Samsung MM-A900 / SPH-A900 / Ace
Phone Scoop Review
Mar 19, 2006 by Eric Lin
In-depth review of the razor-thin Samsung A900 for Sprint.
with Video Tour read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
A-900 User for a month
I bought two A-900's from a local sprint store on a two year family plan for $59, plus I added the $25 Power Vision service, which has the first month plus "free" for evaluation. Below are my observations:
Pro's:
1. Better looking than Verizon Moto Razr
2. Feels much more "solid" than Razr
3. FANTASTIC DISPLAY - Blows away Razr
4. Good tactile feedback on keyboard
5. Swiveling Camera is awesome - vs. non-swivel on Razr
6. Battery MUST BE TRAINED! Fully discharge three times and the battery life triples! This is common with all new lithium technology.
Con;s:
1. Data Pilot is not yet supporting the phone so loading phone numbers is limited to manual re-entry OR one-at-a-time Bluetooth (which is what I did)
2. Goggle phone GPS maps is not yet supporting the A900 but is supporting the A940 (strange - I tried getting to the download on my phone but could only get a weird link to "check my computer for free"
3. Sprint's Power Vision (their high speed Vision service) is HORRIBLE. You can't get the all the Sirius radio channels that is "included" in your plan except by agreeing to "pay" more money via the phone selection and then having your bill "fixed" via a call to customer service. The "tech" group says a new fix is coming out on January 28th (per their call to me on 1/19) and they will extend my "free" evaluation until all the stuff "works" as it is supposed to.
4. Can't get a spare battery. None available yet and no consistent answer on "when". I may try to buy direct from Samsung in Japan.
Unknowns:
1. Bluetooth headset compatability. I haven't found one I like the "fit" of yet, so I can't report. It would be good to see responses from this group as to what they have tried and what works.
2. Impact on battery life with and without Bluetooth and GPS turned on. I have both ON now and can go 3-4 days of moderate use before a recharge is needed, as long as I don't stay in "dead spots" for long periods (which results in all phones "hunting" and discharge)
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SPH-A900
I really like this phone. You can change the startup and shutdown sounds of this phone.
Sound Types:
1. Mystery (SGH-D807)
2. Crystal (SGH-X481)
3. Exciting (???)
THIS THING SUCKS
so far this thing has gotten worse and worse on me its always been freezing up since i got it and shutting off randomly like if u flip the phone down in a certain way it'll randomly shut off and later realize that your phone has been off the entire day and you missed 10 important calls so hear we go
pros
a good defense tool (you can throw it at the attacker)
its tough ( i accidently dropped it down a whole story onto tile and nothing happened)
cons
service sucks
way 2 bulky
drop a call every day
you have 2 recharge the thing every day even after light use
my camera broke 6 months ago(it'll just freeze up idk)
takes 4 every 2 send a text
u cant read it outside
it shuts off randomly
crappy speaker phone
IT JUST FLAT OUT SUCKS
my bestie
I had this phone about 3 months after it first came out and I loved it to death. I have always loved it. It lasted through a water experience, drops, being thrown, etc.
Pros:
-Large Keypad (big fingers= big keys)
-great voice quality
-fast internet and data (where i live, we don't have power vision, so when i go places that do, it's totally awesome)
-rotating camera
-voice to text
-slim as hell
-loud speaker
Cons
-battery life, but you learn to deal or buy an extended battery or a double
-slow loading albums
-the first version with the txt issue. but that was fixed with an update
-paint comes off, but it still survives
Overall, i loved this phone so much, i just bought another brand new one off of ebay. I will probably never love a phone as much as this one. I'm really picky when it comes to phones. :-)
Decent for the time
This phone was good for the first in line of MP3 player phones/thin phones. Samsung's programming is smooth but tends to hang up a little when accessing the Internet. The main drawback on this phone is the 40Mb of internal shared between pic/video/MP3. Overall great use of a phone.
Good Phone, but battery Fails.
This is a great phone I've had it for 2 years and only had a few problems with it.
Pro's-
*Love the design nice a sleek
*Swivel Lens
*Nice screen
*Good Reception
Cons-
*Battery Life isn't too great.
*No Memory Card
The battery life isn't horrible, but it could have been better. I usually have to charge it once a day which isn't too bad but can get tedious. I think if they were to recreate this phone with a better battery than it would be a Epic Win.
although no longer my current, still my fav!!
