With numbers on its face and a QWERTY beneath, we slide open the Samsung SCH-i760. Is Verizon Wireless' slider the face of business phone's to come?
Review summary of the Samsung SCH-i760:
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 The Samsung SCH-i760 feels half-baked, like a permutation that came from a brainstorm session: "How about a touchscreen phone with a slide-out keyboard AND numeric keys?" It doesn't quite work, but not just because the hardware design is flawed. There simply isn't enough on the phone to make Windows Mobile 6 friendly, and WM6 requires a lot a coddling to be a happy baby. While other Windows Mobile phones on Verizon and other carriers beef up the OS with multimedia options, touchscreen overlays and capable third-party software, Samsung merely throws in Picsel Viewer, and it didn't even seem to work properly, at least not browsing the Web. At this price, with such a lack of amenities to recommend it, we would skip this phone, and try something else. Release: October 2007. Price: $350.
Pros: The phone makes calls that sound good, and Windows Mobile 6 does a fine job with call management.
Cons: Funky design doesn't work for us, causes more problems than it solves. No IM, other messaging options unimpressive. Keyboard not comfortable. No additional software to improve or personalize WM6.
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Full review of the Samsung SCH-i760:
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Design - Good
Occasionally a manufacturer releases a design that seems to solve a problem nobody was complaining about. We're not sure who was clamoring for hardware number keys on the face of a touchscreen QWERTY slider, but Samsung has answered the call. Unfortunately, the numeric keys pose more problems than they solve. First of all, when you enter the dialing mode, you still get a software keyboard on screen, and the soft keys are larger than the hardware keys. Second, the numeric keys are slanted at an angle. They still are too distant to be usable when the QWERTY is open, so we're wondering why they are diagonal, because it doesn't make them easier to use in either orientation. Finally, the numeric keys take up lots of space that could have been used otherwise. They push the two soft keys uncomfortably close together, so the soft keys no longer line up with their respective menu options on screen. And, even with the impressive 2.8-inch screen, we wonder how much more could have been presented on the face without the keypad in the way.
The QWERTY keyboard is large, but not very comfortable. The top row of keys juts up against the edge of the slide, making typing difficult for that row. The keys themselves were very nice, well rounded and rubbery, with a good, smooth travel. Altogether, though, the keyboard leaves something to be desired. We also would have liked the other dedicated keys, strewn about the phone, to be placed better. Press too hard on the Call button and you open the slide. Pressing the Start button means you might also grip the volume rocker on the other side. And, we could never get the Voice Commands to activate no matter how we pressed the key.
The screen itself is nice and responsive. The touchscreen responded even to light taps of the stylus, and didn't seem to lose calibration during our test period. The red theme Verizon Wireless has chosen was difficult to read, though, and we often had trouble finding our highlighted choice. Perhaps The Network is taking a page from Sprint, whose phones have recently come preloaded in yellow themes, but yellow is a much easier background color for distinguishing black text. Finally, we would have liked to see more improvements to the Windows Mobile 6 interface, but Samsung has included almost none. In fact, even the drop down Task Manager menu that we found essential on other recent WinMo phones, like the AT&T Tilt, was absent, and we had to dig through folders to find the app.
Calling - Very good
Calls on the Samsung SCH-i760 sounded very good. We had no static issues and digitizing was kept to a minimum. Voices sounded a bit warm, but not at all unpleasant. For call management, we've sung the praises of Windows Mobile 6 numerous times, but we'll recap some our favorite features. We like that the i760 starts searching the address book from the Today screen when you start typing a name. We also like the way WM6 keeps call logs paired with address book entries so you can see the last time you called someone.
For advanced features, the i760 has a good speakerphone, and 3-way calling was quite simple, requiring just a single click to connect two calls. The phone should have Voice Commands, as we found the option in the Settings folder, but attempts to activate the feature using the dedicated key (which is also the Start menu key) were fruitless. Pairing with our Bluetooth headsets was seamless.
