Samsung Eternity

The multimedia-rich Samsung Eternity for AT&T provides one-touch access to AT&T Mobile TV and a full-touch QWERTY keypad access via its large, vivid 3.2-inch touchscreen. With AT&T's Mobile TV offering, you can watch TV-quality programming from Comedy Central, ESPN, Fox, NBC, and more...

Features

• Black-and-chrome multimedia phone with large, vivid 3.2-inch touchscreen, haptic feedback, and intuitive TouchWiz interface
• 3G-enabled phone compatible with AT&T Navigator GPS turn-by-turn directions, AT&T Mobile Music, Video Share service, and Mobile TV
• 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder, Bluetooth stereo music, MicroSD expansion to 8 GB, access to personal email and instant messaging
• Up to 5 hours of talk time, up to 240 hours (10 days) of standby time
• What's in the Box: handset, battery, charger, user manual

Reviews

Very impressive and nice alternative to iPhone IMHO

by Geekapoo from Somerville, MA USA on 2008-11-15
Was looking to replace my current phone. Already have a work phone (BB) for email/texting. Was looking for a personal phone with good reception so I could close down my land line. Also wanted a phone with good form factor and ability to access the net w/good resolution viewing the pages. Initially tried an unlocked Nokia n78....great reception (Nokia has the best), loved in particuolar that it has an FM transmitter. The browser was fast and the screen nice but did not like that you have to go into the menu to rotate the screen and zoom. Aso, the keyborad buttons are very tricky. So....next went and bought an iPhone, which I thought an amazing gadget. Loaded with features. I was stunned however to find that the phone reception was erratic and often poor (many dropped and missed calls). Found out that this is a common problem with the 2nd gen iPhone (do a web search on "iPhone reception problems..). Also thought the iPhone a tad too large (especially as I aso frequently need to carry a work BB) and the camera mediocre. Bought the Eternity two days ago. Fantastic form factor and great price for the features. Love how it has behaved so far as I put it through the various tests. Like the touch interface, menu interface and the auto rotation screen. Keyboard is nice, best once rotating the screen the long way. Call quality is as good as the iPhone but not as good as the Nokia. Reception is MUCH better than the iPhone (which at times was borderline defective) but not as good as Nokia. Unlike the iPhone, you can add external memory (micro SD). Apple charges 199 for an 8G and 299 for a 16G iPhone....$100 for 8G iPhone memory upgrade vs. $20 for an 8G card. Expect iPhone upgrades in the future of 24G, 32G etc for $100 or more a pop LOL. You do the math. For web access through ATT, I pay $15/m for the Eternity and would have paid $30/m if I kept the iPhone (it is more data intensive). Overall, I love this phone so far....better price, better monthly payment, great form factor, fast browser, nice mp3 interface with quick access to preset equilizer settings. The only other phones on my radar screen are the BB flip, HTC Touch Diamond and the Nokia n85.....but this one seems a keeper, especially given the price. If I get bored or something new comes out that is a must have, I'll just buy it (will need to be an unlocked phone unless it's upgrade time) as I'm only down $100 with this phone ($50 if through Amazon). Happy shopping. Pros: Form factor (size/shape) Price (phone and web plan) Can use MicroSD cards 3.5mm headphone jack accelometer bright nice rez screen bluetooth, 3mp camera, easy access preset equalizer great battery life GPS and ATT TV capable (if you are into either feature) Cons: Does not come with USB cable for computer hookup Does not have iPhone-like zoom feature Wish it had Nokia-like reception Dec. 2 2008 update: Returned the phone. Found that I was only getting 1-2 bars at home and occasionally missing calls. In contrast, my old phone (Sony Ericcson 810i) and my wife's Blackberry 8300 were getting 4-5 bars (all phones on the ATT network). Took a trip to VT...had no reception in one town while my wife had 2-3 bars on her Blackberry. Both the Blackberry and Samsung Eternity are 3G. Overall, an amazing gadget but lacking with respect to the feature I wanted most....A PHONE I COULD DEPEND ON FOR MAKING/RECEIVING CALLS.

Excellent handset, some very pleasant surprises.

by A. Gift For You from Phoenix, AZ on 2008-11-16
I just recently purchased the Eternity to replace a Sony Ericsson W580i (great phone, not without annoyances though) and so far this has been a very good phone! I was almost going to take it back because it doesn't have some features I wanted, I was going to purchase a Fuze in its place at a couple of hundred bucks more. Here's why - I wanted a handset that had 802.11b/g, not a deal breaker since I have a Nokia N800 if I want portable web surfing and e-mail, but it would be nice to have a single device that covers that purpose, the Eternity clearly doesn't have Wifi, but it is a 3G capable device and because it's a " dumb " phone, you can stay on AT&T's 15 dollar unlimited MediaNet plan. Which leads me to the other reason why I chose to keep it. I wanted a handset that could at least let me view MSOffice docs and spreadsheets, PDF's and was capable of being a media device for short trips and times when I don't feel like carrying a seperate device. I was pleasantly surprised to see it has an unadvertised feature. You can view MSOffice docs and PDF's through Access (think NetFront Browser) and they can be viewed landscape or vertical, zoomed, etc... Very nice surprise feature! Makes this " dumb " phone a little better than the iPhone, especially when you factor in the 3.5mm headset jack, the 8gb MicroSDHC and the countless free J2ME apps like Gmail, GoogleMaps, and Opera Mini that you can install for free. Plus, the accelerometer works well, the haptic feedback is great, although the onscreen keyboard can be tricky at times. Overall, there is very little to dislike about this handset. I wish it had a flash on the camera, which is stellar in decent lighting and has some cool features, like a six frame panorama stitch. I also some of the Java apps used the accelerometer. The widgets are a nice touch and I personally like the uncluttered look of the home screen. If you want a solid iPhone alternative, look no further, or just looking for a killer non WinMo phone that does just about everything a normal, non business-centric person would need, check this one out!

