard envelope.
WONDERFUL app called "Smart Switch" - install on old & new phones, connect THE 2 PHONES via USB cable and it saves HOURS of mucking around and no wireless needed.
Unless your old phone won't let you (I only needed to set the USB port to transfer in my case), otherwise you need both devices on the same WiFi hotspot and it will take around an hour; doesn't transfer apps, but does trigger downloading to new phone from Play Store.
I don't think it is exclusive to Samsung devices though.
Also useful when I replaced my tablet, I copied from phone to tablet.
I DID struggle to transfer backups from some apps, Shopping List in particular, as the ...Android/data/... path seemed to be blank.
SOLUTION: use a different File manager app!
Have had similar problem on other devices so usually use two apps.
Otherwise just use the old trick of emailing backups to yourself, use a null SIM in old phone, tether to new for emailing - NOT for WiFi transfer though, you need a point independent of BOTH devices for that.
I'm still working through all the menus etc: something new almost every time.
Techno Junkie's delight.
Wonderful widget shows memory & RAM in use - so far only uses half the 8GB, so it blitzes most tasks; saves checking storage capacity when looking to download a large game.
I added a 256GB storage card - haven't needed the extra capacity yet.
I ended up with the brown phone - looks more like antique copper, different & I like it.
Knock code when at home! ... Double tap to lock / unlock screen, no need to muck around with fingerprint, use pattern or password / PIN.
Just wish I could use a magnetic cover like the tablet (auto wake-sleep) - no need to tap.
I assume it's Android 12 - you can do access the power button functions via the screen power button by dropping the notification menu; only need to use power key for turning on and fingerprint if you use that.
Also drop down menu to to adjust brightness.
EXTENSIVE settings for handicaps (Hearing/Speech/arthritic fingers).
But I could not find the Google Live Transcribe icon, I forget what it's called but the OS adds a 4th button on the software navigation bar, you can add others to it as well as reversing the buttons for us lefties!
STILL no widget for messages - SO annoying when that disappeared, in Android 7 I think it was.
Yes widgets drain the battery but SO much easier.
It's like I've had it for years - sits on its stand and works!!!!!!!
Everything is 2 Step Verification these days so having a reliable phone is essential - this one is definitely that, albeit not flashy or with high end features. Also for Authenticator apps increasingly.
You are paying for the brand mostly - so far it is worth it for me.
Software updates monthly, Samsung Store for their own apps and others, but no way to buy gift vouchers so I still buy from Google Play only.
Now upgraded to Android 13, the interface is not enamoured of Nova Launcher, but works with it.
I'm just used to it. Samsung UI now at 5.1, still not used its' launcher though.
I almost never give 5 stars BTW.
Where do I start?
What you get then mostly software issues - they rock on this phone.
To be clear: in the box is the phone, on top of a little box containing a USB C cable, a SIM tray pin and papers (too small to read I found). NO CHARGER PLUG OR CASE!
I have bought a total of 3 Samsung 45W PD Power Adapters (£40ish), they work fine and quickly!
For ease I now use seperate ones for phone / tablet.
Various listings for the chargers, available in black or white, I bought the 45W to future proof, 25W would probably be fine.
Also numerous cases / wallet cases for this model - cheap enough.
NB 2 issues with USB port - Fast charging USB 2.0 OnTheGo - NOT USB 3 fully featured - so external drive / memory yes, but no external monitor.
You need the £9ish adapter for headphones etc, but bluetooth is fine. I use one for an external mic - Google LiveTranscribe is patchy with internal mic's.
It has NFC etc, but no Wireless Induction Loop, USB charging only.
That said. charging only takes around 30 minutes from 40ish percent up to 85 - standard setting for longer battery life - charge still lasts a day or 2 for me - light use.
One charger for all devices - very handy.
Even in high temps recently, I have not noticed significant heating and use a battery app to monitor this (have done for years). BUT I do use a thin heat dissipating case in summer; armoured or wallet rest of the time.
The box is: 7 1/4 by 3 3/4 by 1 1/4 inches, 820 by 95 by 30 mm; arrived in an M1 cardboard envelope.
WONDERFUL app called "Smart Switch" - install on old & new phones, connect THE 2 PHONES via USB cable and it saves HOURS of mucking around and no wireless needed.
Unless your old phone won't let you (I only needed to set the USB port to transfer in my case), otherwise you need both devices on the same WiFi hotspot and it will take around an hour; doesn't transfer apps, but does trigger downloading to new phone from Play Store.
I don't think it is exclusive to Samsung devices though.
Also useful when I replaced my tablet, I copied from phone to tablet.
I DID struggle to transfer backups from some apps, Shopping List in particular, as the ...Android/data/... path seemed to be blank.
SOLUTION: use a different File manager app!
Have had similar problem on other devices so usually use two apps.
Otherwise just use the old trick of emailing backups to yourself, use a null SIM in old phone, tether to new for emailing - NOT for WiFi transfer though, you need a point independent of BOTH devices for that.
I'm still working through all the menus etc: something new almost every time.
Techno Junkie's delight.
Wonderful widget shows memory & RAM in use - so far only uses half the 8GB, so it blitzes most tasks; saves checking storage capacity when looking to download a large game.
I added a 256GB storage card - haven't needed the extra capacity yet.
I ended up with the brown phone - looks more like antique copper, different & I like it.
Knock code when at home! ... Double tap to lock / unlock screen, no need to muck around with fingerprint, use pattern or password / PIN.
Just wish I could use a magnetic cover like the tablet (auto wake-sleep) - no need to tap.
I assume it's Android 12 - you can do access the power button functions via the screen power button by dropping the notification menu; only need to use power key for turning on and fingerprint if you use that.
Also drop down menu to to adjust brightness.
EXTENSIVE settings for handicaps (Hearing/Speech/arthritic fingers).
But I could not find the Google Live Transcribe icon, I forget what it's called but the OS adds a 4th button on the software navigation bar, you can add others to it as well as reversing the buttons for us lefties!
STILL no widget for messages - SO annoying when that disappeared, in Android 7 I think it was.
Yes widgets drain the battery but SO much easier.
It's like I've had it for years - sits on its stand and works!!!!!!!
Everything is 2 Step Verification these days so having a reliable phone is essential - this one is definitely that, albeit not flashy or with high end features. Also for Authenticator apps increasingly.
You are paying for the brand mostly - so far it is worth it for me.
Software updates monthly, Samsung Store for their own apps and others, but no way to buy gift vouchers so I still buy from Google Play only.
Now upgraded to Android 13, the interface is not enamoured of Nova Launcher, but works with it.
I'm just used to it. Samsung UI now at 5.1, still not used its' launcher though.
