Samsung Sync SGH-A707 - black (AT&T)
Manufacturer: Samsung Part number: SGH-A707BLKATT
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- Bottom Line:
- The Samsung Sync is a great choice for music-mad cell phone users, but its call quality could be better.
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CNET editors' review
Samsung Sync SGH-A707 - black (AT&T) price range: $148.00
- Reviewed by: Kent German
- Reviewed on: 11/15/2006
The good: The Samsung Sync has an attractive design that includes a great internal display. It also supports Cingular Music and offers a full range of features, including support for HSDPA networks, stereo Bluetooth, and a satisfying 2-megapixel camera.
The bad: The Samsung Sync had average call quality at times, and we weren't impressed by the navigation controls or keypad. Also, it doesn't come with a USB cable in the box.
The bottom line: The Samsung Sync is a great choice for music-mad cell phone users, but its call quality could be better.
After Sprint and Verizon Wireless introduced their music-downloading services in late 2005 and early 2006, we were left wondering when Cingular Wireless was going to make a musical move of its own. The carrier made a few feints in that direction this year, but it wasn't until earlier this month that Cingular finally launched Cingular Music and the Samsung Sync. Also called the Samsung SGH-A707, the Sync is more than just the initial handset to support Cingular Music; it also supports Cingular's 3.5G HSDPA network and offers a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and an external memory slot. The design is attractive, though decidedly unflashy, and its performance is acceptable, despite some fuzzy calls. The Sync is available for a very reasonable $49 with service.
We'll be frank: the Samsung Sync flip phone isn't a trendsetter when it comes to design. It's not ugly by any means, but the black color is rather ordinary, and the form factor is a tad boxy. At 3.46x1.89x0.68 inches, it won't fit in a compact parking space, but it still slides easily into a bag and into smaller pockets. And though it's rather thin we love that the SGH-A707 isn't blindly chasing the now-tired craze for skinny phones. It's also a tad weighty (3.85 ounces), but in return you get a well-constructed handset that has a solid, comfortable feel in the hand. The hinge feels especially sturdy.
Though the external screen on the Sync is small (1 inch; 96x96 pixels) for the phone's overall size, the display shows just about all the information it should, including the date, the time, the signal strength, and the remaining battery life. It also displays photo caller ID and acts as a viewfinder for the camera lens, which is located right above the screen. Unfortunately, there's no flash to brighten up dim environments, and only the display's contrast is changeable. Below the display sits the touch-sensitive music controls, which allow you to play and pause music and fast-forward and rewind between tracks when the phone is closed. The controls were user-friendly and not overly sensitive--in fact, they required a firm touch. To start the player when the front flap is closed, you must press the silver bottom on the right spine, which also activates the camera and the ringer profile list. Above it is a very recessed Micro SD card slot (you'll need sharp nails to remove a card), while the headset/charger ports and a volume rocker rest on the left spine. Stereo speakers sit on either side of the front flap.
The Sync's internal display is huge at 2.24 inches (176x220 pixels), and it supports 262,000 colors. It's very easy on the eyes, offering vibrant, eye-popping colors and readable text. As with most Samsung displays, it's difficult to see in direct light, but you can change the brightness, the backlight time, and the font size, color, and type. We continue to enjoy Samsung's simpler menu structure--the pop-up secondary menus are particularly cool--and we had no trouble navigating through our various choices. Our one minor quibble is that the display shows fingerprints and smudges quite easily.
The SGH-A707's navigation array immediately below the display has its good and bad points. The keys are large and well-spaced, but we wish they had a more tactile feel. And, they're just about flat with the surface of the phone, so they tend to be slippery. Also, the "OK" button opens the Web browser in standby mode rather than opening the menus, an arrangement that we would consider to be more convenient. The four-way toggle doubles as a shortcut to four user-defined shortcuts while a handy secondary shortcut button sits just to the left of the toggle. There are also two soft keys, a dedicated button for launching the music player, the traditional Talk and End/Power buttons, and a clear key.
The Sync's backlit keypad buttons are similar to their navigation counterparts. Though they are large and well-spaced from each other, they are almost flat with the surface of the phone and rather slick. We didn't have any misdials but it wasn't easy to dial by feel.
