UPDATE II: Still GRADE A, but a few -'s: Comprehensive review
Written: Sep 20 '00 (Updated Dec 11 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Incredibly small and highly functional
Cons: Small sacrifices made for small size
The Bottom Line: My only serious grip is the sometimes weak signal, but it's not that much of a pain for me to get rid of this small, small phone.
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| david74mr's Full Review: Samsung SCH 6100 Cell Phone |
(I've had this phone for several months now and I thought I'd update my review to include a few things that I am not happy with. I lost my phone a few weeks ago at 3:30 in the morning in the back of a New York cab, so I was again faced with the problem of which phone to buy. I ended up buying this phone a second time, but the decision was a little harder.)
This is my fourth cell phone and let me say that I love this shiny little technological wonder. I can't imagine a phone would get any smaller than this or work much better.
Here's what I think:
***PROS***
- SIZE
This is the number one reason to purchase this phone. My very first cell phone was an Ericsson AF738, if I remember correctly, and it was pretty small. However, it was an analog phone with a short battery life and I got tired of having a contract so I switched to Sprint. I picked out the Sony CM-B1200 because it was easy to talk with, i.e. felt good in the hand. However that thing is like lugging a brick around. You cannot put it in your pocket and putting it on your belt makes you look like a Secret Service agent. I frequently left it behind. Next I got the Samsung 3500. Fairly small, but heavy. If I put it in my suit jacket pocket, it would pull the pocket open. Forget about putting it in your front pants pocket, unless you wanted to hear "Is that your phone or are you just happy to see me." Not too bad on size, but inconvenient enough that I left it at home when having a night out on the town and I didn't want to carry anything. This new phone, however, is just sooooo small. It's 4" by 1.75" but you really have to see it to fully appreciate it. Other phones might seem smaller, i.e StarTac, but because the Samsung is more slender in width it fits into pockets better. It is also only .5" thick, which makes a big difference. Some of those Motorola flip phones are close to an inch thick as are some of the other Samsungs. It makes a difference. The fancy Motorola "Vader" phone is tiny but thick also. It's also very light and fits in my shirt pocket comfortably. (UPDATE: I had seriously considered the Vader phone after I lost this one. It is so incredibly small that it is hard to believe. If it were cheaper than $400, I probably would have.)
- PHONEBOOK
With 229 entries, you will hard pressed to fill up this phone. The really neat feature is that you can store 5 different numbers under the same name, e.g. one for home, one for work, etc. With caller ID support, an incoming call displays the name and what location they are calling from.
- BATTERY LIFE
I have had this phone for over a month and have yet to turn it off or go below the half-way mark on the battery. I am not one of those people with the phone glued to my head, but I use it often enough. The Samsung 3500 had a poor battery and I would often turn it off to save power and thus miss calls. Not with this phone. (UPDATE: With my new phone, I have gotten into the habit of draining the battery all the way before recharging. I know this is a "smart" battery and it shouldn't matter, but it seems to make a difference. Maybe it's all in my head though. I am also smarter about battery use. If I'm some place where I know I won't be using the phone, i.e. a movie theater--though not everyone seems to think a movie theater is a place where you shouldn't use a phone--or in a no-service zone like a subway tunnel, I shut the phone off. Now this might seem like common sense, or that it might not be worth the effort, but I have found that I can go up to two weeks without recharging.)
- RECEPTION
I have had hardly any problems with reception and even less problems when compared with the Samsung 3500 (heard that was a software problem). The best reception I ever got was on my Ericson AF738 (analog) and the Sony (I read the reviews on this phone and others spoke of problems. It was always crystal clear for me). I am surprised that the antenna isn't retractable but there probably isn't room inside the phone to push the antenna in. (UPDATE: Ok, I've had the phone for several months now and most of the time the reception is pretty good. However, there have been times where the reception meter reads five bars and yet the sound cuts in and out. This doesn't happen to often, but it's annoying. Or... I'll be using the phone in one spot and have no service, and move an inch over and have full service. ????)
- LOOKS
Let's just face it, this phone looks damn cool. The small size makes it stand out for sure. The shiny silvery color beats the standard black any day and certainly isn't as tacky as the covers for the Nokia 6000 series phones. I like that it doesn't have the business look of the StarTac, which is owned by practically everyone anyway. I personally think it looks even better then that silly little "vader" by Motorola.
- WEBBROWSER
I never thought I'd use it, but the webbrowser function works well. I just use it to check my AOL e-mail and it's pretty quick.
- MENUS
I played with the Motorola Star-Tac and Vader at the Sprint store and their menus are harder to understand then this Florida recount stuff!! A plus with all Samsung phones is the very easy to navigate menus. No problems at all.
