Sprint’s Samsung MM-A700 is an interesting phone that shows a glimpse of what can be done with 3G networks. A dual/tri-band phone, from the moment it starts up, it plays off a chime to let you know that picture and sound is what this phone is all about. With a built in camera, camcorder, support for streaming media, e-mail, scheduling, wireless web and the works, it’s got some of the best features that you expect from GSM networks but this flip phone is in a CDMA package.

Where’s a good place to start with all these features? The camera, which is fast becoming ubiquitous on all phones, is of a one megapixel CMOS quality. This lets you take pictures at resolutions from 175x165 to 1152x864 at variable quality settings with built in flash. It’s also a sign that camera phones will eventually become competitive with mainstream digital cameras. After all, it wasn’t too long ago when one megapixel was the norm for digital cameras.

The parts used for the camera portion can also be used for video recording. The MM-A700 lets you record fifteen second clips of moving video. We tried this function, not often seen on a phone, and found a lot to like about it. The clarity is fairly good, although the phone has a hard time picking up sound in crowded and noisy settings. The flash used in the camera mode is recycled as a spotlight to shine on your video subject. This doesn’t mean you can film in pitch black settings but it enhances the brightness of whatever you’re focusing on.

On the Sprint network, once you have your photo or video you can elect to upload it to a website, e-mail it or save it to the camera’s 32MB phone space. Transfer of the media doesn’t take too long but the vibrant color screen that comes with the phone will encourage you to keep your media around. With a 65,000 color TFT screen, the phone is conducive to displaying graphics. This makes it worthwhile to get on Sprint and download some screen savers and wallpapers to customize the phone. Or if you don’t find any you want, you can use some of the media you’ve created yourself.

The piece de resistance as advertised by Sprint is the MM-A700’s support for streaming video. How so? Through Sprint, you’re able to access Sprint’s Multimedia service. A $9.99 per month charge will let you watch basic Sprint TV, which takes a medley of content from outlets like NBC. Premium channels go for about $4.95 per month and will bring you content from branded outlets like CNN or Fox Sports. Because of the bandwidth available, though, the video is of a very low quality and tends to be disjointed. The sound, however, is solid and so the resulting presentation is more like audio with a slideshow of moving pictures (think early experiences with RealVideo). Overall, it will be awhile until this hits prime time. Right now, we can only envision early adopters taking on the service.

Besides streaming video, Sprint offers support for Yahoo and MSN Hotmail services, as well as an AIM instant messaging client. Wireless web is provided through the use of color WAP sites.

The MM-A700 has measurements of 3.5” x 2.0” x 0.96”. It looks a lot like other Samsung flip phones but it has good tactile feedback on the keys. During gaming sessions, in particular arcade games, you won’t feel like you’re damaging the phone when the action gets hot and heavy. The rather conservative form factor gives a brilliant 2” screen, which is plenty of real estate for wireless applications. Keep in mind that at the end of the day, this unit can still fit in someone’s pockets.

We found the calendar and scheduling options a little thin. It won’t replace anyone’s Outlook organizer but can be good for a reminder or two. Particularly pleasing were the National Geographic images that made up the background of the calendar. It would have been nice if some of these were included as part of the preloaded wallpaper.

The volume control is also a little suspect. We could customize the volume for many events (volume for missing caller ID, recognizable caller ID, etc.) but the volume level was never consistent. The default ring tones were quiet on low volumes. Downloaded ones, particularly ones lifted from music (American Woman, for example), were much louder than anticipated. A unified volume control for all volumes might have been a better idea.

Finally, for a multimedia phone, it’s curious to find that the MM-A700 doesn’t support popular removable media formats like SD/MMC, CF or SmartMedia. It would have been logical if a user could view or transfer photos from these popular digital camera media formats.

Overall, Sprint’s MM-A700 is a stand up phone. We still haven’t covered the voice quality and reception, which were both great – even when roaming outside of Sprint’s network. The phone and the service definitely deserve the multimedia moniker. We particularly liked the camera and camcorder duo. The phone is also heavily disposed to displaying graphics and games. However, the streaming video leaves something to be desired. In its infant stage now, only true enthusiasts and gadget lovers will live with the quality and performance. But even with that drawback, there’s still a lot of multimedia left to be enjoyed here.