Samsung F700 vs Apple iPhone vs LG Viewty vs HTC Cruise

AnonymousMon 3 December, 2007 6:39pm

Are you guys going to review the Samsung F700? I've been waiting yonks for it to arrive here in the UK and now just last Friday it is available in Vodafone stores. I am mainly interested in its Internet browsing capabilities and experience. Your usual thougrough Cnet review would really be awesome. :)

AnonymousTue 4 December, 2007 8:48am

the camera is actually 5mp, not 3

AnonymousWed 5 December, 2007 4:01pm

The f700's camera is 3.2megapixels not 5mp. Not sure about the onboard 3.5gb? thought it was 1gb plus a card slot. had a go on one the other day in the vodafone shop, it was slick and will get one soon.

AnonymousMon 10 December, 2007 12:13am

I took the plunge and got one a few days ago.

All I can say is... it might not be an iPhone but who cares. It's a total pleasure to use for Internet browsing with 3G and a full very usable qwerty keyboard. Texting is no longer a chore. It's got a clean and easy to use interface, not as slick as the iPhone UI but once you get used to a UI what difference does it make? For users concerned more about function than form the F700 is for you simply because its more useful/practical than an iPhone and easily attractive enough to compete with any phone out there... IMHO. :)

russMon 10 December, 2007 1:12pm

the memory is a very poor 100mb with a 1gb memory card. This phone was advertised by Vodafone as having an expandable 4gb memory. this too me means its a 4gb internal memory and expandable further. I have brought this to their attention and i will be returning the phone unless they fork out for a 4gb card. Also the cross interfacee is rubbish. the Mp3 player is rubbish (interface wise) and also the video support format is poor (MP4 and 3GP only). Should support at least WMV i think. The 3.6Mbps is not working at full speed. 3.6Mbps equates to 0.5 MB per second. it is taking my F700 at least 60 seconds to download a 1MB track, it should take 2 seconds. The output volume through headset is quite low also. I have not tried the free Bose headphones as they are in a sealed pack and i dont want to open them as i may be returning the phone.

AnonymousFri 21 December, 2007 9:44am

I am lucky enough to have a friend who works in a phone shop so I have been able to trial an iPhone, F700 and Viewty over the last few weeks.

I liked the slide out keyboard of the F700 but apart from that, it has nothing to make it stand out over the others. I wasn't sure about the build quality either, it felt a little flimsy.

The iPhone has the best screen but then it is considerably bigger overall. I loved the 'feel' of the iPhone too - sliding web pages and pictures around was really intuitive and worked better than on the Viewty. It also feels very well made but is hideously expensive compared to the others.

Overall though - the Viewty wins out for me. It's a sensible size, has a decent screen and interface, and the good quality camera and video features make it stand out over the others. You wouldn't think that the 120fps video feature would ever get used but believe me - it's so much fun that you will constantly be looking out for opportunities to use it!

It's also available at a good price too - '3' do it for £24pm with 300 mix & match units, 90 minutes of video calls and 300 same network minutes. Bargain.

AnonymousWed 2 January, 2008 2:31pm

new to this site - comes in very handy. still deciding wether to get the viewty or the N82. both seem very nice, but both have some disadvantages as well. one is subject to my question:

was wondering why it is a bad thing wifi is missing on the viewty? as it has HSDPA which allows you to access the internet?? or is HSDPA always paid? and wifi often free?
thnx

AnonymousWed 2 January, 2008 4:25pm

just a quick ipdate on my F700. Vodafone did indeed send me a free 4GB card as the phone was touted as 4gb expandable. However i have now decided that this phone is a massive disapointment and its due to go back tomorrow. In its place i will receive the Sony W960i. This really does have everything apart from 3.6 Mbps connection. This i can live with as i never got any good download speed in any cse, also W960i has WiFI. Really wanted a 5mpixel cam but not really vital. Thought about the viewty but the sony has keypad and touchscreen. i have the W960i specs and it looks the dogs b*****. There are numerous 3rd party apps out there also. I would liken the W960i to the Nokia N95 but with touchscreen and better MP3 player. I really like everything i have read about the sony. Be warned though, lots of sites are saying it comes with Bluetooth stereo headset. It does not. It was planned to be released with the headset but it has now been removed from the box contents. If any one want a copy of the W960i white paper (basically what the phone can do) let me know and i will email it to you. maax555@hotmail.com. In any case check out Sony's site for details on the W960i, this is how a phone should be presented and not the awful way Samsung did the F700 and probably all there other phones.

