Samsung SCH-U540
Average Ratings
Good Phone
this phone is really good. I like everything about it. i got no porblem about it. I actually had a hard time deciding between this phone and the lg vx 8300. i think i've made a good chocie. The price was reasonable and the blue one is really pretty and is just right for me.
U540
I recently was deciding between the U740 and this u540... I wound up with this 540. This is a over a well put to together phone. It did have a few extras that my E815 didn't have but there are still a few things I'm not happy with on the phone.
Pros:
-the camera quality is the best i have for a phone yet
-There is good display quality
-The size of the phone is perfect
_ the speakers in front are awesome clear and loud
-The phone does vibrate ring.
-the phone gets great reception.
- Its so quiet that you almost forget your on the phone..
-
Cons:
-the other software program they use for these phones suck. I liked the software program from my E815 this one is to scattered.
- the outside display is kinda useless. It doesn't say who your receiving a text from and you cant read a message from the front display.
- If you close the phone with the camera on it turns off the camera so you cant use the cool green filter with the phone closed.
-So far the batter life is not impressing me. The phone seems to run down fast...but not really die... but when the phone is low you cant use the camera or such.
- you cant send more than one picture in a message
I do really like this phone but seeing as how its new I'm thinking it should be a litter better. I'm still considering keeping the phone if they are willing to help with the short battery life.
The Phone is Pretty Close to Perfect
First of all, it has a nice, sleek and thin design, with a sporty look to it. Also, if you want a phone with tons of settings and options, this is the phone for you. It has a variety of options you can modify, like you can change the Dial Fonts, Wallpaper for the Front and the Main Screens, even the clock format. But thats not all-there are many other settings too; beleive me, you'll enjoy. This Phone is way better than the RAZOR becuase it doesnt break as easlily.
One more thing, Verizon lets you return it within around 15 days, so you got nothing to loose really.
Otherwise Good Phone Ruined by Echo Issues
Have had this phone 2 weeks, and it looks like I'll probably return it. A shame, because overall it has a lot going for it.
The deal-breaker is the speakerphone, which I use a lot. Its loud and clear, and can be used with the flip closed (nice), but on about 1 out of every 2 or 3 calls where I use it, people on the other end complain of HORRIBLE echo and feedback issues. I don't get echo on my end, but I'll know when its going on- I'll hear maybe every other word the other person is saying.
This hoses an otherwise good phone. Samsung was late among phone makers to include speakerphones on their phones, and probably just hasn't gotten the echo suppression software down yet. The u740 allegedly has the same echo issue.
Pros
Good battery life w/extended battery
Very solid hinge design (unlike my Nokia 6256, which broke there)
Big, bright screen
Large easy-to-use keypad
Good earpiece sound quality
Good reception
Sleek styling, even w/extended battery
Front-firing stereo speakers
Flash-based Verizon UI looks nicer than the bad old 'red bars' UI. Fast and responsive too.
Adjustable exposure on camera & camcorder
Can view pics, video fullscreen in landscape mode
FAST boot-up (10 secs!)
Center wheel shortcut keys are assignable (shoulder keys on either side of it aren't, though)
Cons
As mentioned, HORRIBLE speakerphone echo issues on other end
Texting lots runs down the battery, due to big, bright screen- needs an option to set screen to low brightness when composing texts
Crippled bluetooth (no object transfer 'cept for vCards), Verizon REALLY needs to stop doing this
Camera is digital zoom only, so no zoom unless you reduce res to 640x480
Phone is a bit too wide to use one-handed comfortably
Needs a 3.5mm headphone jack (everyone has iPod headphones)
No clear way to set Alarm volume separately
Can only preview ringtone volume for a second or so, unless you go into the menus
Lame included ringtones, only 1 or 2 are bearable
Could use a 'Very Low' volume setting
samsungsch-u540
I just bought this lemon 2 days ago, and have been back 3 times to the dealer already !
1/The mp3 player has no volume control that works, and only one side works in either stereo or mono.
2/ Texting will only send out the 'subject'; it cuts off the text.
3/ Voice calls break up.. incoming and out going. some times there is an echo, with long distance calls.
4/ Very poor instructions to all setups.. everything is by trial and error !
5/ Vibrator ring is useless.
6/ Can't set resolution for camera.
These are the 'cons'.
Pros: Nice size, good screen, brightness and clarity. Battery life is fair. Camera is fair.. cute 'zoom' feature. Ring sound is loud and clear.
I have an older Samsung that works much better than this 540. Too bad they didn't keep up the quality.
I would not buy this unit again if I had a choice. I will be trying to get one that works tomorrow.
This phone is terrible I would never wish this on anyone
I got this phone a year ago and from the beginning I have regretted buying this one. I have had so many problems with the battery life, and texting. Also the customer service in Verizon constantly disappointed me.
