With a full QWERTY keyboard and a unique design, the U740 sends messages on Verizon Wireless' V Cast network. Can it compete with larger QWERTY messagers?
Review summary of the Samsung SCH-u740:
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 When we first saw the Samsung SCH-U740 at CES 2007, we were intrigued by the dual-hinge design, which was a dramatic improvement over the old Samsung SGH-D307 on Cingular. Unfortunately, the U740 suffers from some serious issues in messaging and Web browsing, two areas at which a landscape QWERTY phone should excel. Messaging is too difficult to set up for day-to-day users, and the Web browser is unusable on the phone's low-res screen. Call quality on the phone is good, but to compete with serious messaging phones like the enV and the Sidekick 3, the phone needs to be an easy-to-use messaging powerhouse. As it stands, it seems more like an average, 3G V Cast phone with a keyboard tacked on. Release: February 2007. Price: $100.
Pros: Unique, slim design; good call quality; full screen videos
Cons: Low-res screen hampers Web browsing; video quality is poor; no accessories; could use a better messaging app
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54%
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Full Samsung SCH-u740 Review:
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Editor's Note: In our original review, we criticized the lack of a USB cable in the retail box. According to Samsung, a USB cable is included with the SCH-U740, so we stand corrected. Additionally, we completely overlooked, and did not test, the camera's autofocus feature. Our review and scoring have been updated to reflect these changes.
Competition
Find out how well the Samsung SCH-U740 competes with similar messaging phones:
T-Mobile Sidekick 3 vs. LG VX9900 vs. Samsung SCH-U740
Design
The Samsung SCH-U740 is a rare dual-hinge phone, perhaps the only we've seen since Samsung's last dual-hinge phone, the SGH-D307 on Cingular. It can be opened like a regular clamshell, or it can be opened sideways like the LG VX9900 enV. The hinge is solid, and the phone remains thin despite its full QWERTY keypad. The keys themselves are a jumble; number keys are arranged vertically for use when the clamshell is open, but letters and symbols are arranged horizontally. Number keys share buttons with letters, each printed in their own orientation, and Samsung has even included corresponding "abc," "def," letters beneath the numbers, which means that on nine of the keys, there are no less than five characters printed in two orientations. Advanced 3G functions won't work in portrait mode, so the phone prompts you to switch. Also, though messages remain on screen while the orientation is flip-flopped, V Cast features stopped entirely, including downloads, which were lost when the phone was closed and reopened. In either mode, though, the phone is comfortable in the hand, and the hinge even provides a convenient handle to grip one-handed while browsing messages and video content.
Calling - Very good
Call quality on the SCH-U740 is very good, with clean sounding calls that only suffer from slight digitizing. Reception is a bit disappointing, with EV-DO reception at 1-2 bars, whether we were in Northern Jersey or lower Manhattan, while 1XRTT reception was much stronger, at 4-5 bars. The speakerphone could be a bit louder for our tastes, but sounds accurate, whether used for calls or as a tiny music speaker. The phone features robust calling options, including Bluetooth and speaker-independent voice dialing. We found the contact list lacking, with room for just a few phone numbers and two e-mail addresses, but no dedicated address or URL fields, and no way to add additional fields to a contact. Verizon Wireless does offer a subscription address book backup service, so if you lose or switch your phone your contacts will be safe. Dialing on the phone was confusing, as the number keys are crammed with characters, and surrounded by a sea of tiny letter keys, but such is the price you pay for a dual-orientation QWERTY keyboard. Samsung promises 3.5 hours of battery life, and we were pleased that the phone exceeded that promise with almost 4 hours of talk time, but an hour or so more would have been truly impressive.
Our favorite: A nice, clean speakerphone
Our request: A more robust contact list, with phone-to-PC synchronization
Messaging - Good
Messaging on the SCH-U740 is good, but it should be a much better experience. The phone comes preset for AIM, Yahoo, and MSN instant messaging, but for e-mail, you are required to install extra software and go through a long, buggy process online from your PC. Twice during our registration, we had to start over to reset passwords or account information. Then, you must pay for an e-mail service subscription, and if you want to check Exchange or Lotus Domino server e-mail, you need to download a monitor to your PC, a piece of software we've never preferred. IMAP and POP3 support are a bit easier, but MSN and Hotmail users are out of luck. All of this should have been much easier, without the extra subscription fee and the need to complete this registration from a desktop PC.
The keypad itself was also a bit cramped for comfortable typing. The keys run close the ridge at the right end of the phone, and are small enough that you'll have to keep your eyes on your fingers. Also, "Enter" and "OK" don't always complete the same function, and when we were adding out message recipients, the "space" key acted like a tab, and would not create a space. The phone's interface should be more specialized; except for the landscape change, it seemed like standard Verizon Wireless fare. Overall, the messaging experience feels like a keyboard slapped onto a standard phone, when it should be more focused on die-hard texters. The interface should take cues from the T-Mobile Sidekick 3, instead of the LG enV.
