The Samsung R451c from Straight Talk is a decent enough phone. I bought this phone last November and have been using it since. I’m a heavy texter and less of a voice user but the voice quality anytime I’ve used it is crystal clear.
For those who don’t know Straight Talk is a relativity new cell phone service offer by Tracfone through Wal-Mart. It’s $45 per month for unlimited everything though with taxes and fees my bill was $49.49 per month. There is also a $30 per month plan for 1000 minutes and 1000 texts per month. Being a Tracfone fan, I jumped right on Straight Talk though I was disappointed to see only 1 qwerty phone in their line up and it being one of the most expensive it’s still a decent deal for a no contract phone.
Overall the phone feels good in your hand. Navigating the menus and options is simple and straight forward, nothing out of the ordinary. The the full keyboard and mobile web access makes you think it could be a smart phone though it is far from a smart phone. Web browsing is ridiculously slow even in areas with full service.
Let’s go through the features:
Speakerphone: Just works at the highest volume setting it crackles a bit but it’s plenty loud at the medium-high setting.
Camera: At 1.3 mega pixels there is nothing remarkable here, standard low end camera phone picture quality. Decent enough for quick snap shots but not much else.
Bluetooth: The Bluetooth on this phone is actually decent. It’s not locked down like some competing prepaid phones. You can send music and pictures from your blue tooth enabled computer to you cell phone with no problems. I didn’t bother with a bluetooth headset which is what bluetooth is primarily used for so I cannot comment on that.
Web Browser: Very basic, we’re talking 2001 basic. You can login to mobile MySpace and Facebook if that’s your thing. Gmail’s mobile interface works decently. I was not able to access any Yahoo services on the phone though. Keep in mind the internet speed is ridiculously slow on this phone even in areas with full service.
Text Messaging: Text messaging is a breeze with the full qwerty keyboard. The only real complaint here is that the phone stops at 160 characters where as most phones will let you keep typing and just send 2 messages instead of 1, I found that a little annoying but perhaps as it’s prepaid its to stop you from going over your limit. I found one small quirk if you happen to be sending a message just as one comes in the phone freezes and you need to remove the battery to reset it. It’s a rarity but it does happen especially when having conversations with multiple people at the same time. It happened to me a grand total of 3 times.
Music Player: This phone includes an expansion slot for a micro-SD card which I didn’t bother with. Even without the SD card you can put some songs on the phone. I didn’t bother much with this as I have a separate MP3 player but the basic functionality is nice. The included headphone jack is not standard size, instead it’s a ‘PDA jack” so you will need to purchase a converter to plug in your regular headphones/ear buds, these are available from Amazon for less than $10. Here’s the link to the adapter: Headphone Adapter Cellphone PDA 2.5mm to 3.5mm Jack
Battery Life: Battery life on the R451C is okay. On standby (not using the phone ) it seems to last for 4-5 days once you start texting and using the web a lot the battery is gone in about a day which I guess isn’t too bad. My battery only died on me once in 4 months but then again I charge it every night.
The Straight Talk web site is crappy. You cannot do much aside from activating your phone, checking your balance (if on the limited plan) and signing up for auto-renew. It would be nice if you can stop auto-renew on their website. The ‘My Account’ area is under construction and has been since I got the phone. You get the feeling no one is really working on the website. When you select buy ring tones or graphics on the phone it tells you to online from your PC. Not that I do that, I email ring tones and songs for to my phone, it’s a lot cheaper 
. When you go on the website the selection is limited and prices are high.
All in all I feel the phone is well worth $100 initially and $50 per month. In my area Straight Talk is serviced by Verizon towers and the service has been great. I traveled to Florida with the phone and it worked every where. Unfortunately I’m deactivating the phone next month and going back to the Google Voice and Tracfone combo as I’ve cut back a lot on texting, though I plan on reactivating the phone whenever I travel again.
Do you have a Straight Talk phone or are you considering one? Is there anything else you would like to know about the phone?
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I’ve just got the Straight Talk Samsung Finesse and it’s a beautiful phone! It’s got 3G, really high speed EVDO data connection, a cool large touch screen, camcorder, bluetooth and all the bells and whistles! I teamed it with their $45.00pm prepaid unlimited calls, texts and data connection and it’s the best value for money in the US!
Thanks for the comment Keegan. I’ve read about the Samsung Finesse but haven’t actually played with one. Three things turned me off, they are: price, no physical keyboard, and it’s all touch screen. I’ve found that outside of Apple devices touch screens are really hit and miss as far as quality and responsiveness. I just couldn’t bring myself to pay $330 on a phone that I cannot at least try before I buy.
Hey Dan, You seem to confuse the phone with the service. As you said, Straight Talk is a great service, and you can get various phones , depending on what you want to pay and what you want from your phone. The service itself, at $45 per month, is the best deal on the market. One of the advantages is that you can deactivate it when you want, as you are going to do, and then reactivate when you need it. Try that with a contract phone.
Thanks for the comment Russel. I’m not confusing the phone with the service. I agree that the service is great overall. As far as I know the R451C is also available with other carriers though not with the same exact firmware due to the prepaid aspect of Straight Talk. My review was written as a review of the phone and service though focused more on the phone itself.
