Samsung Ultra B S7220 Review

Introduction:

Samsung has put out two midrange phones on the market this year, both aiming at customers looking for a stylish appearance at an affordable price. These are the Ultra B and the Ultra S, and we are about to review the first one. Being a direct successor of the Soulb, the Samsung Ultra B S7220 comes in a classic candy-bar form factor. At the same time, it has the DNA blueprint of its bigger brother, the UltraTOUCH. Its less hefty price seems to have led to certain concessions of the manufacturer in terms of features it brings out. Still, the Ultra B managed to impress us with its design and functionality.

Design:

Speaking of design, we need to mention the first thing that hit us was that the manufacturer has done a great job preserving the spirit of the UltraTOUCH, while subtly transforming the phone into a more masculine-looking candy-bar device. The upper red framing that perfectly goes with the overall design is still here, but this time it fences in a significantly smaller (and touch-insensitive, lol) 2.2-inch display that, no matter, is still an AMOLED, QVGA resolution beauty. As you may have guessed, it delivers awesome image quality with its characteristic deep contrast and saturated colors. Moreover, all the lettering that appears on the screen is large enough and easy to read.




You can compare the Samsung Ultra B S7220 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Do you remember what helped the UltraTOUCH to gain such an enormous popularity? All these not that important things about it, like the rhomb-shaped back button for example (or its overwhelming ad budget maybe). Well, the Samsung Ultra B S7220 lacks the first, but a D-Pad has appeared in its stead that is again encircled by a metal framing. As a whole, it seems the manufacturer has failed to cope with the task perfectly, meaning you might encounter certain difficulties navigating through the menus at first. The same goes for the functional buttons and the pair of earphones coming in the box. You may find the latter somewhat uncomfortable to use in the beginning, but will eventually get used to it in a while. How would the phone have looked like if it had a red keyboard we wonder – one of the distinguishing features of the UltraTOUCH. Apparently, the lead designer has decided to target and appeal to users with more conventional taste.

Since the 3G support is here, you´ll find the video call camera right above the screen. The volume rocker is on the left hand side, while both the microUSB port and the camera shutter are on the opposite. The Samsung Ultra B S7220 sports a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with a dual LED flash.

Interface and functionality:

Words simply cannot convey how pleased we are with the speed of the Samsung Ultra B S7220. There is no even a single menu to cause any lagging or slowdowns. All three preloaded themes look great, but we wouldn´t be disappointed if the choice was a bit wider.

All major interface elements are fairly standard. The phonebook offers the option to browse through either single contacts or groups. Choosing between a voice/video call and sending an SMS feels easy and intuitive. The organizer also comes preloaded with standard functions, but they are more than enough anyway. You have a calendar, notes, tasks, world clock, calculator and a unit convertor. The Ultra B also has something to offer in terms of applications – FM radio, Java apps (games, Google Maps etc.), stop watch, chronometer and the like. You will be surprised what can be achieved with the help of the integrated picture and video editing software (and some creativity, of course).




As we mentioned already, the Samsung Ultra B S7220 features a 5-megapixel, dual LED flash camera with autofocus. Quite Impressive for a midrange device, isn´t it? The interface itself isn´t the most intuitive one we have ever seen, but delivers rich functionality in terms of options and settings, a macro mode, face and smile detection, ISO and white balance among the many. The pictures we took turned out to be annoyingly similar – these taken outdoors and in broad daylight looked amazing, with rich details and proper focus, while the ones we took indoors failed to impress us. Of course, you also have the option to capture videos at a resolution of 320x240.





The music player is the one we know well from other Samsung devices. When the phone catches onto the way you want to filter your songs, the player pops up on screen. It has fairly a simple design that lets you make use of the D-Pad to access basic functions. Moreover, there are options to shuffle the playlist, repeat your selection and apply different audio effects. The cool feature is you can place a simplified copy of the player onto your home screen, gaining quicker access to music to keep you entertained while fiddling with the phone.



When it comes to video playback, the Samsung Ultra B S7220 measures up to the task satisfactorily. All told, you will be able to enjoy MPEG-4, H.263 and H.264 content on the beautiful 2.2-inch screen, with a maximum width of 320 pixels.

The preinstalled internet browser is not the worst we have used this far, but it could have been implemented better. We were pleasantly surprised to find the full screen page view option here that helps navigating through complex websites. As a whole, pages load rather slowly and are sometimes visualized not quite the way they were meant to.

Performance and conclusion:

Despite its shortcomings, the Samsung Ultra B S7220 does exactly what it has been made to do. Almost all functions are performed in a prompt and accurate manner. Similarly to its bigger brother, the UltraTOUCH, the Ultra B will hardly make history as an excellent device in terms of communication, which is rather unfortunate indeed. Voices coming from the other end sounded sharp and unrealistic. Sound loudness is properly balanced, but that doesn´t apply to the way you are heard by the person you´re conversing with. A friendly advice – you might want to speak quietly and attentively with no jerky sounds, unless you want to cause a permanent hearing damage to the ill-fated individual who´s listening to you. Paying the nearby talking lessons specialist a visit, so that you can fix any speech issues you might have, is also a bright idea. The Ultra B simply cannot be trusted to convey your words properly.

The Samsung Ultra B S7220 is an extremely dainty and appealing phone that is pleasingly responsive and sports a camera that can decently capture all unforgettable moments in great details. It´s pretty unfortunate that Samsung seems to have failed to properly address its phone function. And this makes for a grievous mistake. If you are not intent on getting a handset with a touch-sensitive screen, the Ultra B is an acceptable option, but you might want to consider the Ultra S slider before jumping on board. It also comes in pretty stylish, but features a larger, 2.6-inch screen.