Larry Garfield looks at Samsung's upgraded SPH-i700 Windows Mobile Communicator to see if the now 2003-enabled device measures up against stiffer competition.
Design
Samsung's SPH-i700 is a fairly average sized communicator or handheld, measuring 132 x 79 x 16 mm and weighing in at a slightly heavy 162 grams. The device is a traditional design overall, made from silver plastic and with a 2 cm antenna on top. The screen is the standard QVGA 240 x 320 16-bit color TFT common to most Windows Mobile handhelds, and while not eye-popping is perfectly readable.
 | Samsung's i700 is a good but uninspiring handheld
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Samsung's designers like buttons, as the i700 has buttons to spare. The large and comfortable 5-way directional pad is flanked by four buttons for Call, Hang Up, Datebook, and Contacts, respectively. The right side of the device includes the power button and a backlight toggle, both of which are too easy to hit by accident, while the left includes a voice recorder button and volume rocker. The Secure Digital card slot is also on the left side, low, while a covered headphone jack is far at the top. The top of the device includes the IR port. There is a microphone and earpiece on the front of the device, although the main speaker, also used for the speakerphone, is inconveniently on the back. While it can be used against-the-face, it's a bit large for it making it uncomfortable for long periods, as is typical of many communicators.
The i700 also includes a small 0.3 megapixel camera with rotating lens on the top left. The lens rotates back into the device for safety when not in use, which is good. Image quality is on-par with what one would expect of a VGA camera, and the white balance is fairly good despite the lack of a flash.
A retractable metal barrel stylus slides out from the bottom right, opposite of most handhelds. The i700 includes a set of stereo earphones for hands free operation or music, as well as a charging cradle that includes a slot for charging the included extended battery.
Connectivity
All of the typical connections are included on the i700, including an SD slot, IR port, and serial port for the cradle. Its main connectivity, however, is the integrated CDMA 1xRTT radio. Audio quality was good overall, and the data connection was on-par with other 1xRTT devices. While the SD slot is useful, however, it is not SDIO-capable, so accessory cards (such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) will not work.
Specifications
The SPH-i700 is powered by a 300 MHz Intel XScale processor, and backed by 32 MB of RAM, rather small for a modern Windows Mobile device - but then again, the i700 has been on the market for a while. The aforementioned camera is VGA resolution, or 0.3 megapixels.
The i700 comes with two batteries, one standard and one larger extended battery - a nice touch. The cradle, as mentioned, includes a slot to charge whichever is not in use, which is also a very welcome touch. The standard battery was able to churn out music continuously for about 5 and a quarter hours before throwing its first low-power warning, finally shutting off the music after 6 and a quarter hours. That is with the radio active the entire time, but no calls in progress.
Software
The SPH-i700 originally shipped with Windows Mobile 2002, but a free update is now available through some carriers to Windows Mobile 2003, which was powering the device for the purpose of this review. All of the usual Windows Mobile 2003 features and applications are present, from the Pocket Office suite to Windows Media Player 9.
The device was reasonably snappy in most applications, although not the fastest response time we've tested. Still, it should be sufficient for most users. On the downside, there was no extra software included beyond the basic Windows Mobile software and phone-related utilities, either in ROM or on CD. That's fairly unusual for a modern handheld, as well as disappointing.
Availability
The Samsung SPH-i700 is available now through a number of carriers. Price without activation is $599 USD, although price with service will vary with the carrier.
Conclusion
The Samsung SPH-i700 is an overall good communicator, but does nothing to differentiate itself from the rest of the market. There are no major flaws with the device, with the possible exception of the small RAM, but no major unique features either to make it stand out from other products in the market. There are several minor issues common to many similar products, such as poorly placed buttons, but also some highlights such as the generally good camera. On the whole, the SPH-i700 is a good but uninspiring communicator.
What's positive: Good camera, multiple batteries
What's negative: Poorly-placed buttons, no Bluetooth
| Design: | 6/10 |
| Connectivity: | 5/10 |
| Specifications: | 6/10 |
| Software: | 6/10 |
| Value: | 6/10 |
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iSW Score:
5.8/10
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