Yeah, I’ve got a Straight Talk phone! I’ve been loving the service since middle last year and although I still keep my eyes out for offers from other carriers I’ve not come across anything better than Straight Talk.
Man, you just can’t beat the winning combination of Verizon network and ST low prices.
Because I was really happy with the service for several months I took the plunge and bought the Finesse in December. It is a bit expensive but SOOO worth it. No worries about the touchscreen – it is really clear and very responsive. Still not the best solution if you text a lot but a great phone nonetheless.
The Samsung TouchScreen is really the way to go. I have it connected with the unlimited everything $45 plan and am always using the web browser. I am constantly downloading stuff. My bf has the Sprint Smartphone and hates that he has to monitor how much he downloads and how much time he spends on the internet. I definitely recommend the $45 plan, especially in places where Verizon is popular (Straight Talk uses the Verizon network, so it gets the best coverage… like Verizon, but super affordable.).
I have the Samsung Finesse with Straight Talk and I have to say that I am very impressed with it. I was actually thinking of getting the R451C, but I decided on the Finesse because I wanted something IPhone like without the price. The Finesse is very user friendly, the touch screen is large and clear, the features are better than I expected, and its navigates really fast on the ST Verizon network. In terms of price, I felt it was comparable to an IPhone’s price without contract issues – that’s why I went with it instead of the R451C. You should really give the Finesse a try – the price may seem a bit off-putting, but I feel that it’s worth it.
I’ve been seeing a lot of good comments on StraightTalk. $45 for unlmited talking/texting is more than reasonable. I’m seriousy leaning towards purchasing the Finesses…and would appreciate some more pros and cons. Anyone?
i have the samsung r451.. well anways ringtones are not very loud, when i download them it sounds good, but once it gets into my sounds it’s not so i’m very confused why it does that??
so all i need is an earbud converter to listen to my music? i searched radioshacks website and i couldnt find anything. is it called an earbud converter or something else? plz help me! thnx
Hi Alyssa this is the adaptor that you need: Headphone Adapter Cellphone PDA 2.5mm to 3.5mm Jack I couldn’t find it on Radio Shack’s site though.
I have a R451C Straight Talk phone. How do you get music onto the mp3 player. I know you need a usb cable for it but where do I find one and how do I do it. If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.
Hey Dan, I bought the R451c and loaded music onto it. I bought 2 different adapters and plugged headphones into the phone, yet sound is only coming through one ear or no sound is coming though at all depending on how far I plug the adapter part into the headphone jack. I tried the headphones on my friends phone and they work perfectly. Also I tried two different headphones… I have a feeling I may have a defective phone…
You have any problems with the headphone jack? Also, Straight Talks customer service is a joke. I talked with a representative about them sending me a new phone and they agreed but said I had to send my phone back and then they would send me a new one. What a joke… I would have to be without a phone for 2 weeks AND pay for 2 weeks of service I didn’t use… How messed up is that??? By the way I bought the phone off the website. I wonder if I could get away with bringing the phone to Walmart and say that I bought it there and don’t have a receipt… may they would swap out my phone for a new one there???
Any idea on the problem or what I should do???
Thanks,
Justin
Hi Justin, I cannot speak on the headphone jack as I didn’t use it. From reading here: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=1584662 it looks like it’s only capable of mono (1 speaker) output. You can read that link for a solution though.
I agree Tracfone/Stright Talk’s customer service generally stinks but hey you get what you pay for.
hi dan, does the r451c have aim? Also do you think its a good phone for kids?
Also is it good for someone who is obsessed with texting and dosnt really use the calling?
Hi Nina there are no dedicated instant messaging apps on this phone however AIM/AOL will allow you to sign in and communicate with your contacts via text message. I think it’s a great phone for a prolific texter the full keyboard makes texting a whole lot easier then a regular cell phone.
Thanks Dan for looking into this. From what the forum is saying, I need the adapter with the three black rings around the 2.5 post on the adapter. It seems like someone has had luck with that from an amazon product they bought. I was going to buy the same thing that he posted a link for on Amazon, but it was like 7 bucks total for the adapter. I found one with three rings that was similar on EBAY for 1 dollar, so I decided to try it first. I hope I have the same luck as the other guy, if not I might have to bite the bullet and get the expensive one that he got from that Amazon link. I appreciate you looking into this problem for me, hopefully the solution will work. If not, I’ll have to check out a few other methods the people on the forum thought would work.
Thanks again,
Justin
Hey Justin your welcome. I hope it works out for you.
where can I get a new battery for my phone? samsung from walmart’s tracphone
Ebay is a good place for stuff like that. I found this one. the seller has a great rating although I’ve never dealt with them. A simple Google search for “Samsung r451c Replacement Battery” will help you find other suppliers.
I am looking to get the samsung r451c from straight talk and I had a few concerns. I am curious what the camera/photo quality was like? Also I hear that the sound (for ringtones) is not very loud. Is this true?
I’ve gotten lots of comments that when camera quality is good for a camera phone. Pictures in low light conditions aren’t very good though.
