Samsung SGH X426 (Unlocked)

Our family had two x426 phones for about a year, and we loved them.

The first things we admired about them was their compact, clean style and solid feel. Their beautiful color display and clear reception were a welcome bonus.

All that's very nice, but what we really wanted to know was -- do they work?

We found the x426 phones to be very reliable with excellent battery life. The buttons are easy to use, and the menus are simple to navigate. The phones are well designed, small enough to fit in your pocket, and look great. The displays are bright and colorful, and the sound quality is excellent -- we never had any reception problems whatsoever.

We loved that the x426 phones are completely customizable. We uploaded our own wallpapers, set secure passwords, and assigned ring tones to specific numbers and/or groups. The programmable directional pad came in handy for instantly accessing the calendar, alarm, call records, and calculator (just about any function can be programmed here). I used the alarm to alert me for eBay auctions quite a bit, and the To Do List became invaluable to me. **There are many other features, too many to describe here, but the 500 name phone book, call waiting, caller ID, and alerts (sound and vibrate) worked flawlessly and are all worth mentioning.

The manual is clearly written, nicely cross-referenced, and it's a nice, small size that will tuck away in the smallest drawer. The AC adapters are also small enough to store easily, and they completely charge fully depleted batteries in about an hour. Battery life for these phones is exceptional. The batteries still held the same strong charge as when new, and, in our case, the batteries lasted 2-3 days without a charge.

Our single, very minor complaint was the ridiculously small rubber protectors for the phones' AC adapter connections, sort of tiny plugs at the foot of the phones. These silly things are about 1/8" W x 1/2" L, and, unless you have ESP, you'll lose them straight away. Wrestling the protectors in and out every time we needed to charge the phones was annoying, so we stored the plugs and used the phones without them.

Of note, the x426 is preloaded with some questionable ring tones, but downloading ring tones of your choice quickly resolves this. The wallpapers are animated, and most are acceptable. However, personalized wallpapers are easily uploaded to the x426 with a Samsung Serial Data Cable. Software for creating wallpapers is a free download from Samsung (as of this writing).

The x426 phone is an excellent choice for teens or first time cell phone users because it's so simple to use. If there's ever a question, the User Guide is very understandable and quick to reference. Further, the phone's many features are easily accessed and can be personalized to the user. And, many organizations, like secure workplaces, do not allow cell phones with cameras, and these phones meet that requirement.

Overall, we were very pleased with the performance of the x426 phones and the accessories. We had no problems at all.

In fact, the x426 phones impressed us so much that when we signed a new service contract, we opted for the x427m phones -- the x426 twins. You just can't go wrong with a full-featured phone that's stylish, dependable, and simple to use.


**We didn't use the WAP 2.0 Web Browser (mMode), but this internet option is available (text messaging, etc.). Java games are preloaded, but we only explored these once or twice.