Messaging phones are the hot trend right now. The Samsung Magnet was just one of at least half a dozen QWERTY handsets we saw debut at CTIA 2009.
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For AT&T
The Samsung Magnet is out with AT&T now and costs just $19.99 with a two-year contract. It's a great handset for those looking for a basic messaging phone.
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Candy bar style
The Magnet is a nice break from Samsung's recent slider messaging phones with its candy bar chassis.
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Slim and trim
The Magnet features a slim design, measuring 4.2 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.4 inch thick and weighing 3 ounces.
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Solid construction
The Magnet has a nice, solid construction and while its slimmer profiles makes it easy to slip into a bag, the phone might make for a bit of a tight fit in a pants pocket.
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Back of the phone
The back of the phone includes a patterned soft-touch finish to give it a nonslippery texture.
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QWERTY keyboard
The Magnet's full QWERTY keyboard is quite decent. The buttons are a good size but just a little stiff to press, which slowed us down a bit.
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Messaging options
The Samsung Magnet includes a Mobile Mail app that allows you to connect to various accounts, including Yahoo, AOL, Windows Live, Comcast, Earthlink, and other providers, and also comes with instant messaging clients.
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VGA camera
While the Samsung Magnet is a basic phone, we wish it had at least a 1.3-megapixel camera. Instead, it has a VGA lens.
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Photo quality
Picture quality wasn't the greatest. Though we could identify objects in the image, the photo wasn't all that sharp and colors were washed out.
