Announced in South Korea in advance of next week's 3GSM show in Barcelona, Spain, the Ultra Smart F700 drew immediate comparisons to the Apple's iPhone, with its simple touch screen display dominating the face of the device, and the single button seated below the screen. Though we were surprised by the announcement, we really shouldn't have been, because if any phone manufacturer has the design chops to take on Apple, it's Samsung. For the past couple of years, the company has been releasing thinner and thinner phones, while updating their OS and menu system to create more pleasant, attractive interfaces.
Design:
The Ultra Smart F700 joins the Ultra Music and Ultra Video phones at the top of Samsung's lineup. These are slim phones with top-of-the-line features. The Music and Video Ultras were announced at CES, and with the announcement of the Ultra Smart -- almost exactly one month after Apple's announcement -- we can't help but wonder if this phone isn't a direct response to Apple's iPhone, or just a strange coincidence. The designs are astonishingly similar, even down to the color (though our photos don't quite pick up the subtle striping of the Samsung Ultra Smart's face). Of course, phone designs usually have a year or more lead time, so it is unlikely Samsung could bring an imitator to market so quickly, but it does make us wonder. The Ultra Smart distinguishes itself with its slide-out keyboard, which adds less than a quarter-inch thickness to the device over the iPhone -- and, more importantly, wards off any complaints about tapping messages on a touch screen.
Interface:
We're very curious to see the Ultra Smart F700 in action, because Samsung has mostly left us in the dark about how it will look and feel. We do mean "feel" literally, because Samsung has integrated VibeTonz technology into the device, so users will feel slight vibrations when they touch the screen. We've played with similar technology from Immersion, and we think it will work well as a supplement to the less-than-tactile touch screen. Samsung's official release describes a "drag and drop" interface, which is a clue that it won't be a Windows Mobile device, as that interface is more "hunt and peck" than "drag and drop." Most telling, Samsung says that the QWERTY keyboard is included "for users who are not yet familiar with a touch-screen-only user interface," which could mean that the interface will shift the focus away from opening the device toward simply using the touch screen by itself.
Network:
The Ultra Smart F700 is one of the first phones we've seen that will work on upcoming 7.2Mbps HSDPA networks. AT&T should be rolling out 7.2Mbps HSDPA here in the U.S. this year, but since the network's current 3.6Mbps HSDPA coverage isn't nearly complete, we're not holding our breath for it. As for real-world download speeds, we've tested phones that get into the Megabit range on AT&T's current network, maybe up to 1.5Mbps tops. Whether doubling the theoretical speed will double what you actually get is anyone's guess, and probably depends more on network traffic, but for reference, Samsung claims that a 4MB song should take about 4.4 seconds. That seems awfully high to us, representing the theoretical limit rather than what you'll actually see. Still, for many users on low-end DSL connections or using a slower Wi-Fi network, the Ultra Smart F700 might finally be a viable replacement for your landline Internet connection. Speaking of Wi-Fi, there is none on the F700, which gives the iPhone a slight advantage for mobile workers looking to tap into their office wireless networks.
Camera:
We're skeptical about the value of a 3-megapixel camera on this phone. There’s mounting evidence that pixel count means nothing compared to the quality of the camera lens. We've seen plenty of 2-megapixel cameras on phones recently that produce images no more usable than a simple VGA camera. More megapixels just means you get a really large lousy image. We don't think people will give up their digital cameras until the lens quality on phones catches up with what you'd expect from a low-end standalone camera. While the 3-megapixel number places the Samsung F700 clearly at the high-end, the proof will be in the images.
Smarts:
The Apple iPhone kicked off a debate on how we define a smartphone. Will the Ultra Smart accept third-party applications? Will it receive push e-mail from popular, enterprise class (not Yahoo) mail servers? Samsung says the phone will have a "document viewer," but even if it can open and view Office documents, this may not satisfy Windows Mobile Pocket PC Edition users who are fond of editing Word and Excel docs on the go. So, our question remains, how will the phone live up to its name?
Final thoughts (for now, at least) . . .
When the Apple iPhone was released, we knew it would promote changes in the industry, both in terms of hardware design and user interface. The Samsung Ultra Smart F700 tries to tackle the iPhone on both of those fronts. Its design is remarkably close to the iPhone's look, and its touch screen interface, which seems to promote touch-only use, is reminiscent of Apple's device as well. With HSDPA, a slide-out keyboard, and a potentially superior camera, the Ultra Smart has met a few of the challenges facing the iPhone, but we wonder if it will pack the software necessary to deem it Ultra Smart.
Specifications
Quad-band GSM/EDGE/7.2Mbps HSDPA
5-megapixel camera
2.8-inch, 262,000-color touch screen
microSD card slot
Bluetooth
Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
Measures 4.1 by 2.9 by 0.6 inches
Price & availability
Pricing and availability have yet to be determined, but without an 850 band, and considering the phone is being launched at 3GSM in Barcelona instead of at CES, which was here in the U.S. only a month ago, expect to see this phone in European markets long before it makes its way here.
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