December 24, 2009
Samsung Mythic a897 Phone
Posted by: : Category: Gadget & Technology
With one-touch access to features including AT&T Mobile TV and social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, the Samsung Mythic for AT&T is a portable entertainment powerhouse. It features a 3.3-inch touchscreen with virtual…
Buy Samsung Mythic a897 Phone at Amazon
December 24th, 2009 at 7:24 am
I tried this phone out for a day until realizing there is no supported way to sync my Outlook contacts from my PC to the phone. But here are some impressions of the phone while i used it, until its return.
The screen is very nice: higher resolution than other non-smartphones (360 x 640). Internet browser is fairly responsive, but does not display the regular pages as intended as the screen is still not wide enough. The WAP pages look fine.
Calls sound clear in both handset & speakerphone modes. But in a 40 minute call to AT&T support, the call was dropped 3 times. Could be AT&T network issue – don’t know as this is our only AT&T cell phone. (No problems with our Verizon phone.)
Navigating the screen takes some getting used to. To scroll thru the 3 home pages, I kept accidentally opening applications I didn’t want, or not getting it to scroll. Definitely a step behind the iPhone I played with before.
Camera images are pretty good for a camera phone. Shots taken indoors are brighter than on other camera phones I’ve used, thanks to the flash.
Music syncing worked fine – there are several ways to do it. There is also the Samsung “PC Studio” software on the accompanying CDROM or from the Samsung website, that allows media transfers.
Since this is classified as not being a smartphone, there is no data plan required with this phone. Optionally, there is a $15 unlimited data plan available from AT&T.
As noted, the deal breaker for me was that there is no supported way to transfer contacts to the phone from my PC. Maybe they will support this feature later? Will try the Solstice.
December 24th, 2009 at 7:32 am
After I read a professional review, I wasn’t sure about the Mythic. It rated the touch screen and the camera as poor.
Not so, according to my (two week’s experience) with the Mythic. The touch screen works fine and the camera is exceptional. I have a lot of experience with digital cameras and having this camera with me all the time means I will not have to drag around a dedicated camera. Granted, it’s not great in low light without flash, but what basic camera is?
What attracted me to the Mythic was the standard (miniature) USB connector and the standard headphone jack. Not having to keep special cables around, which I always misplace, is a definite plus.
Call quality seems great. I live at the very edge of AT&T 3G reception and the phone does about as well as the best phone I’ve had.
The battery life is a real plus: two weeks of stand-by time!!
I can’t say I’ve gotten proficient with all the phone’s features — that will take a while — but everything I’ve tried (after I learned how to operate it) has worked fine.
Everyone compares touchscreens with the iPhone; but being able to use a $15 unlimited media package rather than paying twice that much for an iPhone plan, was a “deal-maker” for me.
In short, I recommend the Mythic.
December 24th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I’ll start by saying I’ve been an AT&T customer for years and have always had Motorola phones with no major complaints.
This phone as I stated in my title is “AWESOME”. No it is not an iPhone and I never expected it to be, but it’s quite a
phone with tons of stuff (just about anything you’d want)!!
Right out of the box, no problems at all. I use mine for making calls, music and web surfing.
Touchscreen works great for me, but I’m old school and rarely text.
Want it – Get it, you will not be disappointed (most will love it)
P.S. This is replacing my Motorola Razor V3 and I’m sort of remotely located and the reception on this Mythic is considerably better!
As for the previous poster (Edward), if you would use a different ISP, would not have any problems downloading the manual
December 24th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Interesting and informative. But will you write about this one more?
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July 18th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Just acquired a Mythic for myself and will likely be having one particular for my wife quickly! It has just the correct mix of capabilities. just short of the complete smartphone. I’m preserving an eye for the Captivate for a potential long term telephone…costs are way too large when released. I’ve been in higher tech for 20+ years and generally hack everything I own to generate it much better laptops, GPS, vehicle navigation systems, etc. and yes cell phones too. Inside number of days I’ve owned the mobile phone I’ve already installed Opera Mini, Bolt 2.1, freecaddie, Google Maps w/GPS functionality, deleted all locked unproductive apps following backing them up and entirely modified the menu process to my exact needs with no all useless apps.