The Samsung SCH-A870 is the latest Samsung cell phone in Verizon's lineup, and while it's not a design showcase or a feature-packed wonder, it's a pretty decent midtier cell phone that should satisfy most consumers. We could've done with a better megapixel camera, but with its price range and target market in mind, we think the SCH-A870 is a better-than-average offering from Verizon. It retails for $99.99, but you can get it for only $49.99 with a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless.
The Samsung SCH-A870 is the latest Samsung cell phone in Verizon's lineup, and while it's not a design showcase or a feature-packed wonder, it's a pretty decent midtier cell phone that should satisfy most consumers. We could've done with a better megapixel camera, but with its price range and target market in mind, we think the SCH-A870 is a better-than-average offering from Verizon. It retails for $99.99, but you can get it for only $49.99 with a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless.
While the SCH-A870 is no fashion phone, it's still quite stylish. Wrapped in silver and accented in black, the SCH-A870 is a slim flip phone measuring 3.6 by 1.8 by 0.85 inches and weighing only 3.4 ounces. Its rounded corners make it great to hold in the hand. The phone opens easily and cradles comfortably next to the ear. The SCH-A870 has a small 1-inch-diagonal external screen in the middle of the front flap, which displays battery and signal strength, the date and time, and caller ID, plus it serves as a self-portrait camera viewfinder when the phone is closed. Above the screen is a VGA camera and a flash. On the left spine are a headset jack and a volume rocker, while the right spine is home to a dedicated camera button and a dedicated speakerphone button.
The SCH-A870 has a 500-entry address book, with room in each entry for five numbers and two e-mail addresses, plus you can assign each entry to a caller group, a picture caller ID, and one of 10 different polyphonic ring tones. Other features include text and multimedia messaging, Bluetooth, speakerphone, voice dialing, instant messaging, wireless Web, e-mail, support for VZ Navigator (Verizon's GPS location service), a calculator, a world clock, a calendar, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a notepad, and VibeTonz, a feature that'll let the phone vibrate to the beat of the ring tone. It also has a regular vibrate mode and a silent mode.
