The last great phone without a color screen
Written: Apr 13 '03 (Updated May 26 '03)
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Pros: Call Quality, lots of features including a Planner, Durable, E911, built-in answering machine
Cons: A few quirky design flaws, ring options, menu system is more complex than needed
The Bottom Line: The Samsung A310 is a quality phone that has useful features and most importantly sounds great. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't "need" a color screen.
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| college107's Full Review: Samsung SCH-A310 Mobile Phone |
I purchased a Samsung A310 in November of 2002. I consider myself a light user, but I like to use features to the fullest. This is a Verizon Wireless exclusive phone although I think that it could be used on the Sprint CDMA network.
FEATURES
First off this is a CDMA tri-mode phone so it can be used on analog 800MHhz or Digital 800Mhz or 1900Mhz. I seldom go without service. This phone has all the basic features, a 500 alphanumeric phonebook that stores up to 6 numbers and an Email address per person although each number counts towards the 500 memory locations. It has mobile-web, and SMS capabilities. In addition this phone can connect to the 1x network, which allows for download speeds of up to 128Kb per second although I do not use this feature. To type SMS messages you have T9 input, which is the best out there as far as I'm concerned (I have used Motorola iTap and after using T9 found it extremely archaic). The ringer on this phone is polyphonic, which basically means that it sounds great and it does, but there are no "normal" rings, which is a bit of an inconvenience. However there are tons of different options for different items (i.e. Calls, SMS messages, Web Alerts, Page, Planner, and Data/Fax in). I always know what is happening when my phone rings! In addition the outside display can change to 7 different colors or rotate the colors to be a kind of rainbow. I have it set so each day has a different color when I want to check the service/time/battery life that is displayed. You can also program different colors for up to 5 different groups so that when you enter a name you put them in a group and when they call the outside display shows the corresponding color. You can choose different colors for planner alarms as well. On my previous phone I didn't have voice dial and now I consider it essential. The only problem with voice dialing on this phone is that you can only store 20 "voice tags" and occasionally the recognition software dials the wrong number, but for the most part it is great and only takes the touch of one button. One feature that I have found useful is when I need to talk quietly I can switch the phone into whisper mode, which I think amplifies my voice and I can actually whisper and the person on the other end can hear me just fine. For me this phone seems self-contained. With a built-in answering machine there is no need for voicemail as long as your phone is on, which works really well for me because I don't have voicemail. It also has a few PDA features that I have found very useful when I'm without my Palm. The calendar lets you put dates in a LONG time ahead of time. IN addition there is a To do list, calculator, count down clock, memo pad (Which is great to just scratch stuff into on the run). There is a problem with the memo pad though, you can't select which memo you delete you have to delete the newest memo to the oldest memo, which is kind of a pain, but you can story quite a few. You can, however, edit any memo. There is an alarm clock, which can be set for once or daily, and a world time, which displays a map of the world and you can scroll across and see the time of different parts of the world. Another feature, which has been mandated by the federal government for carriers to provide by 2005 or something, is E911, which this phone also has. You can set it for all the time or just when you dial 911 because apparently there are supposed to be location based services to take advantage of the cost of implementing E911 I have not seen any yet. It also has 3 games, which I don't care about much.
AESTHETICS
I get complements on the compact, sleek and professional look of my phone quite often. The outside display is always readable and if it is dark then you just hold a button on the side to turn on the backlight for about 7 seconds and then look. The inside display is awesome. The bright blue looks great on the large display and keypad. The battery is tiny and the only thing that sticks out is the antenna, which I would have really liked to have been a permanent antenna instead of a retractable antenna because when you put the antenna down the service goes down with it.
FUNCTIONALITY
As Samsung claims the phone can sustain about 160 minutes talk time and 120 hours on standby. As far as call quality goes, it sounds great to the people call and myself. I can make digital calls with only 1 bar of service and have a clear conversation. I have had one incident in 375 calls where I heard my voice echo in the background, but other than that it has been clear. I can do everything relatively fast on my phone. The button on the side of the phone also functions as a way to scroll through menus, a way to change the ringer volume (It can be set to 5 different volumes, to vibrate, to 1 beep, and to silent) and when you are talking it works as an extremely easy way to change the volume, which is probably it's most valuable function. Turning things on like the answering machine and whisper mode are kind deep in the menu system and really should have been easier to access. The menu system is very logical and has some animation, but you can see 3 or 5 options at a time, which I like. I hate Nokia menus with all those useless pictures. To access the 10 last outgoing calls you just have to press send. Another thing I like is that when you are done typing a number if you hold the last number for an extra second it dials the number and Samsung has made speed dial available for all the numbers in the phone book. For number 152 just dial 1-5-and hold 2 and it dials the number. When receiving calls I have a difficult time hearing the ringer when it is turned down and the vibrate alert is useless when you are moving at all. But you can engage the vibrate alert by holding the # key to enter silent mode, which makes all alerts vibrate and silences the buttons on the phone. It is also a durable phone. I've dropped it at least 3 times and run into a wall with it on my hip. It has a scratch on the outside display and a few on the cover, but it is still all in good working order and the scratches aren't very noticeable.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
I have only had to call Samsung customer service once because my phone stopped letting me record my own greeting for the answering machine. I had to reset my phone, which resets only some of the basic user settings. It was a hassle, but I was satisfied. I found the people I talked to kind and they knew what they were doing. It did however take about a 1/2 hour to figure out how to fix my problem.
THE ISSUES
When you turn the phone on it makes this quick chirping noise, but then every time you lose service and then get it back the phone chirps. I don't know how many times I've heard "Your phone's ringing" and I JUST found out how to turn this off. It is the "Roam Alert" and now it doesn't make that chirpy sound! I don’t know whether it is also because of where I live, but the phone's service meter sometimes jumps around and it is annoying, but when you put the antenna up you get a clear definite reading of the service quality. The bright blue screen can be a little too bright when you open the phone in the dark. I've used my phone as a flashlight in my car because it is so bright, but you really just have to get used to it. The phone cannot ring and vibrate. When you set a contact as secret and they call anyone can see their name, just not their number. If they send you a text message then anyone can read it, they just can't see the number that send it to you. This is a poor design by Samsung. Another really stupid thing about this phone is that if you turn it on in analog mode the time is not saved. If you live in an analog area the time on this phone has to be set EVERY time you turn it on. I have heard that people are bothered by the heat they phone generates and yes, it does get warm rather quickly, but the only part of the phone that touches my face is the speaker and my hand feels the heat, but usually I keep it in a case so I don't feel it. It may be an issue for some people.
CONCLUSION
The strengths of this phone greatly outweigh its weaknesses. This is, in my opinion, one of the last phones with this level of features that will be without a color screen. For those who don't want a color screen or need the battery life because they live in an analog area this is a great phone and I have used a Motorola V60i, this phones greatest competitor, and this phone is much better. I would certainly buy it again if I had to do it over again.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200.00
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Epinions.com ID:
college107
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Location: Washington, USA
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 2 members
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