Customer Reviews

Samsung Glyde Phone, Black (Verizon Wireless) version 1

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

Just got the Glyde a couple of days ago. I was really contemplating between the Glyde, the Envy2, the Voyager, the Venus, and the HTC XV6900. Needless to say, I wanted to stay with Verizon (best network).

So far, the only thing that has been bothering me about this phone is the flat and tiny QWERTY keyboard. As much as I don't like the Envy and Voyager, I have to admit that the LG QWERTY keyboard is easier to type on, even with the space bar on the sides (where the thumbs naturally rest).

Other than the tiny keyboard the Glyde is superior in everything else. Customizable menu's, speaker phone accessible without having to open the QWERTY keyboard, flash on the camera with a self portrait mirror, and compact in size.

In addition, the music player is great. The phone's built in speakers provide enough to fill an average size bedroom. I had the volume on max and the sound quality remained clear without any distortion. Very impressive.

I upgraded from a Samsung flip phone and like the fact that I can access this QWERTY keyboard with only one hand (unlike the clamshell style keyboards). One thing I noticed missing in this phone in its text messaging options is the "deffered delivery", where you can type up a text, schedule a future delivery date and time, and hit "send" and the message won't be delivered until the specified date and time. But it's not a big deal.

Menu's are very user friendly, touch screen is great. Has a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it's unstoppable. I feel as though I can type out a text message faster using the touch screen key/number pad than I can the QWERTY keyboard.

Like I said, if the QWERTY keyboard was a bit larger and easier to use, this would be a perfect phone. The top row on the QWERTY feels very crammed, due to the side of the phone. I will give it another week or two to see if I can get used to the tiny QWERTY and determine whether or not it's a deal breaker. If I were to return this phone, my next choice would be the Voyager, only because it's a touch screen, similar to this Glyde.

MARCH 2009

I was having a problem with the text message inbox on my Glyde and spoke with VZ Technical Support and they tried several things and couldn't resolve the problem. I was advised to take the phone into a VZ store and have the software "flashed". What ended up happening is the newest version of the VZ Glyde software was installed on my phone (PRL V.51251, Media Center V.3.1.4...) and it was night and day compared to what originally came with the phone. The touch screen is SO much more responsive, all the menus look similar to that of the LG Dare (with the white background), and there are a lot more shortcuts that can be customized onto your personal menu. If you purchased your Glyde during the first 6 months of when it first came out, I highly recommend taking it to a Verizon Wireless store to get it flashed with the latest software. You'll pretty much walk out of there with a brand new phone.

One of the easiest way to figure out of your phone has the newer software is by going to the main menu, the shortcut on the top left corner of the screen should be "Media Center" (newer version), or "Get It Now" (older version). In addition, the background on this main menu will be white instead of black.

I was originally looking to replace my old LG Verizon phone with a Voyager. I decided on the Glyde because it is not as bulky as the Voyager and has the same display size of 2.8 as the Voyager's exterior screen. The screen is bright and clear. The menu is easy to navigate. The phone has tons of features and is a good sized phone that is well built. The drawbacks to the phone is that it has bugs in the software. The phone has freezed up on me numerous times when navigating on the screen. The reception is not the best either. I have been told by people that I have called that I sound fuzzy and sound like I am calling from a tunnel even with a max signal. I did not have these call problems with my previous phone. Overall, I would say the phone is okay however I am going to return it so I can exchange it for the Voyager. From my experience, LG seems to built higher quality phones than Samsung along with better call quality.

i was really excited about this phone but after a wk of use i'm just not sure. i want to like this phone but i'm having a hard time. yes, there are many cool features, however there are even more bad features. to start, i wish this thing had a send and end button. without these buttons you have to take a few steps to get to where you want. i often to like to press the send key to call my recent contacs, but it is not possible with this phone. it is also hard to find contacts, and scrolling through can be difficult. furthermore the phone doesn't always lock so when i am on a call, it often starts dialing numbers bcs my face is touching the screen. i've also accidentally called a lot of people due to over sensitivity of the glyde. it is also extremely hard to navigate unless you are looking directly at it. it is even challening to pick up a call while driving, etc. lastly the top row on the keyboard is too small. i don't know, i'm going to give this phone another wk or so to get used to. i have a feeling it will be returned shortly. i'm interested to read others reviews.

I was so excited to get this phone. I have been a customer of Verizon for eight years and their network has never let me down. However, their choice of cell phones has always been a little disappointing. The last phone I had was an LG EnV. The keyboard and the interface was great, the technology left a lot to be desired. I went through three of them and ended up getting this phone after a serious complaint to Verizon. I thought to choose the Glyde because I was DONE with LG and I had a Samsung previously and it never let me down. I was apprehensive about the size of the keyboard, but I was seduced by the touch screen and its sleek good looks. Boy, was I LET DOWN. The only thing that seems to be slightly reliable it that tiny keyboard! I am on my second phone already and I have only had this phone for about two weeks! One day I woke up and my first one was completely dead. Wouldn't turn on or anything! It was such a hassle to go back to the store to get a replacement. My second one does not seem to be faring any better. The touch technology is terrible and doesn't respond half the time. Or it responds to a button half way across the screen! When it is opened, forget it. The touch screen barely works at all. It constantly makes calls when in my pocket and the autolock is going to be the death of me. It is absolutely annoying. Plus, you have to touch a million buttons just to do simple tasks like send a text or find recent calls. I miss my Send button sooooo much. This phone is definitely going back before my 30 day return policy expires. I have never hated a phone as much as I hate this one. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!

