Last February Samsung presented a few of its new models at the 3GSM congress in Barcelona, one of them being SGH-F700. Today we are going to preview the Vodafone version, called SGH-F700V, which is not much different than the standard model, except for the operator’s menu.
Some of the differences between the phone that we have here and the one that we saw at the exhibition are easily noticed: the new F700 has a bigger display and is larger in size, its QWERTY keypad is arranged in four rows, rather than in three and, unfortunately, the camera is not 5-megapixel as we and all fans would have liked (and saw at the 3GSM), but only 3-megapixel. However, in spite of these changes, the phone is still intended for Internet-hooked users; the two loudspeakers and the 3.5 mm stereo jacks also show for its multimedia options.
Design
Samsung SGH-F700 is made of very dark-blue shiny plastic, except for the front panel which is black in white stripes. It is side-opening slider and its larger part is taken up by its enormous 3.22-inch broad-angle display with 440 x 240 pixels resolution that shows up to 262 144 colors.
Similarly to other recent models, e.g. Apple iPhone, LG Prada, Viewty and HTC Touch, the touch-sensitive display is at level with the phone’s front surface and is not indented like in most smart phones. Like the LG Prada, this one reacts only to touch of a finger (skin) and won't work with stylus or any other pointer.
Under the display is the shortcut button (the only one here), which is pretty small and almost hidden. On this side are also the VGA video conversations camera (in the upper part), as well as the two loudspeakers, ensuring the stereo sound.
When you slide it open, you see the QWERTY keypad, arranged in four rows and backlit in white. Its buttons are bulging and spaced out closely to one another, but nevertheless easy to find and tell apart.
On top are the ON/OFF button and the two connectors that Samsung SGH-F700 is equipped with: a 3.5 mm stereo jack and the universal connector that can be used for charging, connecting to a computer or to accessories. Typically for all Samsung models, the connectors are protected by lids, which have also an aesthetic function and contribute to the phone's overall look.
Interface
Samsung F700 is one of the first non-smart phones of the brand that utilizes a touch-sensitive display. It is the first to use the Croix-named interface created for such phones, which also appears in other models like the F520, Giorgio Armani phone, etc. As we are acquaint to Samsung’s line, we are not surprised seeing that the Croix interface shares much with the standard software used in other phones, including the G800, G600 and the Ultra series for example. It is different, optimized for finger-based input through the display, but still is very similar, personalizing predefined modules. The Croix supports landscape interface orientation which in this model is used when the keyboard is opened.
While by default the home screen looks pretty boring, there are a few things that make it look as one of a modern phone. All options are visualized over semi-transparent background: on the top is a standard service line, followed by four shortcuts, carrier logo, a shortcuts button in the center and date/time line at the bottom. The four shortcuts lead to silent-mode, main menu, dialing screen and calling history and their functionality cannot be personalized. Considering the size and resolution of the display, we’d prefer seeing more and bigger buttons. The shortcut in the center (or the only hardware key on the front) opens a screen with 5 buttons, arranged in two lines that cross each other in the centre. This is made to match the interface name (“Croix” means “Cross” in French).
While the line at the bottom has small text characters with the date and the time by default, taping on it will expand it, occupying much greater area. As this is the tool for both date and time, there are two options: calendar of the month or a large clock, changing from one to the other by scrolling a finger from left to right or vice verse.
The look of the home-screen is greatly affected by the background image, which occupies all of its 3.22 inches. We are happy that Samsung preloaded a few gorgeous images for this purpose but also F700 is one of the first Samsungs coming with option called Photo Slider. It is a variant of a feature which we saw in the G800 and creates a slideshow out of up to 9 images with a few options for duration and transition type.
The main menu is visualized either as a grid of 3x4 icons or as a vertical list. The first view comes as default and is what the Croix interface is characterized with, as each icon is highlighted by two lines (horizontal and vertical) crossing at the current selection. The icons in this menu are in the same style as the one on the homescreen. As this is touch display and tapping on any icon will activate it, you should move a finger around it and the icon under it will be highlighted. Once you tap to confirm the selection, a slight vibration will indicate this has happened. This is instead of the tactile feedback you would receive from most standard hardware keyboards and can be set at one of 5 intensity level or can be turned off.
If the list view is selected, each will show with its label (name) but none of them has icon. This isn’t what we should see in such type of device as it looks really plain. The same visualization is used for the sub menus.
Phonebook
We’ve already mentioned that the software shares many similarities with other Samsung phones. The phonebook is example for that, being the one we’ve seen in the Ultra U700 phone – saves up to 1000 numbers and unlike most other Samsungs can have lots of numbers (for example 3 mobile-private phone numbers) attached to each contact. Other fields offer options like emails, address, caller ID image/ringtone, notes, etc.
The phonebook is displayed as vertical list, and when a contact is selected its number and very small image (that is useless) show. Searching finds results only in the first name, which is very unpleasant problem of most non-smart phones. The contacts can be sorted in groups that allow for common image and ringtone.
The Dialing screen is one of the shortcuts on the home screen . It visualizes a virtual numeric keypad with numbers and letters, four shortcuts and an area where numbers are visualized. As those four shortcuts are in the style of all other buttons in the phone, their function is not really clear to the customer but here you cannot scroll over them to see it. The keypad works almost as a normal flat one, but in the cases the display doesn’t react, you just have to press again.
