Samsung SGH-E720 mobile phone

Samsung SGH-E720 is a tri-band clamshell styled cameraphone, and will be a handset certain to make the perfect companion for those who travel the world. With its sleek silver and grey case this model looks rather elegant, and it should appeal to users who want a small phone to fit inside a pocket or handbag. Being a similar shape and type number to the very successful E700, it might be thought that this model is a simple successor to that phone; however, the E720 includes many new features within its small and lightweight case. Improvements include Bluetooth™ connectivity, better displays and camera, larger internal memory, and much more. Other important features of the E720 are its GPRS and WAP 2.0 technology, MMS multimedia messaging, video capture download and playback, MP3 music player, voice memo recorder, Java™ enabled, active flip, and an e-mail client.Samsung SGH-E720

The main display is an active matrix TFT LCD, which offers a good bright image for the various functions it has to perform, and its appearance must be one of the nicest colour screens on any mobile of this size. This internal display has a very reasonable resolution of 176 x 220 pixels, and the best standard of colour reproduction currently available at up to 262,144 different colours. The icon driven menu system employs Samsung’s standard 3 x 3 matrix of 9 icons, with which the user can select the main options - once these open up they then become animated. The external OLED screen provides 96 x 64 pixels of resolution, at up to 65,536 different colours, and this can be used to view information such as the MP3 tracks you are playing, but it also does its traditional job of displaying incoming call information like the caller’s name and number.

The integrated camera in the E720 offers the advantage of a high definition 1 megapixel, an advance on the E700’s more primitive VGA device. However, the megapixel camera is no longer the novelty it once was, and there are several 2 megapixel cameras on the market, and they are becoming more affordable and available. Whilst being adequately good, the camera is nothing special either. Nevertheless, this phone does offer you the opportunity to edit your pictures, using such special effects as sepia or black and white, and if you wish you can also put a fancy frame around your pictures. A 4x digital zoom control allows you to move in and out on sections of the picture.

The camera can capture still photos of 4 sizes: SXGA, VGA, QVGA and Mobile (1152 x 864, 640 x 480, 320 x 240, and 176 x 160 pixels). There are also 4 picture qualities to choose from, namely super fine, fine, normal or economy. When the lighting is difficult it is possible to switch on a pair of fairly powerful flashlights, on either side of the camera lens, and this will add significantly to the light levels if you want to take pictures in dark conditions. There is an adjustable exposure control to achieve better light balance in your pictures, but unfortunately there is no night mode. Another camera feature is multi-shot, which allows you to take up to 15 pictures in a rapid sequence, and this is likely to come in useful for those never to be repeated action shots. The external display also doubles as the mirror when taking self portraits.

An increasingly essential feature in camerphones is a video camcorder, and it is no surprise to find that one is also fitted into the E720. Such camcorders are often disappointing, due to their poor picture quality, although in this phone a much better resolution is provided than the video recordings featured by other phone cameras. Video can be captured at the very impressive resolution of CIF (352 x 288 pixels), which is a big improvement and gives superior pictures. With recordings extending up to 60 minutes in length, that is probably more than enough time to save most of the scenes you might wish to keep for posterity. If you prefer, you also have the choice of setting the video capture at the more usual resolution of 176 x 144 pixels, and you can limit video files still further to enable them to be sent by MMS.

The capability to send and receive MMS messages is a fairly standard feature these days, and as you would expect the E720 has the ability to handle MMS messages containing a combination of text, images, video and audio. An MMS message may be up to 300 kB in size. While discussing file sizes, the first thing users will notice about this phone’s internal memory is that it is very large, at 88.5 MB. However, on the down side there is no option to increase the storage capacity any further, by using memory cards, because no slot is fitted to accommodate these cards. Therefore, users will have to judge how best to use their memory allocation, and some trade-off must be made between the various files you wish to keep on the phone. Obviously, files that eat lots of memory - like videos, images and music tracks - are likely to suffer if you are a heavy user of such content.

A definite winner with many users will be the music capabilities of this phone. Those who need an onboard MP3 player are well catered for, and there are even three dedicated external keys on the outside of the phone to help you select and play the music you want to listen to. If you wish you may also play the more memory efficient AAC music format, which will allow you to squeeze more tracks onto the phone. The E720 lets you set up your own playlists, and you are given the standard music player features such as random play, as well as the chance to adjust the tone with the equalizer. Samsung claim that it is possible to record 15 to 20 MP3 tracks onto the phone, so its music capabilities are not huge, although this should be enough for users who want to listen to some favourite tracks while on a journey, for example. In any case, most users would probably want to change their music fairly regularly, and so the memory limitation is mainly a problem for those who feel they must carry their entire music collection around with them.

For personalisation of this phone, it is easy to customise the content and to arrange alternative combinations of the wallpapers, screensavers, colours (a choice of 4), or ringtones. Although there are 15 embedded wallpapers, new ones may be downloaded when you need them, say from a WAP site, as well as downloading the latest ringtones. Photo caller ID is available on this model, so it is possible to check who is calling you, and see their name and number before answering the phone. If you wish you may set up contact groups and give them a group name, and then select a unique melody and image to alert you when someone in that group calls you - great for family, friends or work groups.

With its capability to run Java™ programs, the E720 offers users the opportunity to make the most of Java applications or games that will operate on this phone. There are four Java games preloaded, and these have the titles Arch Angel (a 3D style game of flying shoot-em-up in the year 2028), Freekick (a football game in which you try to beat the defenders to score goals), Bobby Carrot (a carrot and easter egg collecting rabbit game) and Airship Racing (where a hot-air balloon must be kept airborne and avoid the obstacles). Of course new games and applications may be downloaded when needed.

An essential feature of the Samsung SGH-E720 is its integrated GPRS technology, which provides the user with fast data access and an “always on” connection. The WAP 2.0 browser is another useful asset, with which it is possible to gain access to the world of the mobile Internet, and this should be a good tool for anyone who likes to use their phone to browse for news, sport, weather, entertainment, shopping, and other necessary online services. There is an e-mail client fitted into the phone, supporting the standard POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP protocols, and this enables users to send and receive e-mails using their normal e-mail accounts. E-mails may also contain attachments of images, videos and sound files.

Connectivity is well provided for in this phone, with Bluetooth™ wireless technology installed, which can make full use of the latest wireless headsets and hands-free car kits. This is a great way to communicate, at up to a range of 10 metres, when it is possible to send and receive photos, images, videos, personal data, etc. Bluetooth also enables you to connect wirelessly with a compatible printer, to make a print of the photos you take with the phone’s camera. The other connection method available in this phone is to use a USB cable, for a wired link with other equipment, such as a PC. Whatever type of connection you use, it is then an easy matter to synchronise your personal data using a program such as MS Outlook™. Remote synchronisation is also supported, and the phone includes SyncML for over-the-air situations. For users in a working environment, a much appreciated option is the chance to exchange vCard business cards and vCalendar data.

The E720 provides some good organiser functions, on top of everything else it can do. These features include a calendar, scheduler, to do list, world clock, alarms, stopwatch, countdown timer, calculator, and currency and unit converter. There is a good sized phonebook for 1,000 of your contacts, with up to 4 numbers per contact, plus an e-mail address, a note, a picture and a sound. The phone also provides T9™ predictive text input and a vibrating alert.

Samsung SGH-E720 Cameraphone Specification

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Last updated 10th September 2009, 08:33 BST