I replaced an older Samsung A670 with this phone several months ago and am overall very pleased with it. It is much thinner and lighter and can easily be forgotten in my pocket.Reception: It's a little better than my previous Samsung and on par with my wife's Motorolla crazr. It works just about anywhere to include basements and elevators. I don't know what was wrong with the previous reviewers speaker but I can understand others just fine. I also keep the volume all the way up and it doesn't cause my phone to rattle.The default ringtones do stink but I have yet to see a Samsung where they don't. I think the designers have a 70's disco fetish. There are a couple basic ringtones and those work well for me.The lock button feature does suck on this one. It doesn't seem to stay locked on my phone for very long. I have yet to take a picture with it in my pocket though. That happened daily with my old A670.Battery life: I'm actually on my 2nd phone and 3rd battery. I was surprised when my first phone ran through it's charge within 36 hours of minimal to moderate use. I used to charge my A670 2-3x/week and my old LG once per week. This thing is on the charger at least every other night and many times every night. I am not a heavy cell user. We tried changing phones first with the same results. Then we changed batteries and there did seem to be some improvement. The tech at the Verizon store said that it's normal to have to charge the phone every night. I don't think he read the manual for the phone.I don't use the mp3 player function but I'd be willing to bet it would eat the battery very quickly. The camera is acceptable but it's still a cameraphone, which I don't think is good for much.Perhaps the fact that the phone comes unlocked has something to do with it because the mp3 buttons are pretty sensitive. I wear loose slacks though so there is not a lot of pressure on the buttons. It is an annoyance but it's not enough to outweigh the lightweight and slender design, which is the most important feature for me.The construction is no different that other cells I've used. Drop it and it may loosen. Mine has maybe 1mm of deflection when I try to slide the two halfs back and forth. I like something that feels solid, not like it was made by a toy manufacturer. This phone is solid (and it's been dropped a few times).If I had to go buy another cell phone right now I'd buy this one again.