Samsung SCH-A530
Average Ratings
Best Phone Verizon Offers
After owning the LG VX6000(great phone but got stolen, had no need for camera anyway and looked to feminine) and 5 Motorla T730's(WORST PHONE SERIES EVER. STAY AWAY bought one offa ebay and got 4 refurbished replacements from verizon in 3 months), I finally decided to get the Samsung Sch-a530s. This phone is great. Call quality is excellent, and Battery life is outstanding!!. I dont use my phone tons, but i do use it frequently, especially for text messaging. I usually get great service with it, and its got everything i need. There is one problem i have with the phone though. It is the screen is not very visable in daylight and the colors kind of run off in the corners. But, im not taking pictures with the thing so thats not really a big deal. I do wish that the phone was tri mode, and that it had a speakerphone, and those are things that could be added on , there not flaws. This phone is just as good as the vx6000 only without a camera. Also, the silver version actually looks really nice.
I am *very* happy with this phone!
I briefly tried the LG VX-4400 and was happy with the LG *except* that it wouldn't recognize the answer/end button on my ear bud. So I switched to the Samsung A-530s.
In my experience, it was markedly superior to the LG. It gets even better reception (I live in a marginal area for cell phone signals). It is also smaller, lighter, and has better ring tones...
I've ordered the Samsung earbud... hopefully, the answer/end button will function as advertised.
My one complaint. The phone only allows 20 voice dialing numbers. The feature is independent of the phone book, btw, so more than one number for each contact can have a voice dialing prompt recorded.
The Best Phone I've Ever Had!!!!
First off, I work for VZW and I was a little nervous about going with an All-Digital phone because I live in Michigan and most of the north half and upper peninsula is all Analog. Anyways, I have had the phone for about 6 months now and it is awesome. There are places where I live where my Tri-Mode phones went into Analog but this phone will keep Digital coverage. Also where I live I only get like half signal on my phones but this one gets either 3/4 or full signal. I did take the phone up north into the upper peninsula and it lost service of course where my Kyocera KX-414 goes into analog. But other than that, I have never lost signal or dropped a call. Which brings me to durability, I have dropped this phone on cement, rocks, mud, and I even shut my truck door on it as it fell out of my pocket and this little puppy still keeps going. Also, my phone came with a standard and extended battery and this thing lasts. I get at least 5 days of standby on extended battery which if you have ever had a color display phone then you know that's pretty good. So if you are looking for a compact, nothing to fancy, durable, and reliable phone, then you need the Samsung SCH-530.
After months of usage- not for power users!
I don't think this is the worst phone in the world, nor do I think it's the best. If you're a power communicator (as I am), avoid this phone. In the future, I'm going to exhaustively try phones out in person before committing to one.
In one word, this phone can be described as "quirky."
Good: pocketably small; attractive silver plastic casing; very sturdy feel; strong signal; extendable antenna does boost signal; no camera! (clients like this); nothing fancy (I just need a good usable phone.) lower-powered STN screens although they wash out in the sun (I expected this).
Bad: reboots quite a bit, especially with extended usage; eats battery life fast when in weak signal areas; not intuitive to use, even after months of heavy use, examples: txt msging - t9, punctuation input horrible; dual clock timezomes aren't configuable, even shows wrong time; buttons have detent feel yet sometimes the phone still doesn't register input; vibrate weak; ring and call volumes rather low; headset jack flaky; not durable; phone would be better off without "picture caller id" feature and just print people's names in larger text; when switching to 2nd person in call waiting, instead of showing 2nd person's caller id, 1st person's caller id stays; too much screen space taken up by silly landscape pics, and not configurable.
What I've come to expect from Samsung
After having the phone from hell for 3 weeks (Siemens SL56) I'm back to Samsung, which was the manufacturer of my previous phone when I was with Sprint (A500). Now with Verizon.
This is a great phone. It's very solid, and the exterior feels like it's made of some sort of metal. It opens and closes with a solid thud. It feels substantial in your hand despite its 3 ounce weight.
PROs:
Relative small size
Quality of construction
High resolution screens
Exterior display
CONs:
The "Get It Now" button should be the OKAY/YES button.
Dual timezone display only shows Seoul/NY
Cannot see external display without holding side button down for 1-2 seconds first.
Wow, Koreans make great phones. Sanyos and Samsungs. A real quality phone in an age where everything is made like cheap plastic crap (like Siemens SL56). My MAJOR complaint with Samsung, however, is they stick their connect to the internet button dead center, instead of making that button the OKAY or YES button. That would be intuitive. I surmise this is because the providers want customers to use that feature so they can charge additional fees, so Samsung succumbs to the whims of the provider. It's a real waste of a button. I like how you can quickly scroll through ringers using the side key. This phone has the single beep tone, which is good for when you're sleeping. It's loud enough to hear it if you're awake, but not loud enough to wake you up. I like that. All in all a good phone, but I wish it were a little thinner. I like the blue lit keys as well.
does well what it does best, everything else poorly
Samsung's a530s
does well what it does best, everything else poorly.
Great size, solid feel, good connection and call retention.
User Interface feeble - built by a techie who's probably never used a cell phone. Perhaps local names are short, so why would anybody have a name longer than 12 characters (my scandinavian family all has 10 character last names, add a comma and a space and a first name and a v to show indicate the mobile phone user, and all identification is truncated i.e., phone book is unusable. Voice dial can only be added to one privileged # per entry. Each entry can only have one home, one mobile etc. c'est a dire - the UI is primitive. I suspect that later Samsung may conquer these problems.
I swapped out for a different phone. I guess that I'm hard to please.
[...]
Ed. note: Removed off-topic rant
A week old user
After reading great reviews here by Verizon employees, I bought two phones for myself and my fiance. I thought it would be too small but if you want a functional phone, this is the way to go. After a few days, we both found the phone to grow on us and now think it's one of the best phones we've used.
PROS: small, light, loud, bright colors
CONS: 'OK' button at awkward place, some ringers don't download to phone book on this model so you can't personalize
it's just a great functional little phone!
The greatest thing since women!
This phone maybe man's greatest invention, aside from the Trio 600. I have owned the a530 for 6 months and never had a droppen call. You get what you pay for, until people realize this they will continue to live in darkness. Purchasing the a530 may increase your I.Q. I feel sorry for those seeking the free phones, they will never taste this slice of heaven. You could not ask for more out of a phone: security, durability, sleek design, compact, user friendly. God has truely out done himself.
Really cool phone
This phone is amazing i have this for my main phone and i used the color sidekick for texting and internet cuz verizon's internet sucks. Other than that the only downside is not haveing built in games or a speakerphone. No big deal though.
Bummed About The 530
I work for Verizon Wireless and when we found out the 530 was all digital some of us that are big travelers were not happy. It's a cute little phone any girl would love to have it because it is so cute and so small. I know we will eventually go all digital, but not soon enough. The coverage area is smaller, there is a seperate map for this phone, because several areas on Americas Choice are in analog. I have had my V60I for a year and I love it, but I was looking for something with color and the same small feminine size. OH WELL. Guess I will keep my search up or eventually get the 530 and keep my V60I for travel to Canada and a few other areas.
