Blackberry Connect-enabled SGH-T719 and would-be SLVR-killer SGH-T509 make their Vegas debuts, alongside the multimedia focused SCH-A960, and the PTT-enabled SGH-D407.
Samsung SGH-T719 hands-on impression
Our first impression when we picked up the T719 clamshell was how light it was; at just 3.5 ounces, the handset felt light for its size (about 3.7 by 2 by 0.7 inches), and for once, this is a BlackBerry-type device that’s actually small and thin enough to fit in a jeans pocket. We were also impressed by the big, flat function and navigation keys, as well as by the smooth, easy-to-press keypad, which borrows the two-letters-to-a-key conceit of the pseudo-QWERTY BlackBerry 7100 series. Sure, there’s still a learning curve when typing your messages, but at least the keys themselves make for comfortable pecking. The eye-catching, 262,000-color TFT display looked bright and crisp to our eyes, a welcome change from the dull displays we’ve seen on other BlackBerry devices, although the monochrome external display didn’t exactly wow us.
We weren’t able to give the T719’s BlackBerry-Connect capabilities a once-over (the floor model we tried wasn’t properly configured), but we snapped a few photos with the handset’s 1.3-megapixel camera, which looked impressively colorful and detailed on the 176 x 220-pixel display. The EDGE-enabled phone also packs in Bluetooth, a speakerphone, Sync ML, and a media player.
Pricing and availability
The Samsung T719 is set to hit U.S. shores in the third quarter of 2006; pricing details have yet to be released.
Specifications
- Pseudo-QWERTY keypad
- EDGE-enabled
- Bluetooth
- 1.3-megapixel camera
- Speakerphone
- Sync ML
- DS and DM capabilities
- Media player
Samsung SGH-T509 hands-on impression
The T509 is certainly a looker. With its silver and black design and slim-and-trim feel (3.7 by 2 by 0.7 inches, or just a hair thinner than the SLVR), this fashion-conscious handset is like the Nano of candybar phones – and at just 2.7 ounces, it feels surprisingly light. Our fingers didn’t have much trouble with the shim-shaped keys, while the 65,000-color LCD looked fine, if not awe-inspiring.
The T509 comes to the table with a respectable set of features, including Bluetooth, a VGA camera (clearly a tradeoff for manufacturing a device this thin), a speakerphone, and support for 2.5G EDGE networks, showing up the SLVR’s poky GPRS speeds. That said, the T509 lacks the SLVR’s flash-memory expansion slot, which means music lovers shouldn’t plan on packing too many songs into the phone’s internal memory -- and besides, we didn’t see an integrated music player a la iTunes on the SLVR.
Pricing and availability
The T509 is slated to arrive in the spring/summer of 2006; despite the T-Mobile logo on the phone’s main screen, neither a carrier nor pricing have been officially announced yet.
Specifications
- Measuring 4.6 by 1.83 by 0.38 inches
- Weighing in at just 2.7 ounces
- EDGE
- Bluetooth
- VGA camera
- Speakerphone
- 65,000-color TFT display
- Instant-messaging apps
Samsung SCH-A960 hands-on impression
Samsung’s elegant SGH-A960 music phone boasts speedy network capabilities, a 1.3-megapixel camera, an integrated music player and a perfectly round external display. While it wasn’t officially on display at CTIA last week, we still managed to get a sneak peek.
Design
Talk about class: with its black-and-silver design and round external display that’s tucked in the upper-right corner of the phone’s face, the A960 makes a great first impression. The small external screen displays the time in a variety of formats, including an elegant Roman-numeral analog clock and a red-and-blue digital clock, as well as song info when you’re cranking your tunes, while a small silver button just below the display lets you pause your music. Flip open the phone and you’ll find the navigational keys and the numeric keypad; we liked the sleek, rounded design of the keys, which are (thankfully) big and flat for easy tapping, while the sharp, detailed 262,000-color, 176 x 220-pixel internal LCD does an impressive job of displaying snapshots. At 3.5 by 1.8 by 1 inches and 3.5 ounces, the A960 fits nicely in a jeans pocket.
Features
The A960 comes loaded with a strong feature set, including EVDO capabilities for speedy Web browsing and music downloads, a microSD flash-memory expansion slot, Bluetooth, PictBridge photo printing, and a speakerphone. Even better, the A960 comes with motion-detecting sensors that will let you, for instance, call a speed-dial contact by waving the phone in a pre-determined pattern, according to a Samsung rep (we weren’t able to test this feature on the show floor, unfortunately).
Pricing and availability
The A960 is set for release in the second quarter of 2006 (despite the Sprint branding, no U.S. carriers have been officially announced); pricing has yet to be determined.
