Samsung SCH-A650
Average Ratings
Nice little phone
I've had this phone for about a week and I really like the form factor. Reception is good and voice clarity is excellent. UI is very similar to the A530. It would be perfect with an outside display, but I'm sure we all remember the Star Tac and how we had to open it up to see who was calling! Color screen is good and clear.
Okay as a first/basic phone.. But not great
This phone is good for someone who has never had a phone before, and needs something basic. However, there are better basic phones.
I recently purchased the SCH-A650 as a replacement to my LG VX3300. The VX300 was perfectly fine, but the get it now feature that Verizon offers was tempting. I gave the SCH-A650 a chance for a week, and it just did not meet my expectations.
PROS:
-Nice, sleek design.
-Small and lightweight
-Bright LCD
-Has essential features of a basic phone
-Has the get it now feature
-The stock ringtones aren't too bad
-The backgrounds/screensOther... are cute
-There are vibrate AND silent modes
CONS:
-No speakerphone
-Difficult to open with one hand
-Scratches easily (already has 3 new scratches after a week of being pocketed and placed on a desk)
-Your Contacts are listed with their number on the left (ex: "[001]Mom"), and it is annoying/pointless
-The keys are poorly lit with an ugly greenish-yellow color
-There aren't many ringtones or backgrounds
-When text messaging, you have to re-enter the person's phone number every time you text them, unless you scroll to an old message and hit "reply."
-There is no option to message them in the "Contacts" section, which I got very used to.
-The keys are not touchy enough. As in, it takes more effort than it should to push the buttons. This causes a lot of wrong phone-calls and messed up text messages.
Overall, this phone is okay, but is more of a hassle than anything else. Someone who has never had a cell phone before could like it, but I personally found it hard to manage and deal with.
If this phone is too basic for you, try the LG VX6100. If that still is, try the LG VX8300. LG is very user-friendly and easy to navigate.
If this phone is very close to what you want, I highly recommend the LG VX3300. Read reviews about it. It is a wonderful phone.
Eeehh...it's okay....
While the ring tones sound good and the phone gets great reception, if you try to set personalized ring tones for friends, family, etc. and then turn the phone off, they have a tendency to change and reset to different ringers. After visiting Verizion tech support 4 times and being told that I should check how the people have my number saved in their phones, I was about to give up. I went back for one final chance, and it was discovered that this is a "known issue" that he had no idea of!!! But being the good company they are, I am getting my phone replaced. If you only use 1 tone for all your contacts, this is a great phone to use. But if you like personalizing them for special contacts, you'll have nothing but trouble.
good basic phone
This is my first cell phone and I was looking for a very basic model, no bells or whistles. I've had the phone for a couple days and am pretty happy with the phone as a whole.
Pros:
excellent sound quality (Verizon)
very easy to use/program
compact size
Cons:
heats up very quickly
Decent basic phone
A good basic phone. No frills. If all you want is a cell phone, this is a good choice.
PRO
- Decent reception, though Antenna bar reads deceptively low. Seems to be a common theme with Samsung phones.
- Menu system easy.
- Small and relatively easy to handle.
- Good battery life
CON
- Main menu choices does not fill the whole screen. Lots of wasted space.
- The backlight keyboard is totally useless and cannot be read in anything other than bright daylight. I actually had to turn off the keyboard backlight to use the phone, even in dim light!
- My phone powered off on me several times, and then refused to accept inbound calls. I think it was a manufacture defect and I returned the phone. I have not heard of other problems like this with this phone, so it is probably just a fluke.
If you are looking for a basic phone with no camera, web access, or any other bells or whistles, and you don't care about trying to use it in a dark room or car, try this phone.
GREAT PHONE
I have had this phone now for a little over two weeks. No problems yet. Great sound quality, great reception, no dropped calls. It works well with Verizons network. I use the phone a lot so these are things that are important to me.
The screen is crisp and clear and the phone utilizes its choice of ring tones with a wonderful "business" ring tone.
The battery life is good, although I have ordered the extended battery hoping that it does not increase the size of the phone too much, the phone is the perfect size.
