Samsung Sync a707

DESIGN
Resembling the RAZR-but not quite as slim-the Sync is flat and rectangular, measuring 3.5 x 1.9 x 1 inches and weighing almost four ounces. It's easy to hold and is well designed for taking advantage of Cingular's music service, thanks to media player controls on the outside and a dedicated music button inside. The 1.2-inch external screen provides 96 x 96 pixels, and the bright, 2.4-inch internal screen displays 176 x 220 pixels and 262,000 colors.

 

FEATURES
This is an easy-to-use phone with impressive specs, including a 2-MP camera, 24MB of internal memory, a microSD Card slot, and stereo Bluetooth. Cingular doesn't offer over-the-air music downloads, so you'll have to transfer music from your PC to the phone. To do that, you need to buy the $40 music connectivity kit that includes a USB cable and earbuds. The device is compatible with both Yahoo Music Unlimited and Napster (purchased tracks and subscriptions), and you can also subscribe to XM radio for $8.99 per month.

 

PERFORMANCE
Although Cingular's 3G HSDPA network continues to expand to more U.S. cities, the carrier lags behind Sprint and Verizon Wireless. For example, coverage in the Washington, D.C. metro area was fairly reliable, but wasn't so great in San Francisco, where we encountered little to no coverage in some neighborhoods. When we were within 3G range, our experience was fairly smooth. Loading the channel listing for Cingular Video took about 10 seconds, and then loading a snippet from HBO Mobile and CNN, for example, typically took 17 to 20 seconds, so total load time hovered around 27 to 30 seconds.
 
We experienced mixed results with video quality. Sometimes graphics looked fine, but other times the video was blurry, had jaggy edges, or looked blocky. A quirky feature: You can watch videos in landscape format, which removes onscreen menu icons but doesn't increase viewing size. Previewing a song on Napster To Go took 10 to 15 seconds, depending on the track. Loading XM Radio typically took 20 seconds; MobiRadio was a little faster at 15 seconds. The speaker delivered sufficient volume, and music and TV snippets sounded very good overall, although audio was a tad high-pitched.

 

VERDICT
Cingular's 3G network is still a work in progress, but the Sync's compatibility with multiple PC music services along with its XM radio support and user-friendly design, give it the edge over other bargain-priced multimedia phones.