Samsung Ultra Edition 12.1 (U700)
The Ultra Edition 12.1 is not only stylish and fashionable, it comes with a decent feature set, too. But the handset is not without its flaws.
| The good | Slim and trendy design; solid build quality; HSDPA; Bluetooth stereo; hot-swappable microSD expansion card slot. |
|---|---|
| The bad | Not everyone will like the touch-sensitive keys; LCD washes out in sunlight; onboard speaker volume a tad soft; 176 x 144-pixel video recording. |
CNET Editors' Rating
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CNET Editors' rating
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Rating breakdown
From the super-slim design of the Ultra Edition 8.4 which snagged an Editors' Choice to one of the earlier HSDPA-enabled Ultra Edition 13.8, the Korean chaebol has constantly been trimming the form factor of its Ultra series lineup. One of its latest introductions, the Ultra Edition 12.1 (U700), manages to pack a wealth of features including 3G and HSDPA into a slider that measures just 12.1mm thick.Design
Describing the U700 as 12.1mm thick actually does the phone a lot of injustice. The U700 not only looks but also feels very thin. In fact, it resembles a candy-bar handset more than a slider. In the hands, this Samsung has a good combination of size and weight. One feel and you can tell it has a solid construction with the lid staying firmly in place when you slide it up. Unfortunately, we can't quite say the same when we retract it as there's a very tiny allowance to nudge the top lid from its position. Some, though will feel that's really a non-issue.
When idle, the U700 is virtually a QVGA 320 x 240-pixel mirror, similar to the LG Shine KU970. However, the reflective screen washes out in the mid-afternoon sun. It is also a little distracting when sunlight reflects on it and we have to use our hands to shade the LCD when that happens.
Sliding up the top lid activates the 2.2-inch LCD as well as the white backlit touch-sensitive shortcut and Call/End keys. These keys are rather responsive, but we still miss the reassuring feel associated with a raised button. With the touch keys, we had to look at the phone to know if the keypress was registered.
What's unique about the U700 is the four-way directional control which doubles as a rotary wheel. It works like the one on the iPod except that this is mechanical. Although the alphanumeric keypad on this Samsung is flat, it is one of the better ones we've used so far. There's enough tactile feedback and we hardly had any typing errors while using it.
A nitpick is with the volume keys on the left edge of the handset. We find it a little too low and too close to the headset connector. So when we plug in the supplied earphones, part of the connector would hover above the volume keys and obstruct its use. Features
The U700 is one of those phones that manage to look fashionable, yet still pack a punch of features. The triband handset is equipped with HSDPA for fast data transfer and Bluetooth stereo (A2DP). It would have been a bonus if there's Wi-Fi, though. Onboard memory is limited to 20MB, but there's a microSD expansion card slot for the flash media.
Looking at the user interface, the U700 is very much similar to the recent Samsung mobiles. Although it is attractive, it can be long-winded at times, requiring multiple presses to perform simple tasks such as sending a text message. Even with the nifty rotary wheel for scrolling, we still stuck with the directional control most of the time. Both worked fine, but clicking the wheel provided a more "precise" control over the speed of the scroll.
For those whose memory is capable of retaining only the first few digits of their friends' mobile numbers, the search function on the U700 is a godsend. As we gradually typed out the numbers, the phone would show the contacts with corresponding digits so we could skip to the correct entry immediately. It's also helpful as a shortcut for those too lazy to go through the phonebook.
The 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera gave us average-quality images. Honestly, we expected more. Our pictures lacked punch in the colors and tended to underexpose. The shutter button on the right edge of the phone had to be held in a horizontal position for a better grip. The usual settings such as flash, timer, color effects are organized under a shortcut tab, while other options such as metering and picture quality are in a separate menu. Thanks to this, it took us more keypresses to get to certain functions, which was frustrating at times.
One other thing to note is that when shooting at maximum resolution, digital zoom is not available. Besides the main shooter, there's also a secondary front-facing camera for 3G video calls. We were rather disappointed the camera recorded video in 176 x 144-pixel QCIF resolution, which is unbecoming for a phone of this caliber.
In terms of multimedia, the onboard music player was able to sort our tracks by artists, genres, albums, composers. We also had the option to create playlists. When the music was playing in the background, the artist information and song title would appear as scrolling marquees on the home screen. The rotary wheel actually made itself very useful here by making fast-forwarding or going backward a track a smoother process. Unfortunately on this Samsung, there's no FM radio.
One thing the U700 can't handle is multitasking. For example, the music player would pause when we activated the camera. Fortunately, after we exited the camera, our music continued where we left off.Performance
Call quality was generally crisp and loud. However, volume dipped when we switched to the onboard speakers. Although this wasn't a major issue, 3G video calling when we were outdoors was trying as it was nearly impossible to hear what the other party was saying.
The 900mAh battery life was decent for something that's so slim and lasted us just over two days on a single charge. Samsung rates the U700 for 3 hours of talktime and up to nine days on standby.
Latest comments
Pros: Thin, visually pleasing, nice camera
Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE
Summary: Never judge a book by its cover
This is one of the worst phone I have ever used. The phone looks great an all until you turn it on and try to use it. The UI is pathetic, one wonders why they even try. It has touch buttons but no touch screen, make you want to slit your throat everytime you use the phone because some part of your face would touch the buttons and activate something. Not forgetting poor battery life. I would have given a 2-3 rating for the hardware especially the camera and its looks (personally Im also a sucker for sd card readers in phone) but the results looked pretty corrupted as I cant see how its hardware or looks could justify a rating greater than 5.
