Samsung SCH-A930
Average Ratings
best phone i have ever hade
I have had this same phone for 5 years now and I love it. A friend of mine had it and he said he rele liked it so when i whent in to get a new phonw this was the one. I have had the same phone for 5 years and nothing is wrong with it except for loooking its age. Im looking into getting another one so i can keep enjoying it for yearrs to come.
Samsung a930
Wow this phone is amazing. It has a lot of great features like a megapixel camera, front button mp3 support, even though it doesn't play mp3 only wma format. I like its sleek black color and the OLED screen. This phone is seriously up-to-date with its features. I personally liked the EV-DO support and the high-tech 3D games from V cast.
The things i did not like is the bluetooth. Verizon doesn't let you have OBEX or object transfer like t-mobile does. Also i think the menu looks cartoonish, t-mobile has a nicer looking menu. I don't like how its called an mp3 player phone when you can't play mp3's on it.
All in all this phone is really good though it looks nice and has nice features, except for bluetooth, it totally sucks and verizon needs to enable OBEX on it
Really like this phone, even with it's Bluetooth quirk.
The Cons:
I would have rated this phone higher, except for one annoying Bluetooth headset bug. The solution to this bug is after the phone is first powered on you must either make an initial call out from the phone's keypad after the Bluetooth headset has paired up, or receive an incoming call from the Bluetooth headset. Prior to this single initial call the voice command function will not work from the Bluetooth headset. It will still be activated by holding down the Bluetooth headset button and waiting for the second beep in the Bluetooth headset (Plantronics 640 in my case) however voice command is deaf to the world and any voice commands given will not be responded to. After this procedure has been done once, you can power off and on the Bluetooth headset and issue as many voice commands as you want. However, if you power the phone off and back on then this procedure must be repeated once again. (or just waiting until after the next incoming or outgoing call before you try to use voice command from the Bluetooth headset)
Documentation regarding what was referred to as one button "quiet mode" on other phones I have owned (perfect for movie theaters) is lacking for the A930. I was used to the single button keypress to disable the ringer and enable vibrate. I searched forums and discovered that by momentarily pressing the volume key on the left side several times to decrease the volume when not on a call, that it would also display and enable "Vibrate Only", "Alarm Only", or "All Sounds Off". Perfect!
The Pros:
Good reception. Good sound quality. Camera quality is also good for that of a cell phone. The MicroSD card feature is nice for transferring pictures, videos and music to/from a PC without using a USB cable, along with the capability to store lots of music, which to me when played through ear-buds sounds as good as my iPod shuffle.
My phone's versions;
Software V. a930.ZC09
PRL V. 50687
ERI V 4
Hardware V. A930.06
LOVE IT!
I just want to start by saying that I work at best buy and sell cell phones there. I have had many phones in the past. As some of you know, when you work with these phones you can't help but to buy them constantly.
I love the A930. I did have the LG 8100 and it def compares to each other. I like that the samsung can play movies as the background on the main screen just as the 8100 can. The speakers sound good, but they are little. I also like the fact the samsung has better reception in places my LG was not as great with. That was something that really stood out to me. Other features that I like are that the phone can sync to the computer and download songs to it, that is a neat feature of the phone. Also, something like I found out the other day is that when you dial a number you can actually choose the font that you want it to be in. One font, my personal fave, is the sticky. Which is the dial font looks like sticky notes on a cork board.
There are so many other features. Seriously, try this phone bc it's AWESOME!
Great phone with great durability
Pro:
-Speakerphone sounds excellent.
-Wired headsets seem to work flawlessly.
-Screen is bright with adjustable lightings.
-Camera Quality is great (in the beginning).
-Recorded videos up to 25 minutes on standard memory.
-VERY durable. Dropped it on solid concrete with the phone opened. Only a few scratches on the side.
-Voice quality is excellent. You can hear the person well, the other person can hear you well.
-I had the phone since August. I remember the many times my calls have been dropped (4). This was going to New York and Jersey back and forth, inside basements, elevators, you name it, I still had service.
-Battery life is good.
-Pictures recieved from text messages are in excellent quality, even after saved to your phone.
Cons:
-Bluetooh is NOT compatible with all bluetooth headsets. If you look in the forums, an owner of this phone complains that he tried four different kinds, and they all had problems syncing. This is true, my akon headset syncs with my phone, but does not pick up calls. (only sometimes) The bluetooth connection is lost frequently too. Works fine though with the more expensive headsets.
-A lot of feedback and static when talking on wired headsets for some time (after about an hour and thirty of talk time). Even when switching back to the handset you'll still hear static until it fades away (only you hear it, the other person doesn't notice anything).
-Camera loses it's quality after some time, even after you clean it.
Overall, this is a great phone with only a few minor problems. I don't know why people complain about the battery life, my phone seems the same as when I first bought it. I can still talk up to five hours without charging it, and standby time up to a few days. If you charge it correctly, the life should be pretty much extended or the same. The time is always shown on the front screen which is amazing, no more opening and checking the time. Background movies are a plus too. Just buy it.
