Introduction
So why is the popularity for this phone still up? Well, here’s the low down. This is one of the few smart phones you can get for Verizon without having to deal with the additional fee that will cost you if you get a Blackberry, etc. Verizon requires this fee and can’t be avoided if you get a smart phone. So why pay more monthly when you can get a good phone without paying extra? Let’s take a closer look at the phone by first examining the general look of the phone.

Aesthetics/Design (9/10)
Unlike most touch screen phones, the Samsung i760 comes with a hardkey dial pad and directional pad from the get-go. It definitely is a contributing factor to decreasing the the screen size, but with Windows Mobile ever lagging phone program, having a dial pad is definitely a big plus. Also, since resistive touch screens are not so accurate, we have to deal with the inaccurate typing of numbers if this phone didn’t have a dial pad. On the other hand, a huge con of this phone is the fact that the screen is debossed (lower than the border of the screen). This is very bad for people that have big fingers because the only way you’ll exit out of the program you are in is to press the X button that sits at the corner and it’s really tough. Every thing feels solid though and the after having dropped it several times and chucking it at a wall, it works just fine. Also, the spring mechanism that opens up the QWERTY keyboard also gets a bit loose after a lot of use, but it still is as sturdy as it always is. Next we take a look at the packaging and what comes in it.

Unboxing & Accessories (9.5/10)
This is an aspect that the i760 shines very well in. It comes with an AC adapter for regular outlets, AC adapter for cars, regular battery and extended battery. No phone now-a-days come with that many accessories. I mean, who includes an extended battery and a thin regular one just so people can choose whether they want that weight difference. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like that much of a difference, but you can really feel the difference when you hold it. Samsung did a great job thinking about the consumer needs. The only thing it doesn’t come with is a pouch or bag. But that’s ok, it’s not essential.

Windows Mobile & Customization (2/10)
Oh, Microsoft. When will you learn to improve your OS. It’s not that the OS is bad, well, I guess it’s terrible. Windows Mobile is operated so inefficiently, that it really limits the phone’s functionality. Here’s a phone that has great features, yet because Windows Mobile runs on it, it lags terribly. Sure overclocking programs make it significantly better, but then battery life suffers somewhat. Windows Mobile 6.1 and it’s threaded sms is a great add on, but in the long run, when texting and sending e-mails, the lags becomes a real hassle. The phone starts to lag more and more as time passes by and memory leaks consume the phone. By that time, you have no choice but to restart your phone and restart all of the customized programs that you have installed.

So here is a list of programs that I think are worth checking out for the i760:
- Pocket Hack Master (for overclocking the phone)
- iContact, iDialier (iPhone-esque contact list)
- Memsoft MemClean (cleans up the memory leaks on a scheduled basis)
- dcinobar (to hide the softkeys on the bottom of the today screen)
- SPB Plus (allows the x button on the top right corner to actually exit the program instead of minimizing it)

Here is also a video to my Youtube video that goes over everything in the Customization visually.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7HItjqKa3g

Conclusion
All in all, the Samsung i760 is a phone that has everything but a GPS chip and FM radio tuner. Besides that, the keyboard and the feel of the phone is great. It’ll withstand the terrible beatings that anyone could possibly give it, unless you smash it with a hammer or something unreasonable. The screen looks beautiful and if you want a good bang for the buck, this is the way to go. Here is a short list of pros and cons for the phone in summary.

Final Verdict: !Real Hot!

