Pros & Cons
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- Cute.
- High-res screen.
- Good voice reception.
- True mobile TV.
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- Small screen.
- Data reception could be better.
Verizon Wireless Samsung SCH-u620 Specs
| Screen Size | 2 |
Samsung's new U620 is a cute, cuddly slider phone with the entertaining power of real mobile TV. It's a good balance of features for folks who want a small, useful cell phone plus TV entertainment. At 3.8 by 1.9 by 0.9 inches and weighing 3.7 ounces, the U620 is an attractive little black lozenge with a beautifully high-res, if smallish, 2-inch screen. Slide down the keypad and you'll find the handset very usable. Its black keys are domed in the middle to help you tell them apart by touch, and they're big enough so the top row doesn't feel slammed up against the edge of the case.
The U620 gets very good voice reception, though its EV-DO data reception doesn't match up to that of the
Like many new Verizon phones, the U620 uses a fun-looking Flash theme over Verizon's generic interface. The theme makes the main menu very slow, though. Turning it off results in a more mundane, text-based interface, but it is faster. Menus and numbers are very readable, thanks to the phone's high-res screen.
Bluetooth functions are pretty basic. You can play music (but not TV audio) through mono or stereo headsets, but you can't send or receive files, and there's no dial-up networking plan currently available. The U620 also took three tries to pair with my
To turn on Verizon's Mobile TV system, you pop a 3-inch antenna out of the U620's side and hit the little dedicated TV button on the right side of the phone. The picture is most viewable if you slide the phone closed, kick the player into full-screen mode, and turn the phone 90 degrees to watch your TV in widescreen. Yes, it's a small screen, but it's sharp, and you'll probably be holding it only a few inches from your face in any case. You'll need to use a wired headset to enjoy mobile TV, though, as the U620's speaker is too quiet in TV mode to use anywhere but in the most private locations.
Beyond mobile TV, the U620 has the usual
The U620's 1.3-megapixel camera, equipped with the usual anemic flash, is pretty good as these things go. My sample shots were relatively bright and clear, and they didn't have severe blurring problems in low light. The phone's movie mode, on the other hand, is unusually good, able to capture videos at 320-by-240 resolution at 14 frames per second. You can save photos, videos, and music into the 22MB of available phone memory or onto a MicroSD card popped into a convenient slot on the side. (A 2GB SanDisk card worked fine for me.)
If you're interested in mobile TV, you'll be comparing the U620 with LG's upcoming VX9400, Verizon's other mobile-TV phone. The VX9400 is more impressive in many ways. For example, it has a bigger screen, better data and TV reception, and more Bluetooth features. But the VX9400's awkward swivel-screen design and shorter talk time may turn off people who want their phone primarily for voice calling. If you want your cell phone for calling first, entertainment second, the Samsung U620 is the right choice, which makes it my Editors' Choice.
Benchmark Test Results
Continuous talk time: 4 hours 48 minutes
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Final Thoughts
Verizon Wireless Samsung SCH-u620
A good balance of voice quality and mobile TV flair, this is an attractive little phone with an entertaining twist.