Samsung Saga i770
Average Ratings
Satisfied with this phone
PROS
- 1. Touch screen + QWERTY: If you want a touch screen phone with a QWERTY keyboard from Verizon, I think this is the best choice. The HTC is reported as very buggy by reviewers and the various forums. I have found the touch screen to be very responsive, some say the resolution is not as good as the iphone or omnia, but I think watching TV on Hulu or other 4:3 video is better with a square screen.
- 2. The keyboard is a decent size, I have large fingers and can use it pretty easily
- 3. Opera browser pre-installed (though I installed SkyFire which is even better)
- 4. Build quality: it seems like a very solid phone, the case is rubberized a little, even the little rubber port covers are sturdier than on other phones I've had
- 5. Call quality and sound is good with Verizon in the Philadelphia area. The speakerphone works well also
- 6. The optical mouse is a blessing in many areas. The only time its not as good is when texting and you want to go back three words in the message you are typing and make a correction. A D-pad would be a lot easier for that. But for navigating the menus, browsing the web etc. the mouse is better.
CONS:
I have not had the problems expressed by the the Heavy Business User, except for battery life which seems to be an issue with most of the new touch screen multimedia PDA Phones. The Saga battery life is worse than the Omnia, which I had previously. (I posted some tweaks you can do and a place to get the extended battery on this website's forum for the Saga.)
Windows mobile is a "con" in my book, but I purchased and installed "SPB Mobile Shell" which makes the phone very easy to navigate and now I never use the windows desktop or Start menu for anything. I'd recommend factoring in the cost on SPB or some other "finger friendly" facelift when purchasing the phone. There are a few facelift programs out there, they make windows mobile easy to use. Without the option to use tools like that my review rating would be much lower.
Saga tops BB/Treo Combined!
Background: My first PDA/Phone was the Treo 700W which I received 2 days after it debutted. Given the limited memory, limited functionality, and all of the other ârantâ items, I really did enjoy the form factor, buttons, and WM5. I wrote several of my own applications and databases for it and integrated it into my business as a mobile computing device. Iâve been waiting and shopping for my ânext great pdaâ.
I happened to double check the âwhatâs newâ on Phonescoop.com and found the Samsung Saga i770. I was previously unimpressed with the other Samsung i730 & i760 phones for many of the key items I was looking for. When I read the specs of the i770, I literally went out and got it and then realized that it had just come out this past Friday. What luck!
Pros:
- Good reception and clarity
- Loud speaker phone
- Touchscreen requires âintendedâ touches to activate
- Optical mouse is accurate and responsive, d-pad feels solid and responsive
- Navigation switch from optical mouse to âinvisi-selectorâ works great
- Connected easily to my WPA-AES home network
- Good feedback on keys, great QWERTY KB Layout
- Hard plastic/rubbery textured band around the exterior for easy grip
- Compact-telescoping stylus
- External reset button for easy hard resets
- Top mounted headphone jack
- One-button touch camera launcher
- Programmable hot-key option
Cons:
- No âno soundâ ringer option
- No flash
- Comes out of power-save mode without the screen locked (randomly âpowers-onâ donât know why, probably a service detected or something)
Other Tips
- No ringer-off switch like the top of the Treo, found it is depressing the spacebar to switch to vibrate mode or holding down the volume on the left side
- Quick power-off to lock screen is the power button on the top
This feels like the perfect blend of WM6.1, Blackberry/Treo-like form factor and in a business-class package. I'm looking forward to other tips and tricks shared regarding this phone.
Great Phone
I should start off by saying that I am far from a PPC expert. My last phone was a moto Q- the black one, it was on it last leg & thankfully this phone became available in the nick of time. I had been expecting the 800w-treo to be my next phone but i'm glad that this one became available. I really love this phone!
Pros-
form factor, a little longer than my q but about the same width & thin
optical mouse- at first i hated it but after a little while i got used to it & its awesome(esp if you like the eraser heads on ibm). It allows you to almost never need to use the stylus
i like the number of dedicated hard buttons & some of them are configurable
specs are good to great including the 16mb expansion slot
wifi
Cons
the keyboard is somewhat flexible & smallish for me-Q probably has the best keyboard ever
i would have preferred the mini-usb for power & i'm not too sure about the lift door that covers the connection. Some how i just know that thing will break off
battery life could be better but thats what aftermarket batteries are for; worth mentioning, at the top of the back of the phone its slightly raised. I would imagine that a larger battery with a new door would level off the back of the phone thereby avoiding the goofy look of most larger aftermarket batteries.
ringer could be louder
Overall this is a great option on VZ if not for the BB storm launch this phone would get alot more hype. i might have listed more cons than pros but thats b/c i'm picky, there is alot to like about this phone. I am very glad this phone came when it did.
WM hurts the phone
I bought this after using a Moto Q with WM5 and a Samsung Blackjack II for international. Both were the smartphone edition of WM, which i think is infinitely better than the cluttered mess of WM6.1 Pro. Every time i pull the phone out of my pocket, it's on the clock screen where you can change the time, the phone screen turns on randomly for no reason (this affects battery life), and it takes way too many steps to do anything.
