Why You Can Trust CNET Samsung Profile SCH-R580 (U.S. Cellular) review: Samsung Profile SCH-R580 (U.S. Cellular)
Samsung Profile SCH-R580 (U.S. Cellular)
Samsung Profile SCH-R580 (U.S. Cellular)
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
There aren't any surprises with the Samsung Profile, an entry-level messaging phone for U.S. Cellular, and that's not a bad thing. The keyboard and design don't feel very modern, but they do have a homey familiarity that makes it possible for previous messaging-phone owners to pick up the Profile and go. In fact, with the exception of color and some of the finishes, the Samsung Profile is a clone of the Samsung Messager III, which just became available from Metro PCS. The Profile has a 2-megapixel camera with a higher resolution than the Messager III's (and the phone has a better name), but it offers most of the same core texting attributes. It's a fair deal at $39.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and with a new, two-year contract.
Design
We've seen this phone before. Although the Samsung Profile isn't technically a sequel, it is a kissing cousin to the Intensity II and, as we said, a near-clone of the Messager III. It's almost all black with a few gray accents, and has a rounded top to cap off its 4.6-inch height. The Profile is 2.1 inches wide and 0.6 inch thick. It feels about right at 3.7 ounces--not too heavy and not too light.
The Profile's 2.4-inch QVGA display (320x240 pixels) is about half the phone's total height, so it gives the impression of being large. While the default font isn't our first choice, the graphics look bright and clear, with straightforward navigation. There are settings to adjust brightness and backlight time, but not font or font size. Below the display is a navigation array that's adequate if a tad cramped. There are the Talk and End buttons, the usual two soft keys, a speakerphone shortcut, and a Clear button. In the center sits the four-way directional pad with center Select button. The dial pad has the scaled edges that help separate keys from the buttons below and above them, but with buttons much wider than they are tall, the keys feel overly narrow.
The Profile's bare chassis is smooth and maybe a touch slippery. The spines are adorned only by the 3.5-millimeter headset jack, camera trigger, volume rocker, Micro-USB charging port, and 2MP camera with self-portrait mirror. You'll need to remove the back cover to get at the microSD card slot. We give Samsung a thumbs-up for making the Profile accept up to 16GB in flash memory, but wish the phone had a slot on one of the spines instead.
Samsung appears to have two approaches when it comes to slide-out QWERTY keyboards. The first is a more compact design that leaves some empty space on either side of the lettered keys, and the second uses the full width (in landscape mode.) The Profile's four-row slider keyboard fits the latter configuration and follows the phone's curvature. This might be nice for those with fuller hands; those with more petite paws, however, may find themselves stretching to reach keys. The buttons themselves are domed (more so on the perimeter) and rise slightly from the surface. We didn't make too many mistakes, and response was fine. Still, we've used more comfortable keyboards. The soft-key functions for landscape mode are controlled by two oblong buttons on the phone face just below the screen.
Features
The Profile has a 1,000-entry address book, with room to associate each contact with multiple phone numbers, an e-mail address, a caller group, and a custom photo. There are 22 polyphonic ringtones and a silent mode if you prefer peace and quiet. If ringtones are exactly your thing, many more ringtones and ringback tones are available through U.S. Cellular's online Tone Room store.
Like other entry-level phones, the Profile has all the essentials--a calendar, a memo pad, an alarm clock, a world clock, a calculator, a tip calculator, a stop watch, and a unit converter. It also supports voice commands, speakerphone, and Bluetooth and 3G EV-DO connectivity.
As you might guess, texting is the primary means of messaging. Picture and video messaging are also available, though if you're looking for intrinsic IM and e-mail support, perhaps you should consider purchasing the app through the online storefront or move on to other midrange phones like the LG Mystique, which cost only $10 more at the time of our review. The Profile does have some social networking options, with shortcuts to upload photos, videos, and status updates to Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.
If you've got a memory card, you can access the music player. The Profile uses the stock Samsung player that we've seen in other basic phones. The onscreen controls aren't beautiful, but they enable you to play, pause, and go forward and back. Shuffle, repeat, and creating playlists also are options. The quality was fine for a cell phone, and we had no problem with volume on our medium-range headphones. Optional viewing modes display an equalizer or lyrics and album art where available.
The Profile's 2MP camera is familiar to anyone who's owned a similar Samsung phone. You get four resolutions ranging from 320x240 pixels to 1,600x1,200 pixels. There are three shooting modes, three quality settings, and five white-balance presets. You also get night mode, a self-timer, six color effects, and shutter sound options. Photo quality was passable on the Profile, with sharp enough edges on human subjects, although edges in busy shots looked less clear. Colors were also noticeably washed out, and there aren't any image-editing tools.
Camcorder settings are similar in terms of white balance and color effects, but you'll use a lower resolution when limiting video length to fit within a multimedia message. Length will be curtailed at about 30 seconds, too. Playback was pixelated but smooth. The Profile has 100MB of internal memory, but you can add up to 16GB of flash memory.
You can customize the Profile with extra games and wallpaper, downloadable through the EasyEdge storefront. This is U.S. Cellular's online storefront for selling and distributing apps for news, weather, sports scores, games, and e-mail. The Profile comes with a limited-time demo of Pac-Man.
Performance
We tested the Samsung Profile (CDMA 850/1900) in San Francisco on U.S. Cellular's roaming network. Call quality was strong, with loud, clear voices that sounded natural, and none of the background hiss we sometimes hear. There were occasional breakups and bobbles, but they didn't occur frequently enough within a typical call to cause much interruption. On their end, callers were impressed by the clarity and agreed that volume and timbre were spot-on.
The speakerphone was nice and loud on our end, but sounded muffled. Still, we could easily carry on a lengthy conversation without distraction. Our callers on a landline phone described the volume as uncomfortably loud and distorted when we held the Profile at waist level. Giving it 3 feet of distance smoothed out the levels, and they could still hear us clearly when it was 5 feet away.
Samsung Profile call quality sample Listen now:
The Profile has a rated battery life of 6 hours of talk time and 12.5 days of standby time. According to our tests, it has a talk time of 5 hours and 51 minutes. FCC radiation tests measure the Profile's digital SAR at 1.0 watt per kilogram.