Also known as the Cingular SYNC, this HSDPA-enabled flip phone works with Cingular's new music service and promises smooth, skip-free mobile video. Philip Berne samples the A707's sights and sounds.
Review summary of the Samsung SGH-A707:
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 After striking out with its first HSDPA phone, the sub-par SGH-ZX20, Samsung scores a solid base hit with the sleek Samsung SGH-A707 (now known as the Cingular SYNC). The A707 is comfortable and capable for messaging of all sorts, and it scores with its impressive call quality. Napster and Yahoo music subscribers will appreciate the ability to port their music, although the phone's music interface isn't nearly as intuitive as the much- (and unfairly) maligned iTunes player that's on the current Motorola RAZR V3i. We like the phone's slick design, and the powerful Web browser was a pleasant surprise on a consumer handset. Best of all, with discounts and rebates, the phone matches the price of the LG CU500 HSDPA flip phone, making it the best choice in its class. Release: November 2006. Price: $25.
Pros: High-speed HSDPA support. Plays tunes from Napster and Yahoo music subscription services. Great call quality. Robust messaging options.
Cons: Music player interface is unfriendly. Lousy camera. Lack of necessary accessories. Sluggish music transfers.
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Full review of the Samsung SGH-A707:
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Design
Samsung's newest HSDPA flip phone, the SGH-A707 (now known as the Cingular SYNC) is a dramatic improvement over its last 3.5G effort, the disappointing SGH-ZX20. The design is decidedly modern, with polished and matte grey-and-black accents creating a smooth surface and rounded edges. The matte black keys seem to float atop their polished backing. Measuring 3.5 by 1.9 by 0.7 inches, the A707 isn't as thin as a RAZR, but the flat keys and clean, smooth surfaces give the phone an appealing look more in tune with Samsung's recent "Black" phones (namely, the BlackJack and the Black Carbon).
Music - Good
Upon release, the A707 was the flagship device for promoting the new Cingular Music feature, which lets you transfer tunes from the Napster and Yahoo music subscriptions services to your phone. However, Cingular doesn't offer (not yet, anyway) over-the-air music downloads à la the Sprint Music Store or Verizon Wireless' V Cast Music. We tested Cingular Music with Napster (a 60-day free trial is included with the phone), and while syncing our tunes was a relatively simple process (though not as simple as with Apple's elegant iTunes software), it took an hour to transfer a full 512MB worth of music to the phone's microSD card -- pretty slow, if you ask us. The music player on the phone works fine, though the menu looks more like a folder hierarchy than a music player. Stereo Bluetooth setup was reliable and easy; however, we couldn't play streaming music from the included MobiRadio app over our stereo Bluetooth headphones
Calling - Very good
Calls on the Samsung SGH-A707 sounded loud and clear. The sensitive microphone picked up even our slightest whisper, which caused some problems on busy New York City streets, but nothing too troubling, while the speakerphone is louder than average. Conference calling required some light menu drilling, but the phone allows you to separate 3-way calls and end an individual connection. The phonebook allows for while-you-type searching, and has plenty of fields for a non-smartphone. Unfortunately, though MP3 ringtones are supported, you cannot use a Napster DRM file as a ringtone. Also, we were disappointed by the phone's complete lack of voice dialing.
Messaging - Very good
The A707 handles messaging well, thanks to comfortable keys and a plethora of pre-loaded options. The SMS client can display about half a full 160-character message outgoing, but displays a full 160-characters on incoming messages. Messages can be printed via Bluetooth, which we found to be far more practical than, say, printing pictures from the phone. Instant messaging is available for MSN, Yahoo and AIM users, and messaging speeds were quick over the HSDPA network. A Java app comes loaded with presets for popular Web e-mail services, such as Yahoo, MSN and AOL, among others.
Camera - Mediocre
The 2-megapixel camera on the A707 feels more like an afterthought. Though the camera packs a higher resolution than most phones in its class, our snapshots looked blurry, colors tended to be warmer than reality, and images suffered from a pixilated cloudiness. Transferring files is sluggish, even over the Bluetooth 2.0 connection. Worst of all, the phone stores photos to the memory card in a folder inaccessible to the user, which means you have to use a card reader to sideload them to your PC.
Multimedia - Very good
The A707 boasts some impressive multimedia capabilities beyond the Cingular Music app. Web browsing was quick over the HSDPA network, which we expected, but we were surprised by the phone's ability to load relatively complex Web pages, such as The New York Times homepage (though not without a couple of missing images). Cingular Video was a bit less impressive, due to a small streaming image that fills only a fraction of the screen. The video buffer filled more slowly than we would like, but never hiccupped or stalled once the video started playing.
Odds and ends
Cingular doesn't include a USB cable or microSD card in the A707 box, both of which are necessary for transferring music to the phone. This is a serious omission, noted only deep within the product literature, and not on the retail box. In fact, employees at our local Cingular store in Manhattan were not only unaware of the Sync's lack of a cable, they also don't sell the cable in store, meaning you may have to buy it online. Samsung's choice of a proprietary USB port instead of a standard mini-USB connector makes this even more frustrating. Also, you must disable Bluetooth to use USB (and vice versa), so Bluetooth headphone users will face a laborious menu search every time they sync their tunes.
Price and availability
The Samsung SGH-A707 will start selling for $25 to $100 ((AT&T)) in November 2006.
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