'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
First Take: Samsung E720
Samsung E720
pros and cons
Based on the same design as the E700, Samsung's E720 is a clamshell mobile phone with an internal antenna. It also boasts some significant extras such as a megapixel camera, Bluetooth, MP3 playback and tri-band network support.
Upside: Samsung has added three multimedia buttons to control MP3 playback to the front of the E720, directly beneath the external display. Pressing play on the E720 instantly starts a song through the headphones (if attached) or the E720's loudspeaker. The external OLED screen shows the equaliser during playback, which swaps to the main display when the phone is flipped opened.
The resolution of the camera has increased from the E700's VGA (640 x 480 pixels) limit up to one megapixel.
A notable omission from the E700 was Bluetooth. Thankfully, Samsung has realised the demand for the wireless technology, which allows cable-free connection to a PC and support for Bluetooth headsets, and added it to the device.
Unlike the dual-band E700, the E720 is a tri-band handset, which will make it more appealing to travellers.
Downside: Even though the internal memory has been bumped up to 90MB, the E720 doesn't support any expansion cards. With this limiting factor, the handset will only be able to store around 25 MP3 songs at an average compression level.
Outlook: Although the E720 looks almost identical to its predecessor, Samsung has added many features that are shaping up to be standard additions this year, such as megapixel cameras and MP3 support.
The Korean-based manufacturer hopes to release the E720 in Australia around May or June this year. At this early stage, a recommended retail price could not be confirmed. If it is any indication, the E700 retailed for AU$899 when it was released in the Q4, 2003.