The Samsung SCH-R300 is a bottom of the line phone designed for the low end market segment. Basically, this is the phone you buy if you have no desire to ever do anything but use it to talk to people with. Alternatively, a cheap phone such as this is perfect for use as a backup device should you find yourself in an emergency or without your primary cell phone. As long as you do not expect a whole lot out of the Samsung SCH-R300, you will not be disappointed.

The Samsung SCH-R300 is a dual band CDMA phone, which means it can only be used in the United States and a few other places in the world. However, because the Samsung SCH-R300 is low cost, it does not offer any support for high speed data transfer over the 3G networks like most modern CDMA devices currently do. This means that if you want to send or receive files, you can only do it over the aging (and painfully slow) CDMA2000 network.

Measuring in at approximately three and a half inches by two inches by one inch, the Samsung SCH-R300 is a rather small device that won’t leave much of a footprint in your pocket or your purse. Furthermore, it is very light, weighing in at only 82 grams.

Battery life is somewhere in the middle of the road with the Samsung SCH-R300. Expect to get approximately three hours of talk time or 325 hours of standby time on a single charge.

There are two screens built into the Samsung SCH-R300. The main screen, located inside of the phone, is a small, 1.67 inch screen with a resolution of only 128 by 160 pixels and a color depth of 65k colors. The secondary screen, located on the outside of the phone, is approximately one inch in size and features a resolution of 96 by 96 pixels. It only shows images in black and white.

Other features include a medium sized phone book, an alarm, a calendar, a stopwatch, a unit converter, a world clock, a calculator, a number of voice commands, a voice recorder, a speakerphone, email support, and GPS support.

Pros

* Cheap, low cost device

* GPS support

Cons

* Hardly any features to speak of

* Only decent battery life

* No 3G support

Overall

The Samsung SCH-R300 makes a great backup device – but that’s about it. Sure, it has a little style to it and it is pretty small and light, but it is missing a lot of the features that you can find in other phones at this same price point. Give it a look, but be sure to check out the competition too.