Samsung MM-A940
Average Ratings
Excellent phone, one caveat though
First of all let me say that this phone is excellent.
Pros
The power vision speed is amazing. Bluetooth works great. I won't bother repeating the accolades as mentioned by others.
Con
I have only one problem with the phone and it caused me to return it. To activate the camera you have to swivel the display on the phone and this just wasn't very practical to me, as I like to take quick shots and upload them to my blog. I found having to take the extra steps a bit cumbersome, so I'm going to wait now.
Quality of the camera is awesome, so I don't think anyone can go wrong with this.
The BEST YET
I have used a lot of phones in the past, and I do mean a lot. A sprint tech friend of mine pulled up all the phones I have used just in the last 3 years. Must have been 13 phones. Oh well I have another one. Received my a940 on Monday and haven't put it down yet. Oh My God! It is an awesome phone, the ear peice is crystal clear and loud. The speaker phone is wonderful sounds great. Voice services are just as good as we have come to know. Now I have to get to the good stuff. Power vision, wow super fast I couldn't believe it. The option you get with it like sprintTV NFL Network Live was enough to win me over. I can't believe I can sit at work and watch the NFL Network. The streaming video is the best yet you don't have all the stops and restarts of previous versions. The camera is 2.0 mega pixel some have said not as good as the A800, well I have that phone too and yes they are as good as that phone. Sending pics is just as easy as well. So far I have nothing negative to say about this phone it is amazing and I am thrilled with my purchase. Don't be afraid spend the money I'll bet you will be just as happy as I am right now!
Love EV-DO/Hate Camera
I've had this phone for 3 months & I'm satisfied with it's basic functionality. If you're not going to buy an extended battery for this phone, I recommend you reconsider. With the standard battery and what I think is VERY light usage, it will barely make it through the day. The extended battery is dead after 12 hrs of moderate to heavy usage. The camera is absolutely terrible. I've tried everything I can think of & several suggestions I've read about to get the camera to focus accurately. Nothing has worked yet. I don't think this can be emphasized enough. I got this phone intending to use it as a partial replacement for a dedicated digital camera. That's impossible with this phone. The zoom is useless as well, since it just enlarges a blurry photo. Oddly, the camcorder doesn't have the same problem. The swivel hasn't been a problem at all, beyond the inconvenience of having to swivel the flip to use the camera/camcorder. When the phone flips open, since the swivel will put the phone in camera mode, this often results in the camera activating when it is opened. On the positive side, the Internet & data features on this phone (for me) are indispensable. I'm able to use it with my laptop & PDA (bluetooth is GREAT) for high speed internet. I typically see speeds from 400-800Kb/s (basic DSL speeds) for $40 more per mo. Voice recognition & Speaker phone work well.
If you have a data plan, try Google Local!
Pros:
Expandable memory
Bluetooth WORKS!
User independent voice recognition
EV-DO
Java (Google Local/Opera Browser/Etc.)
Speaker phone
Sprint $40/mo. Unlimited data PAM plan
Camcorder works well
Cons:
2MP CAMERA IS USELESS!!!
2X optical zoom is useless
Battery life is terrible
Swivel is inconvenient most of the time
Often the phone flips open to camera
Almost impossible to load ringers, apps, & wallpaper that is not purchased from Sprint (there are workarounds)
No PC link total solution software available
Signal strength could be better
Awesome phone, but Camera stinks!
I would have given this phone a 5 as I totally dig most of the features, but I have one problem with it...the camera..it is terrible.
Every picture comes out super blurry....i need to play around with the settings more. It's frustrating because it has optical zoom, 2MP..flash...but in the end, the photo is event slightly sharp...
Pros:
Power Visions awesome!
Menus
Sounds quality is excellent!
Media Player and On Demand awesome
Speakerphone is quite good
Loud volume
Great screen
Cons:
Camera Camera Camera! You would think they would be smart enough to try to get 30fps instead of the measly 15, which causes the pictures to be blury
Heavy (I like the thickness, easier to hold in your hand, but it is heavy)
Battery life is terrible, with using power vision for maybe a total of 1 hour through the day...and talking on the phone for about 1 hour...the battery is down to one bar by the end of the day....have had to recharge it everyday since i've gotten it, with minimal use.
Swivel is a great marketing idea, but annoying to use and risky as i fear it could snap.
