Samsung SPH-A620 / VGA1000
Average Ratings
Discountinued for a Reason- BAD for Texting
Let me start of by saying that this phone can take a beating. I've dropped it, cracked it, and spread jelly on this bad boy. Still has worked (I only used the insurance one to replace it for cosmetic reasons). Some more positive things about this phone is: the pictures are okay and sound quality is good. That being said, this phone has so many annoying quirks to it. If you want to send/receive text message with this phone (at least with Sprint), this is NOT for you. You have to "connect" to the web to get your text messages AND receive. All that gets sent to your phone is a "Notification" that you got something. This becomes a tediously slow painstaking process. Sometimes it connects some times it doesn't. When you connect to see your message of the "Notification you just got it instead of going straight to the message, it goes to your "Inbox" which you then have to select your message and wait for it to load. Sending your text is even more of a hastle. You only have an "inbox" in this online version of your text message bin. No "Drafts" "Outbox" "Saved" "Deleted", JUST the inbox. Also, this web version of text messaging does not directly link with the address book in your phone, you have to create a SEPARATE "quicknames" list. When you want to reply or compose you have to use this "web form" to send. I cant count HOW MANY TIMES my text messaging that i'm typing gets lost when someone calls while you are typing it. As soon as you end your call your form resets and is empty. When the web is busy and can connect, you CANT receive your messages. This phone does not include a stop watch. Does not come with any games (only demos). You can only email/send pictures that you take with the phone. NOT ones you recieved or downloaded. You cannot rename or modify any of the pictures. No speakerphone even though you can have "real voice" ringers.
ok...
this phone looked cool when i got it but i found a few things i didnt like
cons
-picture quality isnt the greatest
-you have to connect to the internet to send txt messages, which gets really annoying after awhile.(didnt know wat SMS was at the time)
-the battery life stays at 2 for 90% of the time but seems to run out when you need it the most.
-when you go near a computer or under a tree you get a lot of crackling andmight lose your signal.
-they dont have the widest selection of ringtones. i dont like rap so it seems that i cant find anything i like!
-the ringtones play for about a second when you answer the phone.
pros
-the reception is good against what it seems like from your bars, my 1-2 bars sounds perfect.
-the ringtones come out better than i thought they would from what everyone else was saying.
-the external display is really good to c who is calling.
-multiple phone numbers for one name is helpful and i use the ringer ID for my friends.
-im NEVER going to get passed 250+ phone numbers anyways so im fine with what i have.
-the "camera" menu looks so cool!
-the voice memos are fine at 1minute but i could use like 30seconds more sometimes.
-3way calling is very easy.
-the ringtones are plenty loud and the vibrations is good and not very loud like.
overall its a decent phone
An actual review...
After reading through all of the other reviews other posters have submited, I felt that I needed to write one to clear up some things. First of all, know what your talking about before you write a review. Some of the things others have said are misleading. If you've had a cell phone before, than you know they get warm after using them for more than 5 minutes, *this is normal* So I dont see why people are writing this as a con. Second one poster said that the camera button in the center of the direction pad should have been the "ok" button. If you would have spent the time to actually use the phone you would know that it *can* be used as the ok button. All you have to do is...press it, and it selects any option you have highlighted in the menu. WOW.
Now all sarcasm aside, this is an awesome phone. I previously had the A500 for roughly 10 months before this phone, and I am more than happy with my new A620. This phone is just amazing. I get reception with this phone where I didnt get it with the A500. Other people who have earlier sprint phones that I work with complain that they dont get reception here...I just point and laugh :-P The camera is great, 640x480 resolution. While viewing pictures on the phone in high or low res, theres not much difference. Its when you view them on your pc. theyre good pictures of you can take a still shot, otherwise it can look kinda grainy, also pictures taken with flouresant light can mess the auto brightness up, making the pictures "washed out" Also the flash isnt really a flash, its more like a bright LED. Otherwise the camera is great, it's smaller than a penny, and its on a phone, what do you expect... Voice activation is amazing, no programing needed. All name types are recognized. Bob, J.J., John Doe,etc... I was pretty amazed at that. Green LED behind the # keys could be brighter, but im not using the phone in a cave, and if you've used a phone within the last 20 yrs, you should know they key layout anyway.
