If you are in the market for a rugged flip phone on the nation’s largest push to talk network, the Sprint Samsung Z400 might do the trick. The Z400 is part of a series of military grade devices being launched on the carrier’s network this Summer. After passing the MIL-STD 810F military standard, the Samsung Z400 is prepared to withstand dust, shock and vibration from even the most physical users.
While the feature list is short and sweet, not enough can be said for a phone that you can drop down a flight of stairs and not worry about failing when you get there. With a 1.3 megapixel camera and 2x digital zoom, the Z400 will snap a quick picture or even a short video clip if necessary. California residents will also find the inclusion of Bluetooth 2.0 a welcomed bonus as a Cell Phone while driving ban goes into effect July 1st.
Current Sprint users eligible for a 2 year contract renewal and new 2 year sign ups will be able to purchase the Samsung Z400 for $100. As usual, this price will be after the appropriate mail in rebates and instant discounts.
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I’ve had the phone for about two weeks and am generally pleased with it. The most significant flaw in the design is that the Direct Connect button is much too easy to press and I repeatedly connected to my contacts when it got bumped by mistake. I eventually found an undocumented Side Key Guard function buried in the Settings menu which disables the side buttons unless you first push the camera and volume buttons simultaneously. (You can answer a Direct Connect call without pressing the buttons first.)
I haven’t run the phone until the battery was completely dead but the battery indicator seems to go down faster than the specified talk/standby time would imply. A second battery acts the same way,
I’ve already accidentally dropped the phone on concrete a couple of times with no damage.
Probably because of a nearby bridge abutment, Sprint signals at my home are marginal. I have had fewer problems on regular calls with the Z400 than with my previous Sprint/Samsung A640 phone. The Direct Connect, which uses Sprint’s EV-DO data network, does drop out occasionally.