Samsung Dart Prepaid Android Phone (T-Mobile) - Get the Best Deals of Cell Phones with and without Plans

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Christian J. Fobian (WA USA) –

  

I decided to take the plunge and purchase a smartphone. After a lot of research I decided to go with T-Mobile’s Samsung Dart and I must say, it is worth the price. Not only does this phone work as a contract phone, it works with prepaid plans. Since it runs on Droid software you have access to all the Droid apps. The wifi ability is simply amazing. Anywhere I go that has a wifi connection the phone will automatically use my wifi connection so that I don’t use the data from my data plan, not to mention it’s faster. I can also make calls through my wifi! The resolution is excellent, the sound quality is very clear, although I must admit that the iPod/iPhone does have a slightly better sound. The camera is a 3.1 megapixel camera which takes very clear and crisp photos. The GPS is just as good as my Garmin that I purchased last year. The phone comes with software to open pdf’s and the Microsoft suite file types. The Swype keyboard software makes typing and texting FAST on a little digital keyboard, simply drag your finger from letter to letter and it will automatically figure out the words and throw in spaces for you.

It’s about time a good phone came out for us prepaid folk.

Regardless weather your prepaid or contract, I highly recommend buying this phone if your looking for a smartphone to check email, Facebook, carry documents, listen to music, access the internet etc….

UPDATE – 11/6/2011 (subtracting 1 star from rating)

After owning this phone for almost 5 months I thought I would throw in an update that I felt people should know about. I love this phone, however, after owning it for awhile I did come across 1 issue that bugs me. The screen size is just a hair different than most smartphones. This makes a number of apps in the Android Market incompatible with this phone. Although there are not many apps that are incompatible, it is frustrating if you come across one.

I would actually steer you towards the LG Optimus T if you want a prepaid/contract smartphone, as it does everything this phone does but is compatible with all the apps this phone can’t handle. Other than that the phones are almost identical.

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I’ve read many reviews prior to my decision to buy the Dart. I was skeptical to say the least, as many reviews pooh-poohed the Dart. As a pay-as you-go T-Mobile customer and owning a simple cell phone, I felt the need to step up and purchase a more versatile phone. I didn’t want to be so outdated. The Dart being an “entry level” android smart phone at a very reasonable price seemed like a no-brainer.

As a newbie in the world of smart phones, I was pleasantly surprised. I’m sure most of the reviewers I’ve read own a far more superior smart phone than the Dart. This may be the reason they were downplaying the Dart. For $149, the screen resolution is better than expected. The feel of the phone is nice. The touch screen is wonderful. The volume is very good. The day pass to the web is $1.49 for 40MB of download at 3G speed. After that it’s 2G. I don’t need the web for business or any function other than occasional use, so the $1.49/3G/2G is fine with me. The call quality is very good. The QWERTY keyboard is very functionable, and I haven’t tried the Swype function yet.

I upped the 2GB microSD card to 8GB so I can upload my MP3s, and photos, + other files from my computer.

I can see why people get hooked on smart phones. They are almost addictive. I can’t seem to put mine down.

After I use the web, and other applications, and I think I have them closed, I see that my battery drains very fast. One of the many useful shortcuts I added to my home page is “Task Manager”. I open this shortcut often and close all active applications. My battery lasts much longer.

Pros – Just about everything for the $149 in a “pay as you go” plan.

Cons – The camera is somewhat adequate and video camera leaves much to be desired. You need a steady and slow panning hand. Quality – Eh!

I recommend this phone.

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I purchased the Dart on sale for $100 directly from T-Mobile and have had this phone for over a month.

Battery life, as with most Android phones, is average. With regular usage, I need to charge daily (I keep the charging USB cable in the office and the AC charger at home). The camera isn’t particularly good, but I don’t mind since I have a dedicated point-and-shoot for doing serious photography. If you are looking for 4G support, also note that this supports 3G only. That said, I am using the Dart without a data plan, relying solely on wi-fi, which works great.

The screen size on the Dart is smaller than most, but keep in mind that this phone has a very small footprint (see photo). Having carried an LG Env2 previously, I opted for the Dart specifically because of its small size (see picture) as I wanted something that would fit comfortably in my pocket. The downside of this, however, is that some applications (e.g. Words with Friends, AnyStop) are not supported by the Dart.

I thought I would miss having a physical keyboard, but Swype works great for texting, and speech-to-text works reasonably well, too.

PROS: small size
CONS: average battery life, not-so-great camera

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