I have owned many mobile phones over recent years, as I am sure everyone has, and while none have been especially outstanding, some have most definitely been crap. The only problem I have ever had with my cellular phones has been with the battery. The cellular phone battery has either broke or it just would not last long enough and I would need to buy and carry a replacement battery.

I always use my cell phone a lot, both for my career and for home use, so having a backup battery is often a good idea but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is annoying. My current phone is working fine but I would like a replacement battery for times when I am not in the office.

Cell Phone Batteries

These are the details of my latest phone (yep, I know it is a bit obsolete, I really should purchase a new cellular phone):

Samsung SPH-M500 (red)

Positives:
The Samsung SPH-M500 offers good call quality and a generous range of features, including Bluetooth, a speakerphone, an external memory card slot, and EV-DO compatibility.
Negatives:
The Samsung SPH-M500 has slippery keys, and its video and music quality is below par.
Facts:
The Samsung SPH-M500 is a decent option for a low-end multimedia phone. Just don’t expect too much.

Note: This product is part of the Samsung SPH-M500 series. .

Once in a while, a cell phone manufacturer will repackage one of its handsets for a different carrier. No, it’s not very original, but that didn’t stop Samsung from putting out its new SPH-M500 for Sprint. Samsung fans should notice immediately that the SPH-M500 is basically T-Mobile’s Samsung SGH-T619 but with a Sprint logo stamped on the front. The design of the phones is identical, but the SPH-M500 does offer some extra goodies, such as an external memory slot and support for Sprint’s EV-DO network.

Like the SGH-T619, the SPH-M500 is slim, but it’s certainly not sexy. Thin-phone fans will appreciate the compact dimensions (3.9×2x0.6 inches) and its trim weight (2.8 ounces), but overall this phone isn’t very exciting. Other exterior features are the same, including the color internal and external displays, the location of camera lens and charger port, and the design of the navigation control and keypad. Again, we weren’t impressed with the latter two as we found them a bit slippery. The external controls are alike as well, except that the headset jack has been moved from the left spine to the right spine with the aforementioned Micro SD card slot positioned just below it.

Though they share many similarities on the outside, the SPH-M500’s internal features are quite different from the T-Mobile’s. The phone book is smaller, with just 500 contacts instead of 1,000, but there’s room in each entry for five phone numbers, e-mail and Web addresses, and notes. You can save callers to groups and pair them with a photo and one of 29 (72-chord) polyphonic ring tones. Other features consist of a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, voice commands and dialing, instant messaging and e-mail, a scheduler, a task list, a countdown timer, a memo pad, a world clock, an alarm clock, a calculator, and a voice recorder. There’s also Bluetooth, a speakerphone, and in an unusual twist, a Spanish/English dictionary. All of the information is stored on the phone already, and if you can type fast on the alphanumeric keypad, it’ll come in handy.

The SPH-500 more clearly sets itself apart from its sibling when it comes to high-end offerings. While the SGH-T619’s data speeds clock out at T-Mobile’s 2.5G EDGE network, the SPH-M500 offers full support for Sprint’s 3G EV-DO coverage. That means the phone is compatible with the carrier’s Power Vision steaming video service and its Sprint Music store for music downloads to the onboard digital music player. The SPH-M500 comes with a respectable 50MB of internal shared memory (more than twice what’s on the SGH-T619), but you must use a Micro SD card in order to download music. Furthermore you get Sprint’s On Demand service for access to a host of information such as news headlines, sports scores, and weather updates personalized for your zip code.

Like the SGH-T619, the SPH-M500 has no flash.

The SPH-M500’s 1.3-megapixel camera also shows some differences from the SGH-T619. The 1.3-megapixel camera allows you to take pictures in four resolutions (1,280×960, 640×480, 320×240, and 176×220) as opposed to six on the T-Mobile phone. Other camera features include three quality settings, brightness and white balance controls, a multishot mode, a self-timer, seven color effects (as opposed to five), 10 fun frames, and a 4X zoom that’s not usable at the highest photo resolution. There are also four shutter sounds plus a silent mode. The camcorder records QCIF clips in 176×144 resolution with sound. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 30 seconds; otherwise you can shoot for about 45 minutes. For easy photo printing, the SPH-M500 supports Sprint’s PictBridge technology for transferring images directly to a printer. In our tests, photo quality was acceptable for a megapixel camera. Colors were sharp for the most part, and though smaller objects were a tad fuzzy, we weren’t bothered by it.

The SPH-M500 has decent photo quality.

You can personalize the SGH-M500 with a variety of screensavers, menu colors, display themes, clock and font styles, and alert tones. If you’re looking for more options or additional ring tones, you can download them through the phone’s Web browser. The SGH-M500 also supports MP3 tunes and comes with a generic digital music player (see the SGH-X820 review). Gaming options include demo versions of six Java (J2ME) titles–Midnight Pool, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Tetris, World Poker Tour, and Zuma–but you can always download more.