UPDATE: 6/7/09 - I recently swapped out my original Glyde for the "Refresh" version. This version has the U940.11 hardware. It also has a resistive touchscreen as opposed to the capacitive touchscreen that is on the original Glyde. My touchscreen works PERFECTLY now that I have the "Refresh." I have a full review on the other Samsung Glyde page.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
Less than 24 hours ago, I went into my local Verizon store to purchase the Glyde. The sales girl told me that a lot of people had been returning the Glyde due to the touch screen's unresponsiveness. I decided to give it a try anyway.

After playing with the phone for an hour and a half, I wasn't so sure I would keep it. I found the touch screen to be responsive about 90% of the time. There were times when I had to tap the screen two or three times to get it to work. It didn't bother me that much though. After reading tons of reviews online, I was expecting that to happen. The only real problem I had with the touch screen was that I just couldn't get certain screens to scroll. But at that point, my main problem with the phone was the QWERTY keyboard. I'm not used to them at all, since I've always had a standard keypad, however it was the size that was the problem. I have small hands, but even the buttons on the keyboard were pretty small for me. Being a big texter, the keyboard was the deal breaker. I decided to return the phone.

I went back to my Verizon store but for some reason I changed my mind once I got there. I figured I would give myself 24 hours to get used to the keyboard and the touch screen. I'm glad I did.

I've been texting with the keyboard like crazy, so I have gotten used to it. I also found that trimming my thumbnails helped too since I text with my thumbs. Haha.

I have since gotten used to scrolling on the touch screen. I have also tried a fix that I read on a forum.
Here it is:
1) Turn the phone off and remove the back cover.
2) With the battery in the phone, put electrical tape along the bottom of the battery to the plastic of the phone. Use enough tape to really secure the battery in place.
3) Place a piece of electrical tape on the inner shell of the back cover, across where the battery is. This will provide padding when the cover is on.
4) Replace cover and turn the phone back on.

Since that fix, the touch screen has been 99% responsive. I also use the phone with the sensitivity on low. This works the best. It seems most people use it on high.

I have completely changed my mind about this phone. I love it now. It's definitely not the best phone out there, but it's a pretty good phone. I recommend people try that touch screen fix. It has worked for me and quite a few others. It's worth a shot.

At first, the Glyde was good, not great. Then things just got worse over time.
The touch screen kept acting up and when you push 9, it pushes 4 and so forth making dialing a new phone number or adding a contact impossible.
When you try to send a text, pushing send just makes the screen scroll.
Trying to download anything on that phone is a headache.
Took the phone to verizon to see if it was a defected phone. Nope, that's just how it is.
Even the technician said that the Glyde was a really terrible phone.
Over all, the very poor touch screen interface makes you want to throw the phone against the wall.

I got this phone expecting a Minority Report user interface, but what I got was Mission Impossible!

The Glyde's touch screen simply does not work. Sometimes I had to hit a button 3 or more times before the command takes, even though the phone vibrates to indicate that it recognizes the touch. Other times the phone simply didn't know that I was touching it, or the wrong button is activated by my touch. No I don't have long fingernails or fat fingers, yes my hands are clean, and yes I adjusted the touch sensitivity from high to low and made every reasonable attempt to provide the right touch pressure to use the interface.

Other problems: the Glyde goes into locked mode frequently, even though I set auto-lock to "off." Other times the phone locks in a different way in that it simply stops responding to commands until it has been recycled. The speakerphone sound quality was much lower than that on my LG4500, and the only way to activate the speakerphone or to adjust the volume was to unlock the phone and then try to navigate the touch screen.

I could not sample any of the cool features that this phone has because I was spinning my wheels with the Kafkaesque touch screen interface (and unlocking the phone every few seconds!) and couldn't get past the basic set-up issues. After an hour of trying to add contacts I felt like I was on Candid Camera. What a waste of time and energy.

Note that I have been a Verizon Wireless customer for ~5 years and I remain a Verizon Wireless customer, for now at least. The company provided me fast and friendly customer service in reactivating my old phone when I called to tell them that I was boat-anchoring this one (Thanks Mary at the SLC office for being patient with me.) After years of good luck with LG hardware I made a mistake by switching to Samsung. My replacement for this Glyde will be another LG and it probably won't be a touch screen, since that technology doesn't seem to be all there yet.

Not a user friendly phone. Touch screen acts funky. If the phone is unlocked while you are talking touch screen keeps hitting the numbers by the touch of your ear. Dial Pad acts funky at times. You want to type 1 and it types 3. Even to access recent call is a 6 step process- turn on screen, unlock, menu, recent calls, select phone number, press it twice to make a call. unlike other phones that has a green button, you hit it twice to access recent call. Even to receive call you have to actually look at the screen and hit answer because of touch screen. There is no other way to answer unless you slide open the phone but then it turns on the speaker. Overall the most everyday used features are all messed up in this phone.

I've had the Glyde for about 5 months. HATE the phone. I got the software upgrade and no change. The touch screen is very unresponsive. I'll touch the menu and it will start flipping through screens on its own. I have to either shut it down or wait for it to stop then lock it quickly until it goes into sleep mode and then try again.

I'm so ready to throw it out the window. I am going to Verizon to see what my options are to get rid of it. I can not beleive they are still selling this phone.

If you care about your nerves and want them healthy, just look at this phone, it looks really good! But never buy it!!!!
I have it for 3 months and I need to restart it every time I use it! In the middle of writing a text message it just stops responding or a touchscreen goes crazy "pushing" the buttons by itself and calling to people that I never wanted to call. It just drives me crazy!