Samsung SGH-a737 Orange/Black (AT&T)

Calls and speakerphone: Overall, calls are loud and clear on this cell phone. When we adjusted the audio using the side volume keys, it was only to turn it down. The speakerphone was equally as loud, though not as clear; we did occasionally detect an echo during calls. Accessing the cell phone’s speaker functionality is easy once you place a call.

Audio playback: Playing MP3s through the cell phone’s stereo speakers isn’t tinny at all, as is usually the case. We should mention the Samsung Sync A737 lacks a standard headphone jack, and the existing port also accommodates the charger. If you want stereo headphones, you’ll need to purchase a Bluetooth stereo headset.

Menu/phone book: The menu on the Samsung A737 is pretty straightforward. There are two main ways to navigate through the A737: Menu, which takes you to a high level of applications, and Options, which is where you’ll find a list of more popular features such as the alarm, camera, and Bluetooth. There are 12 slots in the Options menu that you can program.

Entering and accessing phone numbers in Contacts is simple. We particularly like the first prompt about where to store the numbers: either the phone or SIM. That’s a nice touch. You can include 5 phone numbers, an e-mail address, a photo, a ringtone, an IM address, and notes for each contact. There are no slots for address information; if you want that capability, consider adding it to the notes section. Also, there’s a separate field for first and last name. This is good if you want more ways to access and sort contacts. Our only quibble with the cell phone is that you can reassign the 4 navigation buttons, but not the center button.

Camera/video: The Samsung A737 sports a 1.3-megapixel camera, and while you shouldn’t expect stellar picture quality, it's better than many of the VGA camera phones available. While there’s a tiny mirror next to the lens on the back of the cell phone, there’s no flash. Access to the camera is pre-programmed in the Options list menu from the main screen, so there’s no dedicated button to launch the application unless you program one of the 4-way navi-keys. There are a few fun settings such as the ability to change the shooting settings to sepia, black and white, and negative. You can take pics as single shots, multiple shots, and a mosaic style. You can even choose from a variety of frames for your picture.

Overall, we found this camera does a much better job with outdoor shots than those taken indoors. It does a decent job with details; for example, we took a picture of vase filled with daisies and could identify the individual petals when viewing it on the camera. You can also record video. Another plus is that you can send the pictures to another Bluetooth-enabled device that supports receiving images.

Music: As mentioned earlier, the MP3 playback quality is impressive. The cell phone supports MP3 music file types (as is the case with most music-enabled cell phones, this is possible as long as the files don’t have DRM – digital rights management, a feature on purchased online music that allows playback on a limited amount of devices). Although the player does support shuffle, repeat, playlists, the ability to jump to the track time, and ID tags (automatically download info about the song), it doesn’t have any audio-centric features.

There are other nifty music features, such as Music ID (which tells you the name of a song playing on a radio nearby). You can also stream music over the cell phone, and you can even sign up for a subscription to X/M Satellite Radio service. We particularly like that we were able to send songs to the Samsung cell phone using Bluetooth. You can also add songs to the Samsung A737 through an optional TransFlash memory card (the Samsung A737 will support up to a 4GB card), then inserting the card into the side of the cell phone. The number of songs you can save on the cell phone will depend on what else is stored on the Samsung A737. (Note: If you only store music, you’ll only get about 5 songs using the cell phone’s internal 50MB of memory.)

Connectivity/Bluetooth/3G: Connectivity is the big story with this Samsung cell phone and likely a big reason why you’d buy it in the first place. But let’s cover Bluetooth first. We easily made connections with other Bluetooth-enabled cell phones and computers (both Mac and PC). We were able to send a MP3 file from a Bluetooth-enabled Sony Vaio to the Samsung A737 and play it back with no problem. We also connected it with the Plantronics Voyager 520 and found call quality to be sufficient when using this Bluetooth headset.

The real connectivity revolves around the latest in 3G technology HSPA. All you really need to know is that with the right cell phone and local coverage, you can stream content over the Internet at super-high speeds and watch and/or listen to it on your cell phone. Additionally, even when you’re surfing the Internet in 3G mode, you can still take calls and never lose your connection, even when you hang up, so you never have to worry about missing a call. The Samsung A737 has this capability. For the most part, we could always get a good connection, which made accessing and streaming content a breeze and streams were smooth (read: you don’t see a lot of pixelation or experience stream interruptions). For example, in the time it took to watch a 1-minute video on YouTube over a DSL connection, we were able to select, load, and watch TV clips on the Samsung A737. That’s not too shabby.

Look and feel: Bathed in black with orange accents (models with accents in blue, red, or green are also available), the Samsung A737 has a fun appearance. The thin slider phone feels comfortable in the hand and is secure when it’s snapped shut and locked in place. In addition, you can unlock the cell phone when it’s shut by selecting that option on the main screen, so you don’t have to worry about accidental misdials when the cell phone is in the shut position, which can sometimes occur when the phone is loose in a pocket or in a purse. It feels comfortable when held against the face to make a call; however, as is the case with many cell phones, the display easily attracts face grease and fingerprints. When open and held against the face, it is longer than most cordless phones. The display is also bright and crisp, which makes watching streaming videos on it a pleasant experience.

On the face of the Samsung A737 cell phone, you’ll also find six buttons, two soft keys that correspond with actions on the screen, a dedicated music key, and a calendar key, as well as send and end keys. These keys surround the 4-way circular navi-key. While it looks like you should be able to swirl the round navi-key, you can’t. It only works when pressed north, east, south, and west.

Keypad: As is the case with many slider cell phones, the keypad is flat. The keys are backlit to correspond with whichever color is the accent of your cell phone. In this case, the numeric keypad is orange. Although the keypad is flat, there are lines separating the numbers, so dialing in the dark shouldn’t be a big issue.

This is one area where the Samsung A737 really performs. Unlike with many cell phones, using Bluetooth or leaving it activated doesn’t negatively affect the battery. Additionally, we didn’t notice a huge battery drain when we used the cell phone in 3G mode for longer periods of time. On average, we could last 4 to 5 days on a single charge if we used it regularly to make calls, send/receive text messages, and stream video. But when we used the cell phone to make two or three 10-minute calls a day and light texting, the Samsung A737 could go about 6 days before needing more juice.