Hello, I'm Jessica Dolcourt for CNET.com taking a First Look today at the Samsung Transform Ultra for Sprint.
I did get a First Look at the Boost Mobile at CTIA, and this one is almost identical because Sprint owns Boost.
Now it does run Android 2.3 Gingerbread and it has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.
The keys to me are a little bit on the flat side but they do have a very satisfying snap when you press them.
There's also the swipe virtual
keyboard on here for when you don't want to slide out the physical keyboard.
The OS could do a pretty much stock Android interface, but there is the exception of Sprint's ID and that means that you can head on over to the Sprint ID gallery and download ID packs; most containing things like apps, wallpaper, shortcuts, stuff like that and it's based around a theme, for example, entertainment or social.
I think it's a really interesting idea, but there is a tendency to load up on the bloatware when you use it.
Anyway,
it's not a deal-breaker since it's strictly optional.
The rest of the specs on this phone are totally respectable but they are midrange overall, so just be aware of that.
There's a 3.5-inch HVGA screen with nice physical buttons below the display.
There's also a front-facing VGA camera and there's a 3-megapixel camera with flash on the back.
There's also a textured back cover that I personally really like.
And beneath this cover, you'll find the micro-SD card slot that takes up 232 gigabytes
of expandable memory.
Samsung and Sprint do get you started with a 2-gigabyte card.
The phone also comes with Quick for video chats and it's got Spring Hotspot, Spring Mobile Wallet, ThinkFree Office, apps like that in addition to all of the usual Google apps and services.
The Transform Ultra is available from RadioShack now and it will become available from Sprint stores starting on November 13th.
It costs $79.99 with a 2-year contract and that is after a 50-dollar
mail-in rebate.
So if you're looking for an inexpensive mid-tier Android phone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, then this one could be in the running.
I'm Jessica Dolcourt taking a First Look at the Samsung Transform Ultra for Sprint.
You can check out the full review and all other reviews at CNET.com.
