Samsung Katalyst Titanium Phone (T-Mobile) Review

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(More customer reviews)With the SGH-T739 "Katalyst" phone, Samsung had a great opportunity, to create a really great phone with one really outstanding feature. UMA, or "Unlicensed Mobile Access" is a relatively new wireless technology for seamlessly merging GSM (regular wireless) phone calls with VOIP (voice over IP) calls that go through a wireless internet (Wifi) hotspot. When passing outside a hotspot's range, the system allows the exchange to take place from one system to the other, ostensibly without dropping the call. And when you start the call from within a hotspot (at home, for example), the minutes for the call are free; they don't count against your plan minutes. T-Mobile calls it "Hotspot@Home", and the curious can find much more copious and readable descriptions of how it works elsewhere online. Short of T-Mobile's UMA-capable Blackberry Curve 8320, the Katalyst stood a good chance of being their first UMA phone with a decent feature set (like, a good camera for example). Unfortunately, they kinda blew it.
First, I'll go through the good points. The phone is pretty well-made physically, which puts it in good company with other Samsung phones I've owned and played with. Samsung, T-mobile and online reviewers are quick to point out that the sliding action is smooth, and that it is. Compulsive fidgeters will need to just leave it in their pockets; the temptation is far too great for some of us. The screen is big and brightness is adequate. I'd have preferred the phone without the chromish trim, but I guess it's very blingy for those who are into that. I've got a 2Gb card in mine, which is OK for the phone's basic MP3 player capability. The menus and shortcuts are acceptably well-organized; though switching to this phone from a Sony-Ericsson made it very clear that Samsung is not a leader in intuitive menu and UI design.
It may seem obscure but I was very impressed by the capability of the voice recognition system, which is intelligent enough that it doesn't need to be trained, even on people's names. I was pretty impressed.
The 1280x1024 camera is "decent" -- colors are respectable, and with the "auto" ISO setting the images come out about as well as you could expect them to without a flash. It's been useful for me, taking pictures of projects and whiteboard notes.
The phone has a lot of features that just weren't very well executed however. The first is the UMA/VOIP/Wifi feature. There are a couple different problems all wrapped up together here, but the end result is the same; unreliability. If the people you're talking to are in any way important (e.g. vendors with whom you're trying to put together a business deal, potential customers, etc), you'll find yourself turning the Wifi feature off just to avoid the possibility of having the call get screwed up ... repeatedly. At this point, I've gotten really tired of apologizing for my phone. The Katalyst has a very weak wifi antenna, evidenced by poor signal strength displayed on the screen, as well as a comparison of what hotspots it can pick up, versus any other wifi device. It also can't transfer to GSM properly if the data flow is suddenly cut off, so if this happens for some reason, the call will drop 100% of the time. If you have unreliable broadband internet, this is not the feature or the phone for you. And finally, if the call is going well but starts to get sketchy, there's no way to manually switch over to GSM and turn off the wifi function while remaining on the call. I've dealt with these problems by purchasing extra Hotspot@Home routers for my bedroom and my office (they're actually a good idea for having adjacent to your cable or DSL modem since they prioritize your phone's data traffic, and the price isn't bad), and so drops are less frequent now. But I really shouldn't have to have an access point in the same room just to get a good signal. A friend has the cheaper Nokia phone for Hotspot@Home, and doesn't have any of these problems.
My next gripe, and this one is the one that's going to force me to buy another phone shortly (I've gone past the 2-week window when I can take this phone back) is about Bluetooth. T-mobile and Samsung claim that the phone is Bluetooth-capable.
This is not entirely truthful.
The Katalyst does have a Bluetooth chipset, and it is capable of communicating with some bluetooth devices, however it is not what I personally would call a Bluetooth capable phone. Honesty would demand some caveats with such a description. An asterisk. Fine print. Something.
Saying that a phone is Bluetooth capable carries with it some basic assumptions:
* The phone can be used with a headset or handsfree device
* Files acquired with the phone (camera photos, videos, sound or voice recordings, etc) can be grabbed off of it
* Files you want on the phone (pictures, MP3s, etc) can be uploaded to it
* SMS messages can be sent and received via Bluetooth, with devices with better data entry capability than a phone has
* You can get online through Bluetooth dial-up networking.
* For the hackers out there, there are even software programs that allow you to do fun stuff like remote control other software on a computer (media players, etc) from your phone's keypad, via Bluetooth.
With the Katalyst, none but the first in this list are possible. The Katalyst provides a crippled Bluetooth implementation, intended for audio (headset/handsfree) applications only. To make matters even worse, it won't even do this universally. I have a Tomtom GO720, which in addition to a feature for sending and receiving and reading aloud SMS messages (which of course I can't use), it also functions as a speakerphone. Very handy. I can't use it with my Katalyst however, because Samsung omitted the capability of making the phone "visible" so other Bluetooth devices can discover and pair with it. Mainly for me though, I'm upset because I paid a lot for this phone and now I can't get online with it when I'm travelling. I could get online (and do all the above actually) with my last phone, which was so cheap that I actually got $50 in my pocket after rebate, for choosing it. Why did Samsung do this? It is definitely intentional; a call to Samsung to ask about it yielded the response that the Bluetooth functionality of the phone will not be completed or upgraded in any future software release for this phone. It's not a bug to them, so they're not fixing it.
And more importantly, why did they hide it? On Samsung's site, looking in the feature list will show "Yes" under "Bluetooth" for this phone. It's only when you drill into their FAQ that you'll find the truth about what this phone supports (e.g. look up how to make it visible, the FAQ tells you that you can't). T-Mobile's representation is worse -- as of this writing their verbiage actually implies that the phone can be used with a computer, which is at best *highly* misleading. I couldn't get it to pair with mine at all.
Of course, there are a bunch of other little complaints. For one thing, the usual idiotic multipurpose connector that all Samsung phones have, which prevents you from plugging a headset in at the same time as a power connector. I'm not sure about the previous reviewer's complaint about data cables -- I bought one off ebay for a couple bucks, which didn't indicate any compatibility with this particular phone, but the plug fits and it works. File uploads are *excruciatingly* slow however; far better to pull the memory card (don't sneeze or you'll lose it) and use a dedicated card reader, even though you'll need to switch off and pull the battery to do it -- it's that bad. Especially since the phone becomes unusable while it's connected for file transfer. (What were they thinking?)
Voice notes record over each other, despite the phone's claim that they've been "saved to the Voice List". I lost a couple dozen sequentially recorded voice notes the first time I tried this, and had to spend an hour redoing everything and retaking the notes on paper. My experience using this phone has been full of little moments like these.After talking with support people at T-mobile, who were surprised that the phone's bluetooth capabilities were so limited, and talking with Samsung support who showed no sympathy whatsoever, I really can't escape the feeling that I've been had. In the end, my advice is pretty simple. Wait until Nokia or someone else makes a decent UMA phone, or until Samsung pulls their head out and fixes the software on this one or makes one that sucks less. Unless you don't care so much for the gee-whiz features but just want a UMA phone that works -- in which case, get the ugly little Nokia clamshell phone.