Our favorite: One-touch access to messaging from the soft keys
Our request: A messaging interface that is easy to setup from the phone, instead of the PC
Camera - Mediocre
Pictures taken with the Samsung SCH-U740 were blurry and showed lots of pixel noise, though color wasn't as bad as pictures from other cameras we've used. The external screen can be used as a viewfinder for self-portraits, and though it crops most of the photo, we preferred it to the tiny mirror we're seeing on many camera phones. The U740 includes an LED flash, but besides autofocus, which we unfortunately neglected to test in our original review of the phone, the list of camera options could be better. There are some nice after-effects, including a sketch option that turns photos into line art that we found oddly compelling, as well as frames and clip art. The phone handles MMS messages well, and includes one-touch options for sending a sketch message or a framed postcard message. The lack of Bluetooth transfer for photos is a serious deficiency. As Verizon Wireless still refuses to package their phones with a microSD card, Bluetooth is our method of choice for getting pictures onto our PC, but the U740 lacks this option. Still, though our review unit lacked a USB cable, the retail box should include one, so this may be an option for photo transfers as well.
Our favorite: The sketch filter took some interesting images
Our request: Better lens quality, as always
Video - Good
V Cast services will only work on the SCH-U740 when the phone is opened in landscape mode, but because of the wider aspect ratio, this is probably the better choice for watching video. Videos can be displayed full screen, but even then, videos often had letterbox bars above and beneath. Video quality was disappointing, with a generally pixilated look, whether or not the video was full screen. Streaming was smooth, except when reception problems took us out of EV-DO range, and buffering times were not very long, usually only a few seconds to start. There was not a wide range of content available. We've seen much more on Sprint's Power Vision and Cingular Video, but V Cast does offer a small selection of 20-30 YouTube videos, as well as some videos from Revver. You can also buy music videos, but at $2.50 for a small, low-quality video, we wouldn't recommend it. Also, V Cast does a poor job keeping track of your purchases; we tried re-orienting the phone during a download and were forced to buy the video again.
Our favorite: Full screen view in landscape mode
Our request: Streaming television, like we'll see on V Cast TV (soon?)
Audio - Mediocre
One of our biggest complaints about the V Cast music experience is that it requires accessories that Verizon Wireless refuses to bundle with the phone. Tracks purchased through the store at $2 each (twice what iTunes charges) are also available to your PC at no additional charge, but Verizon doesn't bundle the memory card, USB cable, or even music transfer software to transfer files to your desktop, so you'll be using Windows Media Player 10 or higher. The V Cast store interface is confusing; we had trouble figuring out which field or menu option we were about to select. Once we purchased a song, it downloaded very quickly, usually in under a minute for a 4-minute track. The music player is separate from the store, but the two apps look so much alike that it is hard to remember whether you are browsing for music to buy or playing the tracks you own. The player features dedicated, touch-sensitive music buttons on the face, but the music player must be active before these can be used, making them more of a novelty than a convenience. The phone does come with a headphone adapter, but it accepts 2.5mm headphones, not the standard 3.5mm plugs. Without stereo Bluetooth support, and lacking the necessary accessories we mentioned, the phone clearly is not taking music seriously.
Our favorite: V Cast store has a nice selection
Our request: More accessories bundled with the phone and stereo Bluetooth support
Web browsing - Poor
The hardest part about using the Web browser is finding it in the first place. It is hidden under the "Get It Now" menu, under the "News & Info" submenu, as if Verizon Wireless doesn't want you to know that the phone can browse the Web. Once we figured out how to enter a URL, the Web browsing experience was very disappointing on the 176 by 220 pixel, 2.2-inch screen. Though we've seen QVGA screens this size (the Motorola RAZR V3xx comes to mind), the low-res screen on the U740 makes Web pages look blocky, with oversized text and blundered layouts. The New York Times homepage would not load at all, and our own infoSync World site was missing pictures. Though the options menu offers a "smooth scrolling" option, in reality there is no such option available, and all scrolling requires an endless amount of presses on the navigation button. GPS is handled by VZ Navigator, and reception was nothing special. We were able to find ourselves in Manhattan, and maps and directions downloaded quickly from the VZ Navigator servers.
Our favorite: GPS navigation is handy in a pinch
Our request: A high-resolution screen would make for a better Web browsing experience
Price and availability
The Samsung SCH-U740 is available immediately from Verizon Wireless for $140 with a contract and $50 online discount.
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