Headphone jack should be standard to use any headphones, but it's too small.
Overall...I do honestly like the phone because the pros are really good pros, but the cons are equally bad.
I guess you can say, there is nothing mediocre with the phone..everything on it either is awesome or sucks.
GREAT PHONE!!! Well worth the MONEY!!!
This phone was all in all well worth the money and the long wait. Although the Verizon variant (A970) had crippled bluetooth, this version on the other hand was left untouched.
The phone came with many things right out of the box which is different than what the other phones usually include. The included items included were the 32 Mb Transflash card, Charger/cradle, data cable, as well as dual earbud earphones.
Everything about the phone works great. Everything from the 2 Megapixel cam to the MP3 player functions.
Even though its missing an external antenna, this phone still has the same amount of bars as my old Sanyo 8300.
This phone does not really have any cons other than the fact that the battery life is a tad short. Only 3 1/2 hours of talk time on my test run. If not for the short battery life, i would definitely have given this phone a perfect 5.
Pros:
Bluetooth (uncrippled)
2 Megapixel Camera
MP3 Player functions
Cons:
Battery Life.
One Year and half and still going strong
Great phone had it since December 2005. I just now had to replace the battery and it only cost $20 from 3rd party.
Pros:
Has everything pretty much. Even a business card reader and motion games.
Cons:
Mine can't take other Micro SD Cards. Maybe somebody else knows something I don't.
If anyone still carries it its worth it. Doesn't have all the looks but has all the fun.
Best phone EVER. EVER! EVER!!!
Have had this phone since the day it was released. And have never wanted another phone since. I tried once to let this phone go. I upgraded (down grade in my opinion) to a palm treo 650. Used the palm for about 2 months, and switched back to my 940. If you want a reliable phone will a bunch of extras, this is the phone for you.
The camera is great, 2 mega pixels is more then enough to take a picture of friends or dogs humping legs, whatever floats your boat.
Blue tooth on this phone is awsome. Let the phone do all the work for you.
I have one problem with this phone, and that is finding accessories for it. I was able to get a new battery, after my first lasted almost 3 years. However, cases are hard to find for this phone. And no software upgrades have been released for almost a year now. I just think they found out what most people find out when they purchase this phone. Its perfect, no need to change.
Samsung fooled us.
Samsung a940(Sprint) is overall an alright phone. This Samson phone is able to play TV, able to get on the internet faster then any other carrier's Internet service. You can even get music videos for about 2 dollars a pop,...but lets first talk about the phone and not the carrier.
When you purchase the phone it says you are capable to wirelessly connect and share files and music with phones, PC by using Bluetooth and Transflash memory. WRONG!The Samsung says you can do these things but its a lie. I've tried sharing files and music with other bluetooth phones and it never received the file or was not able to open it due to the file format. I even Paired with a Samsung a920(Sprint) w/ my Samsung a940 and that didn't even work. This samsung phone is sooo restricted that it won't play songs you transfer from your PC. Your only option is to buy the songs off of Sprint Music Store. The only thing the bluetooh will pair to is a Bluetooth Headset.
I bought this phone to play music and music videos from my pc and other bluetooh compatible phones, but never happened. I did buy this phone to buy a song for 2 dollars and get charged 10 Cents per 2kb!
NEW UPDATE A940
i give this phone a 4.5 cause of the camara i hate the camara but so i have heard that the new a940 with the yellow logo (not Black) fixed all the problems they say the camara is fixed and much better if u heard this someone please tell me cause im gonna get rid of mine and get the yellow logo one please respond
The Real Deal
I went to the Sprint Store today and asked them what's up with the camera on this a940. The Sprint Man said that although you can still buy this phone elsewhere (Best Buy and such) Sprint had discontinued the phone. Although all over the packaging (and Best Buy Employees say) that the phone has a 2.0 MGPixel camera, IT DOES NOT. I was told that in fact, the camera is less that on my current phone (Sanyo PM-8200). That's not terrible, but it's no 2.0 MegaPixel camera.
Also, because the phone has so many features and an inadequate battery, the standby time is ugly.
However, because of the awesome features, I gave the phone a 4. One not-so-well-known feature is that the phone has a motion sensor in it. You can play games and the phone knows how you are holding it. You can bowl by flipping your wrist etc.
Sum Up: The phone has some kickin features, but because of its crappy camera and bogus battery life i only give it a 4.
