AT&T's new A737 slider features some nice tweaks to AT&T's standard menus and design. Were they enough to make up for some shortcomings?
Review summary of the Samsung SGH-a737:
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 The Samsung SGH-A737 doesn't score a lot of points in the multimedia department, but that doesn't mean it should be overlooked. Samsung has gone to some lengths to make the phone more usable, both by improving the menu design and the navigation buttons. We especially like the phone's design. We like the smooth, modern look and the wide center button. It's easy to underestimate how cramped navigation can be on some slim sliders, and we like that Samsung has eschewed touch controls for real buttons. So, if you're really into multimedia, you might want to look elsewhere, but for an everyday calling and light messaging phone, the A737 is a good choice. And for only $40 with a contract, it's not a bad deal, either. Release: October 2007. Price: $80.
Pros: Slick, design. Maybe a bit masculine, in a good way? Easy navigation buttons, improved menu design.
Cons: Sluggish on the network. Flat keys bad for extended typing. No Gmail?
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Full Samsung SGH-a737 Review:
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Design - Very good
If the Helio Mysto represents the ultimate feminine side of Samsung's slider design, the Samsung SGH-A737 on AT&T is the masculine other half. Though not as thin as the Mysto, the A737 is still a tight, well-built slider. Instead of gentle curves, you get obtuse angles. Instead of touch sensitive buttons, you get the real thing, and a larger navigation button to boot; and both of these are good things in our book. The screen may be low-res at 176 by 220 pixels, but you'll hardly notice thank to some deft interface design by Samsung.
Once you step behind AT&T's standard, confusing icon grid (where is that calendar, again?) you get to Samsung's thoughtful nested menus. Basically, when you highlight a menu option, the submenu for that option pops up as a tiny window you can browse. So, you rarely have to dig more than a single level to change the setting you want to change, or access the feature you need. This works very well, and we've liked it on other Samsung phones, like the D900 Black Carbon phone.
Calling - Very good
Call quality on the A737 sounded good, testing in our lower Manhattan offices. We lost a couple of calls, but when callers managed to hang on they sounded just fine. Dialing on the ultra-flat keys wasn't easy, but they did have a slight bump to them which cut down on fumbling. For a non-smartphone, the SGH-A737 has a robust address book.We liked the extra field possibilities, including fields for DTMF numbers and business addresses.
The phone also supports most of our favorite calling features, including conference calling and Bluetooth for hands-free dialing. The speakerphone worked well indoors, but not so much over the din of New York traffic. Unfortunately, the A737 lacks voice dialing, a feature we find crucial as drivers. For battery life, we got nearly four hours of talk time out of the phone, which is better than Samsung's predicted three, but not enough to really impress us.
Messaging - Good
It is mostly the flat keys that hold the A737 back as a messaging phone, with one other glaring omission. The phone supports plenty of messaging features, including SMS and MMS, as well as instant messaging for AIM, Yahoo and MSN. Mobile E-mail comes as a separate Java app, and is preloaded for many national e-mail services. Unfortunately, Gmail, which is what we prefer for personal e-mail, is conspicuously absent. Still, the messaging app is fairly robust, with the ability to add file attachments to outgoing messages, and an IM client that we found to be reliable.
Multimedia - Good
The Samsung SGH-A737 includes the nearly-full roster of AT&T's multimedia services, including Cellular Video for watching short video clips, AT&T Music for sideloading Napster tracks onto your phone and Video Share, for one-way videoconferencing. Unfortunately, none of these services are compelling enough to sell the phone, and the A737 wasn't very quick on the draw when it came to streaming music and TV clips. Still, if you want them, they are there. The music player gets a little boost from Samsung, and has some nice sound output options, including some 3D simulators that create a wider sound, especially when played via stereo Bluetooth over a set of speakers. This isn't an iPhone, or even a Walkman phone, so don't expect a top-notch music player, but it's just a hair better than most other mid-range AT&T phones.
Odds and ends
There are a few things missing from the A737, and if we had the choice we would suggest a trade. First, let's trade Cellular Video for AT&T's upcoming mobile TV service, to let this phone compete with the similar Motorola RIZR Z6tv on Verizon Wireless. Then, let's trade the antiquated AT&T Music, which lets you sideload Napster and Yahoo music tracks, with AT&T's announced Napster download service, which lets you purchase music on your phone. Let's drop the Web browser entirely, since it isn't very good, and trade for GPS, like we find on the Samsung Juke, also on Verizon.
Price and availability
The Samsung SGH-A737 is available from AT&T for $80 with a contract. It is also available for $100 as a prepaid phone.
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