Hands-on with the Blade, aka the Samsung SPH-A900
By Peter Rojas 
posted November 9th 2005 8:50AM
posted November 9th 2005 8:50AM
There weren't a ton of phones we hadn't seen before at Samsung's media event here in NYC last night, but we did get a chance to play withthe SPH-A900 (aka the SCH-V740 aka the "Blade"). Samsung tried their damnedest to disguise all of the carrier branding on this one, but a quick reboot of the phone revealed a Sprint-branded startup screen (not that we didn't already know which carrier would be getting this one, but you know how we roll). Still no solid release date or pricing, but we do know that this thing will be crazy thin (it's just 14.5-mm) and have Bluetooth, a swiveling 1.3 megapixel digital camera, and EV-DO. Click on for a few more shots.
Simply put, there seems to be a lot of bashing of this phone because either its a "rip off" of the RAZR or "late" in this technology. Or that its huge or ugly or what not. Im so disapointed how people feel were back in the 3rd grade saying mines better than yours. In all honesty, no matter what types of devices we look at, there will alwys be resemblance among them. Take for instance MP3 players. So many that come out, act or may resemble the i Pod, but thats simply because thats where our technology is leading to. So many flip phones out there resemble eachother, sometimes to a T, but I dont see people bashing each company for saying that it flips open like the other does or cause one phone has a camera just like the competition. Simply because this phone is the same thickness? Maybe this will become the new standard in phone size...will we still compare a phone 3 years from now to the same ole RAZR? Samsung has made this phone, granted the design may be comparable to the RAZR and a little late into the phone market, but atleast its here and sprint users like me can actually have a phone that we can call "cool" looking. If you feel the RAZR is better, than more power to you. I feel that each phone has its pros and cons and I just cant wait for this phone. Only time will tell.
Wow, that phone looks amazing.
Finally, Sprint has a phone which will make you proud to carry it. The screen and buttons look great.
A question, though. I've had a sprint phone for about eleven months. Do you have to pay extra to get a new phone before your current contract has ended?
It depends, how long have you been with sprint? After some time, they do offer you a 150 buck mail in rebate for any new phone. Though sometimes if you call in customer service and ask for it, telling them youve been a loyal customer and you want an upgrade, they may put the promo code on your account for it. Thats what I did, and Im using it on this phone when it comes out.
What's up with all the "rip-off" talk? Are you suggesting Moto gets a monopoly on slim form factor handsets because they happened to come out with the first one? First, if they hadn't, someone else would've anyway - it's not that innovative. Second, it's called "competition", dumbasses. You know, the principle that delivers better products (which this clearly is) for lower prices? If you don't like it, move to Cuba.
Sprint has a long history of offering the least "cutting-edge" phones of all the wireless carriers and at a very high price. Just look at the dearth of Sprint bluetooth phones. You can spend $300+ and still not have bluetooth!
It's so bad, that I have yet to find a reason to upgrade my 5-yr. old StarTAC. I kid you not! The only reason that I'm still with Sprint is because I have a decent retention plan.
However, the Samsung SPH-A900 may be the one to get me to shell out some hard-earned moolah.
You remember Led Zeppelin's fourth album? It would be cool if a phone company had the guts to market a phone without any branding. It would be the talk of the town and when people would ask: what brand is th? They would still get the right answer from the owner.. oh well, just dreaming.. I must say my RAZR comes quite close..
I also played with this phone at the samsung expirience. You guys better pray that they changed the UI on this one, because the korean version was horrible.
#60: It couldn't be much worse than that dog Motorola tries to pass off as a user interface.
Actually, there is no such thing as the mail in rebate for Sprint anymore. If you've had your phone/plan for 12months you get a $75 credit off of the "Unactivated Price"..If you've had your phone for 24months you get $150 off of the same.
