Samsung SPH-N400 - Neat Concept... One FATAL Flaw.
Written: Mar 05 '04
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Pros: Screen, Speakerphone, PCS Vision-Enabled, Joystick
Cons: Screen, Reliability Issues, Marginal Battery Life, Joystick
The Bottom Line: The Samsung SPH-N400 is a cool phone with one fatal flaw.
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| soupcraze's Full Review: Samsung SPH-N400 |
The Samsung SPH-N400 was one of the first color phones that worked with Sprint PCS Vision. It's no longer available from Sprint PCS, but can be purchased for around $100 on eBay. Even though it's older than a lot of the phones on the market, it still prove to be a great phone for some people. This was the first color Sprint PCS Vision-enabled phone that I've ever used. Here's what you should know about the Samsung SPH-N400.
-Price-
*The Samsung SPH-N400 can be purchased off of eBay for a little bit above $100 at about $120 to $130. This is much cheaper than buying a lot of the phones offered from Sprint PCS without signing a new contract. A lot of the PCS Vision phones go for $200+. So if you need a phone that can handle wireless web and also has some other neat features, then the Samsung SPH-N400 would be a pretty nice choice. If you're someone who doesn't take good care of their device, then the Samsung SPH-N400 isn't a good idea. It doesn't tolerate much stress like a lot of the other phones do. So if you've got a history of breaking cell phones, forget it. But if you're pretty responsible with your cell phone, then this would be a good idea. Compared to a lot of the other phones, the Samsung SPH-N400 lacks a built-in camera. It's fun for picture-mail but is definitely not a replacement for a digital camera. But Sprint PCS does offer a camera attachment for it which will allow you to take pictures if you really want to ($10?). Unlike a lot of phones offered, the Samsung SPH-N400 offers a built-in speakerphone which is cool. You'd typically find this on more expensive phones. Overall, it's a pretty good bargain, as long as you take care of it, I'll get to that later.
-Dimensions-
*The Samsung SPH-N400 has a pretty interesting design. It's a cross between a clamshell design and a candybar design. The only thing that flips is the plastic flip which holds the earpiece (No screen). This also helps protect the keypad... There are smaller phones that would fit in the pocket easier, or simply look better if you're looking for a much more compact design. Probably the nicest thing about this design is that the screen is very large. It's a lot larger than the screens you find on a lot of phones. It's much larger than the screen on my Sanyo SCP-8100 which also costed significantly more when I bought it. This screen should be ideal for surfing the PCS web since it's sort of a pain when you have such a small screen. But then again, the screen is the phone's largest drawback, more on that later.
-Features-
*The Samsung SPH-N400 is PCS Vision-Enabled which allows you to surf Sprint's wireless web. Then another thing which I find to be very useful is its speaker phone. The speakerphone works well and it's no problem to carry out conversations with it. I hear the people talking, and they hear me clearly on the other end. Also, it has a joystick navigation button which some may like and find easier to use than other navigation buttons. It's not much different than other phones, but the speakerphone and joystick allow it to stand out... At least from some...
-Ease of Use-
*The Samsung SPH-N400 has a pretty easy to use menu. It's very simple to access the phonebook and use the other features. The phone can be navigated with a small but useful joystick. Some may love this feature, some may hate it. I'm indifferent to having it. Overall, it's a pretty easy to use phone. It shouldn't pose any problems to any users.
-Clarity & Performance-
*The Samsung SPH-N400 handles pretty well on the Sprint PCS network. When I used the phone, it provided pretty clear and audible calls. It didn't drop calls. The volume level was satisfactory. It performs like any "good" phone should. You're not going to get a quiet phone that will drop numerous calls with the Samsung SPH-N400, so don't worry! Because with Sprint PCS, you can be heard loud and clear ;)
-Battery Life-
*The battery life on the Samsung SPH-N400 is fairly decent. When I used it, I was able to use it for around 2 hours, and then the battery seemed to have diminished. But when it was thrown in a charger, it was all good. There are phones with longer battery lives out there. So if you're on the go a lot, you should maybe consider something that'll last longer. One comment I would like to make is about car chargers. The power input seems to be the same as the kind used by Kyocera with some of their older phones (Not too familiar with them now). So rather than paying $30 or so for a car charger, my friend who owned the phone bought a Kyocera charger from Target for $1.97 and that worked. I like the power input since it's not one of those fragile ones, it's just like Nokia's. It's very easy to plug in the phone and charge it, even with your eyes closed!
-So What's NOT Hot-
*For around $100, this phone seems pretty good, right? Nuh uh... There is one pretty big flaw in this phone. It's the Samsung SPH-N400's reliability issues. Since this phone is only a "partial flip", the screen stays exposed. And let me tell you, this isn't one of those incredibly hard durable color screens. The screen is some cheap flimsy plastic that's just waiting to be scratched. So if you sit on the phone, you'll completely ruin the screen. If you cut through it, you better hope the screen doesn't completely mess up! When it does, you should get a new phone. If you don't have insurance on the phone, you've just lost yourself quite a bit of money. So if you're into keeping your phone in your pocket or you throw it around, beware!
-The Verdict-
*The Samsung SPH-N400 is a really cool phone with a large vibrant screen and plenty of features. For around $100, it seems to be a pretty good deal. But with its exposed flimsy screen, this phone is just begging to be broken. So that's why my rating on this phone is so low... Because once the screen is gone, so is your phone.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): ~100
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
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soupcraze
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Member: Soup Enthusiast
Location: Chicago, Illinois
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About Me:
I enjoy many of life's passions... Music, medicine, people, and life itself.
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