Jul
Review: Svelte Samsung Slider Has a Mighty Morphin’ Touch Screen
Samsung SGH-U900 Soul "Magical Touch"
Before we got our mits on this much hyped, 5-megapixel Korean import, we were slightly skeptical. Sure, we got to play with it a little at CTIA (when it was solely called the Soul) and were instantly cast under a spell of gadget lust. But really, anytime a manufacturer dubs a product “Magic” we’re secretly hoping it has the ability to turn PCs into Macs and make Edge networks disappear.
The Samsung U900 aka Soul aka Magical Touch doesn’t really have any supernatural abilities. What it does have is a tiny touch OLED nav-pad that is one of the coolest, most efficient touch interfaces we’ve seen on a handset. The small display (situated below the main 2.2-inch QVGA screen) features icons that morph based on whatever application they’re in. Switch to camera and controls for snapping pictures appear. Toggle to the music player and buttons for fast forward, rewind, pause, and play pop up. But unlike David Blaine or (shudder) Criss Angel, this genteel stainless steel slider boasts more than just a handful of cheap tricks.
The big selling point is the phone’s pocketability. The picture quality and dynamic range could be better (LED flash, we’re talking about you) but at 0.5 inches thick and 7 ounces heavy, this slider more svelte than just every 5MP cam we’ve tested. Ultimately, our biggest complaint is that you cannot use the camera without sliding open the phone first. This design protects the lens from dust bunnies and pocket grime, yes, but shooting with a fully-open device was a tad awkward at times. And you know, sometimes that just ruins the magic. —Steven Leckart
WIRED External microSD slot makes it a cinch to swap cards on the fly. Bluetooth (+A2DP). Competent image editing suite. Video Editor allows you to layer additional audio tracks. Decent facial detection. Haptic feedback can be tweaked to three different levels of intesity or switched off entirely.
TIRED Bundled proprietary ear buds sound duller than Ben Stein. No Xenon flash. No GPS. No Wi-Fi. Lower-res vid clips. Proprietary headphone jack positioned on the side = hard to pocket. Noticeable screen glare when outdoors.
$400, samsung.com
(Photo by Issac Brekken for Wired.com)
Tags: gadgetry, home theater, gaming, lcd