Review: Samsung UpStage - Jekyll and Hyde Music Phone

Samsung UpStage for Sprint

Samsung UpStage for Sprint

Samsung UpStage for Sprint

It is not all that often that I have the chance to review a phone that is truly different. For the past 5 years that I have been reviewing phones, I've seen a lot of innovations cross my desk. New form factors, new technologies, even new colors. But all of these devices, to a large extent, still looked and functioned like their peers.

Samsung's UpStage, based on the SGH-F300 Ultra Music, is different. Truly different. But as we'll find out, different isn't always a good thing, since new techniques seldom come to market without at least a few glitches. But I can promise you that the UpStage is unlike anything else on the market - from any manufacturer. It is the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of the music phone world. So much so, in fact, that it even seems to impart some of the famous characters' mental anguish on its its users.

Physical Aspects

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the UpStage is a beautiful thing. It is compact, at only 104mm x 44mm x 11mm (4.1" x 1.7" x .4") in size, and feels as solid as a rock in terms of construction. This, of course, in spite of its feathery 77.8g (2.7oz) weight. Its black plastic has a matte surface that stays pretty clean in use and isn't slippery. The dual black faces of the phone are highlighted by eye-catching strips of metal down the left and right edge that are attached with real metal screws. On the sides can also be found the metal volume rocker switch, the reset switch, necessary since there is no way to remove the battery if the device were to hang, and the power/data port. On the "other" side, since I can't really call them left and right, are located a sliding keypad lock switch and the flip key as well as the microSD card slot. The lock switch locks down the device so that none of the keys, touch sensitive or otherwise, can be activated. The flip switch toggles which side of the device is active: phone or MP3 player.

On the phone side, Dr. Jekyll, if you will, we find a small 176x65 pixel TFT display that sits above a rather typical looking keypad and control cluster. The keypad is perfectly flat and very much like that of the LG VX8600 that I recently reviewed. It works just as well, too, and offers a few more ridges on its surface to guide the fingers. The d-pad, on the other hand, is a bit tedious to use for those with wider fingers. It is simply too small in size to be perfectly flat and still be fully usable. It is workable, certainly, but far from ideal. The other controls that surround the d-pad, such as the dedicated camera button, all work well enough.

Samsung UpStage for Sprint

Samsung UpStage for Sprint