I purchased the Samsung Rant a little over a month ago from my nearest local Sprint store at the full retail price of 299.99. I had my eye on the phone after seeing the initial CNET FirstLook video for it at CTIA. I must say that I wasn’t necessarily planning on buying the Rant, but I’m weak; I fell for the advertising.

Phone Design

The one thing I immediately noticed about the Samsung Rant is that it looks almost exactly like the LG Rumor. Both phones are candy bar style phones with sideways, slide out QWERTY keyboards. Both phones are clearly geared towards people who are texting and IM fanatics who don’t want or can’t afford the expensive data plans with smart phones. Both phones are on the heftier and wider side, probably due to the sliding keyboard; however, I actually found that I like the phone’s thicker width, which makes it more comfortable for me to hold while talking without my headset. I also found that the Rant differs from the LG Rumor with a sexier design, especially the red version. It’s clear that the Rant is the successor to the Rumor, which has been around for well over a year now. In some ways, I’m a little disappointed that Sprint and Samsung couldn’t come up with a design that wasn’t so similar to the Rumor. It’s a clear copycat, but it’s something I obviously can live with since I purchased the phone.

Menu System

The Rant’s menu system has Sprint’s new one-click interface. It’s clear this new interface is Sprint’s attempt at allowing easier access to frequently used applications. However, this is a good thing; I can’t complain about the one-click interface. It allows you to customize some of the phone’s tiles (one-click shortcut functions) and add/remove tiles. I found that the one-click interface allowed me to access many features without going into the phone’s main menu system. Although it took a little while for me to get acclimated, I found that the one-click interface is the best phone menu system I’ve ever used.

As for main menu system, the Rant pretty much has the exact, 12-icon menu system that I’ve grown accustomed to over the past six years, which isn’t a bad thing. If you don’t like the one-click interface, you can always use the main menu system exclusively. For my needs, I find that I rarely have to go into the main menu system since nearly everything I access is on the one-click interface.

Another feature I like is the ability to add/remove “bubbles” on the home title. Bubbles can best be described as mini applications that allow you instant access to certain features. For example, there are horoscope, weather, finance, news, and sports news bubbles. At the most, you can view two bubbles from the phone’s screen without having to scroll and view the others.

Phone Features

Where the LG Rumor lacks Sprint’s broadband services (Sprint TV, Sprint Music, etc.) and 3G Internet speed, the Rant has those features. The Rant also includes the following:

• Sprint Navigator and Family Locator services
• 2.0 megapixel camera (with a self-portrait mirror but no flash)
• Video camera
• Threaded text messages (by conversation)
• Messaging options – email, text, IM, and Voice SMS
• Bluetooth
• Organizer options – calendar, tip calculator, alarm, etc.
• Other standard mobile phone features

One of the Rant’s main attractions is the slide out, QWERTY keyboard. It was the one main feature that drew me to the phone; however, it is also the phone’s main disappointment for me. The keys are rubberized (which is fine) and really stiff (not fine), especially the Space bar key. I had to press each key hard while typing. Having used a BlackBerry before (setting things up for my mom and dad), I don’t know of any logical reason why the Rant’s keyboard is so stiff. The stiffness of the keys initially slowed me down while texting, but I must say it did loosen up some over the past few weeks. Typing (in terms of the stiffness) is better, but IM conversations make my thumbs sore from having to press the keys with more force. Additionally, the spacing of the Rant’s keys makes it easy for typing mistakes to occur. I know I’m transitioning from being a T9 texter to a QWERTY texter, but I’ve had a QWERTY style phone before. I never had the rate of typing errors on that phone like I have on the Rant.

Call Quality

For me, the Rant’s call quality is fine…if I’m using speakerphone or a Bluetooth headset. The Rant has one small circle at the bottom of the phone, which serves as a speaker when you’re talking directly into the phone. Some people have complained that they couldn’t hear me that well when I wasn’t using my headset or speakerphone. I have no idea why Samsung (and other manufacturers) adopted this type of design for the phone’s speaker; it’s also on the Samsung M520 that I have, and I had the same call quality issues. Maybe Samsung feels most people are using headsets anyway, so they don’t feel the need to design a better speaker for talking directly into the phone. For me, this isn’t a big deal since I talk on my phone via a Bluetooth headset 99% of the time. However, if you’re the kind of talker who holds the phone up to your head all the time (and why would you being doing this?), then be aware that callers on the other side may not be able to hear you as well, even in quiet environments.

