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
A900 = The Win
What a great sounding phone! I have only 1 complaint about it, and that is the speaker phone is not that loud.
Otherwise, the phone is great, I've had alot of fun playing with the camera/camcorder, also uploading my own pictures and videos off my comp with the included USB cable.
Bluetooth! You cant go wrong with a wireless headset, but it would be nice to get my mp3 player to play through my stereo BT headset.
Great reception, VERY good sounding ringers, and a nice dense feel. You cant go wrong with this phone.
More Power Scotty!
I think I found the solution to this problem...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5852245044
A900 ROCKS!!!
I have had this phone for a week now...
Let me start by saying I hate SPRINT like and ex girlfriend I just got back with after a year of being apart and the only reason I did get back with her is because she got her nose done and a B00B-J0B!!! LOL
I took this phone to work the day after I got it, and everyone was drooling over it, after everyone watched their favorite cartoons and took a few pics, I was the most popular person in the whole room. My manager just got a Razr from T-Mobile and he was like "Look at my new phone!" And everyone acted like the Razr sucked or something. lol
I sold T-Mobile phones for a year and I absolutly loved the plans and reception and customer service T-Mobile gave me. But, alas I have gone back to Sprint :/
The reason being --- A900 ROCKS!!!
Pros: Great pics and good video. Amazing Internet speed. Wonderful graphics. Sweet games. Rocking music downloads. Easy to use and an attention getter for those with ADD.
Cons: Low battery life. Lack of expandable memory. Only available with Sprint.
The Perfect Combo of Convenience, Portability & Style
I used a StarTac for the last several years and found it to be the perfect phone for just talking. When it began to disintegrate, I went through the following trials:
:< Motorola V710 (useless camera and crippled Bluetooth)
:< LG VX8000 (too big & ugly and no Bluetooth)
:< Sony-Ericcson S710a (style says camera - photos say don't bother carrying this brick)
:< Motorola E815 (after comparing so many other phones, the cheap build quality was unacceptable)
:< Samsung A940 (style says camera - photos say don't bother carrying this weird brick)
:> Samsung A900
After using the 900 for a few weeks, the great features, thinness and cool style just won me over.
PROs
+ Ultra-high-res QVGA main display
+ 96x96 outer display
+ 1.3 megapixel camera with in/out swivel that takes GREAT photos!
+ Full-featured Bluetooth (my favorite is sending photos to my laptop via Bluetooth - nothing could be quicker or easier)
+ Media player with visual effects (create 48kbps MP3s to help with the memory limit)
+ PictBridge
+ Speaker independent voice-dial
+ Digit dial
+ Speech-to-text technology
+ Media back/stop/pause/forward buttons on the front
+ 5 numbers per contact
+ Mass-storage utility via USB gives you access to everything
+ Thinness (I carry it in my pocket mostly)
+ Metal case
+ Stereo external speakers
+ Professional, sleek and attractive
+ Exclusive, unlike the V3
+ Over-the-air programming
+ Strong vibrate
CONs
- Battery life (I got an extra AC adapter for work and the car charger; both from SAMSUNG)
- Charging port cover is in the way of the plug
- No removable memory card
- Feels a tiny bit less comfortable in the hand than a same-old shaped phone
Gear looking phone and great function
I initially bought the Samsung A920 and had it for about 2 weeks then decided to try the 900. To make a long story short I ended up returning the 920 and kept the 900. The 920 is a great phone but I was loving the 900 a lot more and just made a decisio.
So far I amhaving a great time with the phone. Everything is working fine with except for the 1012 error when trying to update software which is due to Sprint removing the software for a better update (due sometimes the week of the 26).
Pros
* Phone is ultra slim, not heavy and durable
* Screen is beautiful (320 x 240)
* Ringers are loud and comes with a good set of ringers
* Keypad is nice to use, although not very bright
* Lot of customization features
* Love the vibrate and ring at all levels
* Bluetooth is great... used it to transfer contacts from the 920 to the 900 without any problems
* Power vision is awesome when available
* Camera is good, prefer this one to the 920 which had a delay in taking the pictures.
* Mass sorage is not quick and easy to use with the pcs and USB cable. Have not tried it with Bluetooth.
Tethering is also fast
Cons
* People complain about the battery life. It is not the greatest... need to charge phone daily
* Certain bugs in the phone, nothing to make you return it but if they worked it would be a much better phone
The 920 and the 900 are both great phones. I had a hard time letting go of the 920 but I did make a decision and decided to go with
"looks" and eventually (with some update fixes) functionality. I am loving the phone and it does get a lot of attention although people at first think it is the black razr until I show it to them in their hand and they are like "Oh wow, this is beautiful phone"
The Blade Cuts right through the Razor
This phone is far and away better than the Razor, it's not even a question. But I wonder if it's actually that much better then the other excellent phones that Sprint has in their arsenal. I have had the 8300, 5600, treo 650, samsung mm-a700, etc. etc.
