An easily pocketable messaging powerhouse, the Samsung Rant for Sprint has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard that lets you quickly type out email messages, IMs, and text messages so you can get the word out fast. In addition to fast 3G speeds from Sprint’s high-speed EV-DO network, you’ll enjoy GPS navigation capabilities for accessing the optional Sprint Navigation turn-by-turn direction service as well as access to Sprint TV’s video-on-demand with full-motion video and vivid sound. The Rant is also a great choice for a cellular audio player, with access to the Sprint Music Store for over-the-air downloads and wide multiformat support for loading your music onto optional MicroSD memory cards (up to 16 GB in size).

The Rant’s slide-out QWERTY keyboard that lets you type as fast as you talk.

Capture and share photographs with family and friends with the Rant’s built-in 2-megapixel camera with night shot mode, PictBridge printing support, and video capture capabilities. Other features include Bluetooth for handsfree devices and stereo music streaming, a 600-number internal phonebook, speaker-independent voice dialing, and up to 5.6 hours of talk time.

Sprint Service
Supporting the EV-DO high-speed data standard, this phone enables you to download and stream high-quality video, straight onto your phone. Where coverage is available, EV-DO connectivity provides average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps, with peak rates up to 2 Mbps. With Sprint TV, you can make your cell phone your always-on source for news, weather, sports and more. This comprehensive video service combines high-quality streaming audio and video from channels including the NFL Network, ABC, The Weather Channel, Fox Sports, E!, CNN, The Discovery Channel, and more.

The Sprint Music Store enables you to buy, download, and then jam out wherever you are with new songs or old favorites. Offering a growing selection of more than 1.6 million songs, the store provides you two copies of each song–one for the phone and another for the PC, as well as the ability to burn songs to a CD using Windows Media Player. Save your songs to a memory card with a capacity that’s right for you.

This GPS-enabled phone provides optional access to Sprint Navigation for driving directions on your mobile phone–by voice and onscreen. Along the way, turn-by-turn directions will be announced in a clear voice and displayed on your phone. For example, Sprint Navigation will say, “Go 1.2 miles and turn right on Elm Street.” As you approach the turn, you will hear, “Turn right on Elm Street.” Sprint Navigation also provides proactive traffic alerts with one click re-routing. And it’s easy to find restaurants, banks, cafes, hotels and more from over 10 million points of interest across the U.S.

Give your Sprint Mobile Email a boost with seamless access to your corporate email and contacts. With the Sprint Mobile Email Work service, you can receive email from Microsoft Exchange 2000, 2003, 2007 and Lotus Notes Domino versions 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0.

Phone Features
Named Best Cell Phone at the 2008 CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment conference, the Samsung Rant offers the hallmarks of a classic candybar-style phone, with alpha-numeric keypad, five way navigator and send/end/soft-navigation keys on the face, sitting below a 2.1-inch LCD screen with a a 176 x 220-pixel resolution and 262K color depth. But the Rant transforms into a messaging powerhouse thanks to the smooth horizontal slide-out, full QWERTY keyboard, which lets you type as fast as you talk.

Sprint One Click’s customizable home screen enables you to optimize your experience by providing quick access to the things you use the most.

The phone has an internal 64 MB memory, which can be expanded via optional MicroSD memory cards (up to 16 GB in size). The phonebook can store up to 600 contacts with room for up to six phone numbers, two email addresses, an IM screen name, web address, and a picture ID for each entry. Other features include display of the last 20 received/missed/outgoing calls and ringer ID capability.

This phone features Sprint’s new One Click navigation interface, which places eight shortcut tiles along the bottom of the home screen. Instead of navigating through endless phone menus, you can put the things you use the most–features like call logs, texting, Web access and GPS navigation–right up front with instant information related to each feature. For example, when you scroll to text messaging, you’ll see the number of new messages received and a single click takes take you to the newest messages. Here’s how it works:

Sprint’s One Click navigation interface.

