Basic Features

The A870 features standard calling capabilities - speakerphone, caller ID, voicemail, call waiting, phone number storage, redial, three-way calling and a phonebook with a capacity of 500 entries.

Be warned, however, that some of these features (caller ID, voicemail, call waiting, three-way calling) may require an additional fee. The A870 operates in both English and Spanish, and also features a standalone airplane mode.

Samsung rated the A870's 1000 mAh Li-Ion battery at 3.3 and 170 hours (7.08 days) of talk and standby times respectively. However, these times are under optimal conditions. An extended 1550 mAh battery is available for separate purchase.

Screen

The A870 features both internal and external 65K-color LCD screens. The external screen, which measures a square 96 x 96 px, features a clock, the date, phone status icons, and its own wallpaper (which of course may be adjusted independently of the internal wallpaper).

Phone status icons include the standard assortment, such as battery charge level and signal strength. The external screen's contrast can be adjusted to help aid visibility under various lighting conditions. As mentioned before, when the phone is closed while in camera mode, the external screen can be used for self-portraits.

The internal screen also features phone status icons, wallpaper, and a clock, as well as the banner and softkey labels. This screen is 120 x 160 px in size, though 14 of the vertical pixels are necessarily dedicated to the icons and softkey labels rather than wallpaper. Dialing font options abound, controlling both size and style.

Font style includes a choice among standard black numbers, color numbers, and, somewhat uniquely "Sticky" and "Quill Pen" styles. Sticky displays dialed numbers as sticky notes for those who desire more square-shaped color in their lives, while Quill Pen scribbles the digits in various colors onto a parchment wallpaper with an animated quill for some 18th century nostalgia.

Preloaded wallpapers include everything from the Verizon check-markesque V to images of tropical paradise. They can be supplemented by downloaded images or pictures taken with the phone's camera. The clock may be set to either analog or digital, but the analog setting fills the entire external screen, displacing the wallpaper. The clock may be turned off on either screen. User can choose from a variety of display color themes; sadly, none of them seem to replace the red icon / label bars with another color.

Featuring standard specifications, both screens are perfectly satisfactory for the level of photo quality and entertainment features available on this phone. A variety of wallpapers and dialing fonts add some customizable spice. Again, nothing revolutionary, but nothing is missing that should be found on a phone of this class.

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