Very Pleased
I've had the VGA1000 for over a week. It took about a day to get used to it, but that's probably less the phone than having had Nokias for years with my two previous carriers. Not a con. I'm using the Internet as much as calling, and the display and speed beats the VZW LG I tried hands down! Kind of a trade-off -- theirs works on digital but is slow text only, Sprint's works only on Sprint but is far better. I'll take Sprint. Web based SMS is something else new to me, but then again my old e-mail via SMS wasn't really e-mail like Sprint. I went to the store intent on getting the Sanyo 8100, but after messing around with them both the VGA1000 seemed to have a better browser, better pictures, better display and better workmanship -- just better, period, so I took it instead.
My only concern was signal, having read a lot of reviews about Sprint phones prior to shopping. Being new to Sprint and anything but Nokia, I can't comment like the veterans. What I can say is this. The VZW LG constantly changed service areas and dropped calls, the Sprint VGA1000 doesn't, and I get as good and sometimes better signal than I did with my AT&T Nokias which were never a problem. So from my frame of reference it's just fine.
So I'm very pleased. All I originally wanted to do was upgrade with AT&T, but that meant changing networks from one with great coverage that will never be updated (TDMA) to one that has all the new stuff but with coverage that stinks (GSM). For the same money as I could upgrade a TDMA phone with nothing more than what I have, I have a phone that works just as well as a phone and gives me Internet and pictures (which the kids like) too, better than others I tried at AT&T and VZW with Nokia and LG models, or the 8100.
An awesome phone overall
PROS:
-Beautiful design, feels good, looks great. Green back-lighting not so bad, screen brilliant.
-Voice command: best I've ever seen anywhere, almost 100 percent accurate even with no programing required.
-Camera: Great camera, flash really helps alot, even in pitch black, resolution is about t the best you can expect from todays cameras.
-Data: Innovative data info-structure, sprint really did well with this one. Very fast, picture sharing works great, messaging and browsing is simple and entertaining.
-Speaker: The speaker is loud and high quality, people often ask where the music is coming from when my phone rings.
-Extras: Nice set of tools, replaces a PDA.
CONS:
-theres no way to display a 10 digit number at one time from your phone book to dial on another phone.
-you can't reference your phone book for text messaging, you can however, set up a separate online phone book for messaging.
-longer email addresses don't fit for picture sharing!
-I'm hesitant to put reception on here because of this reason: I usually only get one bar of service on this phone, but one bar still provides crystal clear calls and fast, undisturbed internet.
-Shape of antenna: the antenna is shaped uniquely which is both good and bad, good because its ergonomic, but bad because you can't put a customized antenna on.
-Battery life: needs to be charged daily, can be solved with extended life battery.
Overall this is a great phone, and a good value, do not hesitate to buy this on contract, would do over if I had to.
Samsung VGA1000
OK, if you want a review of the VGA 1000, here it is. I have had Sprint service for over 3 years and have had the 3500, 8500, Uproar (MP3), A460, A500 and for a short time the I300. I had the Sanyo 5300 when the camera phone first came out, and the A620 is the best I have had of all of them.
PROS
--the screen is brighter and sharper.
--the camera has the added fun frames as well as the voice clip capability
--the standard battery performs better.
--the sound quality (incoming/outgoing) is outstanding.
--the option of the gamepad to play the games is definitely a cool option.
--the ringers sound great.
--signal strength is consistent but does "display" lower than the Sanyo 5300
CONS (I am going to nitpick here)
--the leather case (from Sprint) does not seem to fit very well.
--I haven't been able to get the 4-digit dial to work (the abreviated dial work)
Otherwise, this is an overall incredible phone.