• Add your favorite items to the carousel, which is a row of tiles along the bottom of your phone’s home screen.
• The carousel can hold up to 15 tiles, which you can add, remove and rearrange to suit your needs.
• Highlight a tile to reveal its menu on your home screen.
• Add up to 8 “bubbles”–at-a-glance items that display on your home screen, like the weather or your daily horoscope.
• Browse and download new tiles from your phone’s “Personalize Home Screen” tile. New tiles are available every two weeks.
• Press your navigation left or right key to select a tile; up or down to select a bubble or menu item.
• The “Home” tile always stays put, so you can easily get back to your default display.

Handsfree communication is easy thanks to the integrated speakerphone. This phone also provides Bluetooth wireless connectivity (version 2.0), and includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, and file transfer. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones. You can connect your laptop (either via Bluetooth or wired USB) and enjoy dial-up networking–surf the Internet, send email, and access files from a server.

The 2.0-megapixel camera can shoot still images in four resolutions–including 1600 x 1200 (2MP) 1280 x 960 (1 MP)–with three quality settings (high, medium, low). It also features a 4x digital zoom, white balance settings (Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent), multi-shot capabilities, multiple shutter sounds, and a self-timer (2-, 5-, and 10-second). You can also add color effects (including aqua, sepia, negative, and green) using the in-phone editor. In addition to stills, you can also capture video clips in short (for sending via messaging) and extended (for saving) lengths.

Other features include:

• MP3 player with airplane mode that turns off cellular connectivity while allowing you to continue to play music
• Background music mode allows you to play music while text messaging, playing games or surfing the Internet
• Live Search for Sprint, powered by Microsoft, provides easy access to directory information, integrated GPS-enabled directions, interactive maps and one-touch click to call access
• More than a dozen streaming-radio applications, including Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels
• Access to corporate and consumer (POP3) email, including AOL, Gmail and Yahoo!
• Speaker-independent Voice Dialing, including audible status reports on phone coverage, signal strength and battery life
• Voice to Action button, including call, text, picture messaging, traffic, movie, sports, news and search functions
• Multiple messaging options, including SMS, voice SMS and instant messaging
• T9 predictive text entry
• Organizer tools: Calendar, alarm clock, memo pad, world, time, calculator, tip calculator
• Vibration alert; 72-chord polyphonic ringtones
• Multilingual menus (English and Spanish)
• Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) rating: M4/T4
• Bluetooth version 2.0 with the following profiles: A2DP (stereo music streaming), AVRC (remote control), HFP (hands-free car kits), HSP (communication headsets), BPP (basic printing profile for text, email), DUN (dial-up networking), FTP (file transfer), OPP (object push for business cards, calendar items, and pictures), PBA (transfer contacts)

Vital Statistics
The Samsung Rant weighs 4.58 ounces and measures 4.5 x 2.1 x 0.7 inches. Its 960 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5.6 hours of talk time. It runs on the CDMA 800/1900 frequencies as well as Sprint’s EV-DO data network.

Features

• Messaging-centric phone in purple with horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Sprint Mobile Broadband Network via EV-DO connectivity. Sprint TV and Sprint Music Store enabled. GPS turn-by-turn directions via Sprint Navigation
• 2.0-megapixel camera/camcorder, Bluetooth stereo music streaming, MicroSD expansion to 16 GB, access to personal/corporate email and instant messaging
• Up to 5.6 hours of talk time. measures 4.5 x 2.1 x 0.7 inches and weighs 4.58 ounces
• What's in the Box: handset, battery, charger, 256 MB MicroSD card, standard battery door, tatoo battery door, quick start guide

User Reviews

This is a great phone for those who like to send text messages. It's much better, in my opinion, than "touch screen" phones. Size is good. Fits in my pocket. Keyboard is easy for my fingers and allows me to type fast.

Reception was a little weird when I got it. Would drop calls from time to time. Not sure if this was the phone or the area I was in, but the new update to the software seemed to have helped that out.

If you like basic phones that give you a few extra features, this is a good one. If you're into the web, you're probably better off with an iPhone. If you're just texting though, this is a good choice. -- good for texting

When my husband and I decided to upgrade, I went with the LG Rumor and he went with the Samsung Rant. Surprisingly even though the Samsung Rant is heavier and sturdier in appearance the LCD screen of the Rant broke a few months into use. My husband did not drop the phone, the LCD just has this big black spot and the rest of the screen was light up in white and rainbow colors. We sent this phone back to Samsung as it was still under the 1 year warranty. Now they want $85 to fix the LCD. There are no scratches and the screen was not cracked so I don't understand why we have to pay to get it fixed.