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The latest addition to T-Mobile's Hotspot @Home service, the Samsung Katalyst (T739) offers easy pocketability thanks to its slim slider design. In addition to its quad-band GSM and EDGE connectivity, it includes integrated Wi-Fi connectivity for use with Hotspot @Home, enabling you to make and receive unlimited nationwide calls over Wi-Fi from home or at any US T-Mobile HotSpot location. The phone also features a 1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder, Bluetooth connectivity for communication headsets, MicroSD memory expansion, voice recognition capabilities, and built-in instant messaging via popular services.
T-Mobile Service With T-Mobile HotSpot @Home service, you'll effortlessly transition between Wi-Fi calling and T-Mobile's wireless network while you talk. You can get unlimited nationwide calls over Wi-Fi--at home via your wireless router or at any U.S. T-Mobile HotSpot. You can also use the HotSpot @Home service via most open, or unsecured, wireless routers, as well as any secured wireless router for which you have access to the password from the owner. This phone is compatible with the 802.11b/g Wi-Fi standard. Whenever you're not using a Wi-Fi network, this phone works just like a regular mobile phone, using your Whenever Minutes under your T-Mobile voice plan.
This phone also includes compatibility with T-Mobile's myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts--on any network, even landlines--without using any of your minutes. Learn more about myFaves from T-Mobile.
Download cool new games, HiFi Ringers (real songs by today's hottest artists), MegaTones (instrumental versions of songs), and wallpapers quickly, as well as stay connected via the Web, instant messaging, and email. And share pictures and video easily with T-Mobile's My Album. You can add picture, voice, and video messages from your T-Mobile camera or video phone using the My Album link built into the send menu or by using a simple short code. You can also upload pictures, video, or sound from a home computer.
Phone Features The Katalyst offers a generous color LCD with a 176 x 220-pixel resolution and support for 262K colors. The face includes a standard five-way navigation toggle, soft keys, and send/end keys, and it smoothly slides up to reveal the numeric keypad underneath. The phone has an internal 5 MB memory, and it can be expanded via MicroSD memory cards up to 2 GB. You can store up to 1000 contact entries, each with five numbers and an email address per entry.
This phone provides Bluetooth version 2.0 wireless connectivity and comes fully packed with a variety of helpful profiles, including communication headset and handsfree car kits. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones. The phone also includes a full duplex speakerphone for hands-free communication when you don't have a Bluetooth headset available.
In addition to SMS and MMS messaging, the Katalyst also features instant messaging support for AOL, ICQ, Yahoo! and Windows Live Messenger. T9 text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for entering text on handsets, is built into the unit--a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.
The phone also sports an airplane mode feature, which allows the user to safely use the non-wireless functions of a phone (such as music, games, or organizer functions) on an airplane during flight. Other features include:
Speaker-independent voice-activated dialing enables you to dial a contact just by speaking it when your hands are busy.
1.3-megapixel camera with multi-shot capability, a self-timer, spot metering, and white balance/brightness/ISO controls
Digital audio player
Picture and Ringer ID
Vibrating alert
Polyphonic and MP3 (real music) ringtones
PIM tools: Calendar, to-do list, alarm, calculator, tip calculator, unit converter, voice memo
Java-enabled downloadable games
USB 1.1 wired connectivity with support for mass storage

Vital Statistics The Samsung Katalyst weighs 4.1 ounces and measures 3.97 x 1.98 x 0.65 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5 hours of talk time, and up to 10 days of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies.

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