Connectivity
The phone is a tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) and, unfortunately, only one frequency can be used in America, which means that its use will be restricted to some areas only. F700’s CDMA-variant is expected to launch on the market in the beginning of the next year, under the name of Samsung SCH-U940 (upcoming with Verizon); the rumor show it has similar design and we suppose that part of the functionality will be the same, but the camera will be 2-megapixel, instead of 3-megapixel. The interface will most probably be different.
However, let’s go back to SGH-F700. It can also be used in 3G networks, thanks to the fact that it maintains UMTS/HSDPA 3.6 Mbit/s., but only at 2100MHz frequency, which means that its 3G use is only possible in Europe and Asia, not in America. Unfortunately, the phone is not equipped with Wi-Fi. There are two ways to connect the unit to a computer: Bluetooth 2.0 or a cable.
As a modern high-class phone and one of the first Samsungs under the “Internet” category, the F700 surely has something to show when it comes to browsing. It has full HTML browser that offers two displaying options: “Smart-fit” and “Desktop” view. The first renders the pages optimized to fit on the display width, delivering only vertical scrolling, while the second shows the page as on a computer.
Camera
Mobile phones’ multimedia capabilities have become of paramount importance for the consumers’ choice, which has prompted manufacturers to make more and more improvements in this respect. Obviously, SGH-F700 is not an exception to this rule and its Korean manufacturer has made an effort to offer good technical capabilities and a wonderful interface and ways of handling the phone.
Although the phone is not a high-end cameraphone like, for example, G800, it still has a 3-megapixel camera with autofocus and a LED flash. To the left of the display is a column with all the icons showing the current settings that you’re using to take pictures (resolution, white balance, ISO, etc), while to the right are the navigation and settings buttons. The latter button can be hid if you wish so - a function, indicated by the small arrow. All options and menus in camera mode are shown in semi-transparent buttons, only the text being in solid color, to make it more legible.
Another interesting feature is that in the Viewfinder mode menu you have the following settings options: normal, wide with icons and with no icons, which, apart from changing the interface, also impacts the possible resolutions when taking pictures. In normal mode you can choose from a total of six sizes, and in wide mode there are four sizes to choose from (up to 2016х1120), which is actually a wide-screen picture with the non-standard ratio of 18:10. In this mode, the maximum resolution that can be obtained is 2.2 megapixels instead of the standard 3.
In camera mode you can choose from two resolutions (QVGA 320 х 240 and 176 х 144 pixels), which is a bit disappointing, since the VGA resolution is increasingly becoming the standard for making video clips with the high-end phones. Anyway, with the higher resolution they are good enough to be watched on the phone’s display and with the lower resolution they can only be used for multimedia messages.
Multimedia
The music player is another module that has been copied from the U700 and just optimized for the touch-sensitive display navigation. It sorts the multimedia files by: Last played / All / Recently played / Most played / Artists / Genres / Albums / Composers / Playlists, similar to other music players of modern phones, like the Walkman of Sony Ericsson for example. We would have liked to see sorting by rating, but it is missing. The user can create playlists, add music from the memory to it and reorder the added tracks.
The "Now playing" interface has nothing in common with non-touch Samsung phones. In order to resemble the Croix (Cross) idea, the interface has the two lines (vertical and horizontal) which cross, occupying the whole screen. The position of the horizontal towards the vertical indicates the volume level while the opposite indicates the time progress. Rewinding and controlling of the volume is achieved by moving those lines across the screen and the play/pause is where they cross – in the “Croix point”.
The player can be minimized and then it works in the background. The music keeps on playing but you can use the phone’s functionality, type a message, use the camera or browse the internet for example. In this mode, the homescreen will visualize the now playing song information at the place where calendar/clock is normally shown.
For personal listening to music, headphones should be used. As 3.5mm jack is present at the top, this won’t be a problem as any standard ‘phones can be attached without any adapter. If you don’t like the wires, the stereo Bluetooth (using the A2DP profile) will come of help, allowing connecting compatible headphones, speakers or audio system.
As in other Samsung phones, stand-alone Video player is missing from the main menu. However, such files can be played when you choose them from the file manager. Standard MPEG4 file encoded with H.263 and with QVGA resolution played smoothly and without any problem. Although standard H.264 clip doesn’t play with image but only sound, H.264 baseline encoded clips (again in QVGA resolution) are not a problem.
Performance
The audio quality during calls was loud and clear throughout, without any noticeable muffling or distortion, and the loudspeaker was equally good. Audio quality from the music player sounded fine, but the player itself is very simple and we would have liked easier-to-use controls and more options, such as an equaliser.
The picture quality from the F700's 3-megapixel camera was good for MMS messages and small prints, but blurry and grainy when blown up to full size, even when using the auto-focus. It's a shame there's no xenon flash, but the LED photo light is relatively bright at close range -- just don't expect brilliant pictures. Battery life was good, lasting over a day and a half with moderate use and less if HSDPA was used for a prolonged period. It's quoted at 350 hours standby time and 270 minutes talk time.
Conclusion
The Samsung F700 is an attractive addition to Samsung's portfolio, but it could have been so more than just a flash phone with a few extras. Install an OS such as Symbian or possibly Android on a device like this and the possibilities are endless. But the software just didn't support the hardware well.
On a positive note, Samsung doesn't seem to have any hang-ups when it comes to trying out new concepts and while the F700 is a little rough around the edges, this bodes well for future Samsung handsets. Perhaps next time we'll see a better Web browser and a sharper camera -- and more importantly an improved user interface.
