Samsung’s Reality U820 debuted as a slimmed down version of the popular Samsung Rouge. The touch screen, quick messaging phone from Verizon serves its purpose as your average multimedia phone. Samsung has updated the Reality with the traditional 3 1/2 millimeter head jack, enabling users to hook up their personal headphones. The horizontal slide keypad compacts the phone, while allowing the benefits of a full QWERTY keyboard. The sleek phone is very reactive to touch, has clear call quality, and the newest TouchWiz interface. The Reality has everything you need to stay up to date with popular social networks including Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.

Despite the few upgrades, the Reality fails in competition with the Rouge. The scaled down version lacks important features and design that will be missed. The 3 inch WQVGA display was a huge disappointment from the awe-inspiring AMOLED displayed on the Rouge. Furthermore, the Reality interface uses EV-DO Rev.0 instead of previous EV-DO Rev. A, that we were accustomed too. The resistive touch display was also discouraging in comparison to a capacitive touch screen. Samsung’s sleek Reality comes in two options: piano black or red (which is actually an elegant burgundy). The glossy back plate has a fair diamond plate design with a slight slope inward to add dimension. The outside is classic, can function for both males and females, and appeasing to the eye. The Reality has numerous adjustable features including changing the font size and color of the main menu, dial display, and alarm clock. Even the unlock slide can be personalized.

The TouchWiz interface is integrated into the Reality offering a pop-out side panel filled with pre-loaded widgets and applications that can easily be dragged and dropped to one of the three customizable home pages. Although the Reality using EV-Do REv.O, the 262,000 color support still looks great with 400 x 240 TFT. An added bonus is the animated background on the screen.

The QWERTY keyboard has four rows with the top row dedicated to numbers. Thus, the annoyance of holding down a shift key for numbers is avoided. The Reality overlooked a dedicated messenger button on the keypad, which is a nice feature seen in comparable messaging phones. Furthermore, because of the Reality’s smaller size, the keyboard is missing the spacious feel from the Rouge. The phone has three frontal controls for call, end, and a home button that serves a dual purpose as a back key. The outside of the phone is equipped with a volume toggle, lock button, USB connection, camera/video button, and memory card slot that holds a microSD card. The Reality also has a side toggle button with two separate functions including speaker phone and voice activation which can be used to initiate searches.

Samsung’s Reality offers a 3.2 megapixel camera located on the back, with an adjacent mirror used for self portraits. The camera takes decent photos, however the Reality lacks auto focus, and pictures are not automatically saved after each take. The 1080 mAh battery has 5 hours of talk time along with 300 hours on standby. The Reality is relatively light at 4 ounces. The phone’s measurements are listed at 4.23 X 2.09 X 0.65 inches in length x Width x thickness respectively.

When using Samsung’s Reality, I first noticed the resistive touch display, which is a disappointment in comparison to capacitive touch screens, which is more receptive to touch. Although lacking the capacitive touch capability, the Reality was still very responsive. A vibration setting can be turned on to generate vibrating feedback to your touch. Furthermore, the touch screen can always be re-calibrated if it is malfunctioning.

The Reality is a traditional messaging phone that is connected to social networks including popular sites Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Additional sites on the Reality include Flickr, Friendster, PHotoBucket, and YouTube. No improvements were made to the Media Center which automatically directs you to Vcast music by Rhapsody. You have the option of purchasing music from Rhapsody for $1.99 per song, or uploading your own music. The Audio was great when traveling through headphones, however the speaker version was not as loud as I would have liked. The 16 GB microSD card capability was definitely a nice touch.

The 3G network made browsing the internet a smoother process. The Reality featured a Bing search, which is Verizon’s new mobile search created by Microsoft. Additionally, the Reality had all the standard features for a messaging phone including AIM, Windows Live Messanging, and Yahoo. Vz Navigator is also available via subscription for either one day or a month. The Vz Navigator application is an awesome feature with speech and text functioning for GPS. For example, say Dry Cleaners into the phone and the program will locate the nearest Dry Cleaning location. The Reality also comes equipped with Mobile Email, Corporate Email for an extra fee, along with the traditional mobile web mail. Despite the 3G network, I had a slightly hard time navigating the browser. I was impressed with the HTML browser and the ease of switching into landscape view when surfing the internet.

When typing, the keys had good feedback and decent spacing. The slide open keyboard had a good feel, with slight resistance to opening. Text messaging opened into a note pad display, which was a different look but had a really cool feel. You had the ability to easily attach pictures, audio files to text messages. Again for an extra fee, the Reality offered a visual voice mail option for visual customers.

Call quality on Samsung’s Reality was excellent with no noticeable distortion. The speaker phone was loud and clear with only a slight echo. The Reality can fit over 1000 contacts, all with ample space for multiple numbers. You have the option of categorizing contacts into groups and personalizing groups with a particular ringtone. The phone has bluetooth technology and comes with a micro USB that can connect to both the charger and the computer.

At 79.99 with a two-year Verizon agreement, the Reality is a great multimedia phone for Verizon customers looking for touch screen and quick messaging capabilities. The phone ran smoothly with only a slight delay when browsing the internet. The TouchWiz interface along with three customizable home pages makes Samsung’s Reality a great phone that can be personalized to the user. A nice highlight was the note pad text message center which added a different edge to texting. For all the social customers, the Reality offers a quick connection to popular networking sites. Overall, the Reality had everything you need while still easy to use. If you are looking for something smaller than Samsung’s Rouge, the Reality is a great alternative.

Samsung’s Reality U820 debuted as a slimed down version of the popular Samsung Rouge. The touch screen, quick messenging phone from Verizon serves its purpose as your average multimedia phone. Samsung has updated the Reality with the traditional 3 1/2 millimeter head jack, enabling users to hook up their personal headphones. The horizontal slide keypad compacts the phone, while allowing the benefits of a full QWERTY keyboard. The sleek phone is very reactive to touch, has clear call quality, and the newest TouchWiz interface. The Reality has everything you need to stay up to date with popular social networks including Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.