The samsung blade has got to be one of the best phones that sprint has come out with (in it's respective sector) My first multimedia phone was a sanyo mm-7400, and I KNEW I had to have another feature packed phone. I've had amazing signal quality everywhere I went, and it was the first phone with an mp3 player I owned. Simply having this TANK of a phone helped me sell more of this phone then ANY OTHER PHONE I've ever sold. I actually had a customer come in for lockline's phone number, because he ran his over with his car...only the screen was broken. After a year and a half of very hard use (I used to throw the phone across my sprint store to show how sturdy the phone was) my camera finally gave out, and I wanted external memory, so I bought a fusic. I miss my blade more then anything (I almost used my upgrade to buy another blade, lol!!) I can't wait for the instinct to come out...because to me it looks like a smart phone version of the blade, and I know I'll be a VERY happy camper at that point. The only thing that blows with the blade is the battery life (but a very savvy radioshack associate CAN order you an extended life battery, and powersave mode helps a ton)
PROS: Camera and screen resolution are AMAZING, I look at my current fusic in disgust, because it's like going from a samsung HD to an RCA tube.
Durability: I used to THROW IT ACROSS MY STORE to show how hard core the phone is.
Speakers: Loud, and never distorted, speaker phone is excellent, and the stereo speakers were excellent
CONS: BATTERY LIFE!!!!I can't even count how many samsung chargers I had...my car, my room, whoever I was seeing's house, plus spare home chargers in my car
Memory: It blows having to change the MP3 selection on the phone EVERY other week. If the blade had external memory...it'd be one of the greatest phones out there
Could be Better.
This phone is not all that it is cracked up to be. It is slow and the features it does have seem like they were cut short halfway through production, with little customization.
Pros:
+ Crisp, vibrant display.
+ Nice swivel camera.
+ Records legnthy videos.
+ Nice media player.
+ Easy to control on the front.
Cons:
- Menu is slow compared to other Samsungs like the A920.
- NO expandable memory... wtf?
- Camera is not very good.
- Can't zoom in pictures after you take them. In order to do this, you have to exit your camera, go into your File Manager, open the DCIM folder, select the picture and then zoom.
Samsung A900--A disappointment
My husband & I switched from our long-time provider to Sprint for our cell phones. After five years with the same phones on the same plan, I needed a new phone. To get one, our provider insisted we upgrade to a more expensive plan that didn't want or need. So we switched. My Hub got a Samsung M500 and so far is extremely happy with it. I got a Samsung A900--what a disappointment. The reception is awful. I will have really clear reception and then suddenly the person's voice is so faint I can barely hear it and then suddenly it's normal volume again. I looked in the book & discovered the built-in antenna is in the bottom of the phone so you have to hold it a certain way. So I tried their way and other ways and the same thing keeps happening. My signal is maxed per the bars & the battery power is fully charged. I would love to keep the phone but looks alone don't cut it. I actually use my cell phone as a cell phone. I also wanted the Bluetooth capability. Thought the camera was just a neat extra feature.
Pros:
1.Slim compact case
2.Easy to use keypad
3.Nice size screen
4.Flip down camera lens
5.Does take nice pictures for cell phone camera
Cons:
1.Bad reception--it keeps cutting in and out--other person loud, then faint, then loud
2.Long time to power up
3.Phone charger connection cover is piece of plastic that gets in way when plug in charger--will break off real soon b/c of pressure
I bought a Bluetooth but didn't try it. Reception already bad--why bother. I love the phone for its looks, the ease of using the keypad, the size, it's structure when open--easy to hold and talk. But again, looks alone don't cut it. I don't use text messaging and all those other geegaws. I just wanted a comfortable phone with excellent reception--the first is there; the second is not. Hope this helps someone else.
A HUGE Disappointment
I have been with sprint ever since they came to my area 5 and 1/2 years ago. I have been waiting for blue tooth to come to sprint since it came out. but I decided to wait to buy this phone till my contract was up. Maybe I had put it up on too high of a pedestal but this phone is crap. I have only had Sanyo's 4500/4900/4920/8200/8300 before this and they have all been great phones. too bad the Katana just looks cheap. Well anyways I made it through the weekend with this phone and called sprint to return it on Monday.
Cons-
Blue tooth is worthless. You can't even have the phone in your pocket. Hell i was holding the phone right next to my head and it still dropped calls from my blue tooth, when both units were fully charged.
The battery life. This phone has a battery? I bought this phone for mp3's and blue tooth. if you use either you have less than a day. And it takes for ever to charge compared to my sanyo's.
Storage, 50 mb's is a worthless mp3 player.
Pros-
If you just want a good looking solid feeling phone and not use any features that your 5165 didn't have then this phone might work for you.
Speakers sound great for the 7 songs that I could fit on there.
Great reception and call quality. it worked in everywhere that my sanyo's have in the 4 days that i kept it.
I hope this helped someone out.
