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Samsung Freeform III (photos)

The Samsung Freeform III is an affordable messaging phone for MetroPCS, though it has some downsides.

Jessica Dolcourt
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
Jessica Dolcourt
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1 of 5 Josh Miller/CNET

Freeform trilogy

The Samsung Freeform III is the third in the Freeform series for MetroPCS, and hopefully the last. We have nothing against feature phones, but Samsung has clearly run out of ideas with this series. The camera remains fixed at 1.3 megapixels and the battery life has plummeted. Thankfully, Samsung did tweak some previously misguided design issues, and the capacity for external memory doubled. Read the full Samsung Freeform III review.

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2 of 5 Josh Miller/CNET

Smooth back

A smooth gray back cover gives the phone a nice feel in the hand, but combined with the light weight, it's also slippery. Read the full Samsung Freeform III review.

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3 of 5 Josh Miller/CNET

Side view

The Freeform III is less than half an inch wide. Read the full Samsung Freeform III review.

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4 of 5 Josh Miller/CNET

Music mode

The 3.5mm headset jack lets you plug in almost any pair of earbuds to listen to tunes, as long as you've got a microSD card loaded with music. Read the full Samsung Freeform III review.

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5 of 5 Josh Miller/CNET

Keyboard

The keyboard is compact, but we didn't find it overly cramped. The ridged keys helped texts move along at a fine clip. We just wish there was spell check. Read the full Samsung Freeform III review.

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