Refine search for Mobile Phones

Samsung SGH-J700 Review

Author Sandra Vogel
Published 10th Apr 2008
Manufacturer Samsung Mobile UK
Supplier Orange
Price £60.86 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed £69.99 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price Click here
Design Score 8 for Design
Features Score 6 for Features
Usability Score 7 for Usability
Value Score 6 for Value
Overall Score 7 for Overall
Samsung SGH-J700
Discuss this article  10 comments    Email this to a friend  Email this to a friend TrustedReviews NewslettersTrustedReviews Newsletters

Samsung's J700 is fairly widely available. You can pick it up on O2 pay and go and Vodafone pay as you talk in black, but only Orange has the purple version. This purple SGH-J700 is available on Orange pay as you go for £69.99, and Orange supplied me with a review sample.

This is a slider handset and its looks are pretty standard in comparison to some of Samsung's mobiles. It doesn't have a touchscreen and isn't amazingly tiny, nor does it have a fancy mega-sophisticated camera and in fact it doesn't claim to be super-duper at anything.


‘Style with substance' is the phrase used to describe the SGH-J700. I'd certainly go with the ‘style' part of the equation as the phone looks rather nice albeit in a predictable and understated kind of way. I'm not so sure about the ‘substance', though. What is on offer in terms of specifications is at the lower end of mid-range.

As a tri-band handset with GPRS and EDGE you aren't going to expect to be blasting away at web page reading and mobile email very much, but then the smallish screen measuring 2in across the diagonal isn't screaming out to be used for such visually rich activity.


In fact, the screen's 128 x 160 pixels are the first sign that this mobile drops in at the lower end of mid-range. When I did try some web browsing the resolution was such that I gave the attempt up fairly quickly. The screen is just not up to it.

The other dead giveaway as you glance at the specifications is the camera. At 1.3-megapixels this is actually more entry-level than mid-range. As you would expect its performance isn't wonderful. Over exposure is its key problem I discovered and it is a biggie.

The coloured dish, photographed under normal household lighting conditions is possibly the most over exposed I've ever seen this particular shot. The background is meant to be white, but this phone's lens has gone overboard and the dish's colours are rather washed out as a result of the overexposure.

Outdoors, the flower heads are simply a blob of white rather than distinguishably individual. The chair fares better, and is really quite good compared to the other photos I took with this phone.

 

Newsletters

Register to receive the latest Reviews and News Headlines directly to your Inbox every day, and enter our regular competitions. More Info.

Your Name


Email Address


Latest 4 of 10 Comments

Have your say: Leave a comment below about this article.

Comment Tom said on 28th January 2009

Hi, got given this phone brand new today.
Couldn't get the back off so I googled it. Hey presto.
Okay I got really fed up and prised the bloody thing off sideway... more

Comment Sinead said on 10th February 2009

This is the WORST phone that i have ever bought! I bought one 3wks b4 xmass and had 2exchange it within 14 days as i could not get any signal on it at all and it would cut off mid ... more

Comment Deborah said on 16th March 2009

I have struggled with getting the back off my phone for months so the blu-tac tip was great (although used sellotape), it came off in no time at all. I have noticed that I keep re... more

Comment jake fransis said on 1st May 2009

people, the j700 is not a bad phone, . there are good points and bad points to this phone. the bad points are as follows: 1) the back cover is hard to get off. 2) the internet spe... more

See all 10 comments on this article.

Add Comment Add your comment

You must be logged in to comment. Login or register here.