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
Disapointing
My husband and I each got A900s about 6 months ago. Initially we were attracted by the Pros everyone has mentioned:
- Bright colorful screen
- clear sound
- gadgets
-slim design
etc...
The battery life was never much of a problem for me because I don't spend much time on the phone. My husband, who talks for 1-2 hours for business (using a blue-tooth headset), had to buy the extended battery immediately. (So much for the slim design). Besides that, he likes the phone. Neither of us really uses the MM because it is too expensive so I can't comment on that. The main problem I have with my phone is the glitchy software. Don't ever try to make a call when someone else is calling you, the phone will not let you answer, or keep dialing. Instead it freezes up while you watch both calls continue on - nothing you can do! Annoying, but pretty rare - What is not rare is the random power down. 4 or 5 times a day the power will just cut out on my phone with no warning. You don't realize this has happened until people start calling your house saying " why are all your calls going to voice mail?" Then you check and the phone is off. To get around this issue I must constantly check my phone to see if it has turned off - and then turn it back on. Unfortunately it doesn't make any sound when it does this - so there is no way to catch it unless you are sitting there watching it every second. After checking online, I have found many users who report this same problem. (my husband's a900 never does this) I am going to try and take the phone to the Sprint store to see if they can update the software since it will not let me do it from the settings anymore. I currently have version ZJ23.
is better that v3
this samsung a900 is far better that v3 OF MOTOROLA that this so burned. if you look for a different solution east she is one. it marks the difference.
Great phone
Awesome phone! This phone has a great screen, one of the biggest and highest resolution screens out there. Easy to text, great reception.
The only problem with the A900 is the battery life. I use my phone a lot and have to charge it at least once a day.
This is a great gaming phone if you are into games, even better then the fusic.
My friend has a fusic and I am able to play games he is not able to play.
Mediocre
I bought this phone a week ago. I had the Katana and decided to try this phone for the feature that has. When you open up the phone and navigate throught the phone, you'll be impress with the software design. Software, LCD's are great on this phone. The phone design outside is ugly. It has a bright light in front that won't let you sleep if you charging the phone in your bedroom. The bluetooth is sucks, you can't connect your bluetooth while you talk. Sometimes the bluetooth disconnect and will not connect again unless you power cycle the phone. Bluetooth was a big dissapoint on this phone. Internet speed is really good. Battery charge is the worst that i seen. I had to charge the phone twice a day. If you're the person that talks a lot and require a bluetooth, don't buy this phone.
battery solution
Ok here is the deal. This phone is outstanding except for one thing, which everyone has touched on, the barttery. While you can put your phone into power save, turn off the gps and disable bluetooth, its annoying, you want to use every feature this phone has, which is a lot. While this might not be the best idea for everyone, the phone's price has been reduced on sprintpcs.com to $100. For a phone like this, it is cheap. Once you purchase the phone, go to samsungs website, register the phone and you save 20% on accessories. The standard battery is only $40 on the site and u save 20%. The battery is very small, almost small enough to fit into your wallet and not notice. This may be the best bet to use this phone to the max.
First impressions
this is a first impression, after only messing with it for a few hours.
PROS:
* great reception, period
* screen is super bright and clear, its amazing
* bluetooth i guess if you dig that sort of thing, although, it will beat having to fumble with the usb cable
* solid feeling phone, i beleive its pretty much all metal casing it the exception of the battery
* speaker phone works well. its easy to hear as the user of the a900 and also for the person your talking with (yes i did both)
* speakers appear to be loud and crisp for music, their no BOSE system, but hey, its a ph.
* light, compact, dare i say sexy? YES I DO! (can you say "byebye moto")
* carried over very user friendly menu system from previous models (personally, i think LG has always had the easiest menu system, then samsung then sanyo)
CONS:
* ok, ok, battery life, although after 15min of use, it will drop one bar off of battery power, its just the way its set up. the battery should last all day with little to moderate use.
* no memory card sloth, i mean, i thought that was a gimmi, should have put that in instead of the usb port (bluetooth, remember?)
* i haven't read this one yet, but the charging port just plain sucks. I'm sorry, but it does, what happened to the standard sprint was going to? the connector inside the ph is so easily broken (in my opinion).
* the cover piece for the charging/usb port has to point straight down, samsung, come one, how stupid was that? another reason the charging port you chose is stupid. I'm scared to lay the phone down cause I'm afraid I'm going to break off then loose the cover for that port. is your solution to lay it on its face? thats even more stupid. now i cant see whose calling w/o picking it up, samsung, FIX IT!
* T9? i mean, what the heck over? why didn't you use eZiTap? its not BROKEN! it should REALLY be added into the next SOFTWARE UPDATE *hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge*
that said, still a great ph, once you have it you prob wont knock it
VERY Disapointing!
Okay I've had the phone for 4 days and already getting frustrated with the memory!! Samsung created this great phone and forgot the most important rule GREAT isnt as good as INCREDIBLE..... Which this phone is lacking.
PROs
Thin Slick Design
VERY nice Screen
Great Volume and sound Quality
Nice Camera Quality
Great Features
Good reception/ not the best but better then normal!
Evdo is Amazing
Cons
Memory, Memory, Memory!!! Not enough by far. If you want music you can only get about 6 to 8 songs. Once you got the music in there NOTHING else fits, no pictures, no ringers, nothing! It's one or the other, very disappointing, actually heart wrenching! I've waited about 1 1/2 year to get this phone to be left wanting!!
Another problem is the battery, you better Carry a car adapter with you or back up battery's, cause this thing wont get you through the day if you use all the features on it. Ive tried turning off the GPS like they say but it really doesn't help much. Ive also noticed that once the battery gets low the reception starts to go, a little weird!
oh no speaker button!!
All in all this phone is nice but samsung really let me down when they didnt put a expandable memory slot on this phone.
A900 is a great phone
I had the Sanyo 8200 previously. I thought I was happy with the phone. After all, the phone is for making and receiving calls, right? Well, now I know that the 8200 had some issues. But it took me getting a better phone to learn that. The 8200 didn't have the best reception. I would have to walk all over my building to get a signal. It would roam and search for service all day if I left it on, so I had to leave the 8200 off during the day or it would be dead when I left work. My co-worker had the same problem with her cell phone. Well, now that I have the A900, I see that there are some things I've been missing. I enjoy being able to get on the net at high speeds. The amount of games I have on my phone and the quality is amazing. The mp3 (aac) ringtones, the live TV, the word to text, the T9, bluetooth, etc. The only thing that I think is missing is the ability to insert external memory.
People say a negative is the battery. I don't have a battery issue. This phones battery does as well as my previous phones. I can't give this phone a 5 because the T9 does not learn. This phone has powered off a few times on it's own. I've been in the menu and all of a sudden, the phone reboots.
i have t-moble poo:(
i want this phone so BAD but i dont have the service the phone works with i have t Mobile
Good phone
About time sprint came out with something that looks this good, however, looks is not everything, battery life could be better and when u flip open the phone, its a bit larger than its contender (v3 razr, if you compare it with the razor v3c from verizon , motorola will be better at the end.
Rotating the camera is fun, big screen, never tried the bluetooth, but overall its a good phone, just don't forget to get a car charger and an extra battery...
