- Weight: 1 pounds
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
Samsung took the already amazing A900, put it on a crash diet, packed in even better features, somehow lowered the price, and thus was born the M500. With advanced features including a MicroSD external memory card slot, Bluetooth capability, and a GPS feature, The M500 is the perfect choice for tech-connected power users, mobile professionals, and mobile families who need the speed of the Power Vision Network to access information while on the go.
Design
The M500 sports a massive 176 x 220 color display with over 262,000 colors. The outside cover of the handset features a supplementary LCD display that can display pictures, time, call information, battery and signal strength, and more. The external display can even be set to display a large analog clock, a feature that is sure to be a great conversation-starter. The 1.3 megapixel camera lens is housed directly above this display. Up and down buttons for volume control are placed on the left side, and camera controls are included on the right side of the phone, as is the memory card slot, while most of the phone's features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset's control pad. The phone includes 50 MB of internal memory, and because the M500 has an internal antenna, there's nothing to snag or break off. Charging and USB data cable connectivity is available on the phone's bottom edge. Samsung was even nice enough to throw in support for PictBridge direct-to-printer printing (via USB).
The M500 is also E911 emergency location capable, thanks to an embedded Global Positioning System (GPS) chip necessary for using E911 emergency location services where available.
Calling Features
The M500's internal phone book can hold up to 500 contacts, and the phone's picture ID system allows you to assign pictures and ringtones to your most common callers. The phone ships with built-in polyphonic ringtones, but for those times when you want to be discreet, there's a vibrating alert. A built-in speakerphone makes it easy to talk without having the phone to your ear, and advanced voice activated dialing makes calling your friends, family, and associates easy. Simply say the name or number of the person you want to call and the number is dialed automatically without using the keypad. No prior voice training is needed. Lastly, because the M500 is Bluetooth enabled, wireless headsets can be configured with the phone for total handsfree operation.
Messaging, Internet, and Tools
The M500 is a messaging powerhouse, with support for Sprint PCS picture and video mail services, you can shoot high quality pictures and video clips with sound and instantly send them to email addresses and or other Sprint PCS phones that are compatible with picture and video mail services. Or upload them to the Sprint PCS pictures Web site to create albums. You can also use the M500 to send and receive email, exchange text messages, or join a chat room. Plus, the M500 features an embedded SMS voice messaging client, a feature that allows you to easily send voice messages to other wireless users or any working email address. T9, a predictive text entry system, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit--a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.
The real power of the M500 comes alive with Sprint's PCS Power Vision services. Relying on Sprint's new EV-DO high speed data network, Power Vision allows you to enjoy full-color video clips or live TV of the latest news, sports, and entertainment from CNN, Fox, The Weather Channel, and more (Sprint Power Vision charges apply).
You can also stream or download music to your phone with Sprint's Music Store service. Download digital tracks instantly to your phone. Choose from hundreds of thousands of full-length songs from virtually every genre. Select songs directly from the phone and listen to them wherever you go. Even download them to your PC.
Use a USB cable and your Sprint Power Vision Phone to connect your PC to the Internet, allowing convenient Internet and email access (additional Sprint charges apply). With a USB connection, the M500 can also be used as a mass storage device.
Direct-to-printer printing via PictBridge is also featured on the M500.
And last but not least, personalized news and information tickers, and downloadable screen savers and ringtones are also available through the Power Vision service.
The M500 is packed with useful tools to make your life more productive and fun. A message dictation system lets you speak your SMS text messages into the phone, while a customizable favorites menu makes it easy to personalize your phone based on the applications you use most frequently. A voice memo recorder lets you record up to five minutes of spoken voice notes. The phone also includes an alarm clock that can be set one time or daily, a calendar with a to-do list and a scheduler, a calculator, a stopwatch, and a world clock. A PC synchronization application makes it possible to sync your phone's data with your PC.
Imaging and Entertainment
As mentioned, the M500 features a powerful 1.3 megapixel camera that can be used to capture and send video and still images. The M500's built-in media player lets you see and hear streaming and stored media. The M500 supports MP3, AAC, and AAC plus audio files. And where will you put all those pictures, videos, and songs? Straight onto the phone's 50 MB of mass storage, or on memory cards. The phone takes gaming to the next level, too, with support for advanced, Java enabled games.
The M500 also sports an airplane mode feature, which allows the user to safely use the non-wireless functions of a phone (such as music, games, or organizer functions) on an airplane during flight.
