Hands-on with the Samsung Magnet messaging phone

Samsung apparently couldn’t wait for CTIA Wireless 2009 to kick off in Las Vegas. A couple days before the trade show was scheduled to begin, Samsung blitzed the media with a slew of affordable messaging handsets. And then they blitzed us again with the Samsung Instinct S30 and Samsung Mondi the next day. Nevertheless, we’re fully recovered from Samsung’s handset assault – recovered enough to hit the Las Vegas Convention Center for some hands-on time with the new Samsung Magnet.

The Samsung Magnet is being targeted at AT&T (NYSE: T) customers looking for an affordable handset with a full QWERTY keyboard to help take the hassle out of sending text messages to friends and family. Decked out in bright Orange, the Samsung Magnet we got to play with was as straightforward as they come. It won’t do anything that qualifies it as a smartphone. It won’t be taking incredibly high-resolution pictures. But, then again, the Samsung Magenta never set out to be a powerful handset. It just wanted to do one thing, and do it well – send text messages.

The Magnet is as thin as monoblock handsets come. The display sits above a set of navigation and the QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard is easy to use and offers good tactile feedback. Each key on the keyboard is slightly raised and is just big enough to be comfortable for even the stubbiest fingers out there. As for aesthetics, there isn’t too much hardware to take up space within the Magnet’s casing, and that makes for a slim, sexy handset that doesn’t make excuses for what it can’t do.