Samsung Eternity review

Samsung have added yet another touchscreen phone to their lineup which is the Samsung Eternity. At the time of writing this, they already have several touchscreens of this style that they produce. At first glance, some of the Samsung Eternity features seem just like their other phones, and it is in the same price range as most of their phones ($149 with a contract, $369 without). Look at the Samsung Behold, the Samsung Omnia, and the Samsung Memoir. Just like Samsung Eternity, they are all full-face touchscreens with the same style of navigation buttons on the bottom, and they all come, by default, in the same shade of black. If you were to lay the 4 phones in order on a table, the novice user would not be able to tell much of a difference between them - much less tell you which phone is which!

So with Samsung already having so many phones of this style, this is going to have to be some special phone for it to stand out above the competition and warrant the sacrifice of your hard-earned money to bring it home with you. The question, then: Does the Samsung Eternity pull though enough to make it a better option than the other smart phones in its class? Well, at the end of the day, the answer usually depends upon your personal needs in a phone - but let’s take a look at some of the specific features that the Samsung Eternity offers to the end user, and see how those options stack up against the other devices on the market.

Let’s start with the bad. The downsides to this phone are similar to the weaknesses that the other Samsung touchscreen models have. First, there is no wifi connectivity. This might be tolerable if the built in 3G support was more reliable, but so far, it has proven to be pretty shaky, making it hard to sustain a reliable connection in many areas. Also, the Samsung Eternity lacks full email support, limiting you to partial messages or using a web-based solution through its web browser. For anyone interested in business-intensive use, this phone is not completely ruled out, but the lack of wifi is an immediate deal breaker for many. These business oriented users will most likely end up rushing straight to the latest model of Blackberry for its integrated enterprise solutions and built-in wireless internet that is easy to use.

The 3 megapixel camera is crisp, clear, and offers pictures that compare to the quality from many expensive standalone digital cameras. In tests, the Samsung Eternity’s built in camera has blown most other phones entirely out of the water. When looking at the picture by itself, the Eternity is one of the few cameras that can produce a picture so clear that it legitimately does not appear to be from a phone. While many cameras offer high resolution photos, most of the time they still produce a noisy, grainy or washed-out image that looks to be either a still from a camcorder or, more obviously, from a camera phone. Not here. The eternity won’t disappoint in this department.

However, while the camera itself may be a positive part of the phone’s photo-taking abilities, there is one downside that is sure to drive some users crazy: The lack of a built in flash. With most basic camera phones, this is not so much of a problem, since the camera is not very functional by design anyway. When you’re using this incredibly powerful camera, on the other hand, the lack of a flash is a huge drawback that could ruin a potentially perfect picture. On the bright side, third parties often come out with accessories, and the likelihood of a camera flash add-on being marketed is relatively high.

The target audience for Samsung Eternity is someone who is looking for a sleek, stylish phone to talk to their friends on, access the internet, take high-resolution pictures, and make a statement with. While the businessman could most definitely make this phone work, that’s not really the target audience. This is the phone for the businessman to use after he gets off work to keep up with his friends, not the phone he uses during the day to update spreadsheets and forward them to clients.

Compared to most touchscreen phones such as the iPhone and the Blackberry Storm, the Samsung Eternity is slightly lighter. The physical dimensions are very likeable, since the phone is just big enough to offer a big screen, but it is very thin, keeping it from being a pain to carry around in your pocket or one of the compartments of a purse, bag or jacket. The slim profile and light weight of the Eternity don’t make it feel flimsy or breakable, however. It still retains the solid, sturdy feel of a much heavier phone. Try imagining what it would feel like to hold a helium filled brick, and you’re off to a good start.

While the 3G connection is sometimes shaky, when it works, it does work very well. The unrestricted, full web browsing capability of the Samsung Eternity makes loading any website a breeze. The included software suite is very powerful, and everyone from the MySpace addict to the forum poster will be happy. Of course, like most phones, there is no support for Flash based plug-ins such as games and some videos. The only other real downside to the browser is the lack of an easy way to zoom in and out of the page. This requires tapping a little magnifying glass icon multiple times until you are where you want to be. While this isn’t a huge deal, it is far from the iPhone’s eloquent solution.

Overall, the Samsung Eternity is a solid phone for someone looking for a middle-of-the-road touchscreen smart phone. While it may seemingly blend in to Samsung’s line of phones, it does have its own place, and fits the bill for many people. Business users may want to look elsewhere if they want some more enterprise-oriented features, but otherwise, they can still be just happy with the Eternity for daily use.