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Samsung Replenish: A Smarter Green Phone

06.05.2011
Environmentally-friendly, "green" phones started popping up about two years ago, with the and the feature phones debuting in the summer of 2009. Initially, I thought it was a bit of a . But here we are in 2011, and the green phone has made a comeback in the form of the Samsung Replenish ($50 with a two-year contract with Sprint; price as of 5/5/2011). Running Android 2.2, the Replenish is one of the first eco-friendly smartphones. While you might feel like a better person for buying an eco-friendly phone, the Replenish is largely underwhelming.

Earth-Friendly Design

Keeping true to its cause as a green phone, the Replenish is constructed with "reduced environmentally sensitive materials," according the Sprint. Its materials are free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and phthalates, beryllium, and brominated flame retardants. If this means nothing to you, don't worry--you're not alone.

Basically, the Replenish meets the European Union's Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive, which limits the use of certain chemicals and materials in electronics. Furthermore, the Replenish's casing includes 34.6 percent post-consumer recycled plastic content. According to Sprint and Samsung, 82 percent of the phone is made from recyclable materials.

Okay, that's great and everything, but how does the Replenish look? Well, I can't say that it is the prettiest phone. The face is piano black with chrome detailing while the backing has a slight texture to it. It isn't ugly, by any means, but it does look a bit plasticky. We got a black review unit, but the phone also comes in a slightly more attractive "Arctic Blue" as well as "Raspberry Pink" (which isn't coming until June).

The face of this phone (measuring 4.84-by-2.36-by-0.45 inches) is split between a 2.4-inch display and a full QWERTY keyboard. Four hardware buttons separate the keyboard from the display (your standard Menu, Home, Back and Search keys). The 2.4-inch QVGA display is decent for basic apps, reading e-mails/texts and looking at certain Websites, but the low resolution and smallish size doesn't make it ideal for watching video.