Samsung SCH-U620 mobile TV phone

Samsung's first TV phone for the U.S. isn't a unique design, but it packs mobile TV in a small slider package.

Design:

Stick an antenna onto the side of a Samsung Black Carbon phone and you have a general idea of what the SCH-U620 looks like. The phone is a simple slider with a few extra dedicated buttons on the side, most notably the mobile television button to activate Verizon's V Cast Mobile TV service. An antenna extends from the right side of the phone, which becomes the top of the phone in landscape mode. Before the Apple iPhone was released, we wouldn't have complained about having to press a button to switch between portrait and landscape modes, but the new standard has been set, so let's get an accelerometer in this puppy. The phone is small in the hand, which makes it comfortable to hold, and the picture quality is so clear that you won't mind the lack of screen real estate.

Features:

We got our hands on the Samsung SCH-U620 at the MediaFlo booth at CES, so television is what we saw on the phone. TV looks excellent; we've been impressed with Verizon's V Cast Mobile TV service on both phones on which we've seen it previewed, this one and the LG VX9400. After seeing the swiveling VX9400, we can't help but complain about the switchable landscape and portrait views on the U620. All menus and the TV guide are handled in portrait mode only, which only means turning the phone in your hand, but we wonder why these functions aren't available in landscape. Also, the tall, thin, metal antenna seems anachronistic on such an advanced phone. It is necessary for television viewing. Picture stuttered to a near standstill when we pushed it in.

Pros:
Television looks perfect, as smooth as a living room set. Nice and small design, not bulky.

Cons:
Thin, metal antenna on a portable devices makes us nervous. Automatic view switching would be cool.

Conclusion:

We didn't mind having to rotate the phone in our hands when we switched from landscape to portrait, but it did seem unnecessary. It seems all the phone's TV menus should function in landscape mode. Like the LG VX9400, the Samsung SCH-U620 doesn't add significant bulk to support the V Cast Mobile TV network. Television on the phone looked great, even though the MediaFlo folks insisted we stick to SpongeBob for the demonstration.

Specifications

EV-DO
V Cast Video and Music
1.3-megapixel camera
Bluetooth
Speaker-independent voice dialing
Speakerphone
1/14/2007 9:50:24 PM
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