Samsung SGH-D407
Push-to-talkers will get a kick out of Samsung’s Bluetooth- and EDGE-enabled SGH-D407, a black-and-silver clamshell phone with walkie-talkie capabilities. This otherwise-modest handset also comes with Bluetooth, a speakerphone, a VGA camera, Sync ML support and a suite of instant messaging apps – and at 3.3 by 1.9 by 0.9 inches and 3 ounces, the D407 (expected to arrive in the second quarter of 2006, pricing TBA) won’t weight you down.
Samsung ZX20
This speed-demon of a phone already made a splash at CES, and Samsung is trotting out the ZX20 for another go-round in Vegas. Set for release in the second quarter of 2006, (pricing info hasn’t been released), this clamshell-style, dual-band handset is poised to be the first commercially available HSPDA phone in the U.S. (and will presumably work with Cingular’s new HSPDA network, which launched in 16 cities last October). The ZX20 (measuring 3.5 by 1.9 by 1 inches, and weighing 3.9 ounces) also sports a 1.3-megapixel camera, a microSD flash-memory expansion slot, a media player (with MP3, AAC and MPEG4 support), Bluetooth 2.0, a speakerphone, and a 262,000-color internal display.
Samsung SGH-T709 hands-on impression
We went to our T709 demo expecting this sliderphone to be a big, ungainly black brick, but while the handset isn’t as pretty as, say, the svelte T509, it cut a surprisingly small figure. Measuring 3.7 by 1.7 by 0.9 inches and weighing in at just 3.3 ounces, the T709 felt compact and light in our hands. The phone slides open with a smooth, satisfying spring, revealing the keypad and a series of navigation buttons. The funky curved design of the numeric keys was a little tough on our fingers, but with a little practice we got the hang of it. The T709’s 262,000-color TFT display looked bright and vivid, but appeared a bit pixilated to our eyes.
Seeing as the T709 was tethered to the Samsung display, we didn’t have much of a chance to roam with it between wireless and cell zones. However, we found plenty of promising options in the phone’s wireless settings, such as the ability to save network profiles and connect to encrypted access points. The EDGE-enabled T709 (no UMTS support, unfortunately) also boasts a 1.3-megapixel camera, an MP3 player complete with an equalizer and simulated surround-sound settings, and a speakerphone. Where’s the Bluetooth, you ask? Good question.
Pricing and availability
The T709 should arrive in the U.S. sometime in the second quarter, according to Samsung; pricing has yet to be announced.
Specifications
- Roaming between GPRS/EDGE and 802.11b networks
- 1.3-megapixel camera
- Media player
- Speakerphone
- Instant messaging apps
- 262,000-color internal LCD
Samsung SCH-A930
Music fanatics who want an MP3-player look-and-feel from their music phones should check out Samsung’s SCH-A930, a new clamshell handset with a long, vertical external OLED that makes it easy to read track info for your tunes. We fired up the A930 on the CTIA show floor and cranked the volume.
Design
While this black-and-silver clamshell is almost exactly the same size (3.6 by 1.9 by 1 inches) as the A960, Samsung’s other new music phone, the A930’s clunky design makes it feel a bit more bulky, and at 4 ounces it’s about a half-an-ounce heavier. The phone’s vertically oriented external OLED sets it apart from the pack; while the long, monochrome display certainly didn’t blow us away in terms of resolution, it does a good job of displaying full track names and artist info (much like the old-school MP3 players of yore). A trio of buttons just below the display let you play, pause and skip your music tracks, while the swiveling camera lens up by the clamshell’s hinge makes it easy to snap self portraits. Flipping the A930 open, we liked the crisp 262,000-color internal display, and our fingers had little trouble with the big, flat numeric keys.
Features
The A930 comes with all the features we’d expect on a music phone, including EVDO for fast music downloads, a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, a microSD flash-memory expansion slot, and a speakerphone with dual stereo speakers.
Pricing and availability
The A930 is slated for release sometime in the second quarter of 2006; while the phone’s interface looked suspiciously Verizon-like, no carriers (or pricing details) have been officially announced.
Samsung SGH-D807
A kissing cousin to the sleek SGH-T809, this slim quad-band GSM/EDGE slider comes with Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a microSD memory card slot, an MP3 player, Sync ML support, a speakerphone, and the ability to play videos from MobiTV. Measuring 3.9 by 2 by 0.6 inches and weighing 3.4 ounces, the SGH-D807 is pleasingly thin for a slider phone. The phone should street in the second quarter of 2006 (pricing TBA).
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