Samsung Gem (U.S. Cellular)

The Samsung Gem loses out to the identically-priced LG Optimus U thanks to the Gem's inferior sound quality, screen, and build quality.

Front

The Samsung Gem measures 4.5 by 2.2 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.9 ounces. 

Back

The Gem's 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera has no flash. Test photos looked good, with natural coloring, detail, and light balance, although sunlight-filled windows were slightly overexposed. 

Angle

The Gem's 3.2-inch plastic capacitive touch screen offers 240-by-400-pixel resolution. That's an odd number of pixels that raises compatibility issues with third-party apps in the Android Market; virtually no other Android phone has this resolution. 

Right

The Gem runs Android 2.2. Interestingly, it's virtually stock; there are no Samsung TouchWiz-like enhancements to be found. 

Angle

The Gem looks kind of cheap; the hard, glossy black plastic and chrome-accented plastic buttons don't do it any favors. 

Left

The Gem feels sluggish in operation, and it posted significantly slower numbers than the Optimus U on nearly every benchmark we ran even though it has a faster processor.

Spec Data

Service Provider US Cellular

Operating System Android OS

Screen Size 3.2 inches

Screen Details 240-by-400-pixel, 262K color TFT LCD capacitive touch screen

Camera Yes

Megapixels 3.2 MP

Camera Flash No

802.11x Yes

Bluetooth Yes

Web Browser Yes

Form Factor Candy Bar

Network CDMA

Bands 850, 1900

High-Speed Data 1xRTT, EVDO Rev 0

Storage Capacity (as Tested) 155.65 MB

Processor Speed 800 MHz

Keyboard No

Continuous Talk Time 6 hours minutes

Posted in: Phone News