AnonymousFri 4 January, 2008 2:35pm

can anyone here confirm the dimensions of the Samsung F700?

the vodafone website say it is 112 x 56 x 16 mm but there are plenty of other sites out there that say it is 104 x 50 x 16.4mm.

it sounds petty but that extra half a centimeter on the width and height could make it one big old phone.

cheers

AnonymousWed 16 January, 2008 4:39pm

i dont get it, is the samsung F700 good or not because im getting a new phone but i can't choose between F700 or LG Viewty

AnonymousWed 23 January, 2008 10:37am

i just ordered the lg viewty and its due to be ere today, i have an exam today and am at home till that time to wait for it....looking forward to it... i was going to get the f700 but with some of the reviews i read decided the lg was the one i wanted, i know someone with an iphone and they are not as great as they are cracked up to be

AnonymousTue 29 January, 2008 6:07pm

I got a Viewty last week. I'm seriously happy with it. It's a very good phone and the touch screen is excellent. I love the hand writing recognition feature also. The Viewty also has a qwerty keyboard (touch screen option) but it's not that easy to use because of its size, it's not like a computer where you can lean on a keyboard while typing, so therefore I also imagine the slide out keyboard on the Samsung is ultimately a useless gimmick and not in anyway practical.

I wasn't going to pay £260 odd for the privilege of being able to plonk an iPhone on the table in front of my mates purely for the sake of a little “street cred”. Music for me was not a priority for me anyway. Besides the Viewty looks pretty cool. In the end I opted for a good camera and excellent internet browsing which the Viewty offers.

AnonymousThu 31 January, 2008 2:31am

Am I using the same phone!? I have so many problems I'm giving it back. I also work in HCI for a living (Human Computer Interaction).

- When you call answer phone, phone locks. Unlock then you have to press a button to see the numbers to press 1 to hear messages. Then phone locks again, so you unlock to press 3 to delete. No way to turn this off!!!
- You send a text message and then a screen comes up showing 8 boxes to fill in numbers to send to!? Why? I send to one person most of the time, much better to show last 8 people you sent to on this screen. Instead you have to select menu to choose most recent.
- Viewing contacts isn't easy, scroll button is on the back in a dial. Not natural for the hand to turn this, scrolling on the screen is tricky.
- Only 2 entries viewable at a time on contact search. I have 400 contacts in my phone, would be nice to see 3 or 4.
- Web browser is fiddly to use at best.
- No lens protector on camera, unlike sony range, 5 megapixels of scratchs and dirt, useful.
- Battery life is well non existant in my case, I use the phone a lot, doesn't last 24 hours.
- Reception is bad compared previous Sony K800i I had in same locations (home, office).
- When typing text messages, at the end of a word the send button dissapears. You have to press space to send!? bizarre bug.

There are a few other problems, but it's as if they didn't test the phone. It you get blown away by looks and features then maybe it's for you. But if you want to use the damn thing, then probably not.

AnonymousWed 6 February, 2008 4:51pm

Comparing an iPhone to an LG is like comparing an A reg MG Metro to an Audi R8. It's made by Apple so it's gonna be better full stop! And yes it holds the price tag, but all these other companies are trying to do replicas, remember the iPhone is really a pocket Mac with a phone built in. the rest of these rip-offs just look nasty and pathetic. Okay the iPhone is missing a few features but Apple do regular updates for free which give new and improved features, also the Software Developers Kit is being released this month so we can all have Video, sound recording and other useful features in the next few weeks.

AnonymousSun 10 February, 2008 10:42am

Half of these people are sados,honest,one said that other phones were iphone replicas,and only cos its got the apple badge its better,all the other companies have been doing mobiles well before apple,so whos the copy cat,period.And the iphone missing a few things,say that again,its like buying a car with only 1st & 2nd gear and reverse,and that car being badged a bmw.End of,have seen iphone at work with my mate,and he's an apple fan boy,its the biggest load of junk ever created for something thats been hyped so much honest.My mate is so dissapointed he hates it.My wife has a viewty an iv got an f700,now come on people these arent the best but they are very very good,and are not missing the little things like video recording,i could go on & on,so wont.I think i have proved the point.

AnonymousSun 24 February, 2008 2:06am

i just want to say one thing ....
i own an iPhone and love it, love it to pieces and yes granted apple have never made a phone before.... BUT phone companies have never made a phone like apple have they ???? i mean come on apple brings out an amazing touch screen mobile oh and guess what so does EVERYBODY ELSE !!!! can no one see this really they are all mimic wannabes of the awesome creation that is an iPhone and yeh its expensive but hey think about it, its an 8gb ipod touch with oh just the added fact of mobile internet, sms and oh A PHONE apple have always been the best and always will. all of these companies wont release new updates to make the thing better they will make a new one making you spend more money and so one and so forth.
All in All if you have the money i would seriously recommend the iPhone i have trialed all three mobiles (not the windows pc) and the other two annoy the hell out of me, just look at the Samsung, THEY LITERALLY COPIED THE DESIGN OF IT !!!!!!!!!!! and then the viewty being a complete waste of space because in my opinion LG have never made a worth while phone EVER !
So yes if you have the money for one of these phones fork it out on the obvious winner ....
THE iPhone

Just wait and see what apple will bring to all of us proud proud iPhone owners than you will be jealous now learn your lesson !!!!!!

Stop buying rubbish phones that will get out dated ..... Buy an iPhone !!!!!!!!!!

