Samsung Finesse SCH-r810 (MetroPCS)

Pros: big bright screen. better than expected GPS, music player, good camera. A phone that puts Metro in the major league

Cons: Expensive, Metro's browser is weak. Contact manager lacks address field

Summary: First off this a good move for Metro PCS which has been known as a down market provider with a long lineup of cheap phones

The Finesse show that Metro PCS aspires to reach out to customers who could just as easily get a Verizon or AT&T but don't like the budget busting phone bills.. The Finesse give you the best of both worlds. A flat-rate no-contract service coupled with a phone you don't have to be embarrased to use in front of perople.

There is plenty to love about this phone. The phone is fashionably thin with a big easy to read screen. The menus are simple and bold which is a good thing for a totally touch screen interface. You can pack it with 16 gig of storage and carry all your music. The media player is good and you can use 3mm earphones.

Call quality is average. A few of may calls got dropped. I was get two bars and sometimes just one in areas I knew for a fact I could get three on a cheaper Metro phone. (I've had three)

The downside is the browser. No streaming video. You can forget You Tube. In fact just forget any graphics-intense website. I can't my Metro would have such a great phone put can't provide it a decent browser.

It's not a good business user's phone. The contact manager only keeps phone numbers and e-mail addresses. I'd like to see it store some addresses and be able to pull those addresses into the Metro Navigator GPS.

By the way it has excellent voice command with almost flawless recognition. It would have been a perfect 10 if you could say "Take me to..." mention a name in your contact, and have sent to the Navigator.

Overall it's very nice phone. It's no IPhone and it's not a Smartphone. It's pricey to say the least but upside is you can use the phone day and night, text all you want, check your e-mail and never worry about what your bill is going to be. You gotta love that at the end of the month.

I took the GPS out for a test drive and was delighted with the turn by turn directions with spoken street names. Just put a bluetooth in your ear and it's the perfect co-pilot. Plus you can break awy to make a phone call without stopping navigation.

Updated on Jul 17, 2009

P.S. Buy some kind or protective cover for this phone immediately. You'll just hate yourself for not spending a few bucks to protect a phone that cost as much as a low-end PC.