Samsung FlipShot Review

Introduction:

The Samsung FlipShot U900, which replaces the A990, is a modern flip phone with rotating display that is targeted to the consumer who is looking for an easy to carry device with an integrated 3MP autofocus camera. It is available in two color choices: matte black with silver trim, or in a stylish red with silver trim. Both options are up to personal tastes, but it lacks the “shine” of the Gleam we recently reviewed. The biggest competition to the FlipShot is the LG Voyager, Motorola V9m and Maxx Ve, since all three have good quality 2MP cameras.

The Retail Package includes the Samsung FlipShot U900 phone, 880mAh battery, wall charger, hand strap, and user manual. It should also be noted that even though the FlipShot is capable of the TV-Out feature (just like the A990), the cable is no longer included and has to be purchased separately.





You can compare the Samsung FlipShot with many other phones, using PhoneArena's Visual Size Compare tool.

Current users of the A990 will welcome the modest improvements in the FlipShot, yet it does retain similar styling. The device is constructed with plastic throughout, but overall feels durable and should hold up to everyday use. The only problem regarding construction that we noticed was with the battery cover. Once it was removed, the plastic was flimsy and could easily be bent in any direction. We also didn’t care for the way the cover “snaps” back onto the phone at 6 different points.

Little has changed regarding the flip; it is very easy to open and close, and can be rotated 180-degrees to activate the camera. Located on the front is the external display and touch-sensitive music control buttons. On the left side in the 2.5mm headset jack, charger/data port, and left stereo speaker, with the volume rocker, right stereo speaker, and camera shutter button on the right side. The 3MP camera and flash are located on the back.

The external display has been slightly improved since the A990 and is now 1.25” diagonal, with a resolution of 128x96 pixels and 65K colors. Unfortunately, it is still small compared to the larger ones on the V9m and Voyager. Viewing wallpapers on it was rather dark, just like on the A990. There is a new Contrast adjustment in the menu, which helps some, but it is still a darker than it should be. Because of the small size and the dark screen, you can only really use it for checking the date & time, message alerts, signal strength and battery level. When flipping the phone open, there is a world of difference using the internal display, which is 2.20” diagonal with 240x320 pixel resolution and 262K colors. Images here are shown with good color detail and saturation. Just like with the Gleam, there are six levels of brightness settings, but even at the highest setting it does not hold up to use while in direct sunlight, which is the case with most TFT displays.

Located on the bottom flip is the white backlit keypad, which has been significantly improved since the A990. The D-pad is now larger and easier to navigate using your thumb with less mistakes being made. The same is also true for the rest of the navigation keys. The numeric keypad is also larger and is made out of a one-piece membrane, instead of individual buttons like on the A990. All the keys are separated with a raised plastic edge, which makes them easy to dial-by-touch and for text messaging. We are glad that Samsung has improved the keypad in this manner.

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Interface:

The main menu of the FlipShot is laid out just like every other Verizon phone, with categorizes for Get it Now, Messaging, Contacts, Recent Calls, and Settings & Tools. Fortunately, the red bars from the A990 are now gone, and there are 3 FlashUI Themes to choose from: Camera, Espresso, and VZW Classic (rainbow). We first saw the Espresso used on the Gleam. We are glad to see that Samsung is now including modern themes on Verizon phones, but between those choices, the Camera theme is by far the best looking since it compliments the design of the phone. The FlipShot also features the new Living Wallpaper, but there is only one included, instead of four that are on the Gleam. When turned on, it shows a roll of film that will change color depending on the time of day, as well as icons that will light up when there is a new text or voicemail message, missed call, calendar appointment, or when the speakerphone and vibrate modes are activated. However, if the living wallpaper is not your taste, you can easily assign any image from the microSD instead.



Phonebook:

The Phonebook is identical to the Gleam, with up to 500 Contacts being able to be stored, each with their Name, Mobile 1, Home, Work, E-Mail 1, Group, Picture, Ringtone, Mobile 2, Fax, E-Mail 2, and Notes. After a contact is saved, you can assign them to one of 999 speed-dial locations.



