Samsung SCH-A790 review

Aug 25 2004 - 12:46 AM ET | Samsung

Matt Maier posted a review of the Samsung SCH-A790 over at GigaOm. The big draw for the A790 is that it's both a CDMA and GSM phone. While it is only being sold by Verizon Wireless, it has the ability to roam globally (something no other Verizon Wireless handset enjoys). When overseas the phone switches over to Vodafone, though you'll pay about $1 a minute.

What's not fun is charging the phone every three freakin' hours, and that's probably the A790's biggest drawback: Sub-optimal battery life. Even on a full charge, I averaged a little less than 2 hours of juice when actually using the phone. (The specs say to expect 3 hours.) Other than that, there are only wish-list features missing. Namely, no support for EDGE or UMTS or EV-DO.

The A790 started shipping to Verizon Wireless business customers back in May. It should be available for everyone starting next month.