I upgraded from a lesser model to this model about three months ago. I will start off by saying that this model comes with a cheap price tag but you are getting a lot more for your money. I am amazed that this phone has always been offered cheap, because (in my opinion) it outweighs many other phones that cost hundreds more.Exterior: Very thin, small, and stylish. Everyone tells me that it has a "futuristic look" and that it looks constructed well. It's a very study phone, especially for being so small. Every button on the phone is placed very well for ease of use and appeal. Keypad buttons are a little small, maybe too small for male fingers but not so much a problem for females. Has a dedicated camera button on the side (which turns on the camera, and also will snap pictures/record video while in camera mode), a slot for the charger (which slides open and closed which is very cool!), a tiny hole up top to loop a strap through, volume buttons on the side (which will also flip your photos in camera mode). Simple to use navigational buttons. Screen is a decent size, bigger then most screens on phones in the price range and the screen produces sharp, vibrant colors. It is a very beautiful screen. It can easily be compared to the screen on a higher-end Krazr model. The model I have has a medium gray casing all around, gray keypad and some chrome features. I believe there is also a model that comes in a "plum" color through T-Mobile. Phone can be easily dropped. I have dropped mine quite a few times but the phone is very well made and can handle a lot of roughness.Service: Reception is excellent for internal antenna. I've made calls from this phone all across the country and have never had a problem with reception or call quality. No calls dropped. Crystal clear sound and very loud. Powerful signal just about anywhere you go unless you are very closed somewhere.Features: The "home" screen will feature your wallpaper, typical things like signal strength and battery life at top. Shows a strip across the top featuring the date and time. You can have animated wallpapers on this phone that actually STAY animated while viewed. On a phone like the Motorola RAZR, you have animated wallpapers to choose from but they do not remain automated when actually placed as your wallpaper. Not the case with this one. The phone's menu is very SIMPLE. Anyone should never have a problem figuring out the menu to this phone. It has animated icons that tell you what they link to when you highlight them. All the icons only cover one page so there is no scrolling to get to more icons.You can record voice notes on this phone (I beileve up to 2min. worth in a single recording). It keeps all call records (missed, incoming, outgoing), call times. Has a few instant messaging programs built in (AOL, Yahoo, ICQ, MSN). Send/receive TXT, MMS messages. Internet Browser. Has a file manager, a few games (Forgotten Warrior, Freekick, Arch Angel), a camera/video recorder that takes images up to 640x480 and video up to 176x144. Numerous fun effects for photos/videos like Black & White, Negative, Sepia, Emboss, Sketch, Orange, Aqua. Timer for photo/video. Different shooting modes. Fun frames you can put around your photos. Alarm clock, Calendar, Calculator, World Time, Unit Conversion, Timer, Stopwatch. An easy to operate and search Phonebook (allows you to enter full name, mobile, home phone, work phone, email, Fax, Picture ID, special ringtone for each, add to group, custom notes, address). Help feature, and the settings menu. Phone does have Bluetooth built in!Has nice wallpapers included. I have never used a wallpaper that wasn't included with the phone. A decent number of ringtones, from normal to outrageous. You will probably want your own ringtone unless you prefer the normal ring. Several tones to choose from for things like messages, voicemail indicators. A feature I enjoy (which you'll find on most Samsungs) are the emoticons, animated pictures, sounds you can insert into text messages and picture messages.You can highly customize this phone. Everything from ringtone to skin appearance. It's a very fun and stylish phone to have. I am not a big fan of Samsung phones previous to this one, but I have to admit that this phone alone has made me love the Samsung brand. They are starting to put out great phones now and it starts with this one. I highly recommend this phone. It's perfect for teenagers up to young adults. Probably too over the top and small for older adults. Younger crowd will love the looks and features... and will enjoy showing it off. The size of it is very similar to the likes of an Ipod Nano. And, you can definately not beat the price. You can get it next to nothing with a new contract or a contract extention through T-Mobile, or around $200 new without a contract. The only thing it lacks is the ability to play Mp3s, or a more higher quality camera which newer models are putting out now. If those two things aren't so important, do not overlook the T509. Big things come in small packages!