Samsung U340 Phone (Verizon Wireless)

Other products by Samsung

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.6 x 1.8 x 0.8 inches ; 3.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Note: Gift-wrapping is not available for this item.
• ASIN: B000N239UI
• Item model number: SCHU340ZBV
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,934 in Cell Phones & Service (See Bestsellers in Cell Phones & Service)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
Want all the best phone features without breaking the bank? The basics just got better with the Samsung SCH-u340. Capture the moment, even on the go, with its advanced VGA digital camera. Also, you'll have access to the In Case of Emergency (I.C.E.) contacts menu, even when the phone is locked. This sleek tri-mode phone with an internal antenna will get you where you need to go in affordable style.

Design
The phone features a traditional clamshell design with a vibrant 128 x 160 pixel full-color display with 65,000 colors. A supplementary external screen can display call information, current date and time, battery and signal strength, and more. Most of the phone's features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset's control pad. The u340 has no external antenna, so there's nothing to snag in your pants pocket. A charging port is located on the bottom edge of the phone, while an advanced VGA camera with a self timer is housed on the front cover of the phone. Lastly, the built-in speaker phone allows you to talk handsfree.

Calling Features
The u340's built-in address book can store up to 500 contacts for quick and easy management of phone numbers and email addresses. The phone comes with built-in polyphonic ringtones while more ringtones can be downloaded from Verizon's Get it Now service (additional charges apply). The included advanced voice recognition feature allows you to make calls and access other essential features, all without ever touching the device. Meanwhile, a built-in speakerphone makes it easy to talk without having the phone to your ear. Plus, picture ID functionality lets you assign photos or other images to callers. Perhaps most importantly for users in rural areas, the u340 is a tri-mode phone, meaning it can operate on Verizon's digital networks, as well as analog networks that serve many outlying areas.

Messaging, Internet, and Tools
The u340 covers the messaging basics with support for sending and receiving text, pictures, and sound. The phone also supports mobile instant messaging. Instant Messaging allows you to communicate with your friends or family in the AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, or MSN Messenger communities. With the AIM, Yahoo! or MSN mobile IM client, you can see who is available, busy, or offline. You can also get sports scores, traffic updates, weather reports, news, and even your Horoscope via Verizon TXT Alerts. T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit--a plus for mobile text messaging users.

The u340 includes a personal organizer that includes a calendar, an alarm clock, a notepad, and a calculator. Meanwhile, the included I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) feature insures that others can access user programmed numbers in the event of an emergency, even if the phone is locked.

Imaging and Entertainment
The fun really starts with the u340's built-in VGA camera, which features a self-timer, shutter sound selection, and brightness adjustment.

Vital Statistics
The Samsung SCH-u340 weighs 2.82 ounces and measures 3.5 x 1.8 x 0.77 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3.5 hours of digital talk time, and up to 220 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the AMPS 850/CDMA 850/CDMA 1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one-year limited warranty.

Product Description
The basics just got better with the Samsung SCH-u340. Capture the moment, even on the go, with a VGA digital camera. Also, have access to the In Case of Emergency (I.C.E.) contacts menu, even when the phone is locked. This sleek tri-mode phone with internal antenna gets you where you need to be in affordable style.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just What It Is; A Phone., April 29, 2007

By	Lunar Blade "~ 私の重ӓ... (NY) - See all my reviews

If you're looking for a phone that should be used as just that -- a phone, then you've found the right product. I didn't purchase this phone myself but my mother had gone out and bought it for me instead because I wasn't up to leaving the house that day.

Still, the reception is great. I have not had any dropped calls whatsoever and the sound is clear. In fact, it can be a little loud for me.

The ringtones aren't the best but they're not the worst either. In fact, a few of them are pretty nice melodies.

The wallpapers it come with however are a different story. Don't particularly like them. I do, however like the color themes it offers: Red, Blue, and Black. I've always hated the usual red color of themes in other Verizon phones so I'm pleased to see that these themes work and get rid of all the red.

