Samsung SPH-A540
Average Ratings
Pretty Decent Phone
I have had this phone for over one year now and have not had one problem with it to date. The calculator works great, I even use this phone as my alarm clock. When I first got the phone and tried to access the web, it said key disabled or something like that, but I just called my service provider and they fixed that in a matter of 2 minutes. The only con I have about it, is that when I am putting names in to the phone book, it doesn't give a lot of space for the names, so I have to shorten most of it to first or last names, which isn't a problem, but a some friends have the same first name so I have to enter it by last name. Not a problem, just different. I would recommend this phone to anyone who just wants a plain, good working phone. My calls are always clear and while the ring tones are not that great, the volume is. Great phone.
Samsung SPH-a540
I picked up this phone a few weeks ago as my contract with Telus was up for renewal, an upgrade from a trouble free 4 year old Nokia 6185.
I have not had any problems with the phone (other then the well documented problem with the calculator). Sound quality and reception in digital areas are all comparable to my old 6185, depending on my call volume, I have been getting up to 96 hours out of the battery.
The voice recognition works well as long as when you use it the background noise conditions match those of when you recorded originally. Keeping voice dial commands short seem to help this problem.
Most of the polyphonic ring tones and background images are a bit silly. Telus does have a bunch available for download including a few free ones (one of which is a regular ring tone as the a540 lacks one).
Phone book works well and holds lots of numbers for each contact. If you are looking for great PIM features then look elsewhere.
Overall the a540 seems like a good replacement for the 6185 but time will tell if build quality and analog reception is up to par.
Nice Phone, no problems to date!
Its been good, and the reception has been excellent. Even if your down to 1 or no bars of reception, it still comes thru crystal clear, must be that 1X at work or something.
As far as the calculator, this is what samsung had to say:
'We have received several calls about the Samsung A540 handset freezing and
locking up. The issue is related to the use of the Calculator. When a client
divides a number with a single digit number, the handset freezes. The client
has to remove the battery to reset the unit. TELUS Mobility and Samsung have
recognized the issue and are working towards a resolution. The solution will
probably manifest in the form of a software upgrade program, to begin in the
new year. Details regarding this program will be communicated at a later date -
stay tuned! If you have further questions or should you need additional
assistance please feel free to call us here at Samsung Technical Support at
1-800-SAMSUNG or visit us on the web at http://www.samsungwirelesscanada.com.
Your interest in Samsung products is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Technical Support
Samtech075'
Samsung SPH-A540
The phone looks great. The phone book takes awhile to get used to but hey it holds 500 numbers. Clarity is great but the mic could use some work as I have to repeat myself sometimes when speaking. The volume when I have a headset isn't all that great either. I have it set at max but when I'm driving I can't hear jack! It is true that when you use the divide function on the calculator the phone freezes which sucks but how many of us use the calculator. I've emailed Samsung about the problem but all they told me was that they know of the problem and they're looking into it. I also called Telus customer service and they told me they didn't know of the problem. After nagging they sort of guaranteed me that it wouldn't cost me anything to get a firmware upgrade when it is made available.
Calculator Doesn't Work
Everything is awesome, but the calculator doesn't work... unfortunate. But ralistically it wouldn't get used anyways.
Does not receive calls consistently
I just bought this phone a couple of days ago, and firstly I can confirm that the calculator problem is still present (The saleswoman was quite surprised when I demonstrated this to her. You'd think a company would make its employees aware of deficiencies of the products they sell...oh well). Secondly, and more importantly, the phone does not seem to receive calls well. I tried calling the phone in several locations, and it only rings in a few, even when the phone indicates moderate to high signal strengths. My wife has a Nokia on the same network, and it works fine in all the same locations. Outgoing calls on the SPH-a540 are fine. I always thought that if you had sufficient signal to make a call, you could receive a call as well, but I guess that's not the case. I'd be interested to know if others have had similar problems.
Anyway, besides doing only half of what it's supposed to, the phone is great.
Samsung SPH-A540
Pros:
- Looks great
- Nice blue screen
- Ringers loud
- Exceptionally clear speaker
- extremely small
Cons:
- Reception is not that great (compared to LG TM-520 which I was using before)
- Battery does not last 5 days on standby (no way, no chance, more like 2 days, 3 MAXXXX)
- Ringers are horrible (not one sounds like a phone ringer)
I had the LG before, and only complaint about it was that the ringers were not loud enough, otherwise I would prefer that one. Stay away for now, also bugs in Java, crashes often!!!
Does the job pretty good
I activiated the a540, on a one year plan and this phone was a good phone that worked in th coldest of conditions, and through all the neglect that it recieved from me, it worked really good...
Pros.
good enough battery
outer display
fly ribbin (fun game)
big phone book
works good on Tri-Mode
good display for not being color
ten million times better than my Nokia 3390
Cons.
Not Colour Screen
flimmsy antenna
voice dial.. is too precise
It scrathes really easy
A540 Country Blues
This may be a decent urban phone, but I suspect RF problems plague it there too. At home it breaks up and goes analogue in an area which is reasonably well covered by Talus. Any more than 2 miles out of town, it drops calls or just won't work (250 area). And at the cabin (604 area), it will show a weak signal but cannot connect.
Might look pretty and fit well in a pocket, but it just doesn't work for me. On contract too. Was told that all the new digitals were equivalent for RF performance, but I see lots of people using their phones where I can't.
Too bad Samsung forgot the primary function of a phone while they were designing in all those fancy features.
