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Preview: Samsung SGH-a717 slim multimedia phoneBy Philip Berne, 10 January 2007
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Samsung SGH-a717
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Samsung SGH-a717
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Samsung SGH-a717
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Samsung SGH-a717
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Samsung SGH-a717
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Samsung SGH-a717
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Samsung SGH-a717
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Samsung SGH-a717
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Samsung offers up another "World's Slimmest," this time for HSDPA fans, with stereo Bluetooth and a 2-megapixel camera.

Design:

The Samsung SGH-a717 is basically an HSDPA-enabled SPH-M610, the phone launched on Sprint's EV-DO network as the slimmest flip phone. The a717 is touted as the slimmest HSDPA clamshell, and aesthetically it looks like a more rectangular version of the M610, which is actually a good thing, because we found the M610's duck-bill form to be a bit off-putting. The keypad on the a717 is an etched metal plate, as opposed to the matte-on-glossy black keys of the M610. The a717 is less than a millimeter thicker than the M610, an unnoticeable difference.

Features:

Samsung has not announced a carrier or availability for the SGH-a717, though with HSDPA support, it isn't hard to guess. The M610 worked very well on Sprint's Power Vision network, so we're curious to see how the a717 functions on the high-speed media network to which it has access. Like the M610, it will include A2DP for stereo Bluetooth, a microSD slot, and the ability to play some form of Windows Media DRM files, though we imagine this will be at the carriers discretion.

Pros:

Not much. A few basic features, better keys than many flat phones. Good contact list. Long list of preset e-mail accounts.

Cons:

Overall very average phone. Poor video experience, below-average music features. Unusable Web browser. No GPS. No music accessories.
 
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