I wanted a new phone but didn't dare ask my Other Half for one for Christmas as I had already asked for a new Laptop. I was thinking that I would buy myself one after Christmas in the sales. My Other Half's phone had gone wrong so he was also looking for a new phone, we have always had PAYG mobiles but he thought he would try to get a contract phone as it would work out cheaper so he applied online for one but didn't hear back from them so thought they had turned him down so he went and bought a new phone from a shop. Then the next day he heard that they had accepted him for the contract phone so when he got it he gave me the other one that he had bought.

The phone is a Samsung Galaxy Y and it is just perfect for me. The phone is a nice size, it is about the same size as my last phone, it has a three inch touch screen which is a nice size. The phone uses the Google Android system which seems to run really well and is easy to use. I had to join up to Google Mail (cant remember what for now, might have been to use the market) but that was not a problem and I dont need to use it as my email.

The touch screen is very responsive although I have found I need to touch it with my actual skin so I have had to cut my thumbnail down on my right hand to text as I am used to using my thumb. On my old phone I could use my thumbnail instead but its not a problem. The menus on the phone are very easy to navigate round. I managed to set most of it up myself although having a teenage daughter with a similar phone really helps. There were quite a few things I needed her to show me how to do before I could work it out for myself.

I had never had a smart phone before so it was all new to me. I was soon downloading apps to the phone although I haven't got many, just things like BBC news, Sky Sports, and Euro Sport (yes I am a big sports fan). I found it easy to use the apps and get onto the internet, and I found it easy to look for the apps in the Android Market.

Another thing I didn't have on my old phone was email. I can get my Yahoo email easily on this phone and can reply to them too which is brilliant for when I am out and about and I am waiting for someone to contact me.

The normal things you have on any phone seem simple to do. The predictive text is much better than my old phone and it is easy to add new words for those it doesn't recognise. It also is much better at actually predicting what word you are trying to tap in so saves you having to scroll down loads of words or putting the wrong word in the message. To make calls is easy too although I did have a problem at first in being able to hang up after a call as I didn't know how to do it but we have now set up so that I can press a button and it disconnects the call which is easy for me to do. When someone rings its a bit of a faff that I need to get used to, instead of pressing a button to answer you have to drag a thing across the screen which is find unless its freezing cold and you have gloves on, then you need to take it off to answer which sometimes means the person has hung up already, but I am getting used to it. When you get a new text you can drag something across the screen too and it comes up with a conversation type of thing like on an instant messenger thing which is good so you can keep an conversation going and be able to read what you have already said to each other. This is a vast improvement over my old phone.

A really good thing on this phone is that it has multiple windows which you can drag icons onto. I have three open, one of them has things like calculator, calendar and the weather, things I like to use. Then I can flip the screen across and there is another window where I have added the people from my phone book who I use the most. I have added photos to their contact details and it gives a little icon on my window showing who it is. I can just tap on who ever and it opens up a page where I can either message that person or ring them so much quicker than having to search through the phone book. Then I have another window where I have dragged icons for my apps. This is a good way of keeping them all separate and easy to find.

The phone has a music player which is really good. My other half bought some earphones to go with the phone and they are really comfortable, they have a soft padding on the side that goes in your ear and I have never felt such comfortable earphones in my life before. The music player is easy to use and you can search your collection buy artist, song etc like on any other player.

There is an FM radio on the phone too which works nicely although I don't really use it as much as the player.

You can watch videos on the phone which look really good. I have watched clips on my sports apps and find it really good fun to be able to watch them where ever I am.

The camera in the phone is only a 2 mp camera which isn't very good but it is fine if you just want to take a quick photo of something to remind you of something. I have a nice camera anyway so would use that if I was going somewhere where I needed proper photos. This camera does have a flash on it though which my old one didn't have.

Well, I think I have covered just about everything you would want to know if you were looking for a new phone. You can get any other specs from any web site, but this is more about what the phone is like to have and to use. I hope it is of use to someone.

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