Awesome phone for specifc user set, rock solid for all else

by omega6 from San Francisco, CA USA on 2008-12-09
Pros: a. TouchWiz interface responsive, carefully thought-out, superb qwerty, sms b. fast 3G data combined with the capability of adding free Java apps (Gmail, Google Maps, upcoming Firefox mobile) makes it smart competition for iPhone, with data plan costing only $15/m since this is considered a feature phone-only (non-PDA, vs. the $30/m cost of iPhone) c. ID3-tag mp3 player w background play capability, album art display, basic EQ Cons: a. some menu real-estate used for ATT add-on programs that most will not use b. microSd card slot located inside casing c. does not come with usb cable (but bluetooth transfers at 110kb/s) d. built-in medianet browser meh (but can load Opera, FF) Summary: The Eternity is a beautiful touch-screen phone that stands apart due to it's unique Samsung Touchw interface that is a fast and functional alternative to the iPhone, going far beyond copying the iPhone or any other phone's home screen interface for something uniquely useful and cool. While not as expandable as the iPhone in terms of applications, its built-in apps plus the addition of any Java app (like Gmail, Google maps, eventually Firefox Mobile in 2009) offer almost the same flexibility. Its phenomenal qwerty touch keyboard is far superior to that of any other touch phone I've used, including the Lg VU and iPhone; and, the mp3 player is the best on-phone player I've seen w/ microSd expandability. Bottom line, if you like txt-ing, portable e-mail, and great media capability (microSd+3.5mm headphone jack), this phone is an excellent match. For anyone else, its solid talk and battery life are still very compelling, but it may have a lot of extras you may not use.

Great handset, insane quality for the price...

by Donna B. Herweg from Brewer, ME on 2009-03-06
I got this phone through Amazon.com while signing up for a new contract, after recieving it a week ago, I've yet to put it down. I can't stop playing w/ it, finding new features, and enjoying the ones I've discovered. I put about 5 and a half gigs of music on an eight gig card I ordered w/ the phone from Amazon.com, cheap, like 6 bucks. The Eternity has great call quality, sounds like a cordless, land-line handset. The music player is great, it's replaced my Ipod, mostly cuz it's always on me, and it has more capacity. The media.net features are really nice. I got an unlimited data plan, which I might suggest to anyone interested in using this phone for mobile email, and just general browsing. The browser is a bit slow, but that's to be expected. Graphics are definately quality, and navigating the phone's menues is a breze, almost fun. I would definately suggest this phone to anyone looking for a handset that rivals the Iphone, without having to pay the absurd data rates of the Iphone's service plans. The phone has full support for just about any Java program: I've put Gmail an Google maps along w/ 7 or so other apps, like dictionarys and suduko apps on the phone. It has a 3.5mm phono jack, so no proprietary plugs needed to listen to music via headphones. This phone is so jam-packed w/ features it's amazing that it is virtually free through Amazon.com. Oh, and the phone's built in 3.0 megapixel camera takes some damn good photos, I must say. My girlfriend's been fooled that I took some pics w/ the phone and not my 8.1 mp Sony. Get this phone, it's a buyer's market right now, and I think this phone is like a penny through Amazon.com if you're in the market for a new contract. Don't think, just buy...!!!

NOT A BUSINESS PHONE!!!!!!!!

by Mr. Hett from Baltimore MD on 2009-01-03
Before I got this phone i read a lot of reviews comparing it to smart phone. It falls short of smart phone features because it is not one! It is the best multimedia phone I ever had. Ive been through plenty of music phones including the iphone(first one an 3G), Samsung sync, the chocolate, Nokia 5310, Motorola ROKR, Sony W580i, Sony W600i, Samsung Upstage, Moto KRZR, and the Nokia 3300. Sometimes I wish it had WiFi, but att 3G is so fast that i can do without it. I recently put Eagle Eye and the Dark Knight on it and the picture quality is amazing. The TV feature is not all that great because it is only a handful of channels. If your looking for a phone to try Flotv o you should try the Vu. Google Maps is decent on it although it does not use the built in gps, it triangulates your position using local cellphone towers. It does not come with a usb cable, but if you feel you really need one. you can pick one up at amazon for $5 or less. I honestly don't see why anyone would need one because I connect it to my computer using bluetooth and put music and movies directly on my 8gb micro sd. In conclusion it is a great music phone because of its 3.5 mm plug (for use with regular headphones), 200MB built in storage (holds like 3 CDs), and good music organization. It is also good for texting because it has a choice of font and built in accelerometer (unlike the Vu).

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