Pros: looks slick, rotating wheel, pretty good camera, slim
Cons: horrible touch-sensitive keys, phone constantly hanging, long memory card load time, screen washes out in sunlight, screen is a grime magnet, bad UI, average battery life, fiddly web browser
Summary: a looker but nothing else.
this phone was incredibly stunning when i saw it. i've read several bad reviews about this phone but dismissed them (ie: phone's screen washes out in direct sunlight? well not like i'm outdoors that much) but i had no idea just how bad some of these flaws could get. at first, despite the touch-sensitive keys being a complete PAIN (multiple presses to get things going etc), the phone felt incredibly sexy to use. it's really slim (as thick as my ipod touch) and feels heaven-sent in your hand. It's keypad was alright to message with, except the text input lagged quite a bit. after awhile, the touch-sensitive keys become a severe irritation. the keypad lock function on this phone was horrible (i think samsung should put a little extra key on the side like some SE phones to lock the keypad). when the phone was shut, i needed to slide it open and shut it again to lock the keypad. (or wait for it to lock automatically and pray that those horrible touch keys do not touch anything in my handbag and accidentally dial someone, which has happened one time too many). When in calls, if you decide to unlock the keypad to use another function, there is no way to lock it back manually, you have to wait for the auto-lock to kick in... which is plenty of time to have your face accidentally press the Hold key, and that gets very annoying. though sometimes the camera produces washed-out photos, it is generally pretty good with great autofocus. however the phone is horrible at multi-tasking and jams quite a lot. also, it takes about a minute to initialize your memory card after you've turned on your phone. (your phone will be turning off quite a bit thanks to the constant hanging). then you have to wait another minute for songs to load in your player. i don't know if these load times are common to many other phones but i have never experienced this on my sony ericsson w710i. the screen really does wash out under bright light, making it near impossible to read, and you will find yourself constantly polishing the screen (if you are as obsessive as i am, at least). The battery was neither good nor bad, but mediocre. and as with most samsung phones, the UI was pretty horrible. the web browser gave me a headache. and one minor gripe about the browser is the horrible text input system (it took me 5 tries to loacate the symbol imput. ugh) one very good plus is that i have never had any problems with video calls or call reception. all-in-all, it sure looks good, and if you're willing to put up with a dozen minor flaws (which will probably eventually pile onto you and leave you very frustrated), then get it. it has tired me out i am soon getting the nokia n85 ;)
Pros: 3.2MP camera
Cons: Short Battery life
Summary: Just a stylish normal function phone
had this phone for about 3 months, now when i slide up my phone, the phone does not response to any button i pressed on, i have to wait for at least a minute then only i can get into the menu or sms. Though memory space indicates that it could store for 500 sms, but when my phone reach 200 or more, my phone will hang once i try to send a sms, so i have to delete all my sms. Furthermore, samsung phone local retailer, although 1GB M2 memory card is included, but it does not seems to be a quality that has a long duration, for it because the memory card included given to me just give way after months, now i have to incurred another expense to get a Sony M2 memory card. In terms of colours, resolutions, camera, they were all execellent, creative wallpaper (living world) which will be put on accroding yo your country landmark buildings. Sound will be a little soft(low), even i switched to max volume, yet its volume barely can be heard, especially when i'm at outdoor, in contrast, I have been S.Erricson phone before this, its volume is loud, i just put the volume to 6, but it can be heard, though not loud, but at least i able to know that my phone is ringing.
Pros: aesthetics
Cons: build quality
Summary: Konked out after 3 months
Worst phone in terms of build quality. Paint started chipping off around 2 months of use. Phone went kaput on the 3rd.
Pros: same features as U600, same striking design
Cons: touch controls more fiddly then on U600, camera quality worse, LCD is whack
Summary: not as good as U600
really not as good as the U600
Pros: design?
Cons: yaaaa...crome casing again....!
Summary: after 3 month, it peel-off again...!
i pull-back my '7' rating to '2' bcoz the same problem raise again. it only coz of 18month warranty; i'm hold to changing to new hp... maybe next month going back to samsung service centre, get the free new casing n then direct go to buy new hp....before it PEEL-OFF again....gosh!
Pros: Looks slick
Cons: too many to mention
Summary: terrible phone and even worse service
This is definitely the worst phone I have ever had. combined with the level of service I have had from Samsung after taking it back four times for repairs, and still don't have the phone after 4 months, is forcing me to take action against them. If you feel you have been unfairly treated by samsung in any way, or have this useless phone, please email me at: samsungsuckbigtime@gmail.com This is a terrible phone and my contract states I have to have this thing for 2 yrs.... absolute nonsense. Pls help to show Samsung that we don't just sit back and accept it all! Thanks Paul
Pros: Looks, decent camera, gorgeous screen
Cons: No Wi-fi, touch pad can get annoying at times. The bottom few buttons are also harder to reach for those with bigger fingers
Summary: It looks nice
good overral phone
Pros: Sleek Look (which lasts about a month before the paint starts peeling)
Cons: User-unfriendly menu. Spoils easily. Touch keys don't work
Summary: Horrible.. Just Horrible!!
I can't believe this phone got a Readers' Choice award. People vote blindly based on looks? My first phone spoiled within a week. Insisted for a 1-to-1 replacement. Can't get used to the lousy user interface. Phone hangs. Paint Peels. Always accidentally launch internet or video calls due to the touch/light-sensitive keys.. Now, 6 months later, the phone is officially spoilt again. Oh man..
Pros: it looks stylish, trendy n slim. the camera is not bad-- it allows you to take nice self-portraits
Cons: phone lags, over-sensitive buttons, prone to fingerprints, paint peel off
Summary: its just a pretty but empty shell
its just good for its sleek design and its camera. there isn't many games for you to download and there's no mobile themes at all. the phone lags and the functions are not user-friendly
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