Samsung M510 Black Phone (Sprint)

by Samsung

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.7 x 2 x 0.6 inches ; 2.9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000TTPNPE
• Item model number: M510
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #234,517 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Product Description

The Samsung M510 is a Power Vision device, packed with advanced features in a stylish and affordable handset. Sprint Music Store, TV and GPS Enabled.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool little phone, even if you have big hands, October 5, 2007

By 

Nick Danger "Madman" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Samsung M510 Black Phone (Sprint) (Wireless Phone)

The M510 has all the features I was looking for, and nothing to get in the way of basic phone usability. I don't like the usual tiny keyboards, so this one is a treat -- remarkably easy for larger fingers to use, with positive tactile feedback (click). The screen is easy to read, sharp and colorful, and the various screens are straightforward to navigate (although, as with most phones, I'd like to remove some of the screen items I'll never use).

The sound quality is good, and I find it comfortable to hold while talking. Unlike one-piece phones, it's nice that the screen is held away from your face so you don't have to keep cleaning it. The startup sound is loud but short, so I just put my finger over the external speaker.

I've found the software to be nicely designed for usability, with number entry being faster than my previous phone. I'd like to speed up the text entry for names (not using T9), but that's partly my fault so I'll not nit-pick. Navigation around the screens is pretty simple, with either the nav arrows or Back getting you there with a few clicks. Some of the standard ringtones are dorky but that seems typical for phones.

The packaging is sleek, thin, and yet feels solid. I like the two-tone black with the band of blue (also inside) and silver -- it's a clean design. I was concerned about the more exposed hinge on other phones (such as the Razr), and know they take a lot of hits, so this one is more sensibly tucked away from the corners and should be more robust. The shape is comfortable to hold and the cover provides a bit more grip than the typical glossy finish.

The SD card and power/interface jack covers are tiny, but they do work and so far I haven't had any problems. The SD card is tiny (!) but comes with an adapter for normal SD slots, so for me that lets me offload photos directly without having to go through the phone connection. The power adapter is small (about 1/2 the size of an Altoids box) so taking both on a trip would be easy.

I've been able to turn it on during whole work day and do that for several days in a row without recharging (granted, that's with not many phone calls). The talk time does seem reasonable.

All in all, it's a slick, solid, easy-to-use phone that you can carry without noticing it but works well when you need it. Recommended.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Has Some Flaws, but a Decent Phone Overall., December 5, 2007

By 

Atomicwasteland (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Samsung M510 Black Phone (Sprint) (Wireless Phone)

I received this phone as a free replacement for my previous phone which was no longer being supported by Sprint, though it was still under two years old.

I think it is pretty good -not great, but overall a decent purchase. There are a couple of significant flaws that detract from this phone.

Here are the things I like:

Add 1 star. It is sleek, and smooth, and pleasing to the eye.

Add 1 star. The talk time seems fine. I've had no problems there. It works great as a phone. I've had NO problems with hearing people or being heard.

Add 0.5 stars. The speakerphone option is actually on the phone itself (available from a one button touch). This is nice and solves a problem with my last phone. I needed to push 3 buttons to use speakerphone on that phone.

Add 1 star. The camera and camcorder work fine, and I've had no issues there.

Add 1 star. The mini SD Storage card is wonderful. I didn't have this on my last phone. I bought a 2 Gig card for a cheap price and popped it right in. (Typically the mini SD cards also come with an adaptor so that you can plug it right into any standard SD slot -like on your computer- so that you can move information easily).

Add 0.5 star. The charging port is a lot more accessible than on my last phone. Not perfect, but it is an improvement. I don't have to actually tear off the port plastic guard in order to plug my phone in and lay it down to charge.

Here are the things I dislike.

Minus 1 star: The usage ergonomics are pretty bad:

1) The button placement for the scroll up and down keys are way too low on the phone. Instead of being able to use your left hand to automatically scroll up and down pages, you are forced to use your other hand to touch the buttons, or, more realistically, you are forced to twist your hand at an awkward angle to allow you to touch the scroll keys. You can do it, but you have a much more delicate and tenuous hold on the phone when doing so, which makes it much more likely to slip out of your hand. This was a silly design flaw and has been done a lot better on other phones.

2) The keypad is completely flat with almost no texture (which is annoying, but which I can deal with) but the scroll wheel and the main buttons are also completely flat -I mean COMPLETELY flat and flush with each other- (which makes it very difficult to control menus unless you are perfectly still and focused) -especially when trying to move the cursor around when texting.

Minus 1 star:

1) The texting is pretty bad. When I text a message and then hit next (right before hitting the final send) the phone randomly decides to add another word to my text message SOME OF THE TIME, and if I don't go back and remove the extra word, it will send the word with the message. So instead of a message saying "See you at five." It might say "See you at five. Fish" or "See you at five. Don't" And if you are like me, you are trying to text quickly, and don't sit there and wait and analyze the message -you hit the double "send" to get the message on its way. If the extra word appears and is sent then you are stuck sending a follow up message explaining it. Nuts!

2) Furthermore, I am often suggested fake words as suggested words, and this drives me up the wall. Instead of finishing the spelling of a common word, my dictionary will suggest words with accents, latin or foreign sounding words, or just weird spellings. It doesn't happen all the time, but enough that it is annoying -especially when I am trying to spell a common word. "Lazy", for example, might come up as "Lawz". I might think I misspelled the word, and erase it and try again with the same result. It will only be when I choose the NEXT suggested word option will I realize that I spelled it correctly the whole time and it was the phone that was messed up.

3) I am not able to add words to my phone's dictionary. I thought you could do that, but after poring through the entire instruction guide and playing with every option on my phone I have been unsuccessful. So simple, common slang words have to be alphanumerically typed in over and over. This is ridiculous. You could have easily fixed this in the software.

Other Minor Items:

Negative: There is no flash. My phone two years older had a flash. Not a big deal, I just noticed it.

Negative: I HATE how I am stuck with the lame screensaver. Yes you can change them, but NO you cannot change them without screwing up all your menus. My old phone had 3 themes that looked fine, and I am stuck with the one lame digital clock theme on the outside of my phone that I don't like. I have read all the instructions and pored through all the menus and have given up on customizing the layout how I wanted.

Negative: One thing I miss from my last phone was one button email access. I had set it up where I pushed my select wheel to the right as soon as it opened up my phone and it accessed my hotmail. The software on this phone (2 years newer) is not as customizable and it doesn't allow for 1 button access. You have to go into a menu to do this. It does, however, have a two button push sequence to access your text messages. Not perfect, but fine.

Overall, this phone works great for speaking, and for taking pictures and most people will probably be happy with that. I believe it is a poor choice for texting, and is annoying when trying to scroll up and down web pages. If Samsung or Sprint or whoever were to redo the texting software and fix these issues I would love this phone.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Phone, September 25, 2007

By 

Kelly M. Morris "Eccatfud" (Olympia, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Samsung M510 Black Phone (Sprint) (Wireless Phone)

I purchased this about a month ago and really have nothing bad to say about it. The sound quality is excellent, both on the inner and outer speaker. Mp3 ringtones are crystal clear. I have Vision service and it's fast, just as expected. The screen is clear and sharp. The only reason I give it 4 stars is because it doesn't have the 2 MP camera and the screen size of the M610.