Customer Reviews

Samsung A650 Phone (Verizon Wireless)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I've had this phone for about six months and have had no problems with it. It's a little plain, but if you just want a phone instead of a toy, it's great. Holds charge for about 3 days with normal use (I talk for about an hour to an hour and a half a day).

And just in reponse to another reviewer's comments- I've had a similiar experience with Verizon where I was required to purchase a replacement phone (not the A650, this was an older Nokia) when mine broke. Yeah it sucks, but it happens. And I wouldn't really compare the inconvenience of buying a new phone to being imprisoned. And for the record, I beleive most Iraqi POWs are held in Iraqi prison facilities, not at Guantanamo Bay. You're probably thinking of terror suspects, as THEY are held at Gitmo. That's understandable though- you're definitely not the only American to confuse al Qaeda and Iraq.

This is a great phone. I just got one, as well as my parents each got one. The display if vibrant and easy to understand. The sound quality and reception are great.

For those who need a phone with caller id and a display on the outside, this phone is not for you. Same with bluetooth, not for you. I don't know why people get this phone and then complain about missing features that are obviously not there from the get go. It should not have been bought in the first place.

This is a great minimal feature phone.

I love the fact the using a open source program called bitpim and a usb data cable I can sync the phone with my mac for phone numbers, addresses, and wallpapers.

Great phone, if it has what you want.

This Phone is one of the best that i have ever used. it is great and cheap and hey it even looks good.

Sound Volume: 9/10 Perfect but the elderly may have liked it louder
Sound Quality: 10/10 No skips or haven for me to say what?
Features: 10/10 For a cheap phone it has an amazing amount of features
Ringer Volume: 8/10 Nice but not that loud
Ringer Quality: 9/10 Its a cheap phone so no polyphonic ringers but does its job
Faceplate: 10/10 Doesnt get scratched and looks cool
Screen Size: 10/10 This is cheaper than the lgvx3200 and the screen is bigger
Style: 10/10 Looks really good
Reception: 10/10 Never less than 2 bars
Color on Screen: 6/10 It will looks really bad unless you turn down the contrast then it is excellent
Size: 10/10 Very compact
Menu: 10/10 Very easy to use
Graphics: 8/10 Very good but parts of the menu might not be appealing
Speed: 10/10 Very fast
Keypad: 8/10 Its a very good keypad but it gets hot
Dropped Calls: 9/10 Not to many dropped calls
Battery Life: 10/10 Perfect for a clamshell

GOOD:
This phone works great as a basic Tri-Mode phone. Dropped calls are rare when in motion, and the sound quality - both incoming and outgoing - is quite good. This is also a nod to Verizon's excellent network coverage and roaming abilities.

MEDIOCRE:
The voice-dialing feature is a very poorly designed afterthought. You can't record a voice tag and link it to a number in memory - instead you have to manually re-enter the number into the "Voice Dial" section. Any time you re-record a voice tag, the number must be manually re-entered. If you want a safer phone to operate while in motion, this is not the phone for you.

Downloading ringtones is obtuse, expensive, and non-intuitive. I don't care about ringtones, but if this is important to you, Verizon charges you for web-time during browsing and downloading, and the Get-It-Now structure on this phone is a little frustrating.

BAD:
The headset jack is not robust enough for normal wear. I have traded in this phone once during 18 months of normal use due to broken solder contacts on the headset jack. There is no excuse for a fragile headset jack on a non-Bluetooth wireless phone.

Then again, Verizon doesn't offer a tri-mode phone with Bluetooth in my area (Minneapolis). Fewer customers roaming on analog networks means higher profits for Verizon, and worse service for customers using its high-featured phones. Only Cingular seems to really serve this section of the market, but Cingular's network coverage is slightly inferior in the areas I frequent.

The phone's software is a bit buggy in regards to the microphone. Operations performed during a call can randomly turn off the microphone, and the only way to turn it back on is to either restart the call or reboot the phone. If I don't fuss with the phone during a call, microphone operation seems stable.

SUMMARY:
This phone gets three stars because it gets the basics right; I can make and receive calls and text messages reliably while tower-hopping. If voice-dialing, cheap & easy ringtones, and/or regular headset operation is important to you, you may want to look elsewhere. I certainly will when my current contract is up.

This flip phone replaced a non-flip phone. The smaller size is convenient but comes at the price of losing almost an hour of talk time compared to larger phones. (The A650 gets about three hours.) It performs well and Verizon service is very reliable.

