Gadgetory

hi I'm Kent German senior editor for cnet.com today we're gonna take a first look at the Samsung axle this is also called the SCH R 311 it's a new phone for US Cellular service this one looks a lot like the Samsung byline has really the same design couple differences you notice there is a camera here the byline didn't have one of those and the phone's just the tiniest bit heavier than the byline but overall very similar design flip phone really straight lines just rounded at the ends a mirrored face here on the front does catch fingerprints and smudges pretty easily so you want to be aware of that external display it's a bit small but it is full color and it shows everything you need to know date time battery life signal strength also works as a viewfinder for the camera here on the side you see there's a volume rocker over here there's just a camera shutter and a proprietary headset charger jack of course that means you can only use one peripheral at a time and you will need an adapter to use your own headset phone does have a plastic skin probably won't stand up to a lot of blows but has a pretty comfortable feeling in the hand and the hinge feels pretty sturdy inside to find a full-color display it is pretty bright graphics and photos won't look exceptionally sharp as the resolution isn't that great but it's perfectly fine for this caliber phone menus are pretty easy to navigate and come in two styles list or icon you can change some of the display settings as well like backlighting brightness when we know the navigation controls and keypad they are pretty well designed they are pretty spacious they are raised just above the surface of the phone and so the pretty tactile felt pretty comfortable they also have a nice almost rubbery feeling beneath the finger and moving out of the keypad buttons pretty bright backlighting numbers are relatively large and had no problems dialing or texting quickly and no problem navigating to the menu but really this phone is just for making calls and sending messages call quality was okay the phone does get loud at the higher levels and the auto quality was too tad distorted especially at those high volumes but for just a casual user who just needs a phone occasionally should it be too much of a problem I'm Ken Sherman and this is the Samsung axle