Samsung’s U620
11:25 pm March 3rd, 2007 by Sal Cangeloso
I am in the middle of a very lazy weekend. I’ve filled my time with reading and organizing (tax season) but something that has caught my attention is Samsung’s U620 phone. It is one of the only good looking phones to come along for Verizon, uh, ever, and it works with the companies new Vcast TV service (which I am not particularly interested in).
The U620 is a small slider and it looks like the perfect thing to hold me over until I can do something about my phone situation. Currently I am tied into a two year contract with Verizon and I would gladly move to anything GSM but for reasons I won’t get into right now (don’t get me started…) I can’t move my number. Verizon and it’s CDMA nonsense are a constant source of frustration for me, but I get good service around my house and flawless service in Manhattan.
I expected it to roll out on 1 March, which was what all the news was saying, but it is not ready in my area yet. Apparently the New York area got bumped to “Planned Future Coverage Areas” for Vcast TV so it seems like that means the same goes for the U620. I can’t believe Omaha gets it but New York, a bastion of Verizon support, has to wait.
If you put in an NY/NJ zip code you can’t even see the U620 on Verizon’s site. I had to grab a zip code from a covered area (I used 68046) to see it. The phone has a nice feature set, at least compared to my piece-of-crap Samsung A950, and it is currently at $149 with a 2-year contract. That means if I were to buy one I would have to drop at least $300 to get one with no strings attached… so this may all just be a pipe dream.
Here are the specs:
- 1.3 Mega Pixel Digital Camera/Camcorder with Flash and Digital Zoom
- Capture Video Clips or Still Pictures
- Brightness Adjustment
- Self Timer: Off, 2, 5 or 10 seconds
- Color Effects: Normal, B/W, Sepia, Negative, Sketch
- Multi-Shot Mode: Series, Divided
- Resolution Adjustment: 1280 x 960,
1024 x 768, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 - Picture ID
- Shutter Sound selection
- Dimensions: 3.78 x 0.86 x 1.85 inches
As for Vcast TV, it’s a cool idea, but at $15 a month for basic or $25 a month for premium (unlimited use and extras) I am not sure I am up for the extra expense.I would probably try it for a month just to kick the tires but I am not wild about the channels they offer and I don’t even know when I would watch television on my phone…