The color screen is sharp and there are a lot of nice features like a monthly calendar display and easy to set reminders and alarms. The voice dialing is easy to set and use. Entering text is easier than my old phone. Unfortunately, Samsung's taste in graphic styles is not very svelte (a la Nokia). The fonts, colors, menu layouts and background pictures are not as attractive as many other phones I have seen.

Two very irritating things about Verizon's treatment of customers using this phone: First, Samsung's website shows the phone is capable of accepting messages with photo attachments that can be used as screen savers or backgrounds and Kodak's oPhoto site offers an easy way to send such messages but Verizon restricts this feature to camera phones. Second, the generic black ear bud offered on Verizon's web site is terrible. I had one like it for my previous phone and it fell apart a week after I started using it. Again, Samsung's website shows how far below potential is the service Verizon is offering by selling a Samsung ear bud in silver that matches the phone, adds a send/end button on the cord feature and costs almost ten dollars less than Verizon's inferior offering.

This phone has so much potential. I really wanted to like it. But I went through 4 of these phones between June and September.

There is a SERIOUS quality control problem with these phones. The first one just didn't get signal beyond 1 or 2 bars. Anywhere. The second had a speaker problem. I could hear people, but they frequently couldn't hear me. Third phone would randomly shut down regardless of battery life. Fourth phone, the monitor would randomly stop working.

Verizon can be a great service. As you can imagine, I spent a lot of time on the phone with their customer service department. They're nice, they're friendly, and if this model phone were of the same quality I wouldn't be writing this review.

I've since switched to an LG VX3300.

I have had the Samsung A650 phone for a year now and I have been very pleased with its performance. The battery life is great-I usually charge it twice a week. This phone has survived bouncing around in my backpack and being dropped regularly with no signs of damage. It has a relatively user friendly interface and I haven't had any problems with call quality. In summary, this is a great, simple, reliable phone.

I've had the Samsung Sch a650 for about 10 months and my service is with Verizon Wireless and it's really a solid and reliable phone. I just use my cell phone for talking and nothing else...no Internet, videos, organizer...etc. And I've owned a Samsung cell phone before and I really liked the previous phone I had with Sprint. I think Samsung phones are well designed, sturdy (dropped it a few times) and provide good quality voice. This phone is no exception. What I liked was that it's relatively slim and compact. Has excellent audio quality. Samsung's UI is also really simple and easy to learn. Talk time is good. And combined with Verizon Wireless service -- it's the best cell phone/plan I've ever had. What I don't like is the way Samsung designs the charger port at the very bottom of the phone. This port is relatively unprotected and can get very dirty and wet (which destroys the phone). My wife has destroyed 2 of these phones b/c our 12 month old son decided to use it as a teething toy (her own fault). It initially comes with a plastic cover which you can place there but it's really impractical. I wish they designed a plastic pieces that stays attached to the phone. For me, I've had no problems since I keep in my pocket and pretty dry. If you're looking for a solid basic phone with easy to use features and good quality...get this one.

This Phone is one of the best that i have ever used. it is great and cheap and hey it even looks good.

Sound Volume: 9/10 Perfect but the elderly may have liked it louder
Sound Quality: 10/10 No skips or haven for me to say what?
Features: 10/10 For a cheap phone it has an amazing amount of features
Ringer Volume: 8/10 Nice but not that loud
Ringer Quality: 9/10 Its a cheap phone so no polyphonic ringers but does its job
Faceplate: 10/10 Doesnt get scratched and looks cool
Screen Size: 10/10 This is cheaper than the lgvx3200 and the screen is bigger
Style: 10/10 Looks really good
Reception: 10/10 Never less than 2 bars
Color on Screen: 6/10 It will looks really bad unless you turn down the contrast then it is excellent
Size: 10/10 Very compact
Menu: 10/10 Very easy to use
Graphics: 8/10 Very good but parts of the menu might not be appealing
Speed: 10/10 Very fast
Keypad: 8/10 Its a very good keypad but it gets hot
Dropped Calls: 9/10 Not to many dropped calls
Battery Life: 10/10 Perfect for a clamshell

Our familiy owns threee Samsung SCH-a650 phones. So far, two of them have broken in the exact same place: the right hinge material near the antenna. Both occurred soon after the one-year warranty was up.

This appears to be the result of weak plasic in this area. With the hinge plasic broken, the phone opens and closes with difficulty. There is no longer a nice snap shut, and it will open too easily. Eventually the phone becomes unservicable and has to be replaced.

If you have this phone, I recommend that you treat it more gently than is normally required for this type phone.