Samsung MM-A900 / SPH-A900 / Ace
Phone Scoop Review
Mar 19, 2006 by Eric Lin
In-depth review of the razor-thin Samsung A900 for Sprint.
with Video Tour read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Samsung is getting better
Superb if they get the battery right. I love it so far but Im putting it through the ringer for 30 days...if it doesnt work out, it will be the 920 to the rescue!
A Waste of Money
This phone looks pretty until you use it. I buy high end phones, and this one is the worst waste of money that I have ever spent money on.
Here are my pro's and con's of the phone:
-like everyone else, it's cute and sleek, and you can put it in your back pocket.
-The screen is big, and pretty.
-It has a music player in it.
Now for the cons...
-It states it has 3 hours of continuous talk time....Lie....I can talk on it for 30 minutes and it will have one bar left and beep on me to charge it up...after I have charged it all day!
-The camera, if you don't hold it still, your pictures will look fuzzy and crappy. It does not do well in certain lights. If the thing that your taking a picture of isn't still...good luck because you won't get the picture.
-The menu option...it takes forever to get to the menu option that you prefer. It freezes up on me and it takes forever to get it to shut down.
-Answering a call is horrible. Half the time I can't answer it. I hit the answer button, and it won't continue to answer the call...I will hit the talk button, and it still won't work.
-Text messaging...T9 doesn't work nor does it recognize certain words. Your better off sending an email.
-Ring tones doesn't half the time work...they come out distorted and only playing parts of the song, or in a way mixes the notes up.
-Calls that you missed. Half the time it doesn't tell me when I missed a call. I have to go to my talk button, to redial, and there it will tell me...so half of the time this phone doesn't ring or tell you... you missed a call".
Overall this phone is a big waste of your hard earned money. It has too many con's, and not enough pro's. The designers needed to spend a little more time on this phone and a little less time of putting stuff in it that makes it not work. I give this phone a zero rating because out of around 14 phones that I have had, I rather go back to the phone the carrier gave me...at least that one I can answer calls with.
Battery Life Option?
Obviously in producing a thin phone, there are bound to be compromises in performance. This phone experiences one such issue in battery life. Even in stand-by mode it doesn't seem to go much beyond two days.
Sure, the A900 is a feature-rich phone. But as phones get more features (video on demand, camcorder, email, MP3, stored video content) the demands on the power supply become even greater.
Sadly, this is not the first phone Samsung has produced that has reportedly battery performance issues.
And unfortunately, nanomotors are still years away for small electronics. However, a power option has been developed as presented in the following prototype. Perhaps it is the right choice for some current Samsung A900 owners. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5866516936&sspagename=ADME:L:RTQ:US:1
I hope this helps.
Not so sure about this phone....
First of all, I am an avid upgrader. I have had just about every single "cool" Sprint phone for the last few years. I've had the Sanyo 5150, the first color screen phone, the Samsung A460, A500, A600, Sanyo 4500/5500, 8200 and now the SAmsung A900.
The phone is awesome as far as looks and features. The screen is the best by far that I have seen on a cell phone of any carrier. This phone has everything, megapixel camera, camcorder, bluetooth which is awesome that they started implimenting it on Sprint phones now! The speakers have good mp3 playback capability, but doesn't sound so hot in speakerphone mode. Nice phonebook storage and menu options. The USB cable is a plus for those without bluetooth on their laptop or PC.
There are a few things about the phone that make me forget about some of thefeatures listed above. First and foremost is the battery life. It is horrible, as stated by many others, if you are going to keep this phone, you need an extra battery or car charger. A MUST. I myself am not used to the short battery life. My Sanyo 8200 gives me 3 days with normal use before I have to charge it. The one thing that I do not get, is that the RAZR phone has the same 3.7V battery. But yet, the battery life on that is 300 times better. I don't know about everyone else, but I am not always by an outlet or car charger. And battery life will only get worse down the road just like on all of the other phones.
With that being said, features of the phone are awesome but the short battery life make me forget about some of those great features.
The Best Phone Ever!
Just got the phone yesterday and i love it. Yes there are a few glitches but they can be fixed. i would suggest this phone to any one.
Used to like it, but no more.
ok, this phone is kinda bad and good. Here are my Pro's and Con's...
-----CONS-----
1) Battery Life - ok, i just charged it and its on 3 bars. I talk to a friend for about and hour and it goes all the way to 1 bar!!!! i mean come on, i need the charger in while i talk, and my phones dead half the time so i rarely use it anymore.
2) Glitch/bugged - Yea, so i go into my pictures to view them, ok, done viewing, now i exit, but i wanted to go back to see one more pic. but it does not go back into the album, its like button mashing frenzy until i notice its not working. this happens to random stuff too, lik texting.
3) Small screen - I hate it, i want a bigger screen!!!!!
4) Texting - I hate the texting. its so weird, i start typing and when i press space i end up typing inside my signature.
5) Bluetooth - I tried to sign it into my phone but it never worked... I was hoping for it but wasted money...
6) MP3 - You can't acess your PLAYLIST witout internet...!@#$
7) Camera - Its blurry, its stupid.
-----PROS-----
Aside from the cons there are a few pros....few...
1) Sleek - It fits in my pocket perfectly. like in class and i'm texting my friend in another class, when the teacher turns around i can just slip it right in with ease.
2) Bright - Its bright, i can see it clearly in the dark.
3)Rotating camera - It rotates, thats ballin.
4) Modem - You can use it as a modem for your laptop...too bad it costs money.
Yea i never really liked this phone, my uncle gave it to me. But i talk and text on it. I'm aiming for an EnV as soon as my contract is done though
it's ok
i like my phone it's a sporty looking phone i always wanted something like a razor and i guess i got it i like that you can record songs and videos and have them as your ringtones but the things that i don't like is the battery life (have a car charger handy or take the hm charger wherever you go) and if you even think about any movement in your pics you won't see a thing
You all are sooo wrong
I've owned this phone for almost a year now, and I love it, however I noticed in the past reviews they say it doesn't remember new words, well I work in the wireless industry and we have a lot of lingo that is uncommon, and my handset remembers new words, so if you're looking to get this phone don't believe the ney sayers! LOL it works! Trust me. I like the battery, it last quite a while, and I love its durabilty, I drop it on a weekly basis and its still kicking! Love it!
Pleased with the A900
I have had the A900 for several months and overall i think it is a great, sturdy, and stylish phone.
PROS:
-Thin
-Nice Music Player
-Buttons for Music on front
-Crisp & Clear Screen
-Speakers are great
-The UI is easy to get used to
-Swivel Camera
CONS:
-No expandable memory ( which means you can only hold about 5 songs) :(
-The battery life isnt that great
-T9 is O.K., but it doesnt remember new words
-When texting its hard to find a symbol
