Samsung SGH-A110

Although Samsung unveiled its new SGH-N100 (reviewed issue 78, p161) and SGH-A110 phones together, the SGH-A110 has taken longer to ship. The two are remarkably different, with the SGH-A110 missing most of the N100's excellent features, including voice commands, recording and integrated answerphone. This dearth of features pays for the A110's cute compact folding 'V' design.

When closed, the A110 looks very small, but its volumetric and weight measurements are actually larger than the more conventional SGH-N100.

The user interface is in standard Samsung style, with navigation via hierarchical menus, while the keypad has large, easy-to-use keys. That said, there's no rolling scroll control or a navigation pad, with the A110 depending on a compass arrangement of arrow keys and two soft-programmable keys.

The screen displays how many submenus the current menu leads from, with a Web browser-style 'back' symbol assigned to the right soft key for moving back up the menu tree. From the top of the menu tree you can rapidly reach the menu option you require if you know its menu path number sequence. By keying in these numbers you don't need to plough through the menus using the up and down keys. One of the first options we switched off was sliding menu animation, which slowed everything down but was fun to look at.

The A110's Phone.com browser is a popular choice in many WAP phones today, with several ISP configurations preset, including Freeserve and Genie. The A110's small screen is just about adequate for browsing.

Predictive text input support for SMS messaging comes in the form of the leading Tegic T9 system. Using a soft key, it's easy to cycle between upper- and lower-case T9 modes, as well as non-T9 alphanumeric modes.

The SGH-A110 is a phone that rewards those with good memories. Not only can you shortcut to functions with memorised number sequences, but you can also speed-dial if you can remember the phonebook entry numbers. If it's a single digit, just keep that number pressed for a couple of seconds, or key multiple digits followed by hash. That said, voice dialling would have been even better.

Two lithium battery sizes are available, and both are included. The slim 40-hour battery was good for two days of light use, switched off at night. The supplied standard battery is slightly thicker and nearly doubles standby time to 70 hours. Audio quality and signal reliability were both excellent, although the hinge of the flip makes a distracting cracking sound if pressed against your ear. Unlike the N100, infrared wireless capability is included with the A110.

Apart from infrared, the A110 is functionally inferior to its cheaper, if less stylish N100 Samsung sibling. But for some, looks are everything, and the A110 certainly has looks. If it's functionality you're after though, then there are too many omissions for us to recommend the A110, stacking it up as a poor-value release against too many competing products.

Author: Ian Burley