5 May 2008
The Samsung J700 is a low end slider phone from Samsung. Although relatively basic in its features, the J700 is quickly becoming a very popular mobile phone handset because of its smart design and great low price tag.

The Samsung J700 looks much like the other recent slider phones, and that includes the luxury Ultra range from Samsung. Measuring 99.5 x 48 x 14.8 mm the J700 is not the smallest Samsung slider mobile phone around, but it is still slim and comfortably pocked sized and there are plenty of clumpier slider phones than this one. Weighing in at just 92g, it is lightweight and easy to handle. The grey and black exterior gives it a very smart look and on the back of the phone there is nothing visible when the slider is closed although it the plastic look on the back shows the price range. There are some corners cut compared to the Ultra range, but they're not easy to notice. The glass look cover on the phone is actually plastic that is somewhat prone to scratches.

On the front of the Samsung J700 is a 2 inch TFT LCD display with 65,536 colours and 128 x 160 resolution. It's that resolution that lets the J700 down more than anything else, because it's not enough for a 2 inch colour screen and makes the display look pretty poor when compared with some similar looking mobile phones and definitely compared to other Samsung sliders. This is even visible when browsing the menu, not just when taking photos and handling images.

Beneath the J700's screen is an iPod style jog wheel with a select button in the middle. This is pretty sensitive but it made scrolling down menus very fast and only took a few minutes to get used to. Either side of the jog wheel are smart silver coloured circular select/contextual buttons. Below these are the three Call, Cancel and Hang Up buttons with discreet symbols on them. The Samsung J700 slides open smoothly to reveal a standard 3x4 keypad with relatively large keys and a standard Samsung look and layout.

Open the Samsung J700 and on the back you will then see the lens for the integrated 1.3 megapixel camera. It's enough for basic shots of scenery or of non moving items, but other than that the camera isn't great. There's no flash and the 12x digital zoom seems unnecessary considering the 1.3 megapixels. There are however a few functions to change white balance and daytime/nightime settings which can offer some improvement to the output. The J700 can also record videos but these are extremely low quality. We would like to have seen a similar camera to the Nokia 6300 with 2 megapixels and a flash as this was Nokia's nearest thing to a decent low end phone, although to be fair to Samsung, the J700 is significantly cheaper than the 6300 was when it was first released.

As has become so standard now, the Samsung J700 offers a decent media player supporting MP3, AAC, AAC+, e-AAC+ and WMA in music as well as MPEG4 and H.263 in video. The J700 has the same proprietary plug for headphones as all other Samsung slider mobile phones but the headphones are included in the box, and they're quite good. You can also play music through the speaker on the phone. Unusually for a phone of this price, the Samsung J700 has an FM Radio, which although lacks RDS for displaying track information, delivered a high quality sound. The 10MB internal memory is not much to speak of but the J700 has a MicroSD slot for additional external memory.

Referring to the Samsung J700 is really in comparison to contract mobile phones, rather than to the basic pay as you go phones. It still supports SMS and MMS as standard and has predictive text input. It has bluetooth connectivity for handsfree kits and USB connectivity for transferring files and syncing with a computer. The software includes a calendar, to do list, time display in different timezones, alarm clock, currency converter, calculator and timer. So all the features that are taken for granted are still present.

Reliability is the Samsung J700's strong point. Firstly it's quite a tough handset that is resilient to falls. Unlike the disappointing Samsung U600, the J700 never crashed or froze while we were testing it. We tried hard, but it was always fine. That said, it doesn't allow for multiple applications to be run at one time. It is a tri band mobile phone that also has EDGE for faster web browsing although the web browsing feature should not be relied on at all, as it didn't always cooperate with larger websites.

Overall, we really liked the Samsung J700. Lots of compromises have been made to create this package with such a low price tag, but if you want a good looking phone that handles the basics well and does OK in terms of music and a simple camera, then the Samsung J700 is for you. If you need a high quality camera or want to browse the web from your phone, we'd suggest you look for a higher end mobile phone.

Reviewer: Selena - USA
Reviewed on: 26th September, 2008
Rating: 9/10
This is one tough phone. Accidentally dropped mine from a flight of stairs, and it's still working perfectly. I also love the mirror-like finish. Cheap phone with classy looks.

Reviewer: IMTIAZ UDDIN AHMED - PAKISTAN
Reviewed on: 17th September, 2008
Rating: 5/10
I Like To SAMSUNG J700 pink deals this mobile is very good looking.


Reviewer: kaone paya - Gaborone ,Botswana
Reviewed on: 9th September, 2008
Rating: 6/10
The samsung j700 is a good phone.Its only downfall is that it cannot miltitask,ie i cannot listen to music and send a text at the same time

Reviewer: Lauren - London
Reviewed on: 16th August, 2008
Rating: 10/10
This phone is great so far I bought it today I am 10 and It's my 3rd phone it has been the best so far!

Reviewer: Sophie - Hertfordshire
Reviewed on: 15th August, 2008
Rating: 10/10
My friend has one, and it has lasted her 2years and she keeping it next year as well, with Virgin there is a sale on now and it is being sold for £50 on pay as you go, but i got mine with monthly and payed £20, for 100minutes a month and 100texts. Great phone, sleek stylish, durable. A lot of people say slide ups break easly, but this one is firm and will be fine (even when dropped). My friend dropped hers in a puddle, and its fine

Reviewer: loz - great britain
Reviewed on: 12th August, 2008
Rating: 10/10
i think the samsumg J700 is aammaassiinngg!!!!!!! buy it......

Reviewer: rob - rob land
Reviewed on: 27th July, 2008
Rating: 10/10
i had the nokia xpress music for about a week it broke so bought this and its perfect

Reviewer: zoe - newton
Reviewed on: 22nd May, 2008
Rating: 10/10
I just had 3 nokia's but they all broke so i looked for a change. the J700 is practical although basic features they all work really well. the phone is durable and will put up with the bumps and drops of normal life. the phone i bought was £59.95 from phones 4 u with £10 credit over all a really good phone.
If you need a phone which can put up with life get the samsung J700

Reviewer: Elaine - Swansea
Reviewed on: 3rd April, 2008
Rating: 10/10
This phone the Samsung J700 is simply the best mobile I have had. I have previously had the samsung U600 which was a nice phone but the camera was slow. This is a stylish classy looking phone with excellent features can highly recommend. Love it A+++++

Reviewer: Jason - Durham
Reviewed on: 3rd March, 2008
Rating: 10/10
Short and sweet, Samsung have finally got it right.

Very well made phone, full of all the usual gadgets and gizmos. Very good camera despite it only being 1.3 mega pixel. Video capture and playback is very good. Ease of use and layout is very similar to the rest of the Samsung phones but with afew updated extras making it so much better.

But the best thing of all....... You can now customise your message tone instead of the drab pre installed ones.

And onl £69.00 on Orange pay as you go. Bargain.All in all an excellent phone would recommend it to anyone.

So much so, both my wife and I have one each.

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