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- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 186 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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24 out of 25 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Awesome tech-savvy phone with only minor kinks"
Pros: Large and vibrant display, nice speakerphone, good mainstream e-mail and IM features, decent photo quality, useful bluetooth connectivity, mp3 player is on track, voice commands and microSD expansion
Cons: Normal call volume rather low, basic MP3 support, can't set mp3s over 26 seconds as ringtone, can't send files to phone via bluetooth, not possible to install java apps/games to phone from pc
Summary: Overall this is an awesome phone, so I felt that it deserved an awesome review. It's media features are limited, but they are pretty decent.
Though it doesn't come with a standard headphone jack, you can still listen to music over the speakerphone, which sounds really nice.
Call quality is pretty good, as I expected from my last Samsung, but I noticed that the signal tends to go towards the medium/weak side pretty often. I'm assuming this is due to the internal antenna, which Samsung points out not to cover up, but this is hard to not do depending on how you are used to holding your phone.
The phone's call volume I have say is only average. On the highest volume setting it will still be difficult to hear if you are in a setting with even the remotest noise, for instance, a fast food restaurant. But if this is a problem, you can switch over to the speakerphone and it should get the job done.
The 1.3MP camera makes for good internet-worthy photos, and it comes with some pretty snazzy camera effects. I'm not a big fan of phone video capturing, and needless to say, this phone doesn't make for much improvement in that area.
Samsung states that the mp3 player is only capable of playing back files encoded at 192Kbps or less, which is only somewhat true. If you have files over that range this can be circumvented by simply editing a fade-in into the first couple of seconds of the song since this is all the player checks for the bitrate. I know that 26 seconds is enough for a ringtone, but this is a drawback because it is a pain to not only have the mp3 you like on your phone, but to also have to chop it up so you can set it as your ringtone. This is more of the phone company's money-making ploy, so I can let Samsung off on that.
I do wish the video player had more compatability, such as with Windows Media, because as it stands it only supports poor quality 3GP/MP4 files.
Another thing I didn't like was the Samsung's PC Studio 3 software, specifically because of it's buggy bluetooth interface. If you want to connect to the software via bluetooth you have to go through a sometimes tedious process of syncing the phone's serial port option.
The phone's microSD slot is a blessing, allowing for up to 512MB (I've read that some people have used 1GB). I'm upset that while you can transfer java apps and games to the phone, you cannot install them. Unlike most Motorola phones, with Samsung what you see is what you get as far as being able to modify the phone.
I've been going over all of this stuff on the phone and talking to people for the past two days and haven't had to recharge yet after the first full charge, so battery life is on the plus side.
This is a very strong and innovative device all the way from its design to its included features. And yes, the keypad is very flat, so people with large fingers might have a little trouble, but it's worked great for me. This is definitely a good pick by Cingular, and at $130 it's not too much of a wallet-buster.Updated
After further review I found that the limit on MP3 ringtones isn't 26 seconds, it's 600KB. Also, you can send files to the phone via bluetooth, there are just limitations on which folders are accessible.
- 9 replies to this review
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Although the D807 doesn't have a standard headphone jack, you can get an adapter. I bought my adapter with a set of battery operated little fold up iPod type speakers on Ebay for about 9 bucks. I LOVE the speakers and with the adapter, I can also use my favorite stereo headphones and the sound quality for the Mp3 player is great!
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Ive had this phone for about a month now, and I love it. I agree with almost everything thats stated in the main review above.
The only cons I have are that the normal call speaker volume is a little on the low side, but it is by no means inaudiable. When things are really busy (a sporting event, Busy airport, loud party, etc) You are going to need to turn on the speakerphone or a bluetooth headset if you want to hear the person on the other end. Thats fine with me, being as I use a WEP 200 headset alot. (By the way, The voice recognition software works great with this)
The 'con' about only beaing able to put 600kb of music per ringtone is not really an issue for me, being as my phone rings for about 25 seconds before being forwarded to my voice-mail.
Now my only other issue/question I have with this phone is this: (how) am I able to listen to MP3 music through my Bluetooth headset? I know there is a special headphones accessory I can buy, but Id rather just listen through the wireless bluetooth headset, even if it is only in Mono (only 1 ear piece). If any one know if/how I can do this, please let me know.
I'll check back every now and then.
-Arkios -
You can install JAVA apps, see the Wikipedia page on the phone for the necessary codes to do it. I just installed Easyjack V2 and mToolbox.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_SGH-D807 -
I have gone through 4 Samsung D807s in the past 6 months for the same reason. The pixels in the screen bust casuing the phone to go completely white. Every time this has happened, (once on the first day) it has been during charging. Possibly it is because the backlight does not turn off during charging. But, this is the chepaest made phone ever. Never dropped any of the 4. I'd stick to LGs. The features are amazing, but i would NEVER recommend it.
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frenzy thanks for your great review. helped me in choise. last phone i used was kyocera kx414.
Is there a why to access voice command call without pushing a button 11 times. my old phone was push talk and speak name to call that number. I'm thinking there is a shorter way of voice calling without all that navigation on the D807. Any help is appreciated. -
does the keypad light up when you slide it up?
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Overall its a great phone. For a simple price I dont need to install all that other stuff.
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I definitely agree with you. This phone is quasi-perfect. It's feature packed. I bought this phone yesterday, and I'm still experimenting with it. I just have a couple of inquiries. To transfer mp3's from pc to the phone, do I need to buy the microSD and the USB transfer thing? How do you chop up an mp3 in order to use it as a ringtone? And does this cell phone not have a hand strap holder thing?? This is quite inconvenient because I always used either a hand strap or a necklace for safety.
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I definitely agree with you. This phone is quasi-perfect. It's feature packed. I bought this phone yesterday, and I'm still experimenting with it. I just have a couple of inquiries. To transfer mp3's from pc to the phone, do I need to buy the microSD and the USB transfer thing? How do you chop up an mp3 in order to use it as a ringtone? And does this cell phone not have a hand strap holder thing?? This is quite inconvenient because I always used either a hand strap or a necklace for safety.
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