As frustration mounts with cellular service contracts, early termination fees, and high overage charges, many people are turning to pre-paid mobile services. Yet, often these services have a limited selection of phones. We wondered if the pre-paid phone and service was worthwhile. So, today we looked at the both the hardware and the service for the Samsung M340, as offered by the Common Cents Mobile carrier. This phone is also known as the Samsung Mantra and is available from several other mobile carriers.

As you can see in Figure 1, the phone comes in a colorful cardboard sleeve. Inside the sleeve is a thick plastic casing that contains the phone and accessories. The phone itself can be seen in the plastic casing in Figure 2.

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Figure 1: The box

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Figure 2: The M340 in its plastic casing

The contents of the box are shown in Figure 3. The phone comes with a wall charger, battery, a Welcome Guide and a Terms of Service agreement. As you can see, the charger has a proprietary connector.

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Figure 3: The contents of the box