The Good: The Samsung SCH-A930 has decent call quality and an attractive feature set that including Bluetooth, EV-DO support, an external memory slot, a speakerphone, a 1 mega pixel camera, and a digital music player. The Samsung SCH-A930 feels solidly constructed and is relatively compact.
The Bad: The Samsung SCH-A930 suffers from spotty EV-DO reception and has an uninspiring design. The external display is also far too small to be of much use.
The Bottom Line: The Samsung SCH-A930 makes a mostly good showing, but there are better choices in Verizon’s EV-DO lineup.
The Good: This phone has five-way wireless support (IrDA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, CDMA 1xRTT, and EV-DO); a speaker phone; a comfortable slide-out QWERTY thumb keyboard; includes 2 batteries; and great third-party software support. The phone also holds allot of music and photos with the included 1GB SD card.
The Bad: Unfortunately there are several flaws with this mobile phone. First of all, there is no support for using the phone as a modem with a laptop. Second Wi-Fi and phone can’t work simultaneously and Wi-Fi is a real power hog. Third, the phone lacks a camera.
The Bottom Line: Small, light, and powerful, the Samsung SCH-i730’s high-speed data support and built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi make it an excellent choice for those who have to stay connected at all times.
The Good: The Samsung SCH-A870 is a lightweight flip phone with a slim profile. It also offers a VGA camera with flash, a speakerphone, Bluetooth, voice dialing, and support for VZ Navigator, Verizon’s GPS location service. Its rounded corners make it comfortable to hold in your hand and cradle comfortably on your ear.
The Bad: The Samsung SCH-A870 takes blurry, washed-out photos. Additionally it’s not possible to turn off the cameras shutter sound, even when you silence the phone’s volume completely.
The Bottom Line: The Samsung SCH-A870 is a decent mid tier mobile phone offering from Verizon. It should satisfy most people but better options are available.
The Good: This phone is rugged, strong and waterproof. While it is not all that pretty, it is built to take a lot of blows. There is was no attempt to make its display trendy either as it is a simple monochrome type. Instead, this phone has a plastic bumper to help protect it if you were to ever drop it. It’s a solid phone to use and it’s comfortable to hold while you are talking. It also offers decent call quality even while you are on the speaker phone. There are a lot of feature shortcuts and an internal phone book that will hold 500 contacts. Plus there is a camera with a large lens and a very bright flash. There is a timer, brightness and white-balance controls, 5 resolutions and 3 different color effects. The phone also includes support for 3G EV-DO networks.
The Bad: This is one of Verizon’s biggest and heaviest mobile phones. It also has an odd look to it. The key pad is somewhat slippery and flat and while the toggle is large, the other keys are small. Otherwise, this is the standard Verizon interface. Unfortunately there is also no Bluetooth, music player, analog roaming, or expandable memory slot with this phone. While there is a camera, there is no self-portrait mirror which makes taking pictures of yourself a bit awkward.
The Bottom Line: If you enjoy taking your phone with you while you are involved with sports, then this is the phone for you. Otherwise, you might want to take some time to look around at the other mobile phones that are on the market today because this one lacks some key offerings.
