Customer Reviews

Samsung VM-A680 PCS Video Mail Phone (Sprint)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have had 3 sprint phones prior to this Samsung (both Sanyos) and this phone takes the cake. Unlike my two sanyos, the samsung has a quality earpiece that lets me understand the person I'm talking to. It is extremely small and compact, yet it feels solidly built. Everything fits into place. I like the buttons on the side for camera and volume control. The keys arent flush with the phone so dialing is easier. The backlights are also really bright. The key pad in the middle can be customized to basically any setting you want. Reception is good too. The pictures are quite good for a cell phone, not digital camera good, but good all the same; very viewable on the computer compared to my old Sanyo 8100. I havent tested the video out all that often, its just a novelity after all.

There are some cons to this phone but nothing major. The phone book is a little weird. They say "300 person phone book" but its actually only a 300 entry phone book, each cell, home, email, work, web address counts as one entry. Not a big deal. I dont really understand the concept of the external LCD being a mirror, its too small to even use and you cant prevent it from turning off completely...the screen is also a tad small because of the size but it is very viewable, i havent had a problem yet. antenna is cheap but thats characteristic of all samsungs. battery life could be a little better but thats also because i use vision a lot. You get good use if vision isnt used that often. Ringers are loud but not as loud as the should be with 8 levels because the rings come from the earpiece which is muffled when the phone is closed, that doesnt make sense to me.

the voice dial on this is is good. digit dial, name dial, status all helpful if you need. I dont really understand the point of being able to hear your number but its a nifty feature. The camera is good because you can zoom up to 10x when using ALL three resolutions. Fun frames are kinda stupid because you have to take the picture inside the given space, its kinda hard... The brower is good, faster than the sanyo 8100 and 5300. Speed dial is great, if you remember the number you put in for a person you can dial that number say 57 and it will dial your home, if thats where your home entry is. However, you can only program one speed dial per person. You cant have Brother Home, Brother Cell, Brother Work. It takes the first entry and puts it as speed dial...

All in all this a great phone, works perfect. I am going to keep this phone. I give it a 8/10

I just bought this phone. I think it's got really cool features. without a leather cover it can fit into your pocket easily. The camera takes good pictures for a phone!

After you hang up the phone the outside screen turns into a mirror ...kinda cool..useless but cute

Navigation is rather easy after you get used to it. All the buttons are labeled...rather then symbols.

You can even take a self portait ...while the phone is closed.

I was not all that familar with the downloadable stuff they have but it seems that's additional fees just to make sure you know.

Can hold I think about 200 or 300 numbers (looked at soo many) and you can set the entry number as a speed dial which I love.
Or just dial the lasts 4 digits of a number.
Your phone book lists, entry#, Work, mobile , pager, fax, no label, speed dial (set to only one of the numbers), email, url, group, default ringer, birthday,and an image if you choose to have one.
Also has cool voice activated features. I programed the phone with my dads number. then using this feature I say dad and knows to dial him. unlike the old phones where you must program your voice. it's a smart phone.

there are ok ringers. nothing to great..but again it's only a phone.

Video and camara takes decent pics...and has fun frames that are fun to play with.

Over all I am happy with my purchase.

I've had this phone for about three weeks after trying comparable Sanyo and LG phones from both Sprint and Verizon. I love it and am keeping this model (the Samsung slide phone is not available at this time), I do think the cons, some noted in other reviews, are notable enough to deduct a star.

+++++Pros:
Raised button keypad- unlike all new samsungs the buttons are raised, not flush, so it is much easier to dial without looking, trust me this was the breaking point on one Sanyo.

Camera Flash and Zoom - These features alone trump the LG models. There's only digital zoom, it is a phone afterall, it is up to 10x and the pic quality is suprisingly good. You can take pics or movies of yourself easily with the phone closed using the CallerID/Clock/Mirror screen.

Reception/Sound Quality- Despite all sales reps' advice this phone has reception quality as good as the Sanyo in notoriously dead places, and callers have mentioned how clearly they can hear me (now).

Sprint PCS Vision vs. Get It Now - Verizon customers seem to be in a cult trying to get you to join so they can call you for free. Ok sometimes they have better service but for an extra $5 a month you can roam on any network so you're set there (believe me I live in the middle of nowhere; this phone works). Verizon Wireless' website is frequently in need of updating, and their Get it Now service is much more difficult and expensive than PCS Vision. Downloading ringers, games, screensavers, everything is easier and more affordable with PCS Vision.