For hardware, the optical mouse is sort of cool, but the lack of a directional pad is a major problem. you have to mouse around the screen and delicately choose items rather than simply click around the OS. At one point, my mouse pointer inexplicably disappeared, probably due to some setting somewhere, and I haven't been able to use the mouse since.
Pros
- only world roaming WM phone for exchange users
- optical mouse eliminates using the stylus
- Feature set and buttons are great
Cons
- no directional pad!!
- screen turns on randomly
- WM6.1 pro instead of smartphone edition
Don't waste your time or money!
Waste of your time and your money! Better off with no phone then to be stuck with this one.
Poor battery life, poor signal reception.
Pros: Looks nice.
Cons: Performance and quality.Poor battery life.
Recommend: No!
The Mario of Smartphones
Enter the Samsung Saga. This is a phone that you either love or hate. Here's why:
Love:
Optical Mouse - Seriously, why don't all smartphones come with this? You almost never use the touchscreen because of it! It is so easy to use!
Opera Mobile - It has Flash Player. It has tabs. It works.
Unlocked GPS - The later software update gives you this.
Wi-Fi - It has.
Threaded Messaging - A great blessing...
Keyboard - Faster than typing on a Windows touchscreen keyboard, which is universally the slowest kind of onscreen keyboard in existence.
Slim Size - It's not too noticeable in the pocket with the regular battery, the overall feel is nice and sleek, and the construction is rather sturdy.
Customization - Windows does get underrated a lot. You can customize just about everything on the phone.
Hate:
Signal Strength - The Saga is terrible even when it is good. Ironically, it still works even when the signal is terrible.
384 MHz Processor - Seriously... Everyone else at the time this was made was pushing 528 or better. The lack of speed really does show.
The buttons - They kill your fingers after five minutes of typing on them! And where is the underscore key?!
Threaded Messaging - ...and a great curse. There is a bug in the updated software where it only marks only one message in the conversation as read at a time.
GPS - If you use anything other than VZNavigator, you end up without the a in aGPS, so satellite fix can take up to 15 minutes!
Battery life - Rotten. The regular battery lasts half a day. You have to micromanage your hardware settings and usage of the phone or risk running dry in just a couple hours.
Memory - 112 MB Storage runs down quickly. It might have 75 MB of RAM, but 40 MB are taken up by Windows, so you have just 35 MB to play with. And that runs down real quick.
Overall, if you need a decent and feature rich Windows smartphone for less money, and don't mind pure middle-of-the-road average mediocrity, the Saga is a proper phone for you.
Ghost in the machine
I migrated from a Blackberry to this phone to get onto a Windows Mobile device. I have had so many random issues it's unreal. I finally got my wireless carrier to exchange it. I am not alone. I've had people approach me on planes and at conferences who have validated what I've thought for months, it's just very poorly designed and I am happy to wish it hasta la vista, baby!
Samsung Saga
Understand that I am a novice to the smartphone.
Pros: Slim size and nice sized screen.
Light weight.
Cons: Very difficult to navigate. Battery life very short.
As others state, the phone comes out of sleep mode ramdomly, causing the battery to go from fully charged to low warning within about a half hour. Will not return to power save mode.
Camera extremely difficult to use.
Please, if anyone can assist me with using this phone, it would be greatly appreciated, as I said, I am a notice to this type of phone. Thanks !
Better than Treo 700w & HTC touch Pro
Treo 700w user for 3 years, HTC Touch Pro for 3 months
PROS:
Bluetooth sound quality way better than Treo
Bluetooth always connnect, unlike Treo
Full Keyboard
Doesnt freeze up (Treo always had to remove battery and end ActiveSync)
Sound volume is great, Touch pro is too low
Internet displays websites well
Mouse (once you get used to it)
views pdf files, unlike Treo 700w
CONS
No GPS active
Speed dialing uses numbers not letters
WHAT WOULD MAKE THIS SAGA BETTER:
GPS
Better resolution (320 is great but still more is always better)
Bigger screen with slide up keyboard
Detachable bluetooth
Vibrate capable with ringer on
Saga - good, not great
I've had this for two weeks. It is a feature packed device with a fabulous optical mouse, but has issues with battery life and video camera use. While some aren't big fans of the Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system, it works fine by me and syncs flawlessly with my laptop. I would rate this phone a 7.5 out of 10.
The REALLY good features:
> Optical mouse (unbelievable -- best I've used; also has option to use stylus or touchscreen). Makes navigating this phone a pleasure.
> Keyboard is easy to use, backlit
> Use-ability for work --- i.e., calendar, emails and contacts
> Thin enough to easily slip into my pocket and go un-noticed by others.
The not-so good:
> Battery life is pretty limited (typical complaint for this type of phone). Need to charge every night, and sometimes during the day.
> Voice quality is OK, with occassional dropped calls
> Video quality is suspect --- doesn't work well in moderate lighting conditions. My previous LG phone (with same camera specifications) performed much better.
