Samsung SPH-M500
Average Ratings
Nice phone for the money!
I've had this phone for about 2 weeks. I really like how small and light it is. The reception is good, the camera works well, and the buttons are large so you don't have to worry about having larger fingers to bump the other keys. Nice MP3 player with good sound.
I'm not thrilled that there is no speaker phone button, but my only real problem is with the outside display. There is no way to make it stay on to even view the time so what's the point of even having one?
All in all I would highly recommend this phone!
Good Above Par Phone
While this is not a phone that will knock your socks off, try and find one thing most people want in a phone that the M500 doesn't do.
MP3's and 3GP videos? Done.
EVDO? Done.
Bluetooth--Stereo even? Done.
Sprint TV? Done.
Protect from meteors? Done.
Seriously, for the price, this phone does a ton. The MP3 playback is clear and fast. The bluetooth quality (I use a WEP200) is crystal clear to a good distance.
Call reception is good. It gets signal where it should, and some places where it shouldn't.
As far as complaints, the texting suggestions are sometimes bizarre, and the sleek keypad while looking kick-ass, does present some difficulty sometime.
The battery life is good. I typically listen to about 30 mins of music, maybe 30 minutes of web surfing, and about an hour of phone calls a day. I have to recharge about every other day, which is expected for as much as I use my phone.
The size is both a plus and a minus. While its great having a small phone that easily fits in your pocket, sometimes it tends to "jump" out of my hands, although even with a couple of nasty drops, it keeps on ticking.
samsung m500
This is a very nice little phone. It has alot of great features, but the battery life is very poor if you are a serious talker or texter. I found myself recharging this phone twice to three times aday with the standard battery. The main LCD is very vibrant with colors, and sub LCD is also very clear & colorful. The retail on this phone is $280, and with all the features it has i believe that it is well worth it, except the battery life. The extended battery is $60, and then you need the extended battery door of course that is an additional $8. Overall a very nice phone. I might actually keep it for a while instead of afew weeks like the rest that i try out, and end up on ebay for things that i dont like about them.
All Around Great Phone
I have been using this phone for about a month now. (I was able to talk a Samsung rep out of one!) I went from the a900 to this and I have not gone back yet. Much better battery life than the a900 and the micro SD slot is probably the biggest difference for me. The sound quality is great just like most Samsungs. I love that it has mass storage mode. No need to have a SD card reader to transfer files! Just plug in the USB cable and put the phone in mass storage mode and your good to go. I do miss the HUGE screen on the a900, the M500's screen is smaller and a lower resolution. The phone is very thin and light, so much that you can't tell when you have it in your pocket. constantly find myself checking to make sure I still have it. (With the a900 I could always feel its weight in my pocket.) The camera is decent despite the lack of a flash. I have not run into any of the software glitches that were common on the previous Samsung Power Vision phones. Overall it's a great handset and I am thrilled with it. (Although I wish I had gotten the sexy red color!) I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a very small music phone and for the price point you can't beat it! One of the best handsets in Sprint's current lineup!
AWSOME THIN PHONE FOR SPRINT
I have used this phone for a week now and absolutely love it . I replaced my krzr with this and it works about a 100 times faster then the krzr which was slow as heck . I like the thinness of this phone and the light weight feel too . The controls are all easy to use id give this a 5 but it dosent have external mp3 controls or a speaker phone when closed other then that its a great phone for anyone .
Excellent phone
PRO:
-very small
-lots of features
-excellent sound quality
-great camera
-comes in great orders
CONS:
-vibrate too gentle
-mp3 player confusing-unable to upload music from computer to phone and unable to find tutorial to coach me
-cant figure out zoom feature
Disconnects when closing flip with Speakerphone on
If you close the flip during conversation with speaker-phone on, it will disconnect the call.
If not for this problem I would give this phone a high 4.5 stars rating. It is a nice slim flip with good battery life.
PROS:
Decent Battery Life
Bluetooth
Expandable Memory Slot
Slim and Light
Cons:
Speakerphone problem - see above.
No dedicated speaker button
Feature Packed Lightweight Phone
I have just gotten the M500 a few days ago to replace my A900 that I love, except it is a bit too heavy. The M500 almost fits the bill. Time will tell. Luckily Sprint gives you 30 days now to return.
Pros
-lightweight and small
-good voice quality and reception
-advanced T9
-decent battery life so far(seems much better than a900)
-large easy to press keys for a small phone
-external memory
Cons
-plasticky-feels cheap inside and out
-no outside status led like a900 (maybe a deal breaker)
-enter key for 4 way navigation is too indented and hard to press
-smaller and lower res screens vs a900
-weak vibration alert
-battery cover VERY difficult to open
Overall similar to the a900 in a smaller, lighter form factor. But not an overall improvement. Just does not have the quality feel and nice looking screens of the a900.
The m500 may be a good choice for many but hard to live with after having the a900 for almost a year. If only the a900 was lighter and had better battery life all this would be a non-issue.
This phone needs to be fixed up
I was misled by some reviews on this website.The phone comes with a USB cable but absolutely no drivers or software from either Sprint or Samsung(Samsung offers amazing software for Cingular SYNC for example).The phone might work for you depending on what features are important to you. There is a weird feature of this phone that some reviewers mistook for a problem. If the phone is open it will ignore the ring volume set and will always play at level 1. So close it if you want it to play loud when you leave it at your desk.
PROs:
Comes with stereo headphones
Comes with a USB cable
Video is clear and sound plays well through the stereo speakers
Many customizable screen and shortcut features
Memory Card slot
Standard Headphone minijack
Very nice voice dictation for sms messages(read about voice name dialing in CONs)
Decent quality mp3 player
CONs:
Cheap, scratchable plastic
No way to keep the outer display lit all the time, have to press a button to activate
Slippery, nonraised buttons
Navigation buttons are way too close together, always press the wrong function,my fingers are average
Voice recognition for name dialing is much worse than older samsung phones, I played around with all the settings, totally useless
Bluetooth doesnt work well with handsfree feature on my Acura(my voice not loud enough on the other end, other phones work well)
There is a high pitch noise when you are talking on the phone
Sound quality during a call is very average
Internal antenna's reception is not as good as on other phones with external antenna
