Our T-Mobile contract is almost up (three lines). In the spirit of capitalism, they’re offering free phone upgrades to renew service. But the local authorized dealer has a slightly better deal, the Samsung t219 for $20+tax, with a $50 mail-in rebate. That’s right, get paid almost $30 to get a new phone.

There area couple of drawbacks. The t219 is a basic flip phone. I currently carry a Samsung x495, and the t219 has only two pluses over it: longer battery life and it’s slightly thinner. Features are otherwise almost identical. Also, the t219 is only available in two colors, but we’re looking at upgrading three phones. There are no replacement cases for it, and there’s no lanyard hole, so there’s the potential to be wondering which phone is which.

Online reviews tend to the “it’s a workable phone” level, except Cnet’s. They say the audio quality varies, getting muddy at times.

Does anyone here have one, or had one in the past? What can you tell me about it? Is it worth $30 to me *not* to get it? Will I regret turning down money equivalent to a month’s service if I don’t get it? All opinions welcome.