Ringer - I find it plenty loud enough, there's the light and vibration as backups, or those straps so popular in Japan that light up also work now with Sprint and this phone. The sound is decent enough that you can download a song (or make your own with xingtone) and recognize it easily, if not necessarily appreciate the sound quality for a phone ringer, its great.

Mirror - this is actually really brilliant for checking your eyes, teeth or lips for anything, one at a time.

-----Cons:
Lens Placement- The camera/video lens is very close to the hinge and I frequently find myself smudging it or getting my finger or phone strap in the shot.

Phone Book- Very poor navigation, searching. most cons discussed in other reviews, but really it is difficult to work with in general. Every entry counts toward the 300 max, so a contact's cell, work, home and email are 4. The speed dial entry is for only the one number you assign for a particular person, you can't easily access the entire entry from the speed dial number.

Antenna - Bends easily, beware if you do need to pull it out.

Display - Although it is nice to have 2 crisp color screens and a mirror, I miss being able to read in well lit areas without needing the phone active. You can't just glance over for the time, you have to push a button and let everything light up.

1 - 10. 10 being the best.

Design: 10 The phone is drop dead sexy. The buttons are laid out well, and have a nice feel to them. Much better than the current Sanyo with the flush keys. the mirror external screen is cool, but rather useless. Fits very well into the 5th pocket on my jeans.

Reception: 9 I live in an area with saturated coverage so reception is fine. When I leave the city and go into a fringe area the phone finds a signal and holds it well.

Screen: 7 Beautiful, sharp colour screen with 65k colours. Could be bigger, but since the phone is so small. Can't have everything I guess.

Earpiece: 9 As usual Samsung delivers on sound quality.

On board ringers: 7 I have never been a fan of Samsungs ringtones, but these are okay. A couple of nice business sounding tones which I prefer.

Camera: 8 Not bad at all for a camera phone. I still think the a600 takes better pics.

Video: 6 This is odd because the video seems to jerk alot when a video is taken in low light, but seems much smoother when the lighting level is up. *shrug* It's a novelty. Very cool that you can use the videos as a screensaver or picture ID.

User Interface: 9 It's hard to beat the simple, well laid out UI of the Samsungs.

Overall: 8 I can't say for sure how long I will be keeping this phone, but I suspect it could be for awhile. It's gorgeous, and it does everything well with little fuss.

You know a design is elegant when it makes what had seemed sleek or unnoticable last year look ugly and clunky now. I'm upgrading from Samsung's A460, and even their old little wrist strap looks dingy and poor compared to the new wrist strap, much less the phone itself.

I've had the unfortunate luck to have used all three of Sprint's new video phones, and this is the one I'll be keeping. The Toshiba VM4050 is the most powerful and has the best picture quality, but it's also very big, and this one's camera isn't far behind. It takes pictures in a tenth of a second or so, which is technically slower than the Toshiba, but is still fast enough to satisfy me (unlike the Sanyo VM4500, which takes multiple seconds, like cheap handheld digital cameras do).

The Samsung only has 2MB of memory for downloaded games and ringers, compared to Toshiba's 4.5 or 5, yet says it can hold 40 of the highest quality pictures. I'm not sure if that means it just has isolated memory for the camera while the Toshiba's is all lumped together or what, but it's enough for me.

This Samsung is TINY. So small it's almost a con; it gets lost in my hand. It doesn't have a lot of buttons, but all four of the directional buttons can be linked to any of its functions. Due to the small size, the screen is also kind of small, but it works just fine, and all the text is large enough to read.

The side buttons' placement seem awkward at first, but are actually quite comfortable.

The phonebook is the retarded stepchild of the other brands' options: it's essentially the exact same as the A460's phonebook, except in color, and with an extra slot for web address and e-mail. The order you put your numbers in is the order they get registered with speed dial, you can't register multiple cell phones or work phones with one name, you can't change the type of phone (work, home, mobile) a number is registered as without deleting it and reentering, the search feature lags. The Toshiba can do all of that, and its search is instant.

