The new Samsung SCH-i760 from Verizon is a Pocket PC phone with both a built-in keyboard and a numberpad. It includes Wi-Fi and the 3G standard EV-DO.
I received a review unit on Wednesday afternoon, and over the last 12 hours I've put it through some paces and honestly, I've been pleasantly surprised by my initial use.
Not Loaded Down with Unnecessary Extras
The device is much more appealing visually in person than the photos show, and the feel in terms of build quality is excellent. I thought that the numeric keypad would turn out to be a useless addition, but it's not. The dial/end keys are a bit hard to press, but that can be dealt with.The box contains a very basic set of accessories -- the i760 itself, standard and extended batteries, USB cable, and a charger.
The standard battery is 1040 mAh, and despite being a full 1500 mAh the extended battery really isn't much thicker. I could very easily see using just the extended battery without too noticeable of loss in form-factor and weight.
Almost as basic as the accessory package is the device's software loadout. Aside from Verizon's Wireless Sync, and Samsung's licensed copy of Picsel Browser, there's really little else on the device. Anybody who dislikes having a lot of branded nonsense and bundled applications should be thrilled.
Performance
The i760's performance was generally good. It's a little slow to switch from landscape to portrait sometimes, but it's always come around. I found the default 5 second timeout for the keyboard backlight far too short, but that can be tweaked.EV-DO data was very snappy -- never less than 480 Kbits, and I experienced tests running up to 960 on a reasonably unloaded tower.
More Is Coming
Keep watching, as this is just the beginning. I'm going to give the i760 a workout and provide a full review very soon.For those of you who can't wait, this smartphone is available now for $300 after a $100 on-line discount and a new two-year customer agreement. It can be found on Verizon's web site.
Submitted Date: Nov 05, 2007
Source: Brighthand