I’m done with the initial obsession with this phone. Want to REALLY know if this phone is worth getting? Read on to find out!

when i first got the phone, i did an initial review on my phone. now that i’ve had MUCH more time with it, here is my full review.
pros:

-its designed very well (to me at least)
-looks damned good
-HTC only put buttons on what people need, and didnt bother to put any added “fluff”, like a camera button, a hold button, etc.
-touchFLO 3D looks VERY good
-VGA resolution (640×480) on a 2.8″ screen
-fast cpu and tons of memory (528Mhz and 288MB of RAM – verizon’s model is crippled, as usual)
-best slide-out qwerty keyboard on any phone today
-3.2MP camera with LED flash and autofocus
-microSDHC compatible up to 32GB
-GPS works nicely with google maps and windows live (didnt try any others)
-its priced pretty cheap considering all of the features that come with it, as a businessphone
-good replacement for the mogul
-comes with tons of accessories out of the box – belt holster, 1GB microSD, extra stylus, etc
-easily hacked to make the performance much better
-can be hacked to whatever your heart desires – really. sound, theme, rom, startup screen, anything.
-works on the old sprint sero plans! (thank god)
-email works with any pop/imap inbox (including bastula.org!)
-built in youtube application (which works nicely)
-speakerphone is VERY loud, which is awesome for drivers on the go
-can increase or decrease system text – good for younger and older people
-does NOT require any certain plan
-mp3 trimmer is included!
-stylus is magnetic! so you will never ever lose it

cons:

-its windows mobile
-the speed was very….very….average for out of the box performance
-when you slide out the keyboard, you cant use touchFLO 3D, instead you are presented with a 8 boxes of options…well what was the point of touchFLO 3D if i cant use it when the keyboard is out?
-you have to modify the phone yourself to make the phone better, which takes time and some understanding of windows mobile (for non-techies)
-the screen protector that comes with it just sucks
-accidentally can accept/reject calls while the phone is ringing in your pocket (which is annoying)
-they gave it extra ram and a good cpu for a reason – windows mobile is a memory hog.
-battery life is random – my phone lasts a day with regular use (some texting, some calling, wifi and bluetooth are always off), and some days when i come home, it’ll be on 2 bars…without hardly doing anything on the phone. that = random.
-you can very slightly slide around the phone when its not slid out…feels kind of cheap
-prone to scratches, and if you drop it…ouch
-camera is too slow, same with video recording
-FM radio is locked from the start

and not to mention the HORRIBLE quality control that HTC has. don’t even get me started about it…

rating: 7.5/10 out-of-box experience/everyone who uses it stock. 8/10 for me because i customized it, minus a few lagging issues (gay windows mobile) and the absolutely bogus quality control.

if you want the best windows mobile smartphone with a slide out keyboard, this is the phone for you…as long as you customize it. if you are looking for this same form factor and looks, but without the keyboard, htc makes a version called the touch diamond. honestly, i think its the best smartphone sprint has, and possibly one of the best phones sprint has ever released.

Okay sorry but i cant help it….i would also like to mention that i’ve gone through 3 (yes THREE) touch pros since this review. the first one had a huge crack on the chrome casing and the camera stopped working, the second one had its keyboard completely fail, and now this one is starting to have its screen just fail. quality control at its finest here folks…and its not like i abuse my technology either – i really do take good care of it. oh well.

i wrote this review a few months ago, like a week before palm announced webOS and the pre….

pros:

-excellent qwerty keyboard
-very fast operating system
-ev-do is pretty fast
-bluetooth works/connects/syncs with pcs, cars, headsets, and other phones perfectly
-freeware apps are pretty nice
-uses and supports SDHC memory cards
-easy to use interface
-texting is very intuitive and awesome (threaded texting FTW)
-phone is basically a tank, can survive multiple drops from various heights
-very good battery life
-320×320 resolution
-you can feel like a “professional” or a “businessman” using one

cons:

-just looks old
-much better phones for the price
-nothing really going for it
-stock music player just BLOWS
-stock video player sucks
-too many versions/models of the 700p, with hardly any new features
-nothing stands out when you get a palm OS phone
-palm desktop software is completely horrible, took years to get BETA support for vista
-no mac osx support, have to rely on 3rd party solutions (like missing sync)
-buggy update process
-updates always introduce MORE bugs
-awkward power connector and usb sync cable
-very bulky compared to todays phones
-palm os is HORRIBLY outdated
-no wifi
-can randomly reset/reboot for no apparent reason

rating: 6/10.

palm was good years ago, but they currently have no good phones. sure the palm centro has sold “millions” (apparently), but all it really is, is just a new look with the tried-and-true, yet horribly outdated palm OS. honestly folks, just stay away from palm unless you want a cheap, basic smartphone.

if you came to me 2 years ago, i would have said go for it…but these days, RIM, apple, and even windows have much better operating systems (and phones) that do WAY more than palm OS ever could.