Pros
*Pretty good camera
*Able to download ringtones..so you dont have to deal with the terrible ones verizon gives you
*You can change the screen picture on the outside cover and inside which was nice.
*Connected to my bluetooth very easily
CONS
*Battery Life is terrible- I charge it every night while I am sleeping and around 3 it already on low battery.
*The phone when using texting does not learn words..so if you are a frequent texter you would hate this because everytime you try to put in a new word such as your friends name you have to type every single letter everytime which is just annoying and stupid when phones that are alot less priced are able to learn words.
*The Texting storage only goes up to 50 and will not show you the messages if it goes over that number.
This is my 5th phone of this type because the costumer service kept giving me new ones that all had technical problems.
I finally am giving up and paying full price to be rid of this phone. I have never commented on any phone but I feel that I should do all I can do to make sure no one has to suffer with this phone.
Truly a Gentleman's phone.
I bought the u540 for my son as a reward (had the a650 on a pre-paid plan) for his excellent performance in both school and at home. The phone performed very well, he made no complaints in the full 6 months he used it. Both internal & external screen were generously huge, brilliant color. Very nice size & feel. Loud (multiple) alarms. Nice keypad & backlight The only reason he stopped using it was because of the unlimited texting on our family-share plan, he wanted a phone with a qwerty keyboard.
The only disappointment I had with the phone was the exterior coating began to chip off at the top of the flip were it would hit the back of the phone when open. He wasn't very rough with it, in fact he taught his Grandpa to always attach the pouch facing the inside of his pocket, that way the phone has added protection against sharp corners & if any thing happens to the clip/pouch, chances are the phone will simply fall to the bottom of the pocket (love seeing those two together). I Called Samsung to get a bottle of touch-up or something. Their solution was to slap a cover on it and call it a day. He didn't want one, he liked the feel & size of the bare phone. No worry, like any boy, he began picking at it and pealing it off until it took on a totally unique color/look. Still the performance was outstanding.
Could be better
I was using this phone for a test drive thru verizon. The phone was alright. I didn't like the down arrow key is way too close to the clear key. You would be using the down arrow key, and the hit the clear key by accident and wipe everything out and have to start all over again.
Also the text is too slow, I'm not the fastest person ,nor the slowest, but the phone's programing should be upgraded to allow you to type faster. There is a few second's delay when typing in one letter and waiting to type in the next letter. If you go too fast , it keeps repeating the same letter
And no, i don't have fat fingers either. Samsung could have designed the phone a little better.
Pros; Great size,good styling,good features, has lots of capabilities.Nice screen.
Cons; Down arrow is too close to the clear key. Texting is too slow. Short battery life.
Not as great as expected
Overall this phone is an improvement from my a950, but the deal breaker was the SOUND QUALITY. It SUCKS. I can barely hear what anyone is saying on the other end, it is all muffled and echo-y. Although everything is a step-up from my last phone, the ultimate purpose of a cell phone is to call people. What's the point if you can barely understand them?
Also, this phone is NOT compatible with bitpim. If you've used bitpim before, you know how wonderful it is to transfer mp3 ringtones to your phone without having to pay $3 a song and airtime on get it now. I couldn't find any other data transfer software that is compatible with this phone.
In short,
Pros:
* T9 has better dictionary than older verizon phones (yes, it will let you change "if" to "he", but if a word is not in its dictionary you must switch input types - a problem with most verizon phones)
* sleeker design
* updated music player/vcast gives you more options than before
* you DO NOT need to flip open the phone to check the time, you just need to hold down any side button for about 2 seconds
Cons:
* BAD SOUND QUALITY
* Feels awkward in your hand while texting or talking - weird size and dimensions
* no data transfer to/from pc options - if you want more ringtones, wallpaper, etc. you have to use get it now
* very short battery life
* Like most verizon phones, the bluetooth is restricted to bluetooth headsets and nothing else (no OBEX)
* it is made by Verizon who restricts everything possible on their phones. If someone else wasn't paying my wireless bill, I would have left this network a long time ago.
I'm exchanging this phone for the krzr. Hopefully it'll live up to expectations.
This phone is awesome
First of all this is a reply to a few comments left before mine. I was just wanting to help some people out to let them know the phone does do some of the things they said it didn't. I have had this phone for awhile now and I am so pleased with it. The person who said this phone predicts the wrong words during text messaging and doesn't let you change them is wrong. You change the word by simply pressing zero as with any other phone. I use word everytime I text, and I love it. And also to the person who said you can't see the texts on the outside screen everytime you get one, you also can do that. One of the reasons you may not be able to is because your txt message settings might be set to where they do not automatically accept the message. When you change your messages to TXT Auto View through the message settings you always see the texts on the outside screen. Maybe this will help some of you enjoy this phone more than before. I love this phone and have nothing bad to say about it thus far and I had an LG before and it was donzo after a year.