Though the Sync's multimedia prowess is its star attraction, we'll get the basic offerings out the way first. The king-size phone book holds 1,000 contacts with room in each entry for six phone numbers, two e-mail addresses, two Web addresses, a nickname, a birth date, an Instant messaging handle, a company name, a job title, two street addresses and notes (the SIM cards holds an additional 250 names). You can save callers to groups, pair them with a photo, or assign them a ring tone for caller ID. It's worth noting thought that the Sync comes with just 10, 64-chord polyphonic tones, which is pretty low for such a multimedia phone. Other standard features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, a voice memo recorder, an alarm clock, a calendar, a task list, a notepad, a calculator, a currency-and-unit converter, a world clock, a timer, and a stopwatch. If you're tired of talking, the SGH-A707 also offers an integrated Oz e-mail client for Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL accounts, and supports AOL, Yahoo and MSN instant messaging. Full Bluetooth with a stereo profile is onboard, and a speakerphone, USB connectivity and modem capability round out the higher-end options.
As an HSDPA phone, the Sync supports wireless broadband data speeds via Cingular's 3.5G network. Fortunately, the phone is backwards compatible with the carrier's slower (but still 3G) UMTS network, so you'll get zippy coverage in most urban areas. You can enjoy the standard streaming-video options available through the carrier's Cingular Video network, including various news, sports, weather, and entertainment programming. MobiRadio and MobiTV support is included, and the HSDPA support promises quick downloads of large files.
As previously mentioned, Cingular Music is the carrier's answer to the existing music download services from Sprint and Verizon. But instead of creating its own music store as its rivals had done, Cingular chose to partner with existing music services like Yahoo Music, Napster to Go and eMusic. Cingular Music subscribers buy music from those partners either on their PCs or their phones. On the surface that all sounds fine, but here's the important catch for the time being: songs purchased on the A707 will download only to the user's PC and not to the phone. To get your tracks into the phone, you'll have to transfer them with a USB cable. And while that's annoying in itself, neither a memory card nor a USB cable comes with the phone, so you must purchase them separately. We'd prefer Cingular include at least one accessory, even if they'd charge a few dollars more. Cingular says it will activate wireless music downloads in the near future, but until that time, it's a rather circuitous process to get tracks into your phone.
On the upside, Cingular Music's pricing scheme appears to be quite reasonable. If using Napster, subscribers pay the normal Napster-to-Go subscription fee of $14.95 per month. For phone purchases, a new service called Napster Mobile enables users to preview and buy songs from the phone for just $0.99, far cheaper than Sprint's maximum fee of $2.50 per track and Verizon's charge of $1.99. A Yahoo Music subscription costs $11.99 per month with no additional fees and eMusic offers specialized content for Cingular's Sony Ericsson Walkman phones, including the W810i or the W300i. For even more music fun, Cingular Music offers access to 25 XM Satellite radio channels for $8.99 per month, a song ID service to identify mystery tracks heard on the radio, access to Billboard Mobile for music news and show information, streaming music videos, and a community site for musical discussions via text or instant messaging.
The music-player interface is a bit generic and features a simple animated graphic with the track name, artist, and album on both the internal and external displays. We were hoping for album art as well, but it's perfectly serviceable for listening to tunes. Features were limited as well. Though you can create play lists and choose from shuffle and repeat modes, there's no equalizer. But of course, we love that the Sync supports a stereo Bluetooth profile. When playing music while the phone is closed, the external controls and display become inactive after a few seconds. Though this timing is unchangeable, a quick press of the button on the right spine will make them active again. Stay tuned for a closer investigation of Cingular Music and the A707's player.
The Sync has a high-quality, 2-megapixel camera that takes pictures in six resolutions from 1600x1200 down to 240x180. Other features were plentiful and included five quality settings, a night mode, a 2X zoom (not usable at the highest resolution), a multishot option with three speed choices, a mosaic shot mode, three color effects, 20 fun frames, a self-timer, a white balance setting, and three shutter sounds (there's no silent option). We enjoyed the wealth of camera shortcuts, but the camera had a bit of a lag when shifting between options. The camcorder shoots clips in two resolutions (176x144 and 128x96) with sound and editing options similar to the still camera. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 45 seconds; otherwise, you can shoot for as long as the available memory permits. The Sync comes with a healthy 50MB of shared memory for photos, videos, and downloads, but you'd be wise to invest in a MicroSD card. Photo quality was actually good; colors were sharp and lighting was good overall. Video quality was decent, showing less pixilation than we've seen on other camera phones.