Vital Statistics
The Samsung M500 weighs 2.79 ounces and measures 3.65 x 1.83 x 0.68 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 3.50 hours of digital talk time. It runs on the CDMA 850/CDMA 1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
Product Description
The M500 by Samsung is a slim Power Vision phone, with advanced features including a MicroSD external memory card, Bluetooth, Themes and GPS , for tech connected power Users, mobile Professionals and Mobile Families who need the speed of the Power Vision Network to access information while on the go.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
I have been a Palm and PocketPC phone user for over 5 years, always wearing my phone on my belt. I use MS Outlook at work and synced my calendar and notes regularly, and I got my email in real-time through Sprint's BCEE service. I decided to take a step back from 24/7 connectivity to the job and get a regular cell phone. My criteria was to have a decent camera, Internet searches and to fit in my pocket. The deal at my local Sprint Store was really great and I liked the red and black look, so I bought the M500. I'm the kind of guy who usually has buyers remorse whenever I buy something, but not this time. The M500 is great. My PPC6600 would drive me nuts when I tried to look up movie times, the M500 had them in seconds, in part due to EVDO, but also due to better menus. The first thing I did was take a 1.3m picture of my desk at work and make it the desktop on my phone, then I put in my top 10 contacts. My PPC6600 had 200 contacts, including everyone in my Scout troop. I didn't need that on my phone, since I can just dial * Talk and use voice dial. I had already uploaded my Outlook contact file to the Sprint web site. The camera, without a flash, has 6 white balance settings for the type of light I'm shooting in. On top of that, it has 10 brightness settings. The camcorder has two modes, video mail and long video. I never filled up the 32MB micro SD card that comes with the M500, but there are great deals for a 1GB card so I got one. I loaded up my MP3s over the usb cable that is included, and the wired headset is stereo. I feel like I haven't scratched the surface yet of all the features, like video ringtones, Sprint Movies and TeleNav GPS. I didn't buy a case for it, but instead applied eGrips. You have to check these out, your phone will never slip again, even if you leave it on top of your car and drive away. I also ordered a bluetooth headset.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Unlike another reviewer in this forum, I actually went out and bought a Sanyo Katana to replace my 3-year-old samsung vi660. I quickly discovered I hated the size and shape of the Katana, among other things ("trained" voice dialing , awkward keypad, etc). After giving it away and going back to my beloved vi660 for a few months, I tried again with the Samsung M500. I LOVE this phone! Like the Vi660 its not winning any popularity contests with the tech review websites (getting so-so ratings), but ergonomically it is an absolute joy. Each key on the keypad bulges out in the center just a tiny bit, making it easy to type in numbers or text very quickly without making mistakes. This phone is slightly slimmer than the Katana and its rounded edges make it much easier to hold. The sound quality of the earpiece is excellent, most likely due to Samsung's noise cancelling technology. This time around, they've also added the ability to put the phone on vibrate mode no matter what the ringer volume. The M500 has a lot of nifty features for texting as well. There is a speech-to-text feature (you say it, it types it)and a "used word" dictionary that goes through all your contacts and text messages to automatically add new words to the internal dictionary.
I'd give this phone 5 stars if the voice dialing worked as well on the M500 as on the Vi660 but for some reason, it doesn't. The VI660 never made mistakes when i was using the voice features, but I've had to repeat myself a few times with this phone. If you want to use the speech-to-text feature you will have to say a list of words into the phone so it can better recognize your voice. Voice-directed dialing by name or number doesn't require prior training though.
Not that I use it much, but I am very impressed with the picture quality of the camera. It automatically adjusts the exposure of your subject and even in a rather dark room I was able to take some pretty decent pictures (for a camera phone, anyway). The video camera feature also works well (the sound was also quite good). You can take a 30 second video clip to email to someone or use the Long Video option to record larger segments.
I refuse to spend my life savings on Sprint's internet services, so I can't say much about the internet connectivity. Not surprisingly, there aren't that many screensavers or ringtones on this phone, since Sprint would be more than happy to sell you some. Be aware that on this phone, if you want to download new ringers or screensavers from sprint, you'll have to go on the internet to do it. This will result in data charges over whatever you paid for the content if you havent included an internet plan in your monthly fees. The phone does come with a mini SD card that, with the use of the included SD adapter, can be used with a PC. This enables the photos you took on your phone to be transferred to your computer without having to use the expensive internet services of PictureMail.
