Hello, this is a review of the Samsung SPH-a640.

In the Box

-a640 phone

-User manual

-1000mAh battery

-Travel Charger

The Outside

The a640 measures 90mm long, 46.3mm wide, and 22.9mm thick. Fairly large compared to todays standards as far as thickness goes. The exterior of the phone is completely black, except for the silver band on top and the Bell logo. The lid has a 1.3MP camera and a hidden OLED screen. The screen is monochrome and completely impossible to read in direct sunlight, probably because it is hidden by a glossy piece of plastic.

The left side has the volume up/down keys and a 2.5mm headset jack covered by a plastic flap. The right side has a camera key and loudspeaker key. On the bottom there is only the charging/data port again covered by a plastic flap. The back is bare, with the entire lower 3/4 being the lid for the battery. It has a Samsung logo embedded. There are 2 small nubs on it as well, to steady the phone perhaps. I think it is quite ugly and would look more clean without them. The manual says to press down on the 'button' part of it and slide back to remove it, but I cannot do it no matter how hard I try. I half suspect the dealer at the store glued it on. On top of the back is the eyelet for a wrist strap or such, which quite interestingly does not come included.

Over all I think cosmetically it is quite an ugly phone. There is nothing special about the looks and it is impossible to open the battery compartment. Build quality is mediocre, I have only had this phone for a few months and already I can rock the lid left and right about half a millimeter. With a little effort I can move it an entire millimeter. There is a gap between the lid and body when closed which makes for extra thickness, although not much.

The Inside

When you open the lid you are greeted by nothing special. The screen is surprisingly small. My old T720 even has a very slightly larger screen. Colours are average, just 65,000. The keypad is okay, seeing as I don't have a really good phone to compare it to. The keypad backlight is quite even, I am impressed by it. The navigation keys are surrounded by a silver band that really doesn't look good. There is no memory card slot at all.

Operation

Navigation is simple as all Samsung phones, although the themes are quite lacking. No games come loaded, a definite minus. The T720 came with 2 games preloaded. If you turn the ringer volume down system sounds still play, including start up and shut down noises.

Camera use is okay, there are frames to use for fun, but they are bad quality and block most of the picture. When taking a self-portrait, you can close the lid and use the OLED screen to see yourself. Problems arise though, as the screen is slow and quite small. There is no way to get the pictures off the phone without spending money on either uploading it to an 'online album' or a data cable with does not come in the box. Because all the pictures I've taken with my phone are stuck on the phone, I can't say anything about the quality of it. There is no video recording, although it might not matter with the low amount of memory

Overall

If all you do with a phone is make calls, some texting, and the occasional picture, this phone is probably for you. If you're a heavy power user like me that wants a camera that can produce print quality images and a large screen, etc, do not get this phone. Some good alternatives on Bell include the Sanyo Katana, Nokia 6275i, or Samsung a900.

The Good

-Stylish (Not to me though)

-Cheap (I paid $30 but a few weeks later it's free)

-Good keypad backlighting

The Bad

-No memory card slot

-Bad build quality

-Outside screen is monochrome

-Outside screen is impossible to read in sunlight

-Cannot get files off phone without spending money one way or another

-Camera does not shoot video

-Start up and shut down noises always play

-No wrist strap included

-No data cable included

Rating: 4/10