Before you start reading, this review was made in late october – the day i got the phone basically. Take everything with a grain of salt..lol

im not even going to bother writing an introduction for this one, because the htc touch pro is probably THE best phone available to buy right now. i dont care if you get it on sprint, verizon, at&t or t-mobile, its just…unbelievably good.

Design:

it looks so fucking good. chrome all over the phone, silver backing, and the edges are curved so it feels WAY more comfortable than the gsm touch diamond/pro models. to me, i think it looks better than the iphone. the touch diamond is also damn good looking, but god the touch pro just upped the ante. its possibly the best looking phone ive ever seen (or have seen in a long, LONG time). honestly, i think sprints touch pro looks way better than the gsm touch pro. and TouchFlo3D? it DEMOLISHES the default today screen of windows mobile. the home screen has ALWAYS amazed and wowed me. it just looks absolutely superb.

Carrier:

yes, i know some people hate sprint with a passion, and to be honest, i have never experienced any network issues at all with them. EV-DO always works, i always get great signal in my house, at the hospital, and wherever else i go. of course the signal varies from phone to phone, but in my case, there hasnt been any problems. besides, SERO fucking rocks. kudos to best buy for extending my contract for 2 years so now sprint can never change/get rid of my plan (if they ever do).

Operating System:

it has windows mobile 6.1, which is fully hackable/modifiable. yes its a bit slow and its unresponsive/weird at times, but it can be tweaked to however you want…then again, its windows mobile, so you have to take the time to modify it the way you want it to be. dont forget about cooked/custom roms, and the potential of installing android alongisde windows mobile (its already been done on the old touch!).

Display:

2.8″ VGA screen. most of todays cell phone screens are QVGA, which is 320×240. the touch pro has one of the highest resolution displays on the market today, at 640×480 (for comparisons sake, the iphone runs at HVGA, which is 320×480). pictures, movies, youtube, calling, just EVERYTHING looks good on the display. even if some of you have gotten “spoiled” by the ipod touch/iphones massive 3.5″ screen, the htc touch pro (and touch diamond) displays more pixels in a smaller display.

Sound:

in the beginning, the speaker volume was pretty low. the reason for that was because when you first get the phone, it has a plastic cover in the front to protect it from scratches and dust. removing that unmuffles the speaker so you can hear your caller much more clearly and loudly. otherwise, the speakerphone is excellent. htc did a good job of placing the speaker on the top so it sounds VERY clear and its VERY loud too.

Multimedia:

built in youtube application? yep. 3.2MP camera with LED flash? yep. microSD card slot with support up to 16GB cards? yep. everything and anything you could possibly want or need is in here. its totally multimedia oriented. and if something is missing, its just a simple download of a freeware program.

Keyboard:

this is the best phone qwerty keyboard ive ever used. its better than the trademark treo keyboard, its better than any phone keyboard (touch or physical) ive ever used. its backlit, with a number row, and is PERFECT for texting, gaming, or whatever else you would need it for.

Geek Talk:

802.11 b/g (wifi), EV-DO rev-A, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, accelerometer, physical keyboard, 3.2MP camera with LED flash, microSD card slot, touchscreen 2.8″ VGA display, 512MB ROM, 288MB RAM, TV-Out, what the hell else would you need in a phone? from a geeks point of view, this literally has everything you can imagine. if only sprint didnt leave out the FM radio, though that can be (hopefully) fixed with a cab update…

Bottom Line:

its the best phone thats currently out right now on sprint.

PS – i will be doing a full review soon.

PS2 – Yes, i am totally obsessed with this phone and am not considering any alternatives to it…yet.

PS3 – this review was made basically the day i got it, so take it with a grain of salt.