You can personalize the Sync with a variety of wallpapers, background colors, greeting messages and alert sounds. If you're dissatisfied with the choices that come with the A707, you can always buy more options from Cingular. You can download more ring tones, and for even greater personalization, you can save clips of your favorite MP3 files as ring tones--nice. Gamers can choose from five demo titles (World Poker Tour, Platinum Sudoku, Diner Dash, Bowling 3D and Asphalt Urban GT 3D). Of course you'll need to buy the full versions for extended play.
We tested the quad-band Samsung Sync (GSM 800/900/1800/1900) in San Francisco. Call quality was fine but not exceptional. Though the audio was clear, and the volume level was loud, voices sounded harsh at times and almost robotic. There was also noticeable static at times, particularly when we were near electronic devices. On the other end, callers reported few problems, and we had no trouble being understood by automated voice-response systems. Speakerphone calls were loud, but there was some patchiness to the audio quality, and callers had trouble hearing us in noisy environments. Bluetooth headset calls were about the same--decent but not fantastic.
Streaming video quality on the Sync was satisfactory, and we had no problems getting strong HSDPA coverage. There was little pixilation and the phone didn't pause to rebuffer. Volume also was decent, though occasionally the sound didn't quite match the speaker's mouth. That's a minor point, however, and the Sync's large display was a treat to view. Music quality sounded pretty good, though volume could have been a bit higher. We'll report back soon with a more thorough assessment of the SGH-A707's music performance. At the time of this writing, we weren't able to test it with headphones, but it's worth noting that the Sync uses a proprietary, wired headset without an adaptor for higher-quality sound.
The Samsung Sync (SGH-A707) has a rated battery-life talk time of four hours and a promised standby time of 10 days. It has a tested talk time of three hours and 57 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the Sync has a digital SAR rating of 0.236 watts per kilogram.
User reviews
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ROLLERCOASTER OF GOOD AND BAD/ LOVE AND HATE
by Mactastic on December 28, 2006
Pros: Good reception, sound quality, large/high resolution screen, user friendly interface, nice feel in hand, good bluetooth file exchange with MAC
Cons: Screen & buttons show oil/finger smudges, mp3 "touch" controls are difficult to use, external screen turns off and takes pressing side buttons 3 seconds to awake, NO SYNC capability with MAC, UGLY!
Summary: I?ll hit on the main points here?
The camera: good resolution, works poor in low light conditions. A flash would have worked wonders. The zoom was fairly useless too....Summary: I?ll hit on the main points here?
The camera: good resolution, works poor in low light conditions. A flash would have worked wonders. The zoom was fairly useless too.
The mp3 player: external controls utilize a ?touch pad? which is difficult to use in your pocket. The external controls also ?sleep? after 5 sec or so of no use and it takes a few seconds to ?awake? the controls by pressing the side soft keys. This is annoying.
The phone supposedly can use up to a 2gig micro card, but Samsung techies only recommend 512mb because of slower response with a larger card. I purchased a 1g card for very little $ but was never able to use it before the phone crashed (see below).
NO cable was provided for transferring music, not that it would have mattered because I use a Mac. The ?syncing? is only applicable to PC?s, a finely printed fact in the owners manual, not disclosed upfront. I?m sure you can get around this, though, by using a card reader and directly loading files to the card. Also, I was able to transfer a few songs using Bluetooth although this took awhile. Another annoying feature is that only headphones with a Samsung adapter can be used. I did find a great deal on a adapter, computer cable, and car charger for around $20 though.
The phone itself is UGLY, but it is clean looking (no frills). It feels good in your hand and fits well in your pocket. The buttons are extremely CHEAP looking, though. They are not well defined and slick to touch. They also show finger smudges easily. I was able to flip open the phone with one hand despite what others have written.
Battery life is average (three days with minimal use, one and half with heavy use). Call quality was excellent although the volume could have been louder. I had no problems with dropped calls.
The phone lacks many customizable features I took for granted with my Moto. Simple things like phonebook organization, menu customization, and ringtone preferences lacked essential customizing features. On the plus side, the user interface was extremely easy to use.
After having the phone for exactly 7 days, it croaked on me. The phone is stuck in a continuous cycle of restarting and shutting down. None of the controls work? its DEAD. I didn?t even have a chance to drop it in the toilet yet.
