Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 – Basic phone, nothing special
For:
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 has slim candy bar design and gives sturdy feel. The phone has few comforts like voice commands and Bluetooth.
Against:
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 does not provide good call quality. The text input method needs improvement.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 is based on CDMA2000 1× technology and supports dual-band of CDMA 800/1900. The Stunt has 15MB of internal memory. 1.7-inch CSTN technology based display has a resolution of 128×160 pixels and 16-bit (65000) colors.
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 has basic features including speakerphone, caller ID, voice recorder, call timer, alarm clock, calendar, calculator, stopwatch, 20 polyphonic ring-tones and vibrating alert. The Stunt has embedded JAVA applications and WAP 2.0 based web browser. The messaging feature set includes Text Messages (SMS), mobile email and voice mail.
The additional features of Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 are A-GPS, Bluetooth and speaker-independent voice commands. The supported audio formats are eAAC+, AAC+, AAC, MP3 and MIDI.
The battery life of Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 is 198 minutes of talk time and 200 hours of idle standby time.
Razzle Dazzle:
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 has simple candy bar design. The Stunt SCH-r100 is 0.54 inch deep, 1.7 inches wide and 4.2 inches tall and weighs around 2.6 ounces. It is a slim and pocket size handset. The phone is sturdy enough to stand occasional drops on the floor. It has plastic back and on the top, there are faint-black nubbles. There is a combination of matte and glossy striped bands on lower half.
Inside Dope:
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 does not have anything new and is a simple communication phone. It has basic candy bar design and equipped with features such as voice commands and Bluetooth. The Stunt SCH-r100 does not have a music player and camera like other phones of its class. The overall call quality was decent, but there were tinny and fuzzy nuances. Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 is available from MetroPCS at $39 without any contract. The features and design of the Stunt are good for such a price range. The Stunt phone is flat to ears, but its mic is at a distance from your mouth due to its small size. The Stunt SCH-r100 has standard charging slot, like other models. The digital SAR of the Stunt is 1 watt per kilogram as per FCC radiation tests. If you need a basic handset with a browser and Bluetooth, then you can consider the new Samsung Stunt SCH-r100. the phone is sturdy, light and small. One advantage of such a basic phone is that it is very tiny and hence easy to carry around. Smartphones ooze with features but they come in a big size. Let’s check out the features of this basic entry level phone.
Design and Display
2.5mm headset jack and micro-USB port for charging is located on the right side. Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 does not have 3.5mm headset jack, music player and camera. Keypad lock, voice command key and shortcut to turn on/off vibrate mode are located on the keypad.
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 has 1.7-inch display of 128×160 pixels resolution and 65,000 colors. The display is relatively large for this type of phone, and it provides better user-interface with bright colors.
Keyboard and Navigation Array
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 has spacious keypad for good typing experience. There are plastic troughs between rows of the keys that keep buttons quite well. However, the keys are not enough tactile so that you can text or dial by feel. Four-way directional pad with central OK key is located beneath the display. It has shortcuts to address book and messages. Most sub-menus do not have a “back” option, so you can use the Clear key for the same.
Samsung SCH-r100 does not have an option to change the text input method permanently from manual to T9 predictive text input, so you have to do it manually each time. On call, the speakerphone mode sits in Options menu. We would prefer to have dedicated shortcut for the same at home screen.
Phonebook and PIM features
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 can store up to 500 contacts. You can divide the contacts in groups. You can also pair the contacts with one of 20 polyphonic ring-tones and a photo for caller ID. The phone does not have a camera, but you can download photo from MMS or web browser.
The basic feature set of Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 includes tip calculator, converter tool, stopwatch, world clock, multimedia and text messaging, alarm clock, memo pad, calculator and calendar. In addition, the advanced features are voice-dialing, speaker-independent voice commands and Bluetooth.
Services
MetroPCS also offers its services like Metro411 directory assistance and MetroBackup that stores the contact list online for $1 per month. MetroPCS mail@metro service is also available, if your service plan has it.
Browser
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 has WAP 2.0 browser that includes Google search bar and menu of hyperlinks for downloads, news and weather categories.
Games and Personalization
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 does not have any inbuilt game. However, you can download games through MetroWeb or @metro storefront. These games will be stored at internal memory.
You can adjust the font size and backlight time. Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 has an icon carousel at front screen that makes the menu interface very easy to use. The volume rocker also works as secondary navigation in menu mode.
Call Quality
For testing, we made some calls from dual-band based Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 using MetroPCS. We received natural sound with good volume at our end, but the callers received our sound with audible background hum. In addition, the calling ring was broken or fuzzy at their end.
At both end, we received tinny and blurry overtures with casual distortion. As a result, the overall call quality was not so good to impress us. The speakerphone volume was good, but still it had distortion in noisy environment. Normal users would not notice that much interference during small calls.
Battery life
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 has a battery life of 3.3 hours of talk time and 8.3 days of idle standby time. In our tests, the battery lasted for about three hours.
Verdict:
Samsung Stunt SCH-r100 is a basic phone and very easy to use. Its few features like speakerphone, voice commands and Bluetooth. If you are looking for a simple phone, get this002E.
