Samsung Convoy U640 Phone

A pretty rugged phone for voice and occasional texting. Although packed with many additional “features”, most require extra $$$ to use. Don’t kid yourself into thinking this phone is a budget version of the iPhone or Blackberry – it’s a good basic phone, with some additional features scabbed on. Nothing more.

Performance is excellent in all voice-related categories. Good signal capture, great handset and speaker quality (plenty loud, too), acceptable Bluetooth performance, easy-to-read displays, and keypad buttons that a full-sized human can actually use!

So far the phone has held up well in the real world. Mine travels a lot, and is used on the job almost daily. I’d recommend an external case if ruggedness is a priority. It’s built pretty tough, but won’t survive many drops out of the box. I added a leather case, and expect this phone to handle reasonable abuse for quite a while.

Can’t comment on features like VCast, PTT, or Internet connectivity – I don’t use any of that. It’s a telephone, and it does that job very well. If I want to check e-mail, browse the ‘Net, or download tunes, I fire up the laptop – without incurring Verizon’s additional charges. Really folks, do you think a palm-sized cell phone will give you the performance of a decent PC? You get what you pay for…

Overall, the phone is pretty easy to use. You won’t need a manual to set up the basics. Good thing, since this phone doesn’t ship with a manual. Don’t know what they were thinking. You can download the manual online, which I would recommend.

My only real gripe is with Verizon’s system software – not the phone itself. I won’t list all the petty little annoyances, but the list is long. The menu options are severely limited as far as customizing to my liking – but your mileage may vary. Anyone who is used to Verizon’s software will understand what I’m talking about. Not a deal-breaker, but you’d think after all this time the company would have designed a more intuitive interface with better options. Too many hoops to jump through for everyday tasks – maybe a future software update will address this.

Battery life is phenominal, in my experience. No need for a car charger on a 3-day trip. Sweet. Best battery life of any phone I’ve ever used. The built-in camera is surprisingly good, even without a flash. Nice feature.

Some folks complain about the unit’s bulk, but this isn’t an issue for me. Even with an external case, the phone fits in the pocket of a work shirt. It’s a bit on the heavy side, due no doubt to the large battery. This, in my opinion, is a fair trade-off. If you want a little toy phone for yakking on the city streets, there are many other models to choose from.

If you need a phone that will send and receive calls under all conditions, this is a great choice. Seems to be solidly-built, so I expect several years of service. It’s not a swiss army knife – just a solid little phone that will be there when you need it.
Rating: 4 / 5

I’ve had this Samsung Convoy U640 phone on Verizon for two weeks. I am pleased with it and would recommend it.

This is a basic phone to be sure, exactly what I wanted. No extra cost data plan or text plan for us. In fact we had Verizon block all data so we wouldn’t incur any surprise charges due to accidentally selecting a menu option that uses small amounts of data. We just want a phones that will last and that work well. Having a camera was a bonus, in the past I’ve found a couple of good uses for quick shots (pictures of things in stores on which to do more research, car accident photos) so it is nice to have one handy all the time.

Pros:

- Solid feel, good construction and materials

- Large backlit buttons

- Plastic external display – I’ve broken glass displays in the past.

- Large (for this type of phone) bright display on the inside – also plastic.

- Camera button is inside – I’ve had phones with side mounted camera buttons that took pictures in my pocket!

- Large numbers displayed front and inside for my old eyes

- Functional, if a little picky, voice controlled menus and calls. This was a bonus because I didn’t have to program anything. Every contact in my list is a potential voice call.

- SD Micro memory card slot for extra photo, video, or mp3 files. I can pop it out of the camera and into my computer for file transfers. This is simple and quick rather than using a manufacturers USB cable and special software.

- MP3 player

- Bluetooth, seems to pair well and stay connected.

- Speakerphone, loud and clear.

- Camera with still or video capability – quality seems okay for a phone. If I want real quality photos I’ll bring my camera.

- Very good battery life that has improved as the battery has matured over these two weeks.

- Speaker phone works quite well and is activated by a side button that has to be depressed for a couple of seconds. I find this much better than a menu option and soft key.

- The durable aspects of the phone were a big attraction to me. I use it on the boat with less concern for having wet hands when handling it.

Cons:

- Verizon menu system. I wanted a Samsung Convoy, not a Verizon Convoy. Verizon’s menu system isn’t too bad but there are customizations that are not allowed or provided. For example I wanted to replace the main screen “Message” soft button with “Recent” (calls) but that was not an option.

- 2.5mm earphone jack. Since I never use a wired headset (that’s what Bluetooth is for) I’d like to listen to music with my standard 3.5mm earphones but can’t without an adapter. When are phone manufacturers going to get this right?

- Voice call system can be annoying. If it doesn’t understand my command it starts to offer other choices (some quite dumb) and is too persistent. I wish it would simply give me another chance and not offer other names or options for me to say “yes” or “no” to. I understand one can do some voice training to improve it but I haven’t bothered as it works well for the few people I call often.

- It is a little thick, especially considering it isn’t a fancy feature phone requiring a lot of electronics. However it isn’t as thick as I thought it was going to be and I don’t mind it in my pocket.

On the general subject of Verizon: We just switched from 11 years of having AT&T wireless service to Verizon. On AT&T my wife complained of lack of coverage and dropped calls. My problem with AT&T was poor call quality, so bad I really didn’t want to use the phone. Over 11 years we had various phones and there are three of us on the plan but the call quality problems persisted. Now that we are on Verizon we are so pleased with the call quality; it feels like we have useful service for the first time. I just wish they would leave the manufacturers operating system and user interface alone.
Rating: 4 / 5