Myhphone – Mobile Phone Info Center

Samsung, again provide another new mobile phone exclusively to AT&T, The Samsung A887 Solstice. It is a mid-range touch device that for some one looking a budget handset. This phone main functionality would be focus on media and social networking.

Design

Nothing spceail about the design of Samsung A887 Solstice, because we already see this similar layout in Samsung Highlight. At the size of 109 x 53 x 12.7 mm,  the device has a rounded edges design that make it feel good to hold in hand. The touch sensitive screen is the 240 x 400 pixel resolution 3” LCD display that can show up to 262k colors. The display can clearly readable in indoor, but  it fails when viewing it in direct sunlight. The display is responsive too. You can adjust the intensity of the vibrating feedback and change the display’s calibration. There are send, end, and back/clear keys lies below the display. They are big enough to get you noticed, as well as nice press feedback. Overall, although the A887 is so similar with Highlight but it’s still slightly better looks and build quality than the predecessor.

Features

We are happy to see Samsung Solstice A887 also implementing the well-known TouchWiz UI. The interface are exactly seen on the Eternity but with new added widgets – The Facebook widget. It is just a shortcut launches the browser to the web site, so we don’t think this device is enough to be a good social networking-friendly phone as the company claim it was. The interface also provide both dial pad and the QWERTY keypad for you to make a calling or text messaging.

The Samsung A887 Solstice spot a 2MP camera, which is obviously not the best one. You can akes pictures in five resolutions from 320×240 pixels, up to 1,600×1,200 pixels. Images quality is  mediocre under bright lighting condition, while indoor shots were fuzzy. The camera also double as a camcoder. However, it only short at  two resolutions (320×240 and 176×144). You can share your recorded video with the video share service via AT&T network.

The music player that come with Samsung A887 was the regular one. Option is basic which you will only see the reverse, play/pause, forward, repeat, and shuffle. Audio qualities is disappointed, the major problem – not loud enough. So headset is the only way to listen for a better music quality alternative.  Video playing in the other hands is better but still in average level. The video support H.263/H.264/MPEG4 format files, and the interface is quite easy to control.  As because of the sounds problem, you may still need a headset for watching video, or you will not knowing what are the actors talking about.

Conclusion

Just like the Samsung Highlight, the Samsung A887 Solstice has not stand out enough. But it do offer fast performance and improved phone call quality. Overall, the Samsung A887 Solstice is for regular buyers, tech savvy is not recommended.