I have had good luck with phones and right now I am really enjoying the 900. My hesitation right now is whether it is worth $400. right now I am torn but leaning towards keeping it.
PROS
-You absolutely cannot beat the 900's shape and size, it fits perfect everywhere.
-The ringers are stellar, according to by Sprint rep they are actual real speakers.
-EVDO flies, I feel spoiled.
-camera is very solid, gets the job done.
-screen res is sweet, samsung kills in that categoriy with its new phones.
CONS
-the most standard con ever is low battery life. its true the battery struggles but what can you do? The phone does everything and people expect it to last for 5 days. Come on let's be realistic.
-expensive, hurts my wallet.
OVERALL
I like it, I like it way too much. Holler
watch out - BUGGY!
Its a new phone so I'm sure they will fix some of these issues but this phone has a few major problems.
First, what I really like
small size
bright screens
customizable launch list
usb connection to add and move files
mp3 player hard buttons
very nice camera pix
evdo speeds
Now for the problems
bluetooth - moving contacts and pictures works well but we can't get a headset to work for more than a call or 2. tried both mine and my husband's, which both work fine with other phones. They won't stay connected and the phone causes a beeping noise in the headsets. I'm on the road a lot and this is my biggest gripe.
also with bluetooth, there is no way to move information other than contacts from a computer to the phone. Things like notes, tasks and appointments don't work.
you can't tell if or when a picture has been sent from this phone. When a send is started, a message tells you that your pic "is being sent". There's no progress bar, no completed message, nothing. You really don't know if it ever gets sent. There is a folder where you can view "pending" pic mails but for some reason (i think its another bug) the list doesn't show a thumbnail pic like the "inbox" does so you can't even know what HAS NOT been sent. Its a real mess.
there is no way to turn off the annoying prompts that appear when you want to delete messages, so you have to go through the prompts for every message. This gets old fast. There is an option to select messages for deletion from a list, but then again, you still have to put a check mark next to each one in order to delete it. Contrast this to the pictures in the picture album: when you select one to delete it just gets deleted there are no prompts - go figure!!
I'm rating this phone a 3/5 because it has 2 major functions (bluetooth and pic mail) that do not work properly or effectively.
Definitely NOT what I expected
I've owned a number of high-end phones and this one is definitely the worst. It's all form and no function.
Here's how I break it down:
***PROS***
Design--This is an uber-sexy phone. If you're looking to make a fashion statement or look cool, this is the phone for you.
Screen--Sharp, clear, bright
Launch pad--All four directions are customizable (though I wish they had other options)
***CONS***
T9: It's a joke. It's actually easier and quicker to text using the ABC function. It doesn't learn and doesn't predict very well, either.
Camera: Can't really expect much for a 1.3 MP, but still... It doesn't work AT ALL in dim light and I've not once gotten the flash to work, even though it's clearly set to "Always On."
No expandable memory: Speaks for itself... for the price, it has a small internal memory, as well.
Reception: I've lost reception in my metro area maybe 8-10 times in the last seven years (all Sanyo phones). Since I got this phone yesterday, I've dropped three calls.
I haven't yet attempted to send any pics (I haven't been able to take any decent ones) or use BT, but I don't have high expectations, especially after the review I read from 12/5...
All in all, you're buying a low-end phone in a high-end case for a high-end price with the A900. You're better off spending the extra $80 and getting the A940.
A-Not So Great Phone
I've always wanted a good multi-task phone and I thought purchasing the A-900 was going to be it. Well it wasn't. I got tired of it after the first week. First off the battery life is very weak, the bluetooth reception is horrible. The only good thing about this phone is the quality of the music played on it but than again you only have 55 MB to fill up and it doesn't have a MicroSD slot. The camera is also horrible, it has to be less than 1.3 because everytime i take a picture at a concert it comes up very bad. I would not recommend this phone to anyone.
PROS:
-Good reception
-Music quality is good
-A nice slim fit
CONS:
-Can't customize ringtones, must buy it
-Bluetooth doesn't work too well
-Battery life is short
-Only 55 MB of space
-Web Browser isn't all that great
GARBAGE
This phone got a .5 because of it's sleek form. I switched to sprint from Cingular and got my wife the Fusic which she loves and I got the A900. I had that phone for one weekend and returned it on Monday. I got a Sanyo M1 which I love.
Pros:
Sleek
Cons:
Battery life is disgusting. Had a full charge at 6 am and phone was dead at noon!! It stayed in my pocket the whole time, no talking, internet, text it just died.
Bluetooth was horrible it would not recognize my H500 and I had to keep installing it.
Speaker was not that great and MP3 player was OK but the battery would go down even faster if you tried to use it or the camera
You HAD to buy a car charger or you would lose battery power in the course of the day
Dropped calls all the time
When I switched to the M1, it would not transfer the data over because of some glitch in the phone
Sprint would do well to drop this razor knockoff from their line or offer it for free
because it is NOT worth the money AT ALL