Solid Sammy
I used my NE2 and got this phone free after rebate. Previously owned an LG-VX8100. I've been a wireless customer for 10 yrs and have had several phones. This is a good solid phone. I expect a phone to be dependable as a phone 1st & everything else 2nd.
Pros:
No dropped calls (yet)
Nice *LOUD* ear piece
Loud ring
Can silence all with outside button
Loud speaker can be used with flip closed
Good reception - clear calls
Internal antenna
Strong but not overpowering vibrate
Feels solid
Beautiful internal screen
Outer oled display always on
Has an OK Camera
VZ Navigator
I personally like the black color
Cons:
Wish outer display would show if on vibrate etc.....and hard to see in sunlight unless hold a side key down to brighten....
Not a lot of ring tones to choose from and not 1 decent business "regular" ring....
Overall I am very happy with this phone. Calls are most important to me and the ear piece on this is definitely one of the loudest I've ever used.
Excellent Phone
I absolutely love this phone! I have been with VZW for over 4 years, and I am so impressed with this phone.
From the Vibe Tonz that put a little bit of bass in your ring tone to the slick outside LCD display this phone is amazing. I am so happy to have a phone that shows the time ALL DAY LONG!! No more hitting the key on the side to get a glimpse of the time in the middle of a meeting!
This phone also has VZNavigator, which is the GPS system that VZW offers. The map on the screen just comes alive with this awesome feature.
Although their aren't too many options on preset ring tones, there are many options to purchase from Get It Now.
The cutest thing about the phone right now for me is the ability to change the way the numbers come up on the screen!
The keypad is smooth, and sleek. I love the all black design and it goes so well with my Blue tooth headset which I have absolutely no problems with pairing or using Voice Command.
Great Phone
Overall, this is a great phone. I just switched back to Verizon W after a year or so with T-Mobile. T-Mobile is a great company, but with terrible reception in some areas where I need it.
In any event, the user interface took a little bit of getting use to after years of Motorola phones, but is actually quite simple to use. I have to say that VW technical support, though they try to be helpful, really isn't all that knowledgeable about the phone and I had to figure out a lot of things on my own. Needless to say, the Samsung manual and other materials coming with the phone were not very useful. Just to sum up:
Pros
Call Clarity excellent
Sound/Volume excellent
Reception excellent
V-Cast works fine - high speed data all works fine though I don't download songs, etc.
Bluetooth works fine for me (though I do not use voice activated - one reviewer indicated an issue with this)
Phone is light and attractive
Cons
Battery life not so hot
Manual, materials do not offer adequate explanations of shortcuts, etc.
Ringtones very limited
Great phone for reception
When I bought this phone on July 1 as part of my NE2, I was expecting this phone to not work in average reception areas, but was amazed at how well reception was, even with the leather case covering the internal antenna. I want a phone for reception first, and I got that.
Here's are a few pros:
Great reception with the internal antenna, even with the leather case covering the antenna.
MP3 player (I'll get to the cons on this in a moment)
bluetooth for the headset
The phonebook can use multiple capital letters. Something I couldn't do with my Samsung a650 when entering names into the phonebook.
2.5mm jack, just in case I need to go back to a wire headset.
Cons: The mp3 player can only be accessed from a hidden menu, and then, the phone must stay open at all times, or the mp3 player shuts off. The front buttons only work for wma file, which I dislike.
While my Jabra BT250v headset paired, it took too long to pair, while it paired in 5 seconds with my mom's Nokia 6256i.
Phone is longer & slightly bulkier than my Samsung a650. I had expected it to be as thick as my Samsung a650.
At this time, no extended battery, and with this phone, the battery doesn't act as the back cover like the a650 did. Whenever the extended battery comes out, I will always keep that battery in the phone because I don't want to deal with the hassle of removing the back cover .
Neutral: Camera & speakerphone. I haven't tested the speakerphone on it yet, and the camera serves me no purpose. If it breaks, I won't have it fixed.
Since I want a phone that has great reception, I'm staying with this, even though I'd like something else. I'm afraid if I exchange it for something else, I might not like it as well. I'm starting to wonder if I should have waited for the a870, which I considered, because it was tri-mode. I might save up enough money to buy that phone at retail to see if I'll like that one as well.
Try it for yourself! Solid SAMSUNG!
Here is what I think of it...
PROS:
AWSOME CAMERA AND CAMCORDER!
LOTS OF CAMERA SETTINGS AND FUNCTIONS.
20MB PLUS MEMORY. HOLDS UP TO 10 SONGS WITHOUT MEMORY CARD.
NICE DESIGN AND STYLE.
BLUETOOTH.
SPEAKERPHONE.
VOICE ACTIVATED DAILING.
BETTER RECEPTION RANGE THAN MY LAST UNIT(LG VX8100)
CONS:
STEREO SPEAKER IS NOT AS CLEAR AS THE LG VX8100.
NO VOICE MEMO.
NO EXTERNAL PICTURE DISPLAY BUT THE BLUE LED IS NICE.
LOOKS LIKE A PAGER. (DUE TO THE BLACK COLOR)
NEED A EXTENDED BATTERY. YOU WILL NEED TO CHARGE IT DAILY.
OVERALL, IT'S A KEEPER.