As for ringer volume, when on the loudest setting the ringer is progressive it starts out low then gets louder as it rings long. Overall I think the ringer is loud but it’s not the loudest I’ve heard.
I just got the Samsung R451C from ST and so far it’s seems like a good phone. I put an SD card in it for the music player, but it doesn’t recognize that anything is on there. It recognizes that the card is inserted, but won’t register the songs. Any ideas? I’m not very good with some technology stuff like phones. Thanks! (Please email me: I probably won’t be able to find this site again even if I look for it! jessie.ldsbc@gmail.com)
Thank you!
I have had my straight talk phone since december. I love my Samsung R451C other than i have definately abused is… The one complaint i have about straight talk in there is no insurance on the phones and my screen is so scratched up you can hardly read it anymore. is there any way to replace just my screen without having to buy a new phone and what about faceplates that are not snap on so i can take the black off of it so i can personalize it a little more??
The thing is the phones are so cheap ($100) compared to a contract phone if bought straight out ($300+) that insurance really doesn’t pay. Your better off putting away $10 a month on your own and in less then a year you can replace the phone if need be.
I haven’t seen anything for customizing the phone nor replacing the screen. You might be able to get a wrap (http://www.gotchadecals.com/phonewraps.htm) for a similar sized phone and cut it to fit though.
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I bought the Samsung R415C. I really do like this phone, the only thing i did not like is how the ringtones were so low when people called or texted me, So i was thinking things are louder on speakerphone so i put my phone on speakerphone and now my phone rings louder. Hope this helps anybody that had this problem. Overall best service ever, and wow 45 bucks a month unlimited everything Awesome!!!!
Fantastic solution! Just can’t figure how to do the same. Setting the phone to ring via speaker, ingenious. Good Night To You.
i just bought the Samsung but going to face book it says my browser or java or soothing wont let it log in. any ideas? but i love the plan it rocks
Hi Gina, try pointing the phone’s browser to http://m.facebook.com. That what I use on the phone and it works. To be honest though this phone’s browser it like something from 1999, pretty much a waste of time. I only use it for emergencies.
I just got the r415c and I love the keyboard and the unlimited plan pricing, but the reception is the worst I’ve ever heard. My area is supposed to be covered and I’m just wondering if I got a bad phone or does the coverage map lie? I’ve seen reviews where people claim this phone is crystal clear but mine sounds awful and I’m only getting one bar that blinks in and out. Can you hear me now? Apparently not
I’ve had good luck with reception even in areas around me that don’t get all that great service. You might just have a lemon on your hands.
Thanks Dan, I’m thinking of returning it to walmart for another just like it and see if it will work then.
Good luck with it. Make sure you write down your current phone’s serial number so you can call straight talk and have them transfer the subscription to the new phone or else your going to have pay another $45 for a new card.
Generally if you have good Verizon service in your area you’ll get good Straight talk service since ST runs off Verizon’s network.
hey i have this phon and i bought the sd card and everything..but i dont know hot to get music on it or work the music player at all..please help
i had alot of typos there..anyways yeah i have no idea how to get music onto it i mean i know how to get ringtones but not music on the music player and i already have the SD card..please help thanks
sincerely,
Jean
When i plug my Samsung R415C into the wall charger, it will charger for a couple seconds but then it says, “No Battery” and will keep that message on the entire time. It doesnt make any sense, do you have a possible solution other than calling Straight Talk? It takes too long to get ahold of a service rep. and they can barely speak english. please help!
you should probably take it to a phone store
i have the samsung R451 tracfone i love it but its stuck on silent mode and i have no idea how to get it off that please help!!!!
Press and hold the pound (#) key to take it in and out of silent mode.
I love my r451, I download new ringers off the browser and am able to get onto facebook and other web sites. Straight talk is an awesome value, I love not having to monitor my minutes or texts. Does the Samsung Finesse work as well for texting? and is the browser not so pre historic? I’d love to get a touch screen phone.
Also does anyone know how to get music on my sd card?? It sees the card but will not recognize my music. Thanks
Agreed ST is awesome.
I’ve heard 50/50 reviews on the Finesse. Some say it’s the best thing since sliced bread others say the text input is horrible and that the screen doesn’t track well.
I don ‘t have an SD card to test but you probably cannot put over 100 or due to file system restrictions.
i have a samsungr451c and i got it wet at my friends pool it only works if i plug it in im gettin a new battery or a new phone….i dont need any help…i dont like the servvice it doesnt work where i go a lot and it hangs up in the middle of calls.
Yes I have a question how do you send a picture to your myspace or facebook straight from your samsung R451C?
Hi Mari,
You have to enable Facebook and Myspace mobile on their website by putting in your phone number and plugging in a confirmation code sent to your phone via text message. Once that’s all setup you for Facebook you send pictures to mobile@facebook.com (instead of a phone number) and MySpace gives you a random email address to send it to.
What I do add the address to my phone’s address book so I’ll always have it and can put pics online with just a couple of button presses. Better yet is setup a group for Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter so you can send to all at once.
Hope it helps,
Dan