So So...
It was a decent phone when I had it. Good build quality - felt solid, no squeaks or creaks. Ok RF and Ok call quality. Also had a loud earpiece and speaker. It was a good phone, just nothing extraordinary.
Dissappointed
I was extremely excited about this phone. I traded in my Samsung A600 for the chance to have what I believed to be a better phone. In the first few weeks of using the phone I began to notice a few issues. The ringers I had downloaded would continue to play after I had answered the call, the phone would turn off on its own in the middle of starting a program like MobiTV, the phone would lose all reception and then gain it back again, drop calls, and several other things. All phones have glitches now and then, so I wasn't too worried, but then it happened more and more frequently. I am replacing the phone with the Sanyo VM4500 soon.
This is truly a great piece of hardware. It has style, a compact size, and an excellent camera. It is the software that seems to be the problem. Perhaps Samsung will release a software upgrade allowing people to flash their phones in a Sprint Store, but, until then, I say don't buy this phone. Buy a Sanyo. They hardly ever have these issues.
P.S.- About 5 of my friends have this phone, too. They have all expressed similar disappointment. Some worse, some not as bad.
620/VGA 1000 - Got it!
All right...found it in stock at Radio Shack last night. First thoughts - Sprint PCS web site says it comes with a desktop charger. It does not. Same travel charger (exact same) that came with my A500. Now I have two. One for home, one for the road.
There is no 'free extended battery' card in there as there was with the A500 (and as I had heard). Oh well. With my 20% discount for registering my phone it's 40 bucks from samsungusa.com.
This is my third Samsung phone (8500, A500). Obviously, I like their menus, coverage, sound quality. Of note, my 8500 went into a pool with me and worked fine once it dried out. The 620 seems to have the same solid design. Feels good in the hand. IT DOES GET WARM with extended use. The same thing happens with the A500. I got used to it, and having a leather case on the phone seems to help.
The internal screen is absolutely beautiful. The external is quite nice too. Family, girlfriends, and others will gleam as their calls come in. Very sharp resolution, best I have seen on any phone.
The camera is still a VGA camera, but for that, it seems to be great. Flash, self timer, adjustable brightness, color tones, and white balance. 3, 5 and 10 frame multi shot ability. A couple dozen 'cute' picture frames, but I can see those being lots of fun for many users.
The phone is of course 3G data, and in my limited usage, it appears to be 30-50% faster than the A500. When loading up my Yahoo! starter page, the A500 took about 12 seconds to load all the images (mail, weather, etc). The 620 does it in about 7. Other pages seem to be about that much quicker on the 620. That is a huge plus for me, as I use the phone as much for the web as I do calls.
Sprint actually let me keep my current plan (one of the Vision launch promotional plans) and even waived the activation fee. All this without extending my contract. Must have something to do with the number portability law...
Sedge
A new guy just arrived.
A new guy just arrived in Korea with better performance and beautiful appearance. I just bought this phone & spent 3 hours to play with it, just amazing.
Pros
- Bright LCD(Is this 260K TFT? Wow!)
- Funframe: 22 (It's a kind of cute, Specially I Like fun frame")
- Picture E-Mail
Every time I found special I took picture with VGA 100 then save in my allocated wallet via E-Mail and share it. Isn't it cool?
- Light & Slim
Sanyo's most popular mobiles have good perfermance but they are kind bulky. But VGA 1000 is light, easy to filp open/close, slim and it's kind of neat.
- Fast data service
I heard it's designed with a new qualcomm base band chipset (MSM 6050) that I can feel fast data service. When I send a picture to my E-Mail address, it's just in a sec.
Cons
- Weak keypad back light. Recently, samsung phone made of blue LED in the key pad but don't know why it's yellow. look dull.
Hey, guys !
If you're looking for the hot stuff, buy Samsung VGA 1000. It's like having a new boy/girl friend. Too sweet.!!!