Here?s the bottom line: get the sync if you?re looking for a SIMPLE mp3 phone with a big screen. Just be willing to deal with the annoying external controls, smudges on the huge beautiful screen, and a lack of customizable features.
I?m exchanging the sync for an LG CU500. I?ll keep you posted how long that one lasts...Updated
I had the opportunity to own both phones at the same time and here is my comparison of the two models. In general, where one phone was weak, the other was strong. If you could combine the strengths of both phones you would have something close to ideal. In the end, I went with the LG CU500. Here?s the rundown:
Samsung Sync: Large beautiful screen. Clear, vibrant colors and the screen can be seen at virtually any angle. I nearly went with the Sync just because of the screen. The brightness is also fully adjustable. Truly impressive. Score: A+
LG CU500: Relatively small screen in comparison and the resolution is fair at best. The screen must be viewed straight on otherwise the screen looks overexposed or black. In my opinion, the screen is a major flaw of the cu 500 and there is no comparison when put side by side to the Sync. The syncs? screen blows it out of the water. Furthermore, there is no brightness/contrast adjustment on the screen (shouldn?t this be a standard setting?) Score: C-
Samsung Sync: The speakers on the sync had incredible rich sound with lots of bass when music was played. It almost fooled you to think there were larger speakers hidden somewhere. Likewise, sound quality on voice calls was excellent and sounded rich. Only on busy streets did I have difficulty hearing people on the other line. Score: A+
LG CU 500: The sound quality for music playback is average at best and there is poor bass. Although there is an equalizer (which the sync lacks) there was little improvement on quality. Similarly, sound quality is average for voice calls. There was almost a little too much treble and not enough bass in the speakers. The volume was quite loud on city streets though. Never any trouble hearing the other person. Score: B-
Samsung Sync: A significant reason for me deciding on the cu500 over the sync was the incredibly annoying wake feature to activate the external screen. At first I thought I could deal with this, but it makes you pis*ed really fast. How stupid do you look when someone asks you the time and you have to pause and press the soft key for 3+ seconds before telling them. Why even have an external screen? Score: F-
LG CU 500: Instantaneous external activation when the soft key is pressed. Score: A+
Samsung Sync: Great hinge construction. The phone is on the ugly side, but once you get over that, it?s a nice size and was easily opened with one hand. The phone closed nicely and had a great sound when closed. This sounds funny, but compared to the Lg this was heaven! Score: A+
LG CU 500: The hinge construction is garbage! Straight out of the box the screen was loose. You can even feel the screen rattle in your hand when you talk/text/etc. Also, when the phone closes it makes a loud CRACK/SMACK sound.
Besides the hinge construction the overall construction is decent. Score: C
Samsung Sync: The camera on the sync, although 2mp, was horrible at taking clear photographs except under very bright lighting. Don?t plan on using this camera in the evening or on any type of moving objects. Sync = Bluuuuuurrrrry photos. On the plus side, the photos that were taken of still objects under bright light came out excellent.
Score: B-
LG CU 500: The resolution isn?t as high as the sync, but the image quality is much better under low lighting. When photos were taken with each phone, loaded to my computer, and compared, the lg produced much higher quality images. Also, the rotating camera is a plus. I was able to set the phone down, set the timer, and take a photo of a friend and I with little problem. A-
Samsung Sync: Horrible MP3 controls. You must hold down the soft key for wayyy to long before activating the controls and the ?touch? controls are awkward. Also, you can?t feel the buttons in your pocket if you want to skip forward a song. Poor design. Also, when MP3s are playing you cannot multitask. The phone may as well be locked when the MP3 player is on. Score: F-
LG CU 500: The external controls on the lg are on point! No lag time in activating the controls and the buttons are simple to use. The way it should be! I can even skip forward songs and adjust volume while the phone is in my pocket! Yeah! Also, you can still browse files and your phonebook while music is playing. Photos are not an option, though. Score: A-
Samsung Sync: I use a Mac and thus syncing either phone was not an option for me. Thus to transfer files I used a memory card reader and directly transferred files to the card (after extracting the card with tweezers). With the sync I was able to create play lists on my computer by dragging songs into folders. The phone was great at recognizing these folders without issues. Score: A+
LG CU 500: I tried to create play list folders on my computer and the lg would not recognize the folders. It simply dumps all the song files into the same folder on the phone. If you want to create a play list, it must be done on the phone which takes 4ever.
