Review of Samsung's a867 Eternity touchscreen cell phone for AT&T

Samsung Eternity

Samsung Eternity

Samsung Eternity

Samsung Eternity

Samsung Eternity

The Samsung Eternity is a full-touchscreen device that has recently landed on AT&T's shelves. The Eternity features a 3 megapixel camera, built-in MediaFLO antenna for mobile TV, and a built-in GPS receiver for use with the AT&T Navigator service. After spending some time with the Eternity, we take a look at how well this TouchWiz-equipped cell phone works in the real world.

Physical Aspects

The Samsung SGH-a867 Eternity comes in a classy black and chrome color scheme that looks good in any environment. The front of the phone is made up almost entirely of the touchscreen display, and thus is glossy, attracting fingerprints to show off later. There is a chrome ring around the edges of this cell phone, and the entire back plate is a textured matte black plastic. Overall, I really liked the design of the phone.

Despite being cased mostly in plastic, the Samsung Eternity feels really good in the hand. At 109.2mm x 55.9mm x 12.7mm (4.3" x 2.2" x .5") it's quite small, allowing it to be easily used one-handed, despite all controls being touchscreen-based. Despite being a slightly hefty 110.6g (3.9oz), the Eternity feels somewhat hollow, as if there is quite a bit of free space inside it. The handset is weighted slightly heavier towards the bottom, which further enhances the in-hand feel.

As mentioned, the front of the Samsung SGH-a867 Eternity is mostly covered by the large 3.2" touchscreen display. There are, however, three buttons along the bottom edge of the phone, providing send, end, and back functions. The 'End' key pulls double duty as the power button, so you can easily turn the phone on and off. On the top edge of the Eternity, there is a single 'Hold' button, used to quickly lock the touchscreen from accidental keypresses. Along the right edge of the phone, towards the top, is the standard 3.5mm audio port, which is definitely a welcome feature. Below this is the application switcher button, and below that, the dedicated camera key.

The microphone is located along the bottom edge of the Samsung Eternity, and along the left edge is the proprietary power/data/headset multi-jack. Also, the volume rocker is located towards the top of the left edge. The 3 megapixel camera is located on the back of the Eternity, and the entire back panel slides down and out to offer access to the battery and SIM card slot. There is a microSD slot, though it is frustratingly located behind the back panel and requires removal of the battery to change the card.