Flip Phones - Samsung SGH-a107

Flip Phones - Pros & Cons

Before touching into the subject I thought that it would've been nice to give you some information about the history of flip phones first + few of the good and the bad. They may not be as popular as they were but in countries like Japan for example they're still among the favorites. It is said that GT&E was behind the introduction of these devices back in as early as 1970 (well the trade-name anyway) and the name and the theme was then "copied" by many other manufactures in producing devices of their own.

One of the main advantage of using cellular flip phones is that after the opening the length is elasticated thus giving the user a better comfort while making a call thanks to the overall length. This is something most of the so called "cool latest phones" lacks these days. Anyway apart from that apparent advantage usually they include two separate screens. One on the main body (much smaller than the one inside) and the main unit which lies on the inside area which is revealed once opened.

Thanks to the design the main display is well protected. And also a "real" keyboard is always included with them too. However as mentioned earlier one of the main reasons behind their popularity within certain individuals is that you don't have to turn your head aside while making a call which can prevent many related injuries which are common among non flip phones users.

Another thing about these units is that they tends to be very short after the flipping is done and makes it really easy to carry around and can almost always easily fit in your shirts' pocket. And they're not that thick or doesn't weight that much either. However when it comes to multimedia playback they're not the best.

Anyway lets head back to our review ...

Samsung is not new in inventing these type of things and they've been doing it for a very long time. But before going any further please bear in mind that this is lacks many useful features for example, it don't even has a camera! and no display-screen on the main outer area either. Forget 3G not even Bluetooth, you can listen to few music codes but no video because there is no player for that. But considering the low cost and few other things this is not even close to be called one of the best flip phones but if all you need from it, just main basic functions such as making some decent calls then this won't be such a bad choice either.

The dimensions are as follows. The length is 3.46", width 1.7" and a depth of .78". It's really light too (74g). The screen (2") is powered by a 65K color depth and the resolution is set at 128x128 (pixels). There are few buttons for navigation and power-on-off, etc. One good thing about the keys, they were easy to push and use thanks to the roomy design. The contact utility can holds up to 500 information. There are few other common software like calculator, clock, messaging, etc. For connectivity there is WAP.

The GSM engine operates around 850/1900 MHZ frequencies. The overall clearness of the calls were good actually and the person in the other end also heard decent inputs but not as good as we could hear them. The talk time of the battery is set around 3 hours which is again low in comparison with other latest flip phones. The standby time consists of 10 days. For connectivity there is a USB port included also. The only major audio codec supported is MP3.

Anyway this is no where near the requirements of this type of an electronic device by any means. But as said before considering the low price (below $30 pre-paid) and all you need is to make some calls then this is OK, but certainly not one of the ideal latest flip phones you can find.