Score: C-
Samsung Sync: Since syncing the ?sync? with my mac is not an option, I opted to use Bluetooth file transfer to transfer my contacts from my computers address book to my phone. This method worked great! Over 100 phone contacts transferred seamlessly from my computer to my phone. Yes! Score: A+
LG CU 500: Although my computer would recognize and transfer files to the cu500, the phone would not accept all my contacts at once. I would have to transfer EACH contact individually. This would take forever!!! Thankfully, I was able to use the SYNC to store my contacts onto my ?smart chip? and then switched chips to the LG. Whew! Score: D-
Samsung Sync & LG CU 500: Both phones had poor micro card slot construction. Although the sync is poorly constructed and difficult to remove the card, the lg takes it a step farther and puts the card under the battery! Why? Also, tweezers have to be used to remove the card. Its like doing surgery on your phone every time you want to switch cards- which really isn?t all that often anyway. Scores: D-
Samsung Sync & LG CU 500: Another note, both phones appeared to have equal reception and I?ve only had a couple dropped calls on the Lg in the past month. The descending ring tone on the Lg was not an issue since i usually use the vibrate mode anyway. Another note, the sync doesn't have a silent mode! Ahhh! This should be a basic function Samsung!
So, there you go. I mulled over the two phones for about a week before I decided to go with the Lg CU 500. The primary reason I chose to purchase a music phone in the first place was for the music player and the camera. If neither of these tools can be used properly with the Sync, then I figured why should I go with it? Although I sacrificed a better sounding call, larger screen, and better hinge construction by going with the Lg, I am happy with being able to utilize the phones features and most of all, the external display!!!
Hopefully this will help you make your decision.34 out of 37 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Coolest phone of the season
by MajorNickmo on November 14, 2006
Pros: Small, Sleek, Fun, Easy to Navigate
Cons: No over the air downloading of songs
Summary: This phone does it all! I had the Razr, then the Treo 650, and I bought this one 4 days ago...it is spectacular! Great reception, wonderfully loud (I can ...
Summary: This phone does it all! I had the Razr, then the Treo 650, and I bought this one 4 days ago...it is spectacular! Great reception, wonderfully loud (I can actually hear people, ahem, Razr...) Downloading videos is super fast on Cingular's 3G network, get the media max bundle or you'll be payin' thru the nose for all the cool downloads on Cingular video. It doesn't come with a headset or a USB cable but that didn't bother me since my laptop has Bluetooth and the phone transfers pics, songs and files just as quickly over bluetooth as a USB. Just make sure you don't purchase Southwing's bluetooth headphones with this phone, b/c they don't work. I will be looking to purchase the wired headphones since I have really enjoyed the MobiRadio 7 day trial on the phone and it will play nearly any format of music except for iTunes downloaded music...grrr. However for just $15 a month to Napster you can have unlimited downloads yadayadayada. The phone dimensions make this phone a hair thicker (literally) than the Razr; the exact same in length but quite a bit narrower (holding them side by side). $49.99 after mail in rebates makes this phone a steal. Did I mention 2.0 megapixel camera??? It's a cool phone that does it all. Enough said.
19 out of 20 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I"d marry the darn thing if I could
by patipaw on December 8, 2006
Pros: Intuitively designed, full featured, quality in every aspect
Cons: No silent camera, no voice dial
Summary: I am so in love with this phone! I researched and visited stores for months, and it was worth the wait. The design is beautiful, controls are very intuitive. I ...
Summary: I am so in love with this phone! I researched and visited stores for months, and it was worth the wait. The design is beautiful, controls are very intuitive. I love that you can customize certain buttons/features. The camera is amazing. I wish, and maybe I just haven't figured it out, that you could take pictures in silence.
I am a professional musician, and the sound quality of the music player is stunning. I expected (since the store was too noisy to tell much) to pretty much ignore this feature. It plays everything well.
The display is easy to read. There seems to be at least one shortcut to anything you'd use frequently. I love it!!
I do wish that it had voice dial so I could dial the phone with my bluetooth headset.
But, hey, with everything else, that is just nothing. I keep staying up until the wee hours playing with the darn thing. The internet is faster than my computer. Then I can pop on some Miles Davis and nod off.