For my day to day use of answering phone calls and sending text messages, this phone has been great. Considering its low price with a new activation and the inclusion of a USB cable, mini SD card with SD adapter, and headphones, its a great value for the money.
I'd give this phone 5 stars if the voice dialing worked as well on the M500 as on the Vi660 but for some reason, it doesn't. The VI660 never made mistakes when i was using the voice features, but I've had to repeat myself a few times with this phone. If you want to use the speech-to-text feature you will have to say a list of words into the phone so it can better recognize your voice. Voice-directed dialing by name or number doesn't require prior training though.
Not that I use it much, but I am very impressed with the picture quality of the camera. It automatically adjusts the exposure of your subject and even in a rather dark room I was able to take some pretty decent pictures (for a camera phone, anyway). The video camera feature also works well (the sound was also quite good). You can take a 30 second video clip to email to someone or use the Long Video option to record larger segments.
I refuse to spend my life savings on Sprint's internet services, so I can't say much about the internet connectivity. Not surprisingly, there aren't that many screensavers or ringtones on this phone, since Sprint would be more than happy to sell you some. Be aware that on this phone, if you want to download new ringers or screensavers from sprint, you'll have to go on the internet to do it. This will result in data charges over whatever you paid for the content if you havent included an internet plan in your monthly fees. The phone does come with a mini SD card that, with the use of the included SD adapter, can be used with a PC. This enables the photos you took on your phone to be transferred to your computer without having to use the expensive internet services of PictureMail.
For my day to day use of answering phone calls and sending text messages, this phone has been great. Considering its low price with a new activation and the inclusion of a USB cable, mini SD card with SD adapter, and headphones, its a great value for the money.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
I've had mine for 2 weeks. I didn't buy mine from Amazon; I paid about the same amount for it at the Sprint store. The Sprint store had a gizmo that transferred my entire contact list from my old phone to this new phone in a split second.
What I like about this phone...
* It came with one month of free Internet, but I will have to cancel it at the end of the month.
* The colors are great!
* And I was able to download my own ringtone, an MP3 file. Though it wasn't easy to set up the MP3 as the ringer.
* It comes with a smart card which is easy to use to transfer information to/from the phone from the computer. My laptop has a media card slot which made using the smart card very straightforward.
What I don't like...
* The directional buttons are kind of small. With a Bandaid on my finger I had trouble hitting the keys.
What I like about this phone...
* It came with one month of free Internet, but I will have to cancel it at the end of the month.
* The colors are great!
* And I was able to download my own ringtone, an MP3 file. Though it wasn't easy to set up the MP3 as the ringer.
* It comes with a smart card which is easy to use to transfer information to/from the phone from the computer. My laptop has a media card slot which made using the smart card very straightforward.
What I don't like...
* The directional buttons are kind of small. With a Bandaid on my finger I had trouble hitting the keys.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Piece of Garbage
Phone is prone to condensation which is not covered under warranty. Had phone for only three month and side buttons did not work and phone started taking pictures on its own. Read more
Published on September 17, 2007 by tlhilt
Scehdule for Recurring Events Is Not Visible on Calendar
If you schedule recurring events (day, week,month) only the first occurance shows on the calendar. Subsequent events give an audio alarm but never show up again on the calendar. Read more
Published on August 2, 2007 by Angel Savage
Great, functional, affordable fun, but.....
The Samsung M500 phone is an amazing phone. The only bad thing about it is that the outside scratches VERY easily. Read more
Published on July 11, 2007 by JSV
Phone doesn't matter if carrier's service is atrocious
It doesn't matter how many bells and whistles come on a particular phone - it's only as good as the carrier. With Sprint, you will be headed for disappointment and frustration. Read more
Published on July 7, 2007 by T. Fraser
The Best Cell Phone I Have Ever Had
This is the best cell phone I have ever had. It is a attention getter with every one, but most the girls really flock to me when they see me with this phone. Read more
Published on February 28, 2007 by Vinnie
Good Stuff
Voice to Text is hot. I can text my friends in the car by just talking to my phone.
Also, Spanish to English dictionary is included. Includes bad words (yes!). Read more
Also, Spanish to English dictionary is included. Includes bad words (yes!). Read more
Published on February 22, 2007 by Randolph Jansen
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