Fabulous But Unreliable
Written: Mar 14 '01
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Pros: Great features, display, voice dial, voice quality
Cons: Reliability, quality control
The Bottom Line: If you don't need to make calls in analog areas, it's a great choice. But have yours checked out at a Sprint store before the warranty runs out!
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| mprigoff's Full Review: Samsung SCH 8500 CDMA / AMPS Cellular Phone |
The 8500 is a paradox: it has fabulous features that distinguish it from the competition, but has significant reliability problems that frustrate the user.
I've had 10 different cell phones going back to a back-pack Panasonic and recently selected the 8500 after a careful comparison of features among available phones.
Pros
Initially, the phone worked great using Sprint service in northern New Jersey. The voice quality is far superior to any other phone I've ever used, including a number of other Sprint phones (Motorola Timeport, Sanyo 4500).
The 8500 has easy-to-use buttons and the menus are fairly intuitive. For those who use the wireless web features, text entry is far easier than on many other phones.
The voice dial feature is extremely convenient. Up to 30 numbers can be stored in memory and dialed by speaking the name. Voice memos can be recorded for playback, although I have never used the feature in 5 months of use.
The phone book provides ample storage, including 6 separate entries for each name (home, work, mobile, pager, fax and unlabeled). It has a calendar, although text entry is cumbersome.
Cons
The biggest problem with the 8500 is the failure rate. I have had 7 of these phones, and all but one have failed the diagnostic test administered by Sprint's technicians. Sprint techs have told me that the failure rate is 20-30%.
Moreover, none of the 8500's I have had have been able to make analog calls, either in PCS-coverage areas or outside them. In essence, although this is sold as a dual-band phone, for all practical purposes it only operates in PCS mode. Sprint has been trying for two months to rectify this problem without success to date. Even more surprising, the 8500 cannot make a 911 call in analog mode, which I am informed is contrary to federal requirements.
Neither of these problems (which appear to be unrelated, by the way) seem to have any affect on calls made or received within PCS-coverage areas. In my experience, even with these problems, the 8500 still is one of the best phones in the Sprint arsenal.
If a flip phone is not a priority, the Sanyo 4500 provides greater reliability and the same features, and also provides better battery life, and additional voice features (speakerphone, voice announce). Its display and size, however, are inferior to the 8500.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 129
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Epinions.com ID:
mprigoff
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Location: Englewood, New Jersey
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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