Samsung Juke (Music Phones Under $50) Review

Samsung Juke Features

The Juke opens with a unique swivel motion that makes it one of the more hip phones. The handset fits in the skinniest of pockets and comes in navy, teal, and red.

A Standout Phone, For Good and Bad Reasons

Unlike other Verizon Wireless music phones, this one doesn't tap into the carrier's V CAST Music Service and doesn't come with a microSD slot. You do get 2GB of internal storage, however, and can sync to a PC via a USB cable. (We transferred 12 CD tracks in 24 seconds.) The Juke also comes with a set of 2.5mm headphones.

Measuring Performance

Annoyingly, you have to open the phone to launch the music player and then close the phone to view your playlist. If you close the phone, your tunes will continue to play, but you'll need to open it again to switch songs. Music sounded good through the bundled earbuds but even better through our Plantronics Voyager 855 Bluetooth headphones.

The tiny 1.5-inch LCD screen proved limiting when shooting and reviewing photos or reading long text messages. On the plus side, the keys were responsive and easy to type on, albeit a bit glossy for our tastes. The Juke supports Verizon Wireless' VZ Navigator GPS software, but you can't surf the Web--not that you'd want to on its Lilliputian screen.

The Juke had among the best voice quality of the phones in this roundup; calls were crisp from both ends. We also didn't experience any dropped calls. Just be sure to keep the charger handy if you'll be playing music often; we had to charge the phone daily.

The Verdict

Despite its lack of 3G, the Juke is one of our favorite budget music phones because of its reliable call quality and 2GB of internal memory.