Samsung Rant M540
Average Ratings
Great phone!
I love this phone. The keyboard is easy to use. The features are much more than I expected. Its easy to use. The phone is a good size. I have had no problem with the slide for access to the keyboard. The issue I have is the battery life. My phone sits in my purse all day while I am working, and the battery is always low. And it would be dead if I accessed the internet or something. The other problem is the keyguard I believe is flawed. You have to hit the star button and the back button to unlock it. Well just sitting in my purse, my phone started dialing somewhere. The battery issue I can deal with, but the keyguard issue is a problem in my opinion. All in all a good phone. Its great for texting.
Best Sprint offering in it's class
I just got this phone today so I can't fully review it but I will say what I can.
Pros - Construction/build quality, arrow keys on keyboard, dedicated text button on keyboard, 4 rows of keys, decent camera for camera phone, must press two separate buttons at opposite ends of the phone to unlock it, decent options of standard ring tones, memory card included, memory card adapter included, usb cord to hook up to computer included.
Cons - Call quality has been lacking but I'm just hoping it was a bad connection on a couple calls.
One Click - It's different and I think it's good. You can still use the old menu system but One Click is fresh and it's not bad at all, especially for those who will be using data for weather, sports scores, etc. It kind of reminds me of Alltel's CellTop but better.
I'm coming from a bad Nextel and Palm Centro before that. If you are going to use data a lot I might say the Centro is a better choice. Both phones are good though.
poor and buggy
The phone does handle the texting abilities very well, call handling is nice and clear.
Major drawback, you will loose your tiles and settings on the phone on a constant basis every time the phone updates itself. Its very hard to get the tiles back and your settings just they way you want them.
If you love to text This phone is for you. Its more advanced than the Lg rumor. For ease of use its OK but can be confusing.
It is not intended for users who have pda/smart phones. If you trade to this phone you will not like it.
pro:
very stylish
good response time
ease of use
cons
phone can cause a lot of headaches when it resets, can lose your sprint one click settings and your power vision may need to be manually programed back in.
Simple and can take some abuse
I used to have this phone and I miss it. I loved it so much. It was easy for me to use, the texting board was awesome! I dropped this thing like a million times and it never took much damage except for a few nicks here and there on the corners. I regret ever upgrading from this phone because I miss it so dearly. It was beautiful, red, easy to function. I am a huge texter and my fingers flowed across the keyboard with ease!
I would say that a few cons were how bulky the phone was for a slider, but it was still rather small. Also I would have to charge my battery just about every night to ensure a full day of battery life, but otherwise it treated me well. I bought my phone refurbished originally and had it for almost 2 years and it held out like a champ. If I could, I would go back to it, but at this point, I would rather move forward with technology.
So far it's trouble free...
So far this phone is surprisingly trouble free. I was skeptical after reading the reviews but I haven't had a single problem since I purchased it a couple of months ago. There was a sale at the store I bought it from and I just couldn't justify buying a different, more expensive model phone. I did, however, buy a 3 year extended warranty for all of $15 just to be safe.
I have the Boostmobile shrinkage plan and all I can say is that the coverage is great (I was skeptical), the clarity of the calls is fantastic (one of the phones top features) and the texting and email work very well. Nice extended full qwerty keyboard, one touch dialing, etc. Tons of extra features.
My only "complaint" if you will, is the slow speed of web surfing and lack of applications for the phone. If, however, you are looking for a straight calling and texting phone with one of the least expensive plans in the industry, this is one great deal!
bad phone
this phone was my first one. i thought it would be good cause of the qwerty keyboard..and cause it was free. but i was extremely wrong. i have had it for 2 years now and within the first month it started having problem's. it always freezes. battery life is horrid. it is very slow and everytime i set it down it will turn off. it always asks for you to update. very bad web browsing. the only good thing about it is the camera.
likes:
camera
easy messaging
easy to work
cons:
takes about 5 minutes to turn on
constantly freezes
very slow
never good signal
battery life
very heavy
bulky
no headphone jack
cant record ringers
overall i would never get this phone if i were you.
Install the updates
A couple of hiccups at first, but after downloading the updates for the phone it has been a mega killer. As a serious photographer, I only use the camera to catch ideas that I'll come back to shoot later, but it does a decent job for a fixed focus camera.
PROs
QWERTY Keyboard
GPS Navigation
Solid design
Screen resolution
One Click Carousel (quick access and customizable)
3G Network
CONs
Weight
Locks up (system updates seem to have fixed this problem)
It took a few minutes to get used to the QWERTY thumb keyboard, but once in the mode, typing is GREAT. This helps tremendously with both email and texting. Getting the wife to text was a feat unto itself, but now I can't stop her. She's discovered the freedom of leaving a quick text and moving on with your life instead of dialing the phone 25 times to say, I'm on my way.
There were also some sound crossover issues before the first update was downloaded, but they are gone now. Very clear reception for both voice and data.
In testing the GPS capability, I found that it tracks very well, but routing has some issues where I work. Then again, several of the access points to work have been recently clsoed, which could account for the routing issues.
All things considered, I'd highly recommend this phone. I replaced the M520 within a couple of weeks. Although I like the M520 look and feel, the ringer was too low. The Rant has no issues with speaker volume.
Better then the Rumor2
Just picked this phone up today after ending a 10 year relationship with Nextel (last phone was a ic902 hybrid). This is my first bells and whistles phone so I am kinda overwhelmed by all the buttons this phone has but i've gotten good in just a few hours with the QWERTY keyboard. This is what I think so far...
Pros:
Good price.
Solid feel
Cool switchable back plate with design
Good sound clairity.
Can't quite comment on battery life yet but so far so good.
Screen is bright and clear.
Easy to understand layout.
Cons:
Gets kinda warm if you talk for over 20 minutes.
Seem to be getting a weaker signal then my old ic902 (which used Sprint for phone service)
Overall I think this a quality product that is packed with decent features and is not pricey like some of the other phones out there. Also feels better built then the new Rumor2 which I guess is this phones closest rival.
love this phone!!!
was eligible for a upgrade for my moto razor and wanted to try out the slide out keyboard phones so i first got the lg rumor not ever being a big fan of lg phones but decided to try it out, was not happy with the lg felt cheap, froze up alot and the layout of everything i didnt like at all so i called sprint to exchange it for the samsung rant and been happy ever since. this phone supports sprints power vision rumor didnt, has a 2.0 mp cam rumor had a 1.3. pretty fast at starting programs and stuff and the call and signal quality is a day/night comparison to the lg. no more dropped calls and the calls are very clear. overall if your thinking about switching to the keyboard phones get this one and stay away from the lg rumor
