The Good: This quad-band world flip-phone has two displays, a simple interface and a slim, light and compact design. It supports web browsing and e-mail, and is able to play videos received via MMS. The rubberized keys make dialing easy, and the large address book provides storage room for up to 1000 contacts.
The Bad: The plastic casing of the phone feels cheap and insecure, and the lack of a camera makes the photo Caller-ID function somewhat pointless. The external 0.8” display is hard to read, and the 3MB internal memory is prohibitively small. The talk time of just 5 hours is fairly standard. The games included on the phone are only demos and require additional payment to download full versions.
The Bottom Line: This is a phone that is definitely overpriced, yet with a feature set aimed at those who want something cheap and simple. The Samsung SGH-X507 is a real let down compared to other models in the Samsung range.
The Good: The Samsung SCH-A990 is the first phone in the United States to have a 3.2-megapixel camera. The camera includes autofocus and video-recording capabilities as well as a protective sliding cover and self portrait mirror. The Samsung SCH-A990 also supports EV-DO and Verizon’s 3G services, has integrated Bluetooth, a swivel screen, a speakerphone, and strong call quality.
The Bad: Sometimes the multimedia features on this phone are a bit sluggish. It also has some problems when using Bluetooth and the music feature. The music player itself is pretty rudimentary and the phone doesn’t include very many accessories.
The Bottom Line: While this phone is quite pricy and has a few glitches and restrictions, the Samsung SCH-A990 is a good high-end multimedia phone that boasts a sharp camera and good call quality.
The Good: The Samsung SCH-A930 has decent call quality and an attractive feature set that including Bluetooth, EV-DO support, an external memory slot, a speakerphone, a 1 mega pixel camera, and a digital music player. The Samsung SCH-A930 feels solidly constructed and is relatively compact.
The Bad: The Samsung SCH-A930 suffers from spotty EV-DO reception and has an uninspiring design. The external display is also far too small to be of much use.
The Bottom Line: The Samsung SCH-A930 makes a mostly good showing, but there are better choices in Verizon’s EV-DO lineup.
The Good: This phone has five-way wireless support (IrDA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, CDMA 1xRTT, and EV-DO); a speaker phone; a comfortable slide-out QWERTY thumb keyboard; includes 2 batteries; and great third-party software support. The phone also holds allot of music and photos with the included 1GB SD card.
The Bad: Unfortunately there are several flaws with this mobile phone. First of all, there is no support for using the phone as a modem with a laptop. Second Wi-Fi and phone can’t work simultaneously and Wi-Fi is a real power hog. Third, the phone lacks a camera.
The Bottom Line: Small, light, and powerful, the Samsung SCH-i730’s high-speed data support and built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi make it an excellent choice for those who have to stay connected at all times.
