Samsung Solstice SGH-A887
Average Ratings
very well balanced phone
The Samsung Solstice is a rather well balanced phone. It doesn't overachieve in any major category, but it's not underwhelming in any of them either. This is a good phone for those who want a touch screen alternative to the iPhone and who aren't heavy video/mobile tv users.
Pros:
1. Reception is slightly above average, and it holds a signal well with little fluctuation.
2. Call quality is average. It's not crystal clear, but there aren't any disturbances either.
3. Menu is very basic and easy to use, which is very welcome. It's pretty much self-explanatory with no confusion.
4. Widgets are nice. You can't do much customization with them, but several of them are very useful shortcuts.
5. Internet browser works fine, and it loads most websites pretty quickly (even on 2G). No trouble properly displaying full html sites.
6. The phone just looks great. It's sleek, fun, and has a professional feel to it.
Cons:
1. Not the best phone for watching youtube clips or live tv. In fairness, it is more than likely a network issue in my location: I didn't find that 3G services where I live were exponentially faster than 2G. The phone works great for loading websites, but wasn't too snappy with video.
2. Battery life wasn't the best on 3G. Using a code, I was able to switch off 3G services, and battery performance was much improved (from roughly 3.5 hours of talk time with moderate data/messaging to 6 hours).
3. The on screen keyboard was a little bit small. It's easy to use and gives vibration feedback, but messaging isn't quite as fast compared to using a physical keyboard.
To conclude, the Solstice is a solid phone. It gets good consistent reception, has an easy to use menu, and offers a pleasant web browsing experience. It's not for hardcore youtube addicts, and the touchscreen keyboard could be a smidge larger, but these two matters didn't severely mar the phones performance. Battery life using 3G wasn't great, but is comparable to other 3G phones.
solstice review
I have owned this phone since October 2010. It was my first touch screen phone and overall am very happy with the phone. It has everything I need in a phone.I dont text so I cant comment about the texting . I use it for email facebook I watch the mobile video once in a while. I have the 15 dollar unlimited plan. Once in a while there is an echo when speaking to someone however that doesnt happen all the time. The touch screen is very responsive. It is not considered a smart phone however I think it should it does have most of the features of a smart phone. Overall I am veryhappy with this phone and dont regret the purchase.
baisc simple touchscreen phone
PROS:
*phone is very compact and light
*touch screen makes navigation very easy and intuitive
*very easy to use
*it was free with two year service plan with ATT, but had to pay taxes which amounted to $30
CONS:
*the touchscreen response is poor
*at about 6 months some of the screens do not respond when touched or do respond only if pressed down very hard
*at one point I was unable to scroll up while on the widget menu located on the main screen
*Had to have the phone replaced under warranty and ATT said they could only provide a refurbished phone
Cool Phone!!
I have finally decided to switch to AT&T from T-Mobile and I have to admit that I enjoy the 3G network very much!
Cons
* Widgets cant be changed
* Trying to view video on you tube isn't all that great
* Sometimes the keyboard screen will lock up
* Not a phone for business (email, etc.)
Pros
* Looks GREAT!!!
* Sound quality is awesome
* Colors on screen are really nice
* Very slim and sleek design
* Can download many free ring tones from other sites
* When you add a mirco sim card you can turn the phone into an iPod!
* Holds plenty of info
* Great battery life
* Good internet browsing
* Much more....
I love the phone. I mean I am a 25 so mainly I use the phone for IM, texting, music, and internet. I live in the Dallas area and so far I have never had any problems with coverage in my area. I would recommend the phone for any one looking for their first touch screen phone.
Answer key and battery
Pros: good features
Cons: Answer key does not lock so the phone answers without my knowledge while in my purse because movement presses the 'send' key to answer phone. This has happened several times in the 2 weeks I've owned the phone. They need to make a different answering option. A 'slide' option or a two-key combination to answer would be better. Automatically answering because the button is pressed is annoying to say the least.
The battery life if very poor. I don't even have internet or texting enabled yet and I still have to charge every other day with minimal phone usage.
I am looking to exchange the phone for both these reasons.
Good phone
I've had this phone for about 7 hours and i have been trying to figure it what all it can do. Here's what i found
Pros: sleek look
light weight
great touch response
pictures come out clear
web browsing is made simple
quick accelerometer
fun to play around on
Impressive sound quality
Cons: I can't figure out how to change
the screensaver,
widgets aren't too customizable
If someone does know how to change the screen saver, which is a slide show of preloaded pictures, let me know
Great All-Around machine
This is an excellent phone. I have had it for a week now, and have noticed only a few minor issues with it. The location of the mini-sd slot is slightly annoying (it hides under the battery). The responsiveness of the touch screen sometimes is balky. But functionally, it is amazing. I walked across campus with the Eagles today, and the clarity and volume were great for a phone. The web browsing is effective, and the app suite is also pretty cool. The Where function in particular suits me quite well. I love the gas price finder, the airport function and the directions widget. I discover new things about this phone daily. It is also really easy to use once you get use to the touch screen. The rotational accelerometer is quite nifty. Overall a successful effort from Samsung. I am on ATT in San Diego County, so signal can be spotty depending on whether one is in the hillier parts of the county, but it is generally pretty good for having signal in weird places. I have signal in the basement of one of the halls on campus, but not on the first floor (the ground floor) of another building. I quite enjoy the scrolling method, and the widget bar. Battery life has been decent considering I use it quite frequently for web browsing, and today for music. I have an 8 gigabyte mini-sd in mine, and have had few problems taking music from my external hard drives and putting it on my phone. Video is a different story. t is finicky about the file type, but that is not a big deal. I usually have my laptop on me as well, so that serves my video needs. The other thing is that you can't use your own music in the make a tone program nor can you set one of your own songs as a ring tone.
Solstice review
Pros: size, ease of use, looks, touch screen,
Cons: Phone sound quality, widget control
I got this phone about 1 week ago and I am on my third one. I returned the first 2 because when I used the phone, the person on the other end would hear an echo when they talked. The echo is loud and needless to say very annoying. This happens with the speaker on and off. It has happened with my third one so it is going back as well. I wish you could control the widgets better. You have access to 15-20 widgets and all you can do is turn them on or off. You canât choose an important tool or application and place it in the widget bar. I am peaky about the calendar function because I use it a lot so some shortfalls for me are that in the âevent listâ it does not show the day of the week. The shown format is : 8:00 am Sep 21, 2009. You look at your events wondering if that is a Monday or Tuesday. On most calendars when you enter a time it automatically selects the end time 1 hour later, not here. Then end time is about 1 hour from the actual time appointment is entered. Downloadable Gmail app (free) is good but it takes about 4 steps to access (see widget comments). When using Google maps you get a prompt stating "OK to send information? You are accessing the network. Data charges may apply. Continue?". I donât think there is a way to stop prompt and it occurs almost every time you access new information, very annoying.
Touch screen is nice and I really like the vibration feedback.
Would I recommend this phone? No because of the very loud and annoying echo.