Call quality is excellent, reception is wonderful, even in solid concrete buildings where my A460 never had reception, it fits anywhere, and I am extremely happy with it. I've listed a lot of problems, but they're all minor. Every single complaint I've listed is an improvement on the A460, and aren't problems for me, I just feel the need to point out everything anyone might object to.

Also, it doesn't have speakerphone. I don't know why you would want speakerphone, I can't imagine every using speakerphone on a cellular phone, I like the phone being the cheapest and smallest video phone without it. Whatever.

This is the first cell phone I've ever owned but as far as I can tell it is perfect! I have never had a problem myself even after a year and a half of use. My brother has even washed his a few times and it still works... Overall though, good phone. Wouldn't say it's worth it to get internet on it, very limited. Camera/camcorder are pretty good, but videos can only be 30 seconds long. As far as call quality goes though, it's perfect. I love my phone!

I personally love everything about this little phone. I was first attracted to it because of it's size and design. It is very small and can fit in the palm of your hand. I also wanted a phone with a camera, which this has, and a good one at that. I have had this phone for about 6 months now, and I am still finding things that I love about it. Everytime I think to myself... I wonder if my phone has this feature... it usually does! I love the voice dialing, the sound is wonderful. I can always hear my ringer, and you have the option of vibrate just in case. All in all, I would say that this is the best cell phone I have ever owned.

This is a great phone. Only major concerns are that the ringer is not as loud as intended however all my calls so far have been crystal clear as sprint advertises. The reception on average is 3 bars. In hard rock buildings I get 1 bar or I am roaming (although my plan covers roaming charges). I did notice that the phone gets hot if you talk for more than an hour or so. As for some comments about the light being on during charging.... THATS BECAUSE YOUR USING THE TRAVEL CHARGER! you need to buy the desktop charger which is EXCELLENT! takes like 10-20 min to fully charge an almost dead battery. So invest your money into this phone it will be worth it.

I've had this phone for almost 4 months and I love almost everything about it. The only thing I don't like about it is when I talk to people, I can actually hear myself afterwards. People who have this phone might understand what I'm talking about. It's also hard to hear, too. But, I got this nice little blue headset and it makes things clearer. The phone is pretty good if you want to fork over about 50 bucks for a headset. Overall, it's a neat little phone. I don't understand why someone had a problem with the external camera button. The camera doesn't go off if the phone is closed inside your pocket. And the voice memo feature may not remind you when you open the phone, but if you use the text memo feature, it will ring and remind you on the exact time and date you set it to ring.

I never thought I would own another Samsung after my ordeals with the Samsung N400. I had nothing but problems with that phone...and was thrilled to get rid of it.

So when I went shopping for a new phone, at first I was dead set against getting a Samsung....but this phones size won me over. And its proved to be a good little phone.

This phone is so small...and cute. I can comfortably just drop it into one of the front pockets on my jeans and forget about it. It has a sturdy feel to it...yet its not very heavy. The external lcd screen can be set to display a digital clock, one of many analog clocks, or a picture you have taken with the camera. It also works as a picture ID for incoming calls. It also notifies you when you recieve a new voicemail, text message, picture mail, its a view finder for self portraits and lets you know when you missed a call. And when its not doing any of that, it becomes a little mirror. (very prone to fingerprints)

The camera and 15 second camcorder are kind of cute. Either can be used for the photo ID or set as a screen saver...which is nice.

The keys are small but easy to use. There is a special button just to access the camera easily...and also another camera button on the side of the phone. The camera offers three different resolution settings (Low:160X120, Med:320x240, and High:640X480) and three Quality settings: Fine, Normal & Economy. It does have a flash (which you can set to always use, use on one shot only...or turn it off) It has a Self Timer, fun frames and lets you take multishots. You can also adjust the color tones, brightness and white balance. The camcorder gives you the option to make a silent movie.

The volume control gives you 8 levels...plus Level 8 + Vibrate, just vibrate, 1 beep, or silence all. I wish you could add the vibrate to any level of volume rather than just 8.

It offers Text Messaging which is really cool. My N400 didnt have it. And in addition to sending just text, you can send one of your videos or pictures.

The Call history is much better than the N400. With the N400 if someone called twice in a row, it would just show the last call in the History. But with this one, it lists every call along with the call information.

Overall, I'm very happy with my phone!

I left out quite a bit that has already been covered by previous reviewers. I hope this helped.