Digital Trends

 

The first thing consumers will notice about the A990 when taking it out of the box is that this is a THICK phone. It’s thicker than the T-Mobile Sidekick 3 and is similar to an old Motorola StarTac phone. Although the phone is thicker than most phones out there today, it’s also very sleek and businesslike. It has an all-black design with silver touches that people won’t be afraid to be seen with.

 

Obviously, the main feature of this phone is the 3.2-megapixel camera it packs. Not only can it do high-quality images, but it can export them via TV Out (cables are included) or via PictBridge technology. That’s right, you can plug this phone into a photo printer and print away. It also has a microSD slot included for extra storage and easy transfer options. Even if none of these transfer options appeal to you, you can always use the built-in Bluetooth and e-mail capabilities the A990 offers.

 

Don’t even think about using the camera on this phone like other cell phones. The big 240 x 320 pixel, 262k color screen flips around to fold over on top of the keypad transforming the phone into a full-fledged camera. Shutter controls and settings, including zoom, can be found on the right side of the phone, while music player controls are on the left side. The flash for this camera is still LED-based, which is a shame considering how nice the pictures in daylight are, so don’t expect this phone to take stunning pictures at nighttime. The maximum resolution for pictures is 2,048 x 1,536—a whopping size of a picture for a cell phone to produce.

 

Other included features are Verizon Wireless’ VCAST service, which offers streaming video, audio, and music store downloads in a crippled-DRM format, stereo speakers on the sides of the phone, and a big keypad that’s simple and easy to use. The outside of the phone sports a bright, crisp 65k color LCD display that shows the time and caller information.

 

Image Courtesy of Samsung