Samsung B2100 Unlocked Quad-Band Phone, Extreme Anti-Shock, Waterproof, Built-in Flashlight, Bluetooth-International Version-Black

Pros of the Samsung B2100:1. Waterproof: I am a kayaker. I put a 1.5" X 2.5" strip of adhesive backed Velcro permanently on the back of the Samsung B2100 battery panel. I stick the phone to the deck of my kayak. The phone has a large eyelet on the top of the phone which I attached a thin lanyard that I then fastened to medal ring attached to my kayak in case I accidentally drop the phone in the river.2. Flashlight is bright: I train for marathon kayak racing every other day and often finish paddling after dark. This flashlight provides enough light for me to hike up a quarter mile trail through the woods to my house.3. FM Radio is very clear: I had been using a Sony TV/Weather/FM/AM Walkman SRF-M80V strapped to my arm when I work out at the local gym, but when I increase the resistance on the stepper or exercise cycle there is an accompanying increase static on the Sony Walkman radio; but with the Samsung B2100 phone's FM Radio there is no static and the signal is clear. The Samsung B2100 radio doesn't significantly drain the battery.4. I haven't experience any dropped calls, and found that the coverage is good in the quad-state area (Pennsylvania/New Jersey/New York/Delaware).5. Battery life is good.Cons of the Samsung B2100:1. I wanted the ringtone "Chariots-of-Fire" on this phone. This ringtone is sold at AT&T which is my phone's service provider. I took the Samsung B2100 to AT&T for their assistance. Despite three separate visits lasting one hour each with two different AT&T technicians, they were unable to connect to the Internet to download this ring tone for the AT&T website, or from any other website. Problem is that the Samsung B2100 was designed for United Kingdom Internet providers, and will not accept an Internet address which are over a few characters long from United States Internet providers, which means you can connect to a couple of short addresses like MSN or Google, however, if you need to go to a website with a longer Internet address, it comes up Internet address error.2. It is an United Kingdom phone with no Samsung support in the U.S. - when I was unable to connect fully to Internet providers in the United States I first contacted Samsung International who referred me to Samsung U.S.A. who referred me to Samsung United Kingdom who referred me to AT&T U.S.A. who then referred me back to Samsung U.S.A. resulting in no solution to my Internet connection problem.3. The Samsung B2100 is a 3G/MPEG3 phone. If you want the same phone in a 4G/MPEG4 phone suggest the newer version of this phone, the Samsung B2710, which is sold on amazon.co.uk [...] The Samsung B2710 looks identical to the Samsung B2100, but is a slightly bigger phone with larger battery, anti-scratch window, higher resolution screen, and a G4/MPEG4 phone; however the Samsung B2719 will cost you twice a much.4. Although the Samsung B2100 is a rugged phone I like carrying it in a belt-clip carrying case, but I had to switch to a larger pouch since every time I returned it to the snug carrying case both the volume keys and the flashlight key would be depressed and the flashlight would go on, and the volume would go beep-beep-beep. If you wait a couple of seconds before putting the phone into a carrying case, which allows the keyboard to then automatically lock, then you won't have this problem; but it is an annoyance to always to have to wait before put the phone back on your belt. The keyboard lock only has an option to turn on or off, not an option to set the time before the keyboard locks.5. I have heard that the screen scratches easily, but I prevented that problem by just putting a strip of 2" clear packing tape on the screen which works fine if you put the tape on slowly at an angle pressing out the air bubbles. Clear tape is inexpensive and can be replaced as often as needed.Notes:A. The Samsung B2100 takes a removable SIM card, so it cannot be used phones that do not have a removable SIM card like the phones used by Verizon.B. The phone package does not come with a SIM card (which you can get from your phone service provider).C. Nor does the phone package come with a micro-SDHC card which you can purchase on line. You only need an micro-SDHC if you want your phone numbers stored separately from the SIM card or if you want to store music to listen to with your ear phones. A 2GB or 4GB micro-SDHC will work fine.D. You can load up the micro-SDHC card from you computer, either by putting the micro-SDHC card into a USB connection on your computer, or downloading it directly to the phone from your computer, but you will need to purchase a data cable for a SAMSUNG phone. A data cable does not come with the phone package, however, these data cables are inexpensive on the Internet.E. The phone package comes with stereo ear plugs with an on-off mike for answering calls.F. The phone package comes with an AC battery charger, but you will need to purchase a DC battery charge if you want to charge the phone's battery while in your car.F. Although there are many cons I gave it a four star rating because this phone basically does what I need it to do which is to be able to make and receive calls while in the middle of a lake or river in my kayak without having to take an ordinary mobile phone out of a sealed carrying case, and also be able to use it this as an all-round phone on land.

