Samsung U700 Review - Shiny Happy Mobile

The U700 was classified at the time of release as thetoday. Whilst the same touch-sensitive keys are still
world's smallest mobile to support the advanced 3Gpresent, the implementation is much better and means
HSDPA data transfer speed. Considering what elsethe U700 again improves upon its predecessor.
has been packed in, this is a great achievement,Surprisingly, I have a slight gripe with the display,
though what will be more noticeable upon firstsomething which you would expect Samsung to
impressions is the look of the phone.receive top-marks for usually. Although the quality of
Put simply, the U700 is a fantastic-looking device andthe display itself is very good, the visibility under direct
proves to be one of the more eye-catching phones onsunlight is a concern. This is mostly due to the surface
the market; it is sure to acquire plenty of attentionon the front of the U700 being very glossy, which has
because of this. The build-quality definitely merits aan adverse affect on the display quality; this is a
mention as the sliding mechanism is solid without beingshame and obviously means that fingerprint smudges
too rigid and the keypad feels solid and comfortable,are inevitable.
whilst still in keeping with the rest of the designA nice little-surprise with the U700's features is the
aspects.quality of the camera. With a 3.2MP module built-in you
Measuring at just 12.1mm thick the dimensions maywould expect pictures to be reasonable and
lead many to believe that the functions will besurprisingly it's better than expected. Along with the
somewhat limited, surprisingly, this is not the case. AsMega Pixel rate, you get a Macro mode, autofocus
well as the aforementioned high build-quality, there areand flash. The image quality is much better than is
also some well-thought out ideas with regards to therealistically expected from such a minute handset and
keypad. It uses the standard 4-way D-pad that wasit comes mightily close to the top performers in the
seen in the U600, but in the U700 the same control3MP arena.
doubles as a scroll-wheel. Upon using this for the firstThe only real complaints that can be made are the
time, I pleasantly impressed and it is great to seelack of an FM radio and the disappointing display
Samsung building on the U600's design.legibility under direct sunlight. In spite of this, the wealth
As a bonus, everything seems much more responsiveof features combined with the high-speed 3G data
than previously seen and this makes for much bettertransfers (HSDPA) and the gorgeousness of the
user-interaction. An improvement over the U600 is thephone make the U700 a very appealing proposition.
speed of the menu system and key response, whichThe quality of the controls and menu speeds just add
proved to be a major hindrance before, but has nowto the feeling that the U700 will win many admirers and
been resolved in the U700 to make it one of the bestshould have no problems in finding a niche in the
user-interface experiences available on the marketmarket.