Samsung SGH-L770 Review

Introduction:

In order to create a successful entry-level phone there needs to be a carefully balanced combination of functions, price and design. One of the popular tactics is to copy a higher-class model and to trim off the hardware specifications. That is the case with the slider Samsung – L770, which looks like the devices from the old Ultra line (U600/U700), but compared to them, has modest capabilities.

The package includes:

• Charger
• Handsfree
• Data cable for PC connection
• User’s manual

Design:

At first, L770 looks very much alike U700 (Ultra 12.1). It’s even the same size or in other words, it is a compact model. It’s nice to see a phone from this class, equipped with a 240х320-pixel TFT display. The colors are good, but unfortunately, nothing can be seen on the screen in direct sunlight.



You can compare the Samsung SGH-L770 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Over it, we have the video calling camera, and below it, the 5-way D-pad (which in contrast to U700 cannot be rotated), the soft and the “send/end” keys. All of them have a very good drive and are very user-friendly.

The sliding mechanism is stable, opens easily and the annoying backlash, usually seen in phones with this form factor, is not present here. The lower part houses the standard keyboard, plus a “delete” button and two shortcuts. The one on the left leads to the shortcut menu with the most frequently used functions, and the other one, activates the video calling. All of them are relatively convenient to use – easy to press, but with a hard to sense relief.

On the left, we find the camera key and the microSD card slot, and the opposite houses the volume rocker and the charger connector. Operating the side buttons is also trouble-free, due to their convenient shapes and the clear click when pressed.


The main 2-megapixel camera is only accessible when the phone is open. The lack of a flash is notable but logical, considering the class of the phone.

Overall, the model is user-friendly and with a pleasant design, which makes us happy.

Interface:

The interface brings nothing surprising since we are used to it from the many Samsung units, which we’ve reviewed in the past two years.

The shortcut menu we’ve already mentioned, is a pleasant feature, which provides a fast access to the most frequently used functions (dialing a number, writing SMS, Internet browser, music player and stopping all active ones), no matter the menu you are in.

The Phonebook stores up to 1000 entries, and for each contact you can input multiple numbers, e-mail, additional information, picture, ringtone, group and a DOB. Unfortunately, you are not able to perform a second name search. The phone conveniently searches for matches in the contact when dialing a number (not by name) and visualizes the results on the screen.

The main menu houses the Calendar, which can be viewed by month, week or day. This will let you easily plan your schedule, letting you have options to select the type of event (meeting, holiday or task). For each one of them, you can set start and end time, location, reminder and repetition if any (daily, weekly, monthly).

The rest of the organizing functions like tasks, calculator, timer, etc. are housed in the Applications menu.

You can create regular or multimedia messages and e-mails. Regrettably, there are no automatic settings for the most popular web mail servers and you’ll always have to enter them manually, which is not very convenient.

Samsung L770 is a tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz), limiting its use in North America. The good news is that if you use it in Europe or Asia, you’ll be able to take advantage of the high-speed internet (HSDPA 3.6Mbit/s).

The phone is equipped with a full HTML browser, which manages to load even complicated pages like PhoneArena.com. The use of the zoom in/out and/or the pan view, showing you the whole page, can make navigation much easier, because you are able to select the area of interest, which to enlarge. The only serious drawback of the browser is the lack of shortcuts to those functions. As a whole, this element is at a very good level, but due to the more difficult navigation if we are talking about mid level Internet oriented phones, we prefer Sony Ericsson G502.


Multimedia wise, L770 has what to offer, mainly in the music department. The player is the same as in the latest high-class Samsungs. It offers many file organizing options (in playlists, by artist, genre, or frequently played). This combined with the presence of FM radio with RDS and the microSD expansion slot makes the device a good investment if you care to listen music on your phone, even though the sound is not the best possible.

However, L770 is no good for watching videos. The picture is choppy, and doesn’t correspond to the sound, no matter the file format (MPEG4 h.264/h.263), the bitrate or the resolutions.

The camera is a 2-megapixel one and offers all necessary for a mid-level cell phone and even a bit more. The interface is in portrait view and has a rich set of options subject to modification – multiple pictures, converting a screen to mosaic, self-portrait, effects (black&white, sepia, negative), frames, white balance. The outdoor picture quality is rather decent and corresponds to the class of the phone. The colors are joy for the eye, but the fine details are not present. The results indoors with a strong light source are the same but slightly blurred. Due to the lack of a flash, you will not be able to make photographs in dark environments.



You can record videos, but they will be with the outdated 176х144 resolution, suitable only for MMS.

Performance:

The phone runs very stable and is fast without any lag when navigating through the menus. That’s characteristic for Samsung’s models and they get our praise for that.

The sound quality during a talk is relatively good. The voices in the receiver are heard somewhat quiet and monotonous, but real. On the other end they will most likely have to turn the volume down a bit, because of the loud, sharp sound. The loudspeaker cannot be used since it is very noisy and it’s hard to understand in both directions.

According to the official data, the phone should last 5 hours of talking or 8 days in standby, which are decent indications for a device from this class.

Conclusion:

Samsung L770 is a very good mid-level. It has an attractive design, it’s user-friendly and all functions perform satisfactory. This puts it ahead from phones like LG KF310 and Samsung M620, which despite having similar capabilities, are equipped with lower quality cameras and displays. L770 is a rival of Sony Ericsson G502 in the class of the multifunctional budget phones. The fact that the browser and the e-mail functions are not optimized, is compensated for by the more beautiful design and the user-friendly buttons.