Phonedog has published a video review of the Samsung Behold 2 and let me tell you – that was one hell of a painful video (for Samsung) to watch. Sure, the phone *looks* nice but to at least one reviewer.. is a disaster.
John went out of his way to repeatedly point out what he hates about the phone (which is appreciated, keep it up!). Check the video out for yourself but here is a little preview of what he says.
The Bad:
– The amount of hard buttons on the bottom is overwhelming – partly due to the useless Cube button.
– The hold button is a hassle to try to use.
– Still using old Qualcomm 528MHz Processor and you can feel it.
– TouchWiz features feel like a downgrade to the Android familiar, and is totally useless at times.
– I repeat: He doesnt like the homescreen, hates the keyboard, and the mixed and matched UIs is a mess. If you get the phone – replace the UI.
The Good:
– If you’re from 1992 you will love the cube!
– When comparing to Behold 1 – big improvement.
– 320MB RAM is nice.
– Putting the Power Control widget in the notification bar was great idea.
– Camera software is awesome and takes good pictures, swiping in Gallery is nice.
So, how do you guys feel? Disagree with some of what he says or has this video alone changed your mind on the Behold 2?
I will keep an eye out for his written review and update this post when when I see it.
UPDATE: The (short) written review is up. Click on over to see the few pictures he’s include, but his text is as follows:
“Ughh. TouchWiz plus “The Cube” is overkill personified. Neither of Samsung’s customizations actually adds anything to the Android install on Behold 2. TouchWiz in this context basically just replaces Android’s application drawer with Samsung’s widget and app drawer, resulting in a more cluttered and confusing home screen – particularly if you’re coming from virtually any other Android device in the world.
Cube is just a mess. Somehow Samsung’s managed to make the user interface harder to use in exchange for bogging the system down with a layer of buttons and graphics. Seriously – what’s the point of the Cube? It’s hard to use and doesn’t really look cool.
Otherwise, Behold 2 is a worthy enough competitor it’s very similar T-Mobile stablemate, myTouch 3G. You get a touchscreen Android device that’s slim and easy to hold but lacks a high-res capacitive touch display. Compared to mT3G, Behold 2 ups the megapixel count on the camera but lacks a trackball for easier one-handed use.”
[phonedog | Written Review ]