Samsung Trace Thinner, Better

We're wild about switching up our cell phones, and the Samsung T509 has been heavy in our rotation lately. But when its successor, the Trace T519, landed on our desk, we knew immediately that we'd be ditching the T509 for its sexier, skinnier baby brother, which slinks in for just $99 after rebates and $199 before.

 

If the silver T509 was heroin chic, the more feminine champagne-hued Trace should be checked into a clinic because it's hardly thick enough to be held comfortably during use. It barely tips the scales at 2.5 ounces and 0.3 inches thick (0.2 ounces and 0.1 inch less than the T509). At 4.5 inches tall, the Trace is also a tiny bit shorter than the T509 and wider at 2 inches across.

 

Oddly, the Trace and T509 have the same 176 x 220-pixel screen size. On the Trace it seems much larger, though, because it's turned sideways to be a widescreen. It is easier to look at for extended periods, likely because the screen supports 262,000 colors, which is much more than the T509's 65,000 colors.

 

The 1.3-megapixel camera on the Trace is a nice update from the lower-resolution camera on the T509. We were able to take better photos and videos, perhaps because, unlike the T509, we could use the whole screen as a viewfinder (instead of just the middle section). We took some test photos of the same subject with each phone, and the Trace gave clearer shots with more accurate lighting depictions than the T509 could muster. We also noticed that short videos looked much clearer when shot and played back on the Trace.

 

If Samsung could fix it so that we could watch videos in full-screen mode on the Trace-you can already view photos that way-that would be helpful. And maybe they could bring back the handy, self-indulgent self-portrait mirror located on the back of the T509 but absent from the Trace's backside.

 

A speaker is located on the back, next to the camera's lens. We found it pretty good for listening to sound while playing back some short videos we recorded, but the sound was a bit muddled when we tried it with speakerphone calls.

 

The speaker also aids the included MP3 player, with which you can play music from a micro SD card. At any volume, music sounded a little tinny and garbled, but the speaker might be nice to have for, say, pumping up the tunes at the beach or in a hotel room while traveling. Music sounded a little better through the included earpiece, though we did find it odd that Samsung included an earpiece instead of an earpiece-headphones combo.

 

Speaking of earpieces, the Samsung-branded pair included here might fit the average ear, but we could barely get it in ours (and when we did it was pretty uncomfortable-nothing like the cool molded-looking pair the company is pairing with its new K5 MP3 player). You might want to invest in a Bluetooth headset, as the Trace does include Bluetooth.

 

Another annoyance-admittedly minor, but still aggravating-was that we could only view two contacts at a time while scrolling through our contact list. We tend to have several people listed with same or similar first names, and even hunting by letter got old quickly.

 

Our final gripe concerns the Trace's keypad. Though we have quick and nimble fingers, we found the buttons on the Trace a little hard to press accurately. They're (not surprisingly) small and very flush with the phone's face, so we found it best to navigate with fingernails and the sides of fingertips. Fortunately, the phone has a larger directional control pad than its predecessor, which helped with scrolling.

 

The phone's talk time and battery life are good. Samsung has upped the talk and standby time from 3.5 hours and seven days on the T509 to 6 hours and eight days on the Trace. When we used the phone for a few calls, we noticed voices came through loud and clear, without as much garbling as we tend to get on other phones. When calling one contact on his land line, though, we were told we sounded kind of nasal, which may or may not be the phone's fault. The phone is quad-band and works on T-Mobile's EDGE network, so it could be useful for frequent travelers.

 

Overall, the Trace is a solid phone at a good price. It's extremely portable, filled with features and sexy-a strong combination for those who value form and function.