Samsung SLM SGH-A747
Average Ratings
Absolute Crap
This is one of the worst phones I've ever placed my hands on. I've been trying to come up with things it does well and after seriously straining myself all I've come up with is that its thin and seems to keep a decent amount of reception. Other than that it fails in every aspect of performance.
Pros:
-Decent screen
-Decent reception
-Thin form-factor
-Comes with 512 mb memory card
-Solid construction
Cons: (where do I begin?)
-Audio quality is downright shameful (I can barely understand anyone on the phone)
-It doesn't have an external speaker for music and speaker phone calls (they try to trick you by having a grid on the bottom that looks like a speaker, but it just uses the internal ear piece which sounds like crap)
-You have to hold the volume controls for SEVERAL seconds to turn on the external display.
-Screen is a low resolution for its size.
-Buttons provide a lot of resistance when pushed.
-No option to not show sim contacts in address book (in other words you have to delete the contacts from your sim card. So if your phone goes dead you will lose all of your contacts)
- Stuff" folder is very poorly designed and archaic looking. It also doesn't show audio files over a certain length which is stupid.
-There's no way to open the phone with one hand without scratching the main display.
-When sending a message there is no recent contacts, you have to scroll through all of your contacts.
-Ring-tone volume is very poor even at the highest setting (mostly attributed to the lack of an external speaker phone.)
-You have to move a flap to charge the phone that seems like it won't last long at all.
Basically considering its 130 dollar price tag you get a free phone quality. Don't purchase this phone until it's at least down to 10 dollars to get a value from it.
I like it
Thin, lightweight, FAST net access. Call quality is fantastic.
Battery life has been excellent (but I'm admittedly not a very critical judge of that -- this phone replaces a Motorola MPx220, which I lived with for three years).
It's not a full-fledged Smart Phone, but I knew that going in -- I didn't use the "smart" features of the 220 that much anyway. Compared to the MPx220, I get better battery life, better signal, better call quality, and faster net access, in a much thinner, lighter package. Works for me, but people moving from newer phones could have different opinions.
My store (South Hills Village AT&T store near Pittsburgh) had all the accessories I needed in-stock -- car charger, USB cable, leather case.
The PC Suite software from Samsung's site was able to load up my contacts from Outlook for me (the ONE feature I really needed but was afraid I was losing switching from the old Windows Mobile)
"Installing" my own custom MP3 ringtones and wallpaper were trivial even without Samsung's software, as this phone can present itself as a USB Mass Storage device.
Not bad
Not bad. The initial release color is a chocolate brown color. Not too attractive. The phone features are not bad. It's as slim as the 717 but a bit lighter. it has the same features, but with a larger, standard external LCD. Should be a good seller
Another dissapointment from Samsung
I just don't understand why Samsung keeps producing products with sub par audio quality.
As many complaints as the V3xx has had, I can hear conversations in a crowded bar, baseball game, you name it I can hear you on it with that phone.
I have had the SYNC and yes the signal quality was horrible, but the audio quality was horrible as well.
It also sounds like the volume is cutting in and out.
I just don't get it.
Samsung SLM for AT&T
Pros
3G capability
size
easy bluetooth setup
Cons
User interface sometimes lags
Callers sounded like they were on speaker phone
No included USB data cable, and the cable was not available at the store I purchased the phone.
This is my first Samsung phone, and my first phone with AT&T. I ended up exchanging it for a Motorola RAZR2 V9. For most of the time I had the phone, I had it turned off and the SIM card in my old Sony Ericsson W580i because I just couldn't grow to like the phone.
short comings
The phone has a very short battery life. I've had the phone less than 2 weeks and it has gone completely dead 3 times. It goes from fully charged down to 2 bars on the battery in 4 hours without using. It goes completely dead in 36 hours without using. The really bad part is that none of the AT&T stores even sell accessories for it. I've been to 4 different stores and no one has a car charger that fits it. I was able to find one USB cable and it will charge from your computers USB. What's even worse is that Samsung's Customer Service department is totally incompetent. They had no one that could help me set this phone up to work through the USB cable on my computer. They wanted me to pay for their Software after paying $220.00 for the phone (shouldn't there have been a CD with all the softawre with the phone?). I was able to find the PC Studio 3 software for free at a shareware web site and after 4 hours of trial and error I figured it out for myself. The owners manual is totally useless. The owners manual says all you have to have to upload/download data to and from your PC is Windows Media Player 10. Windows Media Player doesn't even recognize this phone as a hardware/storage device. Someone really dropped the ball on this one. I plan to take it back and get a FULL refund. Go to Samsungs home page and type SGH-A747 into their search engine and it tells you it doesn't exist. What a joke!!!