I bought 2 of these about a month ago. One of them has worked flawlessly for the past 8 months, while the other failed within 3 days of normal use. The defective one started turning on and off every 5 minutes or so, but thankfully Amazon took it back and gave me a refund.The phone is a work and play beast. It really is water proof to 3 feet (tested it for just under 30 minutes, so as not to exceed the max rating). I took pictures underwater at a hotel swimming pool. The pics came out pretty good for a basic cellphone. But really, the phone is intended as a work beast. It takes a hell of a beating. I've dropped it, stepped on it, kicked it a good distance while dropping it, froze it in water (for the lols) and regularly wash it with soap and water or even glass cleaner. Perhaps, its only weakness is the little side cover for the charger port: it will take on water (according to the manual) if you forget to close it.THE SCREENIt's small, simple, basically designed for durability, so don't expect web surfing to be practical. Also, it doesn't scratch easily, but if you put in in your pocket along with some keys, don't expect any miracles.THE KEYBOARDIt's rubbery, a bit hard to press at times, works fine for dialing up phone numbers, but texting can be frustrating. On the other hand, it's practically unbreakable, waterproof, and washable.THE CASEIt's built for war. It bounces like a hard rubber ball when dropped, and then it's ready for more abuse.THE FLASHLIGHTI love this thing. It's always there when you need it most. It has average brightness and does eat the battery pretty fast, but it's so handy that I could care less. There is one bad thing about the flashlight though: it's very easy to accidentally switch it on while talking on the phone. After a couple of days, though, I got used to not pressing the light button, so no worries.THE EARPHONE PIECEIt's OK as long as it's kept properly aligned to one's ear, otherwise the volume can fade out a bit. It is hard to hear in noisy environments, though.THE SPEAKERPHONEIt works quite well, sound quality and volume wise. But because the feature is hidden when there are no active calls, I would expect most people to have trouble figuring out how to activate it, let alone realizing that it exists at all. (If I remember correctly, It can only be activated during an active call by pressing the large navigation selection button.)THE BATTERYOn a single charge and without making/receiving calls at 77 degrees Fahrenheit, It will survive 5 to 6 days on standby. Talk time is about 6 hours with a loss of roughly 17% to 25% per day of battery reserve which is what keeps the phone on standby. If you fiddle with the settings or do texting, the LCD backlight and extra CPU activity with eat the battery pretty fast (2 to 3 hours). (Worth noting: varying ambient temperatures will likely give different battery life results. Putting the phone in your pocket, for instance, may make the battery warmer resulting in almost triple the daily reserve loss. And yes, batteries of almost any kind drain faster as they get warmer.)RECEPTIONSeems to work wherever I go. No connection drops, except when standing next to large metal structure and even that is rare.BLUETOOTHThe 'hands free', works flawlessly with my car's factory receiver is all I can really say. I haven't really tried it with any other devices, though.THIS IS NOT A PRETTY PHONEIt's intended for situations that would kill an iphone instantly. It really is tough and dependable, and for once I don't have to buy a stupid, overpriced protector or worry about some pretty looking phone falling or getting scratched. On the other hand, it obviously won't run apps like an iphone, and it's is borderline terrible for texting, so be warned (not that I care for texting).