Verizon Samsung Illusion Review

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Our friends over at Samsung have sent us the Samsung Illusion for us to review. It is one of the newest 3G Smartphone to hit Verizon’s Network. It has some great features, that make it a good phone. Now, let’s get started with the full review of the Samsung Illusion!

 

Hardware

The Samsung Illusion is a lower-end smartphone. In terms of design it is a thick yet sleek phone. The color of the device is black and it does have a plastic build to it. It is a basic smartphone. For most people, you will get past it’s thickness and on to its limited features. The headphone jack can be found on top of the device. Power/sleep button is on the right hand side. The bottom of the phone is home to the micro USB port. Your volume rocker and micro SD card port is found on the left hand side. On the back you have a the Verizon and Samsung logos, as well as a 3.0 mega-pixel camera. If you take the back cover off you will find the battery and some speakers. It has a 3.5 inch HVGA Curved Touch Screen Display, With a resolution of 320 x 480. The screen is pretty good but, we have seen better from Samsung. For speed it has a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, it is just single core. It runs on Verizon Wireless’s 3G Network. Out of the box it comes with 4GB of space, that is 2GB of internal and a 2GB micro SD card. It has alas can connect to WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 . Overall, the hardware of the Samsung Illusion is basic and gets the job done.

 

Operating System

The Samsung Illusion is running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread with Samsung Touch Wiz running on top of it. The operating system and user interface run well most of the time. If you have more than a couple of apps open it will start to slow down and it can have a delay everyone once in a while. Keep in mind that it is a basic smartphone. Samsung Touch Wiz will help a first time smartphone user, get used to the device. It is also one of the best User Interface’s available on the market. Samsung Media Hub is nowhere to be found on the Samsung Illusion. I’m assuming they want to keep that for there higher-end devices. In terms of pre-loaded apps there are some. Those include Amazon Kindle, All Share, Backup Assistant, City ID,Guide Tours, Google App Suite, IM, Mobile Hotspot, Monopoly Classic, Music Player, Memo, My Files, My Verizon, NFL Mobile, Quick Office, Setup Wizard, Skype Mobile, Slacker Radio, Talk, Task Manager, UNO, V-Cast Suite Of Apps, Voice Recorder, VZ Navigator, YouTube, and much more. You also have the great Samsung Widgets and lock screens that come with Samsung Touch Wiz. The pre-set way to unlock the phone ,right out of the box, is to put in the last piece of the puzzle. Some pre-setup widgets include Weather, Time, Task Manager, Google, and more. Overall, the operating system and user interface bring added benefits to the Samsung Illusion.

 

Bottom Line

The Samsung Illusion is a basic android device, that does have some good features. For starters it is running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread with Samsung Touch Wiz, what is not too like there. It makes the phone perfect for use by a first time Android user. You also have a pretty good 3.5 inch HVGA Curved Touch Screen. For speed you have Verizon’s reliable 3G Network and a 1GHz Single Core Hummingbird Processor. I would recommend the Samsung Illusion to anyone looking for a first smartphone or a basic smartphone. The Samsung Illusion is priced right as well at only $79.99 with a 2-year contract. With out a contract it will cost you $329.99 . Currently it is only available online from Verizon Wireless, but it will be in Verizon Wireless stores this coming January. You Can Get Your Verizon Samsung Illusion, By Clicking Here. We would like to thank Samsung Mobile for providing us with a copy of the “Verizon Samsung Illusion”.

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