Messaging - Mediocre
Though the i760 includes some good messaging options, like the WM6 version of Outlook and SMS messaging, we simply can't forgive the lack of instant messaging. At the very least, a Windows Live app should come loaded for MSN Messenger, but for a business messaging phone at the top of Verizon Wireless' range, the lack of IM is a serious oversight. Also, though we like Outlook's ability to view e-mails in HTML, every step of the process required another knock at the server's door. Want to download the entire message? Send and receive. Images as well? Send and receive. Attachments, too? One more time. It got very tiring after a few pregnant messages came our way. Verizon Wireless includes a Wireless Sync app, but we found the app a bit intrusive on our desktop, little more than a redirector tool, and not a full-fledged e-mail program.
The keyboard was okay for typing. As we mentioned before, the keys individually are very comfortable, but loads of typing causes problems, especially if you need to use letters from the top row. Also, though the phone has a 12-key numeric pad, Samsung has also included numbers across the top row as alternate characters. Not only is this unnecessary, but the "0" above the "P" was right next to the "O," which always made us do a double-take. Finally, when we hold down a key, we prefer our phone either capitalize the letter, like on a BlackBerry device, or activate the alternate key, like the T-Mobile Dash will do. We don't believe anyone needs the keystroke on a phone to repeat ad nauseum, as it does on the i760.
Scheduling and productivity - Very good
The i760 comes with the standard Windows Mobile productivity apps, and one welcome addition. First, though, you get a very competent, if not very pretty, calendar app that synchronizes perfectly with Outlook, and includes plenty of robust scheduling options, like the ability to invite attendees. For productivity, Samsung has included Office Mobile, which always surprises us in how deep it can go, for a phone app. As a bonus, however, Samsung includes the Picsel Viewer. We always appreciate finding the Picsel apps on a phone. The viewer is just that, a clean simple viewer for Office docs and PDF files. But, the interface experience comes closest to approximating the Apple iPhone, with a smooth, responsive touch interface, though we'd been playing with Picsel for months before we'd even heard of the iPhone. We like the gesture input on the Picsel viewer for zooming and page turning. Our only complaint is that it doesn't do more. You can still view files in Word Mobile, but after seeing them in Picsel, you'll wish you could edit docs in the latter app as well.
Web browsing - Good
Web browsing on the i760 is good, but it would be much better if the Picsel viewer worked reliably for Web pages. We managed to get our own home page to load in Picsel once, and then the app stopped responding to URL entries. Still, when it did load, our page looked absolutely perfect. Zooming and navigating the Picsel browser is a real treat, very similar to the browsing experience on the iPhone's Safari browser, though not quite as fast. Unfortunately, after that first attempt, Picsel refused to load even Google's search page, and we were forced to use the clunky Internet Explorer.
Laptop sidekick - Mediocre
Using the SCH-i760 as a laptop sidekick is a disappointing experience in many ways. The phone is very bulky, so it won't be the slim companion you slip into your pocket, like the HTC Touch Dual we just tested while traveling in Europe. Instead of a standard mini-USB port, Samsung uses a proprietary connection, so be careful not to leave the cable at home, or you'll have trouble finding a replacement. The phone charges while plugged into a laptop, but only if there is some juice left already. Your laptop's weak USB port won't revive a dead battery. Finally, and most egregiously, we were disappointed with the download speeds we saw while using the phone as a tethered modem. In multiple tests across the greater New York City area, we topped out at about 300Kbps, which is a quarter of what we get on our Sprint Treo 755p on its best day.
Multimedia and camera - Mediocre
We left this part for last because there just isn't much to say about multimedia on the SCH-i760. You won't see any V Cast services, though other Windows Mobile 6 phones, like the Motorola Q9m, feature plenty of Verizon's original content. The phone features Windows Media Player, but this software is so behind the times that few manufacturers serious about media are relying solely on WMP. Stereo Bluetooth worked just fine with our headsets and speakers, but Verizon Wireless doesn't include any additional memory or media accessories, like a microSD card or a pair of headphones that will fit the 2.5mm jack.
The camera is average for a phone, which is not very good. Colors looked faded, and images were quite blurry, though still recognizable. Again, this would be good in a pinch, but only for emergencies. We were pleased to find that the Picsel Viewer can open photos on the device. With its powerful zoom gesture tool, it was easy to zoom in and view pics in real size. But the phone could use some organization options to improve the overall photo experience (not to mention a better lens).
Price and availability
The Samsung SCH-i760 is available now from Verizon Wireless for $350 with a two-year contract agreement and an instant online discount of $100. A mail-in rebate of $50 is available, when signing up for a qualifying data and voice plan.
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