Samsung SGH-ZX10

Manufacturers are still waiting—and hoping—that consumers will eventually warm up to the idea of watching video on their cell phones. To help that process along, Samsung has teamed up with Cingular Wireless on the SGH-ZX10, a full-featured multimedia phone that takes advantage of Cingular’s new high-speed UMTS network. If you live in an area with UMTS coverage, this phone is worth picking up.

 

As one of Cingular’s first 3G phones, the Samsung SGH-ZX10 is a clamshell that offers a laundry list of top-notch features, including a bright 262,000-color internal display, a music player, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. The swiveling lens enables users to take self portraits while using the internal display as the viewfinder. You also get a robust 50MB of internal memory, as well as a TransFlash memory card slot (but no memory card).

 

This clamshell takes good pictures (by camera phone standards), has an enormous phonebook, as well as a speakerphone and a ton of text and messaging options (AIM, ICQ, and Yahoo instant messaging along with POP3, SMTP, and IMAP4 e-mail support). The handset also supports picture caller ID on the internal display. The hardware is good, but the SGH-ZX10 really shines when it comes to multimedia content and delivery.

 

The SGH-ZX10 is uniquely equipped to take advantage of the new Cingular Video service, which is made possible by the underlying UMTS network. UMTS, which stands for Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service, is currently available in only 16 major markets (www.cingular.com/business/3G_cov_maps_pop), but the carrier plans to roll the technology out to others as the year progresses.

 

If you’re fortunate enough to be in UMTS range, you can customize your home screen with streaming content and watch licensed programs from Cartoon Network, CNN, Comedy Central, The Disney Channel, ESPN, Fox, HBO Mobile, NBC, The Speed Channel, and The Weather Channel.

 

Cingular bundles its video service with the MediaNet Unlimited data package, which costs $19.99 per month. HBO or Music Choice each cost an additional $4.99 per month, and music videos cost 99 cents for one 24-hour period. It’s not the cheapest way to kill time, but if you’re on the road a lot, the premium is worth it.

 

Downloading and buffering video clips was blazingly fast. Sitting in the back of a meeting room, we were able to download and watch content on the 262,000-color display easily. This isn’t the best way to watch TV, but Cingular Video is fine for news and sports highlights. Both Sprint and Verizon Wireless have similar services, but Cingular’s UMTS speeds were a tad quicker than the others in our tests.

 

The audio player supports a plethora of music formats (AAC, AAC+, MP3, and WMA). Too bad the SGH-ZX10 doesn’t ship with stereo headphones. If you’re looking for a way to download songs over the air like V Cast Music or Sprint’s Music Store, you won’t find it on Cingular—at least not yet.

 

The SGH-ZX10 can also be used as a modem for your notebook when paired with Communication Manager 5.2 software, which is a free download from Cingular’s Web site. Of course, this will require the customer to sign up for Cingular’s DataConnect plan for PC Cards, which costs an additional $59.99 for unlimited use with the purchase of a $39.99 or higher voice plan and a two-year agreement.

 

One benefit of UMTS is that customers can use the SGH-ZX10 as a modem while simultaneously conducting a voice call. When using the phone by itself, you can download content while talking. EV-DO phones from Sprint and Verizon can’t perform this type of multitasking.

 

All in all, the SGH-ZX10 is a solid multimedia phone, and accessing Cingular Video content feels quite seamless. Now the network needs to catch up to the hardware.