How good can it get? (If I could play solitaire and listen to music, okay, that would be better. And maybe I just haven't figured that one out yet either.)
I am fussy about gizmos. This gizmo's got it all.12 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I love it! I wouldn't take a razr if somone gave me one
by theperfectverse on November 9, 2006
Pros: It has several of the features my motorola V551 had, and soo much more. The cingular video is wonderful and the 3G is excellent. I wouldn't have gone for any other Cingular phone besides the LG
Cons: The only con is.... it was a transition between motorola and samsung.
Summary: Definietly a good buy... It's not as masculine as the LG CU500. It has some great features where you can add notes to a contact (say if you want ...
Summary: Definietly a good buy... It's not as masculine as the LG CU500. It has some great features where you can add notes to a contact (say if you want to remember how you know them) and FDN where you can automatically not answer calls from particular numbers... these were just some of the features I haven't seen in non-PDA devices so I was impressed
13 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great phone, only one drawback
by envgeo1 on November 16, 2006
Pros: Great size (razr size), great video, music, pciture quality
Cons: wish it accepted regular headphones
Summary: I would rate this phone a 10 except that there is not a typical headphone jack (I had to buy headphones specific to samsung). Other than that the phone is ...
Summary: I would rate this phone a 10 except that there is not a typical headphone jack (I had to buy headphones specific to samsung). Other than that the phone is perfect. Great picture, video, and sound quality. I am not sure where the cnet reviewer used the phone, but my call quality is excellent. Cingular 3.5G is FAST FAST FAST. I can start watching a 3 minute movie trailer in 10-15 seconds without sputters or stops during the entire video.
This is my first flip phone in many years (nokia guy), and I am still adjusting but all the features and the price make it worth while.Updated
I have now used the phone for two weeks and can provide additional feedback. The phone is still good and very FAST, I like the 2mpxl camera and the mp3 player. Here are some drawbacks which it, perhaps all mp3 player phones, have.
1. When playing music you cannot browse the internet or change settings on the phone. ie. One most close down the mp3 player before changing the ringer profile.
2. Really annoying that the phone lacks a regular headphone jack limiting earphones to the uncomfortable huge ear bud phones currently available.
3. The earphone jack and charger is one and the same, meaning you cant charge the phone and listen to music on headphones.
4. It seems like I have to hit two buttons to complete a function (call back someone or call back a text message) which required only one on my nokia.11 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
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seems like it would be a great phone... but it's not
by anakravitz on January 21, 2007
Pros: syncs well with Yahoo email/IM, fast web browsing
Cons: MANY annoying features. For example, no flashing message light, 2 second lag on outside display
Summary: I noticed a lot of people gave this phone rave reviews after having it only a few days or weeks. In my opinion it takes a month of solid use ...
Summary: I noticed a lot of people gave this phone rave reviews after having it only a few days or weeks. In my opinion it takes a month of solid use to discover all the annoying "quirks." In no particular order, here are some of the things I've come across.
1) The outside display doesn't show the time. In fact, to view the time you have to push a button on the side of the phone for 2 seconds before the screen will light up. This is very annoying, and I end up just opening my phone entirely when I want to see the time. Which brings me to the next point:
2) When you open the phone there is a slight lag before the screen light comes on. There is also a slight lag while moving between different menus.
3) If you're using the phone for web browsing, the favorites menu is already filled with Cingular Video, Cingular News, etc. These can't be deleted. Similarly, you can't delete Check Bill Balance, Directory Assistance, etc from the address book.
4) In my old phone I could set my phone to silent, vibrate, or ring with a few pushes of a button. In this phone you have to choose between the silent and vibrate profiles. You can only have one or the other unless you feel like going to the profile menu and switching back and forth.
5) There is no flashing indicator light on the outside of the phone to tell you that you have a message, missed a call, whatever. And of course the outside panel only lights up if you hold it down for 2 seconds. So again I'm stuck with opening the phone to see if I missed a call or got a voicemail.
6) Some features are buried really deep in menus, with no way to set a shortcut. For example, if I want to use the calculator, I have to go to Menu --> My stuff--> Applications --> Tools --> Calculator.