My coworker had the same situation with a Samsung Blackjack and the LCD screen gave out while it was still under the 1 year warranty. He did not drop it. He says don't even bother trying to fight with the service folks. He talked to managers and supervisors there and they all told him he should not have his phone in his pant pocket as that would add pressure to the phone and breaks the LCD? So instead of paying full price to replace the blackjack he just bought a iPhone at the Apple store for 199 instead.

This is very bizzare to me. Thank God I picked the Rumor, even though it looks cheaper the darn thing has lasted through plenty of drops to the hard pavement, whereas my husband and coworker broke their Samsung Rant and Blackjack by sticking the darn phones in their pant pockets. Maybe if they wore looser pants or lost a few pounds? hehe... but in all seriousness I'm pissed that I have to pay for the replacement of an LCD on the Rant when it is under warranty and it was not dropped on the ground. -- What is with the Samsung's LCD screens breaking so often?

THIS PHONE IS THE WORST...i ordered from sprint.om...i didnt even have the phone for a week and a half it it displaed problems with the internet..it just completetly stopped workin..the screen would go in and out whenever i tried to get on the internet...the then sent me a new rant after a couple days or so it did the same thing not only that but the text msgs where messing up also..i then had to go through so much when dealin with customer care..since i was still in m 30 days of service i eas able to get the lg lotus...which is very nice...i just think it is a shame that in 30 das i went through 3 phones... -- DONT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY

The Rant is a good, affordable phone that does everything (email, web, video, etc) and will probably fit the needs of most users. It's a little thicker and slightly heavier than my previous phone, (a thin flip-phone also by Samsung) but it's got the full keyboard in addition to the numbers pad, which also functions as a keyboard if you're too lazy to slide the phone open. I for one despise texting with just the numeric keypad, and LOVE having a full keyboard.

The cameras on cell phones in general are mostly useless unless you're in some kind of emergency, or you just don't care about image quality. It's fine if you're in an accident and want to take pictures of the damage, and it's worth having for that, but I just don't run around taking pictures on my phone... especially to the extent that I need an image editor on it as well as the camera. For throwaway images it's fine, but for anything else, forget it. I didn't try any of the image editing (that's what Photoshop and my Wacom tablet are for!), so I can't comment on that. I had no problems sending and receiving pictures.

With the TV, movies and web, you'll never be bored again. The speaker is loud enough for most people, but you may want to keep a set of headphones on hand if hearing or privacy are an issue. I think the screen is kind of small, but in a pinch you probably won't care about that. It's definitely not going to replace my iPod. The applications can be slow when first launching. Calls are loud and clear. The phone automatically locks itself when you're done, so no calling someone when you hit the buttons by accident. Just hit * and back to unlock it.

The battery lasts a long time, and it's very easy to figure out most of the functions without having to consult the manual. Probably the most useful part is page 8, where it clearly diagrams where every key is and what it does. Once you've found that, you'll probably be able to do just about anything manual-free.

While I love the slide-out keyboard, it slides out a little too easily. It's spring-loaded, so it pops right back in. However, when I'm talking on it, unless I watch what I'm doing, it'll start to slide depending on how I hold it. It doesn't affect the call, but it is distracting. I wish there was some way to lock it into place.

As for Sprint service? We had T-Mobile before, and while it was OK, they didn't wow us or really give us any incentive to stay with them. We also experienced a lot of dead zones with them, and high bills when business ate up our minutes. Every service is going to have someone with horror stories, but I'm not one of them. The Sprint Everything plan is really the best thing for us with our high volume and length of calls. Their staff at the local store is always top-notch, and they know how to treat their customers.

I went into this wanting a Blackberry, but because of finances, we opted for this one instead. (Hubby got the Blackberry... sniffle!) I was disappointed at first, being one of those people who loves to have the coolest, newest thing out there. However, this little phone has grown on me. Whether you're in a money pinch, or you want a good phone that does everything, or you just don't want to pay for the bells and whistles that techno-geeks like me love, I think it will grow on you as well. -- Not a Cadillac, but close!