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Samsung Ultra Edition 12.1 (U700)

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By Damian Koh
Aug 17, 2007

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.

 
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