Samsung Haven – Made for senior citizens

Samsung Haven is a phone made for senior citizens and hence it is quite low on features. This phone is made for people who just want to make phone calls and may send a few text messages. It doesn’t even have a camera so you pretty much get the idea about how basic the phone is. Don’t expect any fancy features on the phone but there are a few interesting tools. This handset is dark gray and black and it has the typical boxy design. The back is quite slick and the handset feels great to hold in the hand.

On the sides, there are grooves which give you a better feel in the hand while gripping the device. You can place your thumb in this groove for flipping open the phone easily. The groove also houses your fingers well when the phone is opened while you are on a call. This phone has a clamshell design and you get a tiny external display on the lid. This screen is 1.07 inches big and it is used for just the basics.

The external display of the Samsung Haven is bigger at 2.2 inches. Beneath the screen, you have three shortcut buttons for voice command, voice mail messages and photo gallery. The last button is least important on the phone since there is no camera. This button just opens up the built in photo gallery containing a couple of pictures.

Beneath the display, there is the navigation array in a square design. In the center, there is the four way navigation button with OK key in the middle. This button is flanked by a couple of keys – Emergency 911, speakerphone phone, send, end, clear, etc. At the bottom, there is the dial pad which is really large. Typing was comfortable and the buttons give a nice feel to the fingers. The buttons also bounce back when you push them and this is like a tactile feedback.

Inside the Samsung Haven, you will find basic tools like calculator, calendar, alarm clock, world clock, tip calculator, etc. For health enthusiasts, there are tools like Fitness Trainer, Healing Music, Medical Info and Reminder. The Fitness Trainer will instruct you on fifteen stretches. Such features are quite rare on a cell phone and it is nice them here. Medical Info lets you enter the medical information for future reference. The Healing Music section has four tracks – Rain, Cloth, Leaf and Sky. The manufacturer has put in a few extra features in order to fend off competition. Texting is also there on the phone but I was disappointed to see that it can send a picture message but cannot receive one.

Samsung Haven is made mainly for making calls and hence I expected stellar call quality. The results were a bit disappointing though, it wasn’t consistent through out my lab tests. There was tinniness and some cut out words but I could still hear my friends clearly so I won’t call it a deal breaker. Speakerphone call quality was much better.