Samsung PM-A840
Average Ratings
I expected better....
I have an A840 for over a year and it finally failed on me. I have replaced the battery on it and it still seems to power itself off. Now Sprint is sending me a Samsung A880...From what I have seen with that, it isn't much better than this one...
Pros
Descent camera pictures
Good speaker phone
Good ringer quality
Cons
ECHO ECHO ECHO
Power failure
Freezes up just like a computer
short battery life
Disapointed
After having the Samsung VGA1000 for about two years, it finally bit the dust. Sprint no longer carried the VGA1000 so I had to upgrade. Since I was so happy with Samsung's VGA1000 I figured that the PM-A840 would be a great choice; I was wrong. The first thing I noticed about the phone that I didn't like was the keypad layout. I was constantly pressing two keys at once, which proved to be a big problem when I was text messaging. The next thing I noticed was that the speaker phone was horrible. It's impossible for the person on the other line to understand you. Now I just use the speakerphone to listen to my voicemail. After a while I noticed my phone would freeze up a lot and occasionally just turn itself off and would remain in that state until you powered it back on. One of the things that irritates me the most is if you have a missed call the number that it shows on the external LCD and the actual number of the missed call are different. For some reason the external LCD seems to display the missed call before the most recent missed call, so you have to open up your phone and go to your Recent Calls to see what call you really missed. Also, compared to the VGA1000 setting up speed dials is a hassle. On the VGA1000 you just entered a number in your contacts list and whatever number they were, that was their speed dial. On the PM-A840, you have to dedicate each contact to an individual speed dial number from 1-99.
I have to admit, however, that I do get more coverage with this phone than the VGA1000, and I enjoy the actual Text Messaging over the Web-Based SMS that my previous phone used. But all-in-all I was very disappointed with Samsung on this phone and I wish I could go back to my VGA1000.
I Hate This Phone
This has to be one of the worst cell phones I have ever had. After 4 months of owning this phone it continuously drops my calls, cuts off at random times and has that weird echo. Sometimes when it cuts of, I have to take the battery out just to be able to turn it back on. This phone is horrible. I'm glad it is discontinued.
This phone Is Under OK
This is a good Phone For someone who wants to be cool but doesn't use the features. Speaker Phone dosent work good. Down loaded ring tones arn't loud. After rings for 15 seconds the outside screen shuts off so caller id cant be read (and if like me u set your phone to answer on open) so u have to open it and you answer even though u may not have wanted to. Alarm #1 Stopped working for me and made me late. When Head set is plugged in the button won't work. Voice Dialing on the can be testy somtimes. Vibrates really really loud.
Pros:
Camera Is Ok
Cons:
Outside display sux
Easilly Scratches
Your Basic Samsung Phone (They [suck])
Ed. note: cleaned up language
texters this phone isen't for you
overall this phone was pretty good. the camera was awesome, and everything else seemed to work probably. The only problem i found with this phone was like when you text message you have to hit the space key twice (this is only when set to ABC) i know it dosen't seem like a big problem but for texters like myself its really annoying!! otherwise i would recommend this phone!
Disappointed
I am seriously disappointed and frustrated with this phone! I went without a cell phone for a few years and I expected that at the very least the sound quality would be at least as good as the phone I had a few years ago.
The bells and whistles on it work just fine. It's the basic function of a cell phone (i.e. hearing and being heard) that don't work. My friends and family constantly tell me that I'm cutting in and out, that they can't hear me. I constantly have to just end my conversations because it's so frustrating. There's the echo too, but that's minor in comparison. Talk about a poster child for buying insurance. The frequently dropped calls I'll allow to be more of a Sprint problem than a problem with the phone.
I took the first phone back to Sprint and they found a defect in it and "gave" me a refurbished phone (same model for $40). This one is only slightly better than the first one. I took it back again and they updated the software, whatever that means. No improvement.
I really feel that I got ripped off in this deal. I don't intend to stay with Sprint and I will never buy another Samsung phone.
This is a great phone
This is an awesome phone. I have wanted to buy it since it came out and I finally got the money together and did it. No Regrets!
Pros:
-Camera clarity is great
-Reception is great, no dropped calls ANYWHERE!
-Nice and compact
-Inside antenna
-Nice menu layout
-Speaker phone (for being a speaker phone) is surprisingly clear
Cons:
-Cannot change the colors in the menu
-Browser is a LITTLE bit slower than some other phones I've had in the past (but not enough to make me regret the purchase)
Overall I love this phone. Would recommend it to anyone. Big point for Samsung! :)
a Samsung misstep
I'm normally a big fan of Samsung phones -- my previous unit was a Samsung and worked reliably for three years' hard labor -- but this unit's a real disappointment.
Pros:
- small
- crisp screen
- acceptable sound
Cons:
- poor design causes charger to not insert fully; if you were to push it (or if it were to fall on its charger, say off a table) it's akin to jabbing a nail into the guts of the thing
- massive problems with voicemail notification; I don't get any visual or audio signal that I'm gotten VM until I happen to reboot the phone
- ridiculously bad camera
I'm not using any of the advanced video-type services on this phone, since I see no reason to encourage Sprint to do next-gen stuff whn they're having problems getting the basics right. Therefore, no pros/cons re those aspects.
Overall? Wish Samsung would consider making a basic, elegant, simply-works-well phone for those of us who consider the add-ons to be simply... well, add-ons! This phone isn't that, and it's no enticement to make the add-ons into must-haves.
A very good phone
This phone has everything that most people need for their phones. Style, camera, internet, games, good battery life and good reception even though it has internal antena I get a better reception than with my previous audiovox cdma-8900 and many other things. The only thing thats bad is that it doesn't have bluetooth which for me doesn't make any difference because i don't need it. I just got this phone from Sprint. The battery life is great I can go 3 days without recharging it but since i just got it i am using it a lot to see what it has inside. If you want a stylish phone with internal antena that will turn heads get this one.
Awesome Phone
I work for Sprint PCS in Fort Myers FL and have been playing with this phone for the past couple weeks. Granted I haven't been able to use the phone we are going to hook it up as a demo phone and we'll see how it functions later.
As far as the features go, this phone is perfect. Its got a really great quality camera (comparing this to my current Audiovox 8910 from Alltel) and a very easy menu layout. I will write a continued review once we get it hooked up to a line of service and let you know how the signal is.
I agree with the other guy about the finger prints and it does feel like cheap plastic.. but i think thats just how they made it so light. we've dropped it a couple times showing it to customers and its not even scratched.