My only "complaint" about the phone is that it does not have an external display. It would seem to me that this would have been a simple enough addition to the phone. It seems that the clam shell designed phones (for verizon) which are still tri mode lack the external display feature. Maybe they are trying to get us to switch to dual mode more quickly than their 2006 date - a marketing ploy? By Verizon? NEVER! (sarcasm). Overall, an excellent phone, highly recomend.
Nice phone - with one problem
I first tried a LG4500. I liked the phone features, but it was a digital only phone. No analog. In my initial drive around to test how good it was at picking up a signal, there were too many areas with none. There was also an irritating echo heard on most of my calls. So I switched to the Samsung.
Verizon has very few phones any more that have analog (tri-mode). Samsung seems to always have good ratings, so I decided to try the SCH-a650. It has all the features I want/need. Battery life is great. The menu is easy to use. I now get coverage (analog service) in the areas that the LG failed.
Cons: The color screen is very difficult to see in bright sunlight, but I believe this is a problem with all color phones. When I plug the charger into the phone it sometimes reboots and goes into a "no battery" state. Verizon said to bring the phone in and they will replace it.
If the charging problem is resolved, I think I have found my next cell phone.
Phone number issues
Today I acquired the phone.
The SCH-A650 is difficult to open with one hand; the top fits snuggly to the bottom. Purchased a leather holder that makes all the difference for opening.
A phone number issue everyone needs to be aware of:
After inputting a number into one name you cannot add that number to any other person. Suppose you have numerous contacts at a location, put the office number in the first person you enter then attempt to add that same number to other contacts it will return that number is in position X, not allowing you to again use that number.
I found this when I was adding the same phone number for people at the same location (goes through the switchboard operator). I contacted Samsung they're totally aware of this glitch saying they're looking into it and could have a software update in a month or two. This update will be acquired at your provider (mine is Verizon).
Now for the good news, people say on their end this phone sounds very good.
Teens View about this phone.
This is a long story but i shall try and summarize it.I'm a teenager in the Trenton,New Jersey area.I got this phone as a replacement to a LG3200(i think) that phone broke 6 times and they gave me this.Of course as a teenager the first thing they do is blame me for the phone being cruddy.So the A-650 has caused me nothing but problems.It's always overheating and i had the phone(#1) in winter so it kept my ears warm.Thenphone #1 got left on a bus and stolen.The phone was replaced(#2) by insurance for the usualy $50(pssht.phone is not worth $50.)That one was had a frozen screen within a week.Back to verizon.They replaced the phone.I got the phone with two dead pixels (i'm a computer geek so i noticed and knew what it was right away)complained right then and there the guy working that day said it would go away.about 4 weeks later and it's still there and about 100 by 100 dead pixel blob.The battery is always dieing.And when i was younger i had hearing issues so with this phone i'm going crazy because i can not hear anything.I went back to verizon and got another one (#3)Verizon has caused me nothing but troubles.We got the plan because of the good service.Service isn't that great customer service is the worst thing i have ever had to go through.If you were thinking about giving this phonwe to a younger kid or teenager.Dont.Its a horrbile phone with nothing but issues.It's too old to do anything with it.(Curius about how old it actually is.i suspect around 3-4 years)Hopefully verizon will replace it after it breaks for the next time.
I will be leaving verizon after my plan runs out.Joining their company is like selling your soul to the devil. Nothing can ever be easy.
Good luck to all with the phone.Hopefully we can all get upgraded.
Acceptable While It Lasted
I just needed a cheap phone, nothing fancy, and thats what I got. This phone doesn't have very many ring tones or features, but I don't use those anyway.
The biggest gripe I have with the phone is that now that I have had it for a year, some orange pixels started showing on the display. They are spreading like bacteria in a petri dish, and now I've got a spot about as big around as a pen cap. Its going to continue to spread until the phone is unusable. What's with Samsung displays dying right after a year?
Just like the 460, it's a perfectly good basic phone for 1 year, then the display is gone.