Camera:

One of the main selling features of the FlipShot is the 3-megapixel AutoFocus camera. Just like the A990, you activate it by flipping open the phone, rotating the display 180-degrees, and then flipping it back. This allows you to use the 2.2” display as the viewfinder in landscape mode, just like a real digital camera. Images taken outside are somewhat washed-out looking with dull colors, and do not have sharp edges or good detail. This is not what one would expect a 3MP camera to produce. Indoor images are even more problematic, with the Auto White Balance having trouble, and forcing us to manually change it to either Tungsten or Fluorescent. Using the Flash was another disappointment, since it’s not nearly as bright as the Maxx Ve, and only has a range of about 2.5 feet. We were anticipating that the AutoFocus would be faster than the A990, but unfortunately this was not the case. The FlipShot takes between 3-5 seconds to focus on an object, and then an additional two seconds to save it. This equals a total of 14 seconds to focus and capture one picture, save it, then focus on a second object and take its picture. This is way too long for most people, and is only good if you can get the subject to hold still for several seconds. Another option would be to turn off the AutoFocus, thus only taking 2 seconds to capture and save an image.






Overall, we were disappointed by the camera on the FlipShot. It has been 1.5 years since the A990 was launched, but the image quality and autofocus time has not been improved. At this point, we believe that the V9m and Voyager take better looking images, despite them both being 2MP.

Videos are limited to a maximum of 320x240 resolution, but can be recorded up to the available space on a microSD card. Due to the low quality, it should only be used for quick “on the go” videos and not for recording your family vacation.

Multimedia:

Music playback on the FlipShot is almost identical to the Gleam, and unlike the A990 that only supported WMA files, the FlipShot supports standard MP3 files and microSD cards up to 4GB in size. The actual music player remains unchanged, with categories for Genres, Artists, Albums, and Playlists. The quality of music playback is better than on the A990, but still does not sound as “clear and defined” as when played using the V9m. This might be because the V9m has one large speaker on the back, where the FlipShot has two smaller stereo speakers on the sides. Under the external display there are 3 touch-sensitive music control buttons for rewind, play/pause, and fast-forward. They light up red when pressed, but when not used they are dark and difficult to locate. For better quality music, you can connect the FlipShot with a Bluetooth Stereo headset.

Software:
Other software features include Mobile Web 2.0, VCast Music downloads, V Cast Video streaming, and VZ Navigator for GPS guided directions. The only problem that we encountered here was when using the Mobile Web program and going to large HTML sites, such as PhoneArena.com. The page would stop part-way during download and display an “out of memory” error message, causing us to restart the browser. When going to smaller sites (Google) or WAP pages, the browser was able to work without problem.

Performance:

The reception and call quality of the FlipShot are both excellent and are equal to that of the Gleam, but still not quite as good as the V9m. We were able to place and receive calls in fringe areas, where other devices such as the Juke could not. The sound quality through the earpiece speaker was identical to that of the Gleam, lacking in any background noise or interference. We could only hear a slight distortion during calls when raising the earpiece volume to High. Using the Speakerphone sounded good, as long as the volume remained around Medium, since raising it to high would also cause some distortion. During our test calls, people that we spoke to using lands-lines said that our voice sounded natural and did not have any static or interference present.

Accessing any of the downloaded applications is easy and there is very little delay in opening them up. We also did not encounter the random re-boot problem that happened a few times while we were testing the Gleam. The FlipShot has a total of 56MB of internal memory, but only 35MB is available to the user. For additional storage of music, pictures, and videos, you can install a microSD card up to 4GB in size.

The included 880mAh battery is rated by Samsung to have 3.5 hours of talk time or 10 days of standby time on a full charge. Our testing revealed 3 hours of talk time on a full charge.

Conclusion:

The Samsung FlipShot is a nice upgrade from the A990, but we were anticipating a lot more. Both the Sound Quality and Reception are excellent, so using it as a phone is highly recommended. The redesigned keypad is easier to use, the new themes look nice, and the MP3 player sounds good. Unfortunately the Camera, which is its main selling point, is also its biggest disappointment. Even though images are captured at 3MP, the AutoFocus system is too slow and images don’t look as good as other 2MP phones, such as the V9m or Voyager, nor as good as a cheap 3MP digital cam. Because of this, we can’t recommend the FlipShot for someone who is looking for a top quality camera-phone, since the V9m and Voyager are both better choices. But if you have you heart set on a 3MP camera-phone for Verizon, then the FlipShot is your only option.