Samsung SGH-A707 multimedia phone: Part 2

Messaging - Very good

The A707 handles messaging well, thanks to comfortable keys and a plethora of pre-loaded options. The SMS client can display about half a full 160-character message outgoing, but displays a full 160-characters on incoming messages. Messages can be printed via Bluetooth, which we found to be far more practical than, say, printing pictures from the phone. Instant messaging is available for MSN, Yahoo and AIM users, and messaging speeds were quick over the HSDPA network. A Java app comes loaded with presets for popular Web e-mail services, such as Yahoo, MSN and AOL, among others.

Camera - Mediocre

The 2-megapixel camera on the A707 feels more like an afterthought. Though the camera packs a higher resolution than most phones in its class, our snapshots looked blurry, colors tended to be warmer than reality, and images suffered from a pixilated cloudiness. Transferring files is sluggish, even over the Bluetooth 2.0 connection. Worst of all, the phone stores photos to the memory card in a folder inaccessible to the user, which means you have to use a card reader to sideload them to your PC.

Multimedia - Very good

The A707 boasts some impressive multimedia capabilities beyond the Cingular Music app. Web browsing was quick over the HSDPA network, which we expected, but we were surprised by the phone's ability to load relatively complex Web pages, such as The New York Times homepage (though not without a couple of missing images). Cingular Video was a bit less impressive, due to a small streaming image that fills only a fraction of the screen. The video buffer filled more slowly than we would like, but never hiccupped or stalled once the video started playing.

Odds and ends

Cingular doesn't include a USB cable or microSD card in the A707 box, both of which are necessary for transferring music to the phone. This is a serious omission, noted only deep within the product literature, and not on the retail box. In fact, employees at our local Cingular store in Manhattan were not only unaware of the Sync's lack of a cable, they also don't sell the cable in store, meaning you may have to buy it online. Samsung's choice of a proprietary USB port instead of a standard mini-USB connector makes this even more frustrating. Also, you must disable Bluetooth to use USB (and vice versa), so Bluetooth headphone users will face a laborious menu search every time they sync their tunes.
11/15/2006 12:40:21 PM
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