The camera takes EXTREMELY clear and crisp pictures that beats the Razor V3 my younger sister has. In fact, she can never get clear pictures on her phone and insists I send her the pictures from my phone to her. In fact, as I mentioned, the wallpapers were not exactly appealing to me so I took pictures of my Desktop Wallpapers on my computer and used those as my Phone wallpaper. The pictures really ARE crisp and clear and they look as if the phone had come with the wallpapers.

The only downside is battery life. But that's not much of a problem.

If you're looking for a decent phone in which it's purpose is to be just that -- a phone, then you've come to the right place. This is the phone for you. If you're looking to play movies, listen to music, and whatnot, then this is NOT the phone for you. This is a phone for basic needs. In fact, I don't see the point in listening to music and watching videos on a PHONE. We have the PSP or MP3 players for that. Why use a phone?

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What A Great Value!, March 6, 2007

A Kid's Review

While at the local Verizon store, I spotted this compact phone and immediately was sold. The color is nice, and has sleek, black keys inside. The VGA camera takes very nice photos, although some turned out underexposed, which can be fixed quickly and easily using the brighten and darken settings. Other great camera settings include quality, white balance, self-timer, color effects, and resolution.

The phone has great features, like texting, mobile IM, including Yahoo! and AIM, and other features. Although it does not have music, or any of those over-the-top features, this phone offers great calling quality, excellent features, and a bright screen, all in a nice, compact body.

I definetly recommend this for anybody who loves texting or taking pictures. The only downfall is that the only way to accquire your pictures on the computer is if you e-mail them to yourself via picure messaging. Although this doesn't sound too bad, it does cost $0.25 cents per message, unless you have a picture-messaging plan. This is a downfall for all who don't because you can only send one photo per message.

All and all, this is a great quality phone with a compact size, nice camera and features, and a good quality body.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Average "free" phone, but speakerphone is low quality., November 19, 2007

By	Thucydides 1 (USA) - See all my reviews

Here's another "free" phone from Verizon, with a two-year committment.

I don't like paying for phones because the service costs plenty enough by itself. I needed a new phone because my old Samsung A670 had no speakerphone at all. This U340 has one, but the volume is simply not loud enough to be what I would consider an acceptable speakerphone. With the volume at the highest setting, it's just barely OK if there's very little ambient noise in the background. Two friends of mine have LG phones and their speakerphones are loud and have good voice fidelity. But, each of them had to shell out about $40 for their phones, even with a plan committment.

What I do like is the navigation through the menu items, which is quite a bit better on this phone than my old Samsung A670. Very user-friendly, even to a person who doesn't use a cellphone as a plaything.

Transmission and reception is about average compared with other cellphones. To a much greater extent than most people realize, these characteristics are controlled more by what kind of equipment the antenna sites have and how they are configured for coverage. You can have a hooptie iPhone with sucky call performance just like you can with these cell phone company freebies if the coverage is marginal.

I haven't had any problems with the battery so far, but I've only had the phone a couple of weeks. I must say, it is quite small when compared to any other cellphone battery I've ever seen.

The camera seems to take better quality pictures than my old A670 did, and there's no flash. This is a disappointment to some people, but I'd rather not have a flash that may draw unwelcome attention to it and to me. Physically moving the phone up and down in the air changes how light or dark the image capture will be, and I've found this camera will take OK pictures in even fairly low light situations.

All in all, if you're a cellphone "power user" go get a hooptie name brand latest-gen phone. If you are oriented toward simple functionality and economy, consider selecting this from the "free" phone list at Verizon. The price is right!

+++ Additional comment after having the phone for two months +++

The battery in this phone is really the best I've ever seen in terms of strength and length of service between charges. After seeing other reviewers complain quite a bit about the battery, the amazing battery performance surprised me, and I thought I should add this comment. So, yes, the speakerphone is a tinny, low-volume bust, but the battery is definitely a big cut-above that of any other cellphone I've used.