It's cool that you can easily check your email or use the web on this phone, but the basic calling and notification features are well behind what you'd expect from even much older phones.15 out of 22 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Beautiful phone but reception not as good as V551
by straussaz on November 30, 2006
Pros: Beautiful screen, nice keys, great audio, good camera
Cons: Bad handoffs to EDGE, requiring on/off cycling
Summary: I've had the phone for about 3 weeks and there are a few problems: 1) I can't get rid of a "voice message received" icon. 2) Even with ...
Summary: I've had the phone for about 3 weeks and there are a few problems: 1) I can't get rid of a "voice message received" icon. 2) Even with 6 bars, I occasionally get dumped from the network in HSDPA mode...usually when I'm trying to show video capabilities to someone (maybe that's Cingular's fault and not that of the phone). 3) On a measured back-road course, I loose signal for about a 10-mile longer stretch than I did with my old Motorola V551. That's how much more I'd have to walk to get a signal if my car breaks down. 4) When leaving a 3G cell to a no-signal area and then connecting to an EDGE cell, I get either "No Voice Calls Possible" or "Emergency Calls Only" message...even with 4-5 bars showing. I have to turn off the power and essentially re-boot to restore service. This is totally repeatable. Since the phone is capable of over-the-air updates, I hope that Qualcomm (the chipset maker), Samsung and Cingular can improve this. But, you folks who never leave the city or only travel main highways, you'll probably do OK with this phone.
8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great phone, loud, good voice quality
by mmbeller on November 13, 2006
Pros: Great performance in fringe areas
Cons: battery cover comes off too easy, thicker than razr
Summary: I have had this phone four days and I am very happy so far. It works in places my RAZR used to fade out and drop calls. It is much ...
Summary: I have had this phone four days and I am very happy so far. It works in places my RAZR used to fade out and drop calls. It is much louder so I am not always asking callers to speak up. The internet, camera, LCD screen, and streaming video features work great but the most important thing is the excellent call quality. I would recommend this phone highly.
8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.
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The Phone of my dreams
by peacefulruler on November 13, 2006
Pros: Fast, refined, feature-packed, slim, lightweight
Cons: too perfect...
Summary: My phone history: Nokia 8280 (soapbar), Motorola V505, now the Samsung.
I value a phone that I can just drop in my front pocket (forget holsters, etc.) This phone is ...Summary: My phone history: Nokia 8280 (soapbar), Motorola V505, now the Samsung.
I value a phone that I can just drop in my front pocket (forget holsters, etc.) This phone is slim and light, and the case is slick. Just perfect.
With the MediaMax package from Cingular ($20 extra a month) I can get Internet at near-broadband speeds (video CNN hourly news, stock quotes, Google maps and searches, etc.) Speed is as good as DSL at home.
The camera takes high quality pictures and video.
The phone plays MP3s, and records audio.
This is, by far, the best phone on the market (Nov 2006) and Cingular is giving it away for $49 after rebates.
Phones evolve so quickly, you're doing yourself a disservice if you buy anything that came out more than 3 months earlier. DO NOT buy a Razr, which is a 2004 design. This Samsung has only been out for about a month.
If you plan to use the Internet, don't buy anything that's not G3, or you'll grow old waiting for the pages to download.
Someone will come out with something better in the future, but there is nothing that comes close to this phone at the moment. Nothing.8 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Everything is GREAT!!!! except for a somewhat lackluster volume on calls.
by kinky_wizard23 on February 25, 2007
Pros: 3G works wonders, smooth design, huge, vivid dispaly, 2mp camera works nice with good add ons
Cons: cant hear to well when talking in loud places (ex. driving in a car) but driving with cellphones is bad anyways, the buttons are a little to flush with the bottom
Summary: Overall, i thought that this phone is a great piece. It feels good when you hold it in your hands and feels like it can take a few drops. I ...
Summary: Overall, i thought that this phone is a great piece. It feels good when you hold it in your hands and feels like it can take a few drops. I was going to get Motorola's Krzr but it felt as if i could crush it with my hand, and im little. So i opted for the Samsung Sync. I enjoy the slim factor of it and the huge vivid display on the inside. The side button for the camera and music player is nice as well. I also like how Samsung has the charger set up. It fits in perfectly compared to Motorolas' V557 2 pronged approach.
