- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 27 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Probably the Best Cingular currently has to offer"
Pros: Vivid screen display, very fast on 3G, intuitive menus, nice features, decent camera
Cons: Deactivation of the front screen, no ring tones, must remain open to use speaker phone, proprietary headphone jack.
Summary: I upgraded to this phone from a Motorola V3 Razr (old model) that I purchased over the Internet. I like Cingular's service (I've used it consistently well all across the US, including in some pretty weird places) but have been previously unimpressed by the quality of their product line; it seemed like every phone I purchased in their store was defective. However, I decided to give Cingular's product line a try once again with purchasing the Sync.
This is my impression of the phone during the first 24 hours. I will come back and update this once I've had more experience with this phone.
The Bad: The fact that you have to hold the external menu button down for three seconds is a bit annoying (as people have previously reported), but so far it's not been a deal breaker for me. I hate the fact that you can't talk on the speaker phone with the phone closed. The menu options are decent, but it sometimes feels like it takes a lot of little steps to get one small thing accomplished. I hate that you have to purchase ring tones. I also hated that I had to purchase a Micro SD card - the phone should come with more memory! Also, what is with the proprietary head phone jack? I have very small ears and have to use kid-size earbuds. The ones Samsung makes for this phone simply won't fit my ears. I'm trying to find an adapter so that I can use my own headphones that fit. Also, I hate the fact that I cannot Sync the Sync with my Mac. I'm looking into options, but the only way I can get music is if I stream it in. The front display (when the phone is closed) is a bit drab. Also, I've not yet figured out how to check my voicemail once I've erased that display on my screen that says I have a message waiting.
Here's the good: The front display has icons that are easy to see. The keypad has a nice, firm design. The camera is pretty decent. At 2 MPs it takes good pictures. The screen display is awesome, very bright and vivid. I love the high-speed internet connection via the 3G. The phone also feels nice in my hand, sturdy and well-contoured. But it's small enough to fit easily in my pocket. I like the features the phone has to offer. For example, you can schedule alarms to occur just on certain days. I use this feature a lot. Texting is pretty easy with this phone, although I found it difficult to switch to T9 at first. Unlike Motorolla's product line, I like the fact that I can change the profile without making a lot of noise (why does Motorola do that??) I have yet to use the MP3 capability of this phone, but will be trying that soon.
My old Razr was pretty decent and while it had a few quirks (sometimes would shut off for no reason, lost battery life quickly), I was generally pleased with it because of it's size and functional capabilities. I would have purchased the new Razr, but I need a quad-band phone for traveling purposes and the V3xx is only a tri-band.Updated
So, I've had this phone for almost a week. It performs well. The call quality is as good, slightly better than my Razr. The features are nice, even if they are preset and unchangable. I have not yet used the music feature, since I have a Mac, but am looking into how to get tunes onto the phone. My big complaint thus far is the poor battery life. It seems like I'm always needing to charge this phone up. I am hoping this will improve with more use, but will have to wait and see.

