Samsung SGH-A707

Samsung Sync (SGH-A707)

Manufacturer	Samsung Electronics
Carriers	AT&T
Compatible networks	GSM 850/900/1800/1900, EDGE + 3G, HSDPA
Availability by country	November 7, 2006
Successor	Samsung SGH-A717
Form factor	Clamshell
Dimensions	3.46" x 1.89" x 1.02" (88 x 48 x 26 mm)
Weight	3.95 oz (112 g)
Memory	28.9 MB shared
Removable storage	MicroSD
Battery	4 hours of talk time, 2 days standby
Display	320x240 pixels QVGA TFT LCD, 262k color
External display	96x96 pixels, color
Rear camera	2 megapixel
Ringtones & notifications	Polyphonic (40 channels), MP3

The Samsung SGH-A707 is a mobile phone, introduced on November 7, 2006 by AT&T Mobility, and branded as the Samsung SYNC. The phone marks the first HSDPA flip phone to be offered by the wireless carrier, and has been marketed at those who seek "music on the go", seeking to capture some of the market held by the Motorola RAZR flip phone as well.

Features

Coming in at just under 0.75" thick, the A707 is slim, and is 2.0" wide. Samsung claims a talk time of up to four hours on a full charge, and approximately 10 days of standby time. In keeping with its music phone image, the A707 software has an MP3-capable multimedia player and supports stereo Bluetooth headphones. It also has a MicroSD memory card slot that adds storage for music, applications and user data if a MicroSD is inserted. Other multimedia features include a 2 megapixel camera (without flash) and an external speakerphone. An outside LCD allows viewing of Caller ID data, as well as a clock and media player functions. The A707 comes equipped with capacitive external media controls to allow music playing without opening the phone.

The AT&T-branded phone uses an orange over black color scheme for menus and adds several AT&T-specific functions, such as a dedicated music key that leads to the AT&T Music Mall, an AT&T logo center button and four AT&T-branded menu options. One notable inclusion is the Picsel File Viewer, which allows on-device reading of certain Microsoft Office file types, as well as Adobe PDF and text files.

In Europe this model is known as the SGH-Z560, and has 3 different firmwares available.

Feature list

• Talk Time: Up to 4 hours
• StandBy Time: Up to 10 Days
• 2MP Digital Camera/Camcorder
• MP3 Player
• Multimedia Player
• MicroSD Memory Card Slot
• Bluetooth
• Speakerphone
• Video Share
• 3G Network Capability
• Airplane mode

Supported file formats

• Audio: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, MP3, WMA, MPEG,MPEG4, MP4, and M4A
• Ringtones: MIDI, MMF, MP3 Cingular Branded A707's (less than 600KB) ATT Branded A707's (less than 300k)
• Video: MP4, 3GP (QCIF/QVGA resolutions (up to 320x240) supported)
• Documents: TXT, PDF, DOC, PPT, XLS, HTML
• Pictures: GIF, JPG, PNG
• Executables: Java ME, SWF

Reception

Though the phone has reportedly been well received by reviewers, some users have complained about the phone's lack of customization options. Notably, AT&T-themed menu options and preconfigured dialing entries are not able to be changed or removed, and unsigned applications are subject to additional prompts before using. AT&T has also made it difficult (but possible via microSD card) to load Java software via any mechanism other than the internet. Most negative views of the phone stem from advanced users who desire access to all capabilities, as opposed to the general public who may not be aware such options are available.

Hardware based complaints include flimsy covers for charging slot and memory slot; the memory card is very difficult to remove—the spring often doesn't engage or gets stuck pressed in forcing you to employ some sharp device and making swapping cards unrealistic. Also, many users have complained about the durability of the front LCD screen, which, over time breaks internally, causing a loss of visibility on this screen. The lack of a standard headphone jack can also be difficult compounded by the fact that all the time you are using the headphone jack (same as the power jack) the tiny, barely attached cover is open and vulnerable.

Overall reviews have been positive, even with these limitations experienced by some users.

Hacking

The phone's filesystem can be accessed by BitPim, and users can do everything from placing .jar files as games without WAP, deleting the preloaded ringtones and background images, to editing the T9 dictionary.

External links

• Samsung Page for the SGH-A707
• CNet SGH-a707 review