Putting music on their is somewhat tricky since it doenst come with a USB. At first i did it with Bluetooth, which is somewhat impractical since it takes awhile depending on the file size, but it works that way if you really want to use bluetooth. I figured there had to be a faster way so i tried hooking it to my SD card slot in my printer. Then plugged it in my Powerbook G4 and it worked. The drag and drop is a marvlous thing. The only thing that took awhile was me trying to decide what songs to put on my 1 gig MicroSD card which i had plugged into the microSD/Transflash Adapter to my printer. The music quality is great and is actually pretty loud on the phone itself. Plus the display of colors and design is cool on both the font LCD screen and the inside display when music is playing
The camera works nicely. Takes very good photos and is really easy to use. Its nice to have the image brightness right on the directional pad.
The layout of the menus doesnt bother me at all. It took a little while to figure out how it was set-up but after that it was easy as pie.
Lastly the phone is a nice piece of work if you can deal with not being able to hear people in loud places when on the phone, but im sure that wont be a big deal once the consumer buys a bluetooth headset.....or maybe thats what Samsung wanted...????6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Samsung
- Part number: SGH-A707BLKATT
- Description: You're dialed in to the world of entertainment; your phone should be, too. On the outside, the Samsung Sync has edgy good looks and handy, touch-sensitive media keys. Inside, it's a high-tech, high-speed, quad-band powerhouse that lets you enjoy music, video, photography, gaming and the Internet like you never thought possible. You will have fun with this phone.
General
- Product Type Cellular phone With digital camera / digital player
- Service Provider AT&T
- Width 2 in
- Depth 0.7 in
- Height 3.7 in
- Weight 4 oz
Cellular
- Technology GSM
- Band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband)
- Phone Design Folder type phone
- Antenna Internal
- Vibrating Alert Yes
- Polyphonic Ringer Yes
- Call Timer Yes
- Voice Recorder Yes
- Caller ID Yes
- Speakerphone Yes
- Wireless Interface Bluetooth
- Additional Features Intelligent typing (T9)
Communicator Features
- Synchronization With PC Yes
Phone Memory
- Phone Book Capacity 1000 names & numbers
Messaging & Data Services
- Short Messaging Service (SMS) Yes
- Mobile Email Yes
- Internet Browser Yes
- WAP Protocol Supported WAP 2.0
- Platforms Supported J2ME
- JAVA applications Yes
- HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) Yes
- Messaging / Data Features Text messages, Multimedia messages (MMS), WAP push
Ring Tones
- Ring Tone Formats MP3
Multimedia Features
- Downloadable Content Ring tones, Wallpapers, Audio files, Video files
Digital Camera
- Camera highlights With a resolution of 2 megapixels, this model will give you higher quality pictures than other phones.
- Sensor Resolution 2 megapixels
- Camera Light Source Flash
Organizer
- Alarm Clock Yes
- Calendar Yes
- Reminder Yes
- Calculator Basic
Display
- Type LCD display
- Technology TFT
- Display Resolution 320 x 240 pixels
- Color Support Color
- Color Depth 18-bit (262000 Colors)
- Multi-language Menu Yes
- Features Backlit, Screensaver
Display (2nd)
- Type LCD display - Monochrome
- Display Resolution 96 x 96 pixels
Power
- Type Power adapter
Battery
- Technology - Lithium ion
- Talk Time Up to 240 min
- Standby Time Up to 250 h
Product series
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Samsung Sync SGH-A707 - black (AT&T)
Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband), Up to 240 min, With digital camera / digital player, 4 oz
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Samsung Sync SGH-A707 - blue (AT&T)
Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband), Up to 240 min, With digital camera / digital player, 4 oz
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Samsung Sync SGH-A707 - red (AT&T)
Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband), Up to 240 min, With digital camera / digital player, 4 oz
Accessories
- A-Data Speedy Series flash memory card - 2 GB - microSD (33795596)
- ATP SD Trio Professional PLUS card adapter - flash: microSD - Hi-Speed USB (32128464)17.00
- Centon 2GBRSD3-1 - flash memory card - 2 GB - microSD (33503634)8.99 - 11.84
- Centon flash memory card - 4 GB - microSD (33362243)11.48 - 16.64
- Samsung WT17200000113 - holster bag for cellular phone (33311579)12.99
Manufacturer info
- Samsung
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Samsung products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.samsungusa.com/
- Address:
105 Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 - Phone: 1-800-726-7864
- Fax: 1-973-601-6001
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