AnonymousThu 28 February, 2008 11:59am

Why is nobody talking about the HTC Cruise (or Orbit 2 as O2 call it)? I had the previous version and I think having proper TomTom-style GPS on my phone was really useful. The iPhone may look nice and have a good user interface, but it is not 3G. What the hell is that about? Yeah, browse the web properly (as you have been able to do on lots of phones well before the iPhone ever arrived), but do it at 32kb/s - awesome!

AnonymousMon 10 March, 2008 8:01am

N0-one would ever make a perfect phone with all the great features, thats not too expensive to buy because if they do make one like that then the other mobile phones on the market will not sell. and people will loose alot of money. I think all phone makes have made a deal like oh apples gonna make their first phone w/ tuchscreen then LG`s gonna follow but not as good as the iPHONE ..and then SAMSUNG and so on and on ....GET ME??
im getting a new phone soon but i dont know wich one it`ll be ---> SONY ERICSSON W910i [or] SAMSUNG F700........ive had a samsung before n ive had a sony ericsson too. n they were samsung d500 [&&] se K800i.<---its a bit unfare to compare but the sony ericsson was better with a few negative points though but it still is better and has better colours ans stuff. which one should i get....i want a good camera..alot of colours and WALKMAN<---i fink im gettin da SE.ok byyyy

AnonymousFri 28 March, 2008 6:04pm

I am about to buy a new phone having had a Motorola A1000 smartphone for the last 2 years. It's now out of date but had a lot of good features well ahead of its time - touchscreen (oh so long ago), 3G, Symbian OS, GPS, Outlook synch etc etc. Can't find a replacement - all seem to have major deficiencies. iPHone is a brilliant piece of engineering and UI, but has no 3G, poor camera, no stereo bluetooth (major drawback for a music device inmy view), not sure about Outlook, no docking station etc and ties you into iTunes. Viewty has great spec but has no WiFi, weird stylus, no docking station, camera lens exposed. I am really confused as to what to go for right now. SE P1i is a good phone, my wife has it, but it's an ugly critter. SE have been doing touchscreens since the R380, at least 5 years ago, so I don't understand the big deal.

AnonymousThu 24 April, 2008 12:23pm

I find it ridiculous that people acknowledge that the iPhone is seriously lacking in features... but still is better than phones like Viewty and F700 just because it is from 'Apple'?? The only argument I hear is this... "i own an iPhone and love it, love it to pieces and yes granted apple have never made a phone before.... BUT phone companies have never made a phone like apple have they"... now yes it was a first, phone companies never made a product like Apple, but if they have improvised on it and brought out better products, why shouldnt one buy those? I would always buy a good product which gives me what i want and not a stupid iPhone just because it has the Apple name. Its the stupidest excuse to buy a phone to say that I am buying it because it is "Apple" even though it is the s****iest phone around and even try to justify doing so.

I am buying a Viewty this evening... wont even think of the iPhone... less features for a far greater price? what kind of a ridiculous judgement is that...

AnonymousFri 25 April, 2008 7:01pm

This fone sounds amazing! im getting it on contract! YAY!!!

AnonymousWed 14 May, 2008 11:39pm

The Viewty seriously stinks - I seriously believe that anyone who thinks it is a good phone has a limited knowledge in the field: I bought one for my fiance and not only is the camera absolutely terrible (with poor colour representation, bleachy flash and highly pixelated darks) but the clunky haptic feedback keypad is unresponsive and unreliable, requiring heavy-handet digit-presses.
Texting and navigating is at best temperamental and at worst downright frustrating and despite its DivX certification the phone has little or no multimedia codec support, nor third-party solutions to the problem as it runs some unheard-of proprietary o.s. with only java support.

My fiance asked me to return the handset 18 days later and has gone back to her N95 - which in my experience of currently available phones is still the highest spec model with the best camera going for the price. Sure there's no touchscreen but I'd take a Navigational pad anyday over the mushy onscreen keyboard of the viewty - which was so bad that she almost stopped texting entirely.

And the Iphone? Well I have an Ipod touch and I use my N95 with a programme called Walkinghotspot to provide my Ipod with a portable 3.5g internet connection. If apple released an Iphone with 3g, a decent camera and drag and drop music support I'd snap it up anyday: the GUI of the Iphone is absolutely phenominal, requiring only the most delicate of touches to subtly flick pages and input text. Any Viewty or F700 owner who seriously thinks their sluggish and uninviting GUI's are a patch on the Iphone is in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

If N95s disappeared off the face of the planet tomorrow i'd lose the 3g, gimmicky kreuszenschneiderblatten camera and eyeliner input of the Viewty for the enjoyability and intuitiveness of the Iphone.

AnonymousFri 15 August, 2008 11:37am

Iphone is cool but needs the following.
3 Megapixel plus autofocus camera and xenon flash, fully operating bluetooth for transfer of data including pictures and music. Also which Idiot at Apple did not put in a 3G Calling Camera (in the UK we like the option not to have it missing). Get it right for iPhone 3 (Screen and interface is brilliant).