Samsung Eternity SGH-A867
Average Ratings
Eternity
I've had the Eternity for a month. I've used it constantly, dropped it, played around with everything it can do, and here's the skinny.
Pros -
Fairly accurate touch screen - out of every 100 presses, I get maybe 5-10 false positives
Sharp interface. slick, pretty fast, and clean.
decent web browser - fast, with intuitive controls and zoom options
fairly durable - dropped from pocket height a few times onto concrete with no ill effect.
good battery life for a touchscreen device, far better than LG's offerings.
good reception in SW Missouri, with minor GSM buzz and interference during calls.
3.5 mm headphone jack
Google Maps GPS does kind of work, but it's not super accurate, always places me about 80 yards away.
Cons -
Most will have a few stuck pixels out of the box, test yours by starting the camera and covering the lens. I have five on mine, exchanged it, and got six on the next one. They're only noticeable on black, so just don't have a pure black background.
Difficut to use phone banking or other button-press based call services, occasional double presses and such.
Illumination can only be set globally - i.e. you cannot set different colors for different callers.
Ringtone will always increase in volume as it rings, even if you turn off increasing ring.
Interface is not customizable at all beyond a few options, so no color themes or anything.
Saving images from the Internet always degrades their quality so it looks terrible and small.
ringtone file size set to 300k maximum
No lanyard loop
Other-
Phone's font will change all fonts displayed, including web page fonts.
Overall, if you want a slick touchscreen device without the cost of an iphone, the eternity is worth it, but play with it first - it's got more than its fair share of quirks and issues.
LOVING IT
First off, I never thought I would take the time to leave a review about a phone like this. This phone is awesome though. I love how fluid and responsive it is. I came from a blackberry and the 3g on this phone is great. I notice a huge speed difference from 2g even when doing something simple like pulling movie times. The camera is also amazing. The way you can tilt the phone to shuffle pictures and take all the fun types of frames is great. The phone does everything I need and then some. I couldn't be happier :)
Pro's: Touch screen easy and gives great feedback, camera, fluid, easy, fun, great reception/battery, easy to text on.
Con's: Fingerprints are my only really complaint but thats normal on a touch screen and it's not as bad as my friends black iphone!!
Pretty cool phone...
ive had this phone for about a month now and i really like it...and im REALLY picky about my phones...
Pros:
great camera, although the target has to b somewhat still.
beautiful screen
3.5 mm headphone jack
looks nice
great sound volume
haptic feedback (vibrates when u touch it)
talk/end/back buttons are actual buttons
MMS [killed iphone for me bcuz of this...]
texting is easy, especially with the predictive txt on.
switches between t9 and full keyboard depending on the way u position ur phone.
u can set passwords on individual applications
there is a light at the bottom of the phone that flashes when u get a message or call and u can change the colors...its pretty cool.
internet works great, pages load fast...
changeable font types
signal and stuff is great, i live in Sacramento, CA.
ive dropped this phone a lot and it still works fine. and i dont mean small drops. i dropped it on cement and the battery cover came off but besides some scratches, it works fine. and the screen didnt even scratch! it was amazing. lol.
CONS:
if ur in the middle of txting someone back and u receive a txt at the same time, it gets a little freezy .
u cant change the picture that shows up when u lock the phone with the hold button.
theres only 1 theme and u cant download any more.
the screen is hard to see in the sun.
u cant download widgets.
ok im not realy sure if this is a big deal with other ppl, but when im laying down and texting, if u dont hold ur phone the right way, ur keyboard will keep switching between t9 mode and full qwerty mode because of the accelerometer.
thats pretty much it. the phone is really good, even tho it seems like there are a lot of cons. i would definitely recommend this phone. its worth the money AND the cons i listed....
Excellent Device
I was skeptical at first of buying the phone. I was torn between this and the Iphone 3G. When I saw one of my friends using it and saw the difference in the pricing as well as the difference in the cost of the data plan it made to be an easy choice.
PROS - Very User Friendly
Cheaper Data plan (only $15 compared to $30 for the Iphone)
Full Web browser
Good Battery Life
3G service
QWERTY Keyboard
Mobile TV (actual live streaming channels)
CONS - None found yet.
First Thoughts
I must say, I have had an eye on this phone for quite some time, and one of the main reasons I bought one was because of the feedback on this website (plus two friends I know have it).
Anyways, I had an LG Shine, say what you will, it was a pretty good phone. I first purchased this phone two days ago at Best Buy. I was so anxious & eager that I just powered it on to play with it. That day/night, I was experiencing some problems with the phone. It was locking up, shutting down randomly, keyboard wouldn't respond, MobiTV locked up, and became a huge disappointment.
Yesterday, I'm happy to say that Best Buy did have another one in so I could exchange it. This one has worked flawless thus far. I haven't had any problems with any of the functions. Think of this phone as the Instinct's cousin, a VU on steroids, and a great solution if you don't want to have to be committed to the $30 on the iPhone.