No, its not as huge as you all think. No, the bluetooth is not crippled(it supports OBEX, as does the a940). The camera takes amazing pics. It is targeted for first week of December. Only downside is lack of memory card slot. When I checked out the media player it only showed about 50 mb of memory. I understand the target for final production is 128. As long as you aren't depending on this as your MP3 player this phone is absolutely amazing.
I would love a replacement for my Sony T608 (only isyncable sprint phone) I use DUN about once a week and would like to keep that function at no extra cost, my work has a 15 line account, and my boss has considered switching because how far sprint is behind the curve. Sprint doe not love us Mac users at all.
Look, people, I own this phone. It seems like there is people bashing this phone and they do not even own it. For all of those people, go into a Sprint store and use it. Then you will not continue putting it down. Both Sprint Samsung EV-DO phones are great, but the Blade just happens to be better in my opining. Verizon might have the larger EV-DO network as of this moment (not for long) but Sprint clearly has more to offer at better prices.
http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/ueContent.jsp?scTopic=pcsV…
Keep in mind that this services still work well in none EV-DO (1X CDMA) areas of the US. But the EV-DO areas are faster. Take my advice and go into a Sprint store and try it out. But you might want to wait until the first of next month, because these phones right now are being sold really quickly. The store I went into just recived a shippment in on Tusday morning, and by Friday afternoon they were all sold out.
Great phone, perfect features, well worth the money!
Just got off the phone with Sprint Level 2 Tech support to ask about when OBEX would be supported on my LG 325 (different topic, I know, but bear with me).
The Tech I talked to indicated that this phone along with the A920 and A940 all have full OBEX bluetooth support (he even bragged that they had paired them up in their office with an iPaq).
I may give a look to the A900 and see what kind of deal I can finagle given the fact that because I got my PM325 within the last year, I'm not officially eligible for any rebate, but I'll see what kind of ruccus I can stir up about "...well, I thought I WAS buying a bluetooth phone before, and now you're saying it won't ever be updated to do what I want..."
In any case... Good to see Sprint offering REAL bluetooth... ...now, how would one pair it up with my Palm LifeDrive? Hmmmm.....
Off to ponder and do a little research,
Eric "GuitarEC"
GO CINGULAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALCON,
I currently have two a900s and had to download the drivers from www.samsungwireless.com for pc to phone plug-in. I'm impressed with the design and capabilites. There is a drawback due to battery time, however if you disable the GPS (E911) then the battery life is extended 20-30%. The sales flier at the sprint Store list the media formats as Mp3,AAC,and AAC+. However, I have not been able to test the AAC or AAC+ codecs on the player..yet. The media storage is only 47.3MB ,so AAC+ audio gives you more songs. The separate storage is for pictures/ringtones/video (both total 90MB). This phone is a for the tech savy....the $25 for Power Voice ($12.50 for add-on phones) allow you experance the ture capibilities of boardband like connections....also at 25frames per sec the TV boardcast are better then anything on the market.
Oh, failed to mention that the phone service works where no other phone reception has before in my govt Bldg.
9 out of 10,
Mike
Great phone. It is my newest play toy and I have had some fun. I can't imagine buying a MP3 player, a cell phone, a PDA. This device is what I have been wishing for.
Draw backs are the memory is limited, USB does not charge the phone, phone can not be connected to PC and be able to recieve phone services. But who cares i like the phone.
Can anyone get the Samsung A900 to connect and stay connected with their uconnectHands-Free bluetooth system(found in Jeeps and Chryslers). Mine is paired but won't stay connected. I called Samsung and the level 2 person was just rude, and I called Chrysler and that person was just nasty. There must be a fix, uconnect is supposed to work with software 1.0 and over and the A900 is 1.1.
Does anyone know how to upload your own mp3s to the phone? I tired and it says that the phone is locked(read only). Do I have to download anything to do this?
and for those who dont have the phone, this phone rocks! The price tag was a bit steep but the features vs my old Sanyo 5300 was a major boost