Samsung Exclaim SPH-M550 user reviews (blueberry, Sprint)

3.0 stars

"The Samsung Exclaim: Decent, but not what I expected." on August 19, 2010 by reapsoul964

Pros: Dual-slider design
One-Click with social networking
Internet capability
OK quality camera
Customizable home screen and carousel with decent options like the weather

Cons: My old Katana LX had better signal
My old Katana LX seemed to somehow have better sound quality in calls
Very short battery life
It likes to stay locked sometimes-I have to restart the phone to unlock it
The camera is nothing special

Summary: I was honestly expecting something a lot more groundbreaking from this phone. All three of the phones I've had in the past (which we kept for surprisingly long amounts of time) seemed to have better signal than this phone, even though they were really just basic phones (I can only remember the name of the Katana LX, but my other two phones weren't even cameraphones. Pretty basic. I think one was with Suncom [horrible service] and the other two were with Sprint]).

That being said, even with the cons, this really isn't that bad of a phone. I just expected a heck of a lot more from it. I expected better surfing speeds, better quality, a better battery life, a better camera (it's slightly better than my old phone), more apps to put on the home screen, and an easier way to put my own music and ringtones on the phone. The small 512 MB memory card that is included with the phone is also a bit of a letdown because of how much of a music freak I am. Then again, that's not really all that important since I have my iPod. I would love for the phone to include at least a 1 GB memory card, though. My brother's phone, the Samsung Instinct (I think), came with a 1 GB memory card.

I also am annoyed that the phone didn't come with a Phone to Computer USB cable. This is a media-capable phone, so I would think they would put in a way to put some music and stuff on it. My brother's phone came with a USB cable. Mine just came with the charger, the books, and the memory card.

I know Sprint wants us to buy their stuff, but I've already bought a bunch of music for my iPod-I'd like to be able to use some of them as ringtones. I do know how to get a couple of them on there, but it's much more tedious than it needs to be.

It's a good phone, but it won't blow you away. I wouldn't suggest getting it, but I wouldn't be against getting it again if it was one of the options put before me.

Updated on Aug 19, 2010

The Facebook and MySpace apps are lacking in pretty much every single way compared to those of the iPod Touch. It's pretty annoying, to be honest. I don't even use the Facebook app anymore unless I want to post a quick status. I hardly ever log on MySpace anyway, so that's not too huge of a problem. I do like the AIM app, though.

Updated on Aug 19, 2010

I just keep thinking of things as I read through other ones...

It seems to have a huge problem with pocket dialing. I'll have it locked in my pocket (I carry a buncha stuff in my pockets, but I usually have the phone screen facing outwards) and it'll pocket dial someone. It does that VERY often.

I haven't really used the music player since I don't have a USB cable or a way to get my laptop to accept the memory card (I'm not very good with computers...), but whenever I go on youtube, the videos are always choppy. They'll pause for a second or two a couple times throughout a song and start back again. While that's not a huge problem, it gets annoying. The sound quality isn't the best, either.

When I'm calling people, they sound quiet and distant. I'm not sure how to change that-I thought I had my call volume up all the way. On my old Katana LX, I had to keep the call volume at 1-3 out of 8. 3 was usually too loud, while 1 was usually too quiet.

Maybe my phone is just weird???

4.0 stars

"VERY durable phone!!!" on May 12, 2010 by HeatherFTW

Pros: Feels solid in the hand
Message alert light
Dual slider
SAMSUNG
Threaded messaging
VERY durable

Cons: Menu/OK button gets stuck sometimes
Takes a lot of pressing of the OK button to reply to a message
Facebook/Myspace tiles don't always work
Sometimes when I slide it shut, the screen goes all fuzzy for a second, but it fixes itself really quick

Summary: Very great phone. Very reliable. I canceled my U.S. Cellular contract so I could have this phone through Sprint. Sprint isn't the greatest phone company where I live, but the phone makes up for it. I have dropped it in the middle of an intersection, in a puddle of water, i let some idiot at a party use it and he set it in a puddle of alcohol, yet somehow it still works perfectly with no problems. And I don't think any will arise, because I've had it for 6 months. Samsung is the best maker of phones. Great job on this one!!

0.5 stars

"Not Reliable" on July 27, 2009 by jpfitz0316

Pros: Dual Slide

Cons: Screen does not always rotate and freezes up, top row of keys on keyboard hard to use, receive "not enough available memory" when internet surfing, text messages come in garbled at times. Back light does always stay on to set time.

Summary: Returning second one in two weeks for same issues which also occurred at the Sprint store when experienced reps were trying out phone (not just me). Recommend waiting a year to see if phone is still sold by Sprint or any other carrier.

4.5 stars

"My first Sprint phone. Really happy so far." on June 15, 2009 by huskyyeti

Pros: Great display
Fantastic social networking with Facebook, My Space
Dual Slider design gives the best of both worlds - regular dialing and full QWERTY
Highly customizable.
Fast with EVDO.

Cons: It's a little on the heavy side. There are SOOO many cool data features that they tend to chew up battery a little bit.I

Summary: I bought two of these phones at Radio Shack. As far as I could find it's not available anywhere else yet, even on the Sprint site. It's a great deal, with powerful web, email, social networking, messaging, and email wrapped up in a really great dual slider design. I've used a touch screen (LG Dare from Verizon) for the last year or so and this phoone is just a lot more user friendly and cost less.

Finally it's worth saying that I was a die-hard Verizon guy forever but Sprint has really exceeded my expectation in terms of what you get in the plans. So far so good.