vB Easy Archive - Samsung FlipShot (U900) Review

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Samsung FlipShot (U900) Review
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Posted by: Mark Larson

I got a Samsung FlipShot today, on Verizon.

The box it came in was really small - looks like Verizon is getting into the eco-friendly trend of tiny packaging.

But there was hardly anything in the box! Just the phone and a camera strap. No MicroSD card or USB cable for their CAMERA phone or even a headset.

The back looks totally like a camera - the bezel around the lens is raised a little bit, making it look even more like a real camera with zoom. This protruding bezel will get scratched up really fast, I can tell. I have a 2GB MicroSD card for that slot. I believe this supports MicroSDHC.

The phone is quite thick compared to the other phones I rock.

Now, getting to the actual phone. I switched it on after charging it for an hour or so, and it immediately said "INITIAL PROGRAMMING NEEDED."

If there's one thing about CDMA carriers I dislike, its their propensity to use jargon everywhere.

There was nothing immediately obvious as to how to do that initial programming. I didn't go through the paperwork in the fedex box since it was in the car, but the Quick Start guide in the phone box didn't say anything. I am reasonably technically proficient and I was lost. I called *68 (the manual said it was for voicemail setup) and it told me I could use a credit card to make the call and my phone was not recognized (***), then I called 611 and it connected me, then when I navigated to the activation menu, it said the number I was trying to call was not allowed or something (***), then I googled "Verizon initial programming needed" and a good old Hofo thread came up which told me I needed to call *228 and hit Option 1. I did that and it worked. Finally.

I was able to access the regular (non-phone) features during the "Initial programming needed" time, luckily enough.

On to the camera... its the best of the worst.

Allow me to go on a short rant here - camera phones are sorely being neglected by the oligarchy right now. This phone I have in my hands is the BEST Camera phone offered by any carrier right now. And it sucks (comparatively).

AT&T used to have the W810i, which has good picture quality. They now have the W580i, which doesn't. The LG Shine also has a good lens and AF in the unlocked version but not in the ATT version.

Sprint used to have the Sanyo M1, which they don't anymore. No replacement so far, let's see what next year's Rev A phones bring.

T-Mobile has nothing, in fact they are actively discouraging cameras above 1.3MP.

So... what does this phone have? 3 megapixels, auto-focus, a reasonably bright flash and decent lens/sensor, along with a cute folding feature which really does make it look like a proper camera.

The camera is a little odd to use, mostly because of one crucial stupidity - if you press and hold the shutter button, it switches to video mode, instead of focusing and taking the picture.

A lot of people had extraordinary difficulty with that today, which is the reason why there aren't any pictures of me taken with the phone. When I came home I realized that pressing and holding again will take you back to still mode. Using the phone in the regular flip mode and pressing "OK" the center button will do a focus-and-take-photo, instead of the two stage button at the top.

Oh well, live and learn.

The camera is really quite easy to use both open and closed, but the swivel is already a little out of alignment. Not very confidence-inspiring. The pictures are about 500-600 kb in size at top quality/res, which is too little. I hate to say it because I didn't want it to be true, but It is not a replacement for even a cheap 3 megapixel camera. Its great, for a phone.

Its slow, pictures are low quality, purplish LED flash makes girls appear more like geishas, and the press shutter to switch to video "feature" is annoying, irritating, and a pain in the neck.

I was checking out the VCAST catalog though, and it has a damn sight more content than Sprint TV. Loads of free clips for every interest. Sprint, learn!

The UI is also very amateur programmer-ish, with lots of ALL CAPS and jerky animations and generally not a good design aesthetic. Samsung has made an effort though, and the Coffee theme and Living wallpaper are especially nice.

Posted by: Baldilocks

^ Good review!!

Perhaps soon we will have a proper review section like our sister board over at niknon.com.

Posted by: samsung.user

So are you keeping it or sending it back?

What about some sample pics? The 3mp on d900i wasn't too bad really. Need to do some comparison shots with my n82.