My New Phone: Samsung SGH A707

For those of you who like things slick, this phone is simply amazing. But before I get into how cool it is, let me just say that this the first phone to really catch my eye in 2 years! I purchased my last phone, the ubiquitous Motorola RAZR, 2 years ago to the day (the day it was first released - and cost $500). I was happy with that phone, mainly because of it's size and reliability. However, as a self-described gadget-freak, the lack of intriguing phones since the RAZR has been killing me (my usual turnaround time for phones is 6 months)! But finally, my wait appears to be over.

In a phone, I look for the following: Thin (this phone has the same thickness when closed as the RAZR); Camera (this has 2 megapixels); Bluetooth; Easy Menus (this runs circles around Motorola's menu system); solid feel; large memory (50mb included, plus a memory card slot); media player (this is a new requirement) and a large, bright screen. It has all of these things and more...plus, it looks great!

But what's more, this phone runs on Cingular's brand new "3G" HSDPA (as well as GSM) network. Wikipedia defines HSDPA:

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is a mobile telephony protocol, a 3G technology, which provides a smooth evolutionary path for UMTS-based 3G networks allowing for higher data transfer speeds. Current HSDPA deployments support 1.8 MBit/s or 3.6 MBit/s in downlink. Further steps to 7.2 MBit/s and beyond are planned for the future.

To put into perspective - this phone transfers data faster than DSL and many cable modems. This means the data speeds RUN CIRCLES around anything by Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. It even one-ups the European carriers (they usually have better phones and networks). Those commercials by Verizon and Sprint claiming to have the fastest networks are now out of date (they compare to Cingular's old, EDGE network).

The call quality is amazing. I talked to a friend last night who was astonished at how clear the connection was. In fact, he was so impressed with the phone that he plans on dumping Verizon and moving to Cingular.

The best part... this phone retails for $300... but if you sign for a new contract, you can get the phone for $29 after a $100 mail-in rebate. You can't beat that with a stick.

Oh, and I have no idea who the girl in the picture is. I got it from the Google.