As for hearing the callers via the Rant’s earpiece, I had no problems. Callers on the other end sounded pretty clear, and I had no issues hearing them while holding the phone up to my ear. The same can be said for the speakerphone when placing it on my desk.

Battery Life

According to the user guide, the Samsung Rant offers 5.5 hours of talk time. Since I’m the kind of person who rarely talks more than an hour on my phone, it was hard for me to ascertain if this talk time estimate is accurate. Plus, I have more things to do with my time than talk for hours to test talk time; I’m not CNET. However, I can say that the standby on this phone is pretty excellent…if you’re using the phone within normal parameters. Normal parameters mean the following: that you don’t keep Bluetooth on all the time; that you’re not watching Sprint TV for 30 minutes to an hour or more daily; that you have the backlight settings on the lowest setting possible; and that you’re not constantly texting, instant messaging, or surfing the Internet. Now, this doesn’t mean the phone’s battery life is bad because it’s not. There have been times when I’ve watched Sprint TV for an hour and a half, and the battery drain was hardly noticeable (if I had a full or near fully charged battery). If I use the Rant sparingly and leave it on 24/7, the battery typically lasts for 3-4 days. However, if you’re a heavy phone user (not just voice), I suggest charging it every night. Overall, I’m happy with the battery life and standby time on the Rant. On a typical day of usage (moderate texting, moderate Internet surfing, and some talking), my Rant’s battery meter only drops down halfway by the end of the workday. Obviously usage amount affects the life of the battery, but even on heavy days of usage, I have no fears about my Rant making it through a workday.

Overall Take

I love the addition of threaded text messages (thank you iPhone), the one-click interface, and the improved email inbox layout for my various email accounts. The Rant is really feature-packed and is a phone that will garnish attention with its looks. It’s also a good option for people who don’t want or need a smart phone. I would say that it’s a phone geared towards the younger set, but that’s not to say that older adults who like to text and IM won’t like the Rant.

The biggest disappointment for me is the QWERTY keyboard. I have a feeling that as I grow more accustomed to QWERTY typing, I will become more dissatisfied with the Rant’s stiff keyboard. If you’ve had your eye on the Rant, you might want to try out the QWERTY keyboard in the store before buying. Again, it loosened up for me over the past month, but it still requires more force than I typically have to apply on a phone’s keyboard. If you’re accustomed to QWERTY style typing, the Rant’s stiff keyboard will slow you down so beware. I have a feeling that QWERTY typists will not like the keyboard and might end up returning the phone if they’re use to a less-stiff keyboard.

I also noticed that the phone has frozen and locked up on me a couple of times. This has happened when I finished typing a text message QWERTY style (in landscape mode) and then closed the slide out keyboard to return to portrait mode. Normally a reboot (powering the phone off and back on) resolves any issues. Unfortunately, phone freezes are something I’ve come to expect in all phones as they become more all around devices rather than just phones; however, the Rant’s phone freezes (at this point) aren’t so terrible where I would suggest you stay away from it. Additionally, when the phone switches from portrait mode to landscape mode, there are times when the Rant’s “Send Message” menu doesn’t display (if and only if the phone is on the home title when switching from portrait to landscape mode). This is slightly annoying, and navigating to the messaging tile is something you shouldn’t to resort to. It just would be better if the phone would be consistent in bringing up the “Send Message” menu when it’s suppose to instead of most of the time. I suspect Samsung will address some of these issues in a future firmware update. But again, in my experience, the little quirks and phone hiccups aren’t enough for me to wave the red flag.

Despite some issues, the Samsung Rant is one of better phones I’ve owned in recent years. Although some people say that Samsung is “hit or miss” with their phones, I think the Rant is a hit…at least for me. There’s a reason why Sprint is marketing the Samsung Rant heavily. Sprint is hoping it will bring in new customers and retain current customers. If you’re a potential, new customer, I would advise you to think long and hard about switching to Sprint for the Samsung Rant. If you’re an existing customer, it might be enough for you to hang with Sprint for a while longer…assuming you’re happy with your service. The Samsung Rant is a nice little mobile phone, but Sprint being the carrier for the phone might be one thing that holds it back, unfortunately.

In the Box

The Samsung Rant was packaged with the following items:

• 256MB Micro SD card and adapter
• Standard Li-Ion battery
• Phone charger
• USB cable
• Standard back plate (for the battery cover)
• Tattooed style changeable back plate (for the battery cover)
• User guides