***CONS***
- NO HOLDER (UPDATE)
My biggest gripe that almost made me buy a different phone after I lost it. Ok, this might seem as trivial as a chad, but I have yet to find a good holder for this phone and to make the best use of the weak vibrate, you have to have a good holder. I had a holder before I lost it. However, it defeated the purpose of having a small phone. Again, I felt like I should be guarding the President or something. I tried one of those attachments where you glue a little bevel to the back of the battery, but because the phone wouldn't fit in the charger, you can't really use it. You can't glue it to the space above the battery either because it's curved. I actually tried taking a money-clip and attaching it to the back and had pretty good success with that. Sprint makes a little do-dad, but it isn't that small, doesn't really look good and I can't imagine it holds the phone well. I honestly don't understand why Samsung doesn't have something like the Star-Tac or Vadar has, i.e. a holster. Having lost the phone because I didn't have a good holder, that was a major concern of mine when shopping for a new phone. What I would really, really like is holder that holds the phone sideways and flat up against my belt. If anyone has any ideas send an e-mail to david74mr@aol.com.
- SMALL BUTTONS
Common sense says that if the phone is small, the buttons will be also. They are not really hard to use. I am still able to dial numbers quickly; you just have to use the tips of your fingers.
- NO ANALOG ROAM
In order to keep the phone small, this phone does not support analog roaming. I am in the Manhattan area and thus do not need to worry about this. I occasionally go outside the network area up north so this was something I considered. However, the Samsung 3500 had it, but it never worked so I figured why bother; I chose to sacrifice this ability to keep the phone small.
- WEAK VIBRATE
I love the vibrate feature. First of all, it's just more polite than a blaring ringer. Second, in a noisy place, like on the street or in a bar or something, you just won't notice the ringing. This is an important feature for me. However, again to keep the phone small, the tiny motor that makes the phone vibrate is also smaller, meaning it does not vibrate as strong. I have had the phone in a pair of loose fitting pants and didn't notice it vibrating. I have missed several calls because of this.
- VOICE DIAL NOT LINKED TO PHONE BOOK
I like the voice dial though I only use it sparingly and thus can't really judge it's quality. However, it just seems like common sense to me to have the voice dial work with numbers programmed in the phone book instead of having a separate section. I don't think any phone has this though.
- MICROPHONE
With the Samsung 3500, the microphone is right next to my mouth and I could speak quietly and still be heard. On this phone, the microphone is by my cheek and though the microphone is excellent, you just can't talk as quietly. (UPDATE: I seriously considered the Qualcomm QCP-2760, you know the long and flat phone in all the Sprint commercials. I see people on the train talking on that one and they are hardly above a whisper.)
- SPEAKER
I find that I sometimes have trouble hearing with the tiny speaker.
- PHONEBOOK
On the Samsung 3500, you could toggle a button right below the screen to scroll through the phone book. One way would scroll alphabetically, the other by the assigned location number. I store the numbers in different parts of the phonebook based on who they are, i.e. work related, family, friends, restaurants, etc. You can still scroll by number but it requires going through the menu. However, a common theme of this review is that sacrifices had to be made to make the phone smaller. There is simply no room for a toggle button on the face of the phone, though it could have easily been placed on the side.
***NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD***
- CALENDAR
This phone includes a sort of electronic calendar that helps to keep track and remind you of things you have to do--a quasi PDA. It's really small though (again because the phone is so small) and I prefer my trusty pocket paper calender anyway. If you have a Palm Pilot, I'd stick with that.
- RINGER SOUNDS
I honestly don't think it has to be that hard to but more than nine ringer options on a phone. Yeah, the ones included are fine, but a little more variety would be nice; some phones have up to 30 sounds.
- CHARGER
It is a little tricky to place the phone in the charger, but not terribly so. You might spend an extra 10 seconds fiddling with it. Not a terribly big deal.
- PRICE
At $149, this is still higher than some phones, but it is about $50 less (at least, probably closer to $75) than the Motorola models (UPDATE: The Star-Tac is now $149 at Sprint), and a whopping $250 less than the "Vader"
- SIZE
Yes, the size is a problem. It is just harder to get a good grip on the thing while talking on it. The Sony I could hold like a regular phone, the Samsung fit nicely in the hand, but this thing is so small that you have to hold it by your fingertips. It's probably perfect for a woman's hand though. (UPDATE: Again, I almost considered the Qualcomm QCP-2760 because it is so nice to hold. It's like holding a regular phone. However, the lack of a vibrate and very poor phone book made me decide against it. Also, the Vader phone is really hard to hold comfortably. It is probably too small and it definitely is flimsy.)
Ok, so that's what I think. All in all, I think this is the best value for your money if you are looking for small phone. If you are looking for a phone that doesn't have to be teeny-tiny, then maybe you should consider the Samsung SCH 8500; that was my second choice. Otherwise, if you don't mind a few sacrifices, slip this little phone and forget about it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
david74mr
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Location: laurel, MD
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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