Pros
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*You don't have to have a SIM card inserted to use functions on the phone (Huge plus because some phones just allow you to make emergency calls only)
*Virtual keyboard is very accurate/responsive with the thumbs
*Ring Volume, Vibration patterns, Coloring is exceptional
*If you're a texter - 530 Text Message capability
*Loud speakerphone, when on the phone, when you pull your ear away from the phone, the menu functions light up making it easy to tap the speakerphone, keypad, mute
*Web browser is great (able to view vertically & horizontally)
Cons (Nitpicking)
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*You cannot download ringtones from AT&T - you can however use MP3s as ringtones
*MP3 ringtones cannot be over 250kb (otherwise it'll give you the error from hell)
*USB Cable in the box would have been nice
*Text Messaging alerts are not as loud as I hoped it would have been
*Being able to customize the Widget menu would be sweet
*Extra battery would have been good
All in all, this is a fantastic phone. I bought it outright because it was a great price point. Definitely look into this!
Eternity
Pros: Fast, excellent touch screen
Easy to personalize and add animated wallpaper, if you can find them.
no dropped calls but then that may be the network.
internet is pretty fast, no lag.
feels pretty sturdy in hand.
really neat illumination at the bottom of phone, you can change the colors.
ringers pretty loud.
comes with yahoo, aim and Windows Live, easy to access.
I like the Yellowpages app. Has a few apps that are helpful.
Was able to add a site with streaming radio so even tho may not have fm radio you can get it free as an app.
bluetooth works great with my Mocha Latte headset.
Widgets are pretty handy to use.
Accelerator works pretty fast. I like that. Really easy to IM etc with it.
I am not a great phone rater but hey I can say I am happy with this phone so far. Just a few Cons I will mention.
Cons: Ringer is set to ascending tho not set to it. can't seem to change it. Hope will fix with an update???
AT and T add these apps but only as demo so then you have to pay if you want em.Can't seem to delete them either.
Tho I did find a streaming radio site that is free and was able to add it without a problem.
Music player works fine and is easy to use.
Would be even better if it was unlocked. At and T seem to mess up phones with their additions.
Cost is way too high. Will come down but I had to have mine NOW and I was not due for upgrade.LOL
Battery life could be better.
Needs more widgets.
Doesn't come with USB.
Overall a really nice phone and I have had no major issues with it. I think it is better than the IPhone cos you don't have to have the higher data plan with the Eternity.
Great phone
I had many phones and i never buy phones straight out from the att store.My buddy who works at att was testing this phone and i was playing with it.This phone is the most amazing phone ever.This kills the iphone and the vu and the quickfire bc every quickfire i had the touch went on it.I went to best buy and brought this phone straight out its awesome
The Real All in 1 Phone
This is an amazing phone. The screen quality is amazing and very clear. The touch is responsive. Has great features...including GPS, Pandora (look it up), among other features. It is very easy to keep the contact list organized and organize each individual contact with mutiple numbers, birthdays, and e-mail addresses. All in all it is amazing. I love the mobile tv feature which is one of my favorite features offered by AT&T. I used to have the LG Vu and it is definately a BIG step up. Samsung definately makes great phones. I am a big texter and the keyboard response time is great.I love the predictive text feature which can easily be turned on and off. Another cool feature that this phone has is the short menu on the home screen. You can pick and choose which application you want in your short menu. Its the small things that make this phone #1 in my book. It is definately worth checking out.
great phone for the price
I just received my Eternity a couple days ago. This is my first "gadgety" piece of electronics in a while so I must say that I am pretty impressed with it. I haven't seen the iPhones, iPod Touches, or any other touchscreen phones in person, so I really don't have anything to compare the Eternity to.
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Ed. note: remove site promo
Not an Iphone, but better than the Vu
Just wanted to give my opinion of the phone.
I was on Verizon. Didn't like what I was getting from them so I switched back to ATT.
I was looking for a "cool," functional phone that was comparable to the iphone.
Let me say that is not an iphone, but it is the next best thing that I have seen so far.
While the iphone has some neat apps, I feel that it can be overwhelming at times.
I tried the vu at first and returned it about 3 days later. Paid a little bit extra and got the eternity.
Like it much better than the vu. It does have some quirks, but I think it is me just getting use to the phone.
Pros:
great touch interface
widgets are useful
accelerometer works well
GPS works well
Easy to navitgate through menu features.
Clear pictures
Web browsing good once you have used it a few times.
Sync's w/ outlook
Cons:
Taking a pic is slow.
Haven't found any apps to download for it. (may have to wait a few, HELP?)
Buttons feel a bit flimsy/loose.
Haven't found a way to change shortcut menu.
Neutrals:
Battery life. I got about 2 days of charge but in my building the signal is low to none so I believe this strains the bat. a bit.
Still looking for different widgets
signal could be better, but could be my area
Ringtones could be louder.
I still am exploring the phone. But, I have to say that if you are looking for a cheaper alternative to the iphone, this will work. If you desire all of the apps of an iphone then buy that, but if you want a phone that makes decent calls, takes good pics, and can sync with outlook. Then get this one.
Its functional and fun....