We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) in San Francisco using Sprint’s service. Call quality was a bit improved over that of the SGH-T619. Voices sounded natural and there was plenty of volume. Callers reported no significant problems, but we noticed a slight amount of static at times. It wasn’t too bothersome, and speakerphone calls were satisfactory as well, provided we spoke close to the handset. If we moved more than a few feet away, callers had a lot of trouble understanding us. Calls on a Bluetooth headset were fine.

Music quality wasn’t the best as tracks sounded tinny and faded over the SPH-M500’s sole speaker. We definitely wouldn’t want to listen for music too long. Video quality wasn’t much better. The picture size was tiny and videos were way too pixelated. What’s more, the volume level was variable and ranged from too low to bass-heavy. On the upside, the phone’s EV-DO connection was strong and fast, but much better multimedia phones are in Sprint’s stable, such as the LG LX550.

The Samsung SPH-M500 has a rated talk-time battery life of 3.5 hours and a tested talk time of 3 hours and 40 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the SPH-M500 has a digital SAR rating of 1.44 watts per kilogram.

So I guess the true question is do I spend the money purchasing a new Samsung SPH-M500 (red) cell phone battery or do I just purchase a new phone with a long lasting battery? Replacement batteries are quite cheap but a new phone would be great. I must make a decision…

I have bought plenty of cell phones over the years, as I am sure most people have, and while none have been particularly amazing, some have definitely been rubbish. The only problem I have ever had with my cellular phones has been with the cell battery. The cell phone battery has either broke or it just would not last long enough and I would need to buy and carry a replacement battery.

I generally use my cellular phone heaps, both for my work and for home use, so having another battery is often worth it but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is disappointing. My latest phone is working ok but I would like a replacement battery for those times when I am on the road.

Cellular Phone Battery

These are the details of my most current phone (yep, I know it is a bit old, I really should find a new mobile phone):

Symbol MC70 Enterprise Digital Assistant

Product Short Spec:

OS provided:

Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Phone Edition

Installed RAM:

64 MB

Processor:

Intel 624 MHzXscale

Wireless connectivity:

Bluetooth

Input device type:

Keypad,

Stylus,

Touch-screen

Smartphones ShortSpec:

Band/mode:

GSM 850/900/1800/1900

RAM installed size:

64 MB

review

So I suppose the right question is do I spend the money buying a new Symbol MC70 Enterprise Digital Assistant cellular phone battery or do I just get a new phone with a better performing battery? Replacement batteries are very inexpensive but a new phone would be nice. Decisions, decisions…

I have owned a number of mobile phones over the last few years, as I am sure everyone has, and while none have been especially extraordinary, some have definitely been rubbish. The only problem I have ever had with my cellular phones has been with the batteries. The cellular phone battery has either died or it just would not last long enough and I would need to purchase and carry a replacement battery.

I tend to use my cell phone a lot, both for my job and for home use, so having a second battery is often worthwhile but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is a pain. My newest phone is working ok but I would like a replacement battery for when I am travelling.

Cell Phone Battery

These are the details of my most current phone (yeah, I know it is a bit obsolete, I really should purchase a new mobile phone):

HP iPAQ hw6515 Mobile Messenger

review

So I guess the real question is do I spend the money getting a new HP iPAQ hw6515 Mobile Messenger mobile phone battery or do I just purchase a new phone with a better performing battery? Replacement batteries are fairly low cost but a new phone would be great. Always decisions need to be made.

I have had numerous cell phones over the years, as I am sure everyone has, and while none have been particularly amazing, some have absolutely been rubbish. The only problem I have ever had with my cell phones has been with the battery. The cellular phone battery has either stopped working or it just would not last long enough and I would need to buy and carry a replacement battery.

I do use my cellular phone often, both for my job and for personal use, so having another battery is often worth it but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is a pain. My current phone is working ok but I would like a replacement battery for times when I am on the road.

Cell Phone Battery

These are the details of my most current phone (yes, I know it is a bit past it, I really should purchase a new cell phone):

Hand Held Products Dolphin 9500

Product Short Spec:

OS provided:

Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition

Installed RAM:

64 MB

Processor:

Intel 400 MHzXScale PXA255

Wireless connectivity:

IrDA,

Bluetooth,

IEEE 802.11b

Dimensions (W x D x H):

3.5 in x 1.7 in x 9.6 in

Input device type:

Stylus,

Keyboard,

Touch-screen

Weight:

1.3 lbs

Smartphones ShortSpec:

Band/mode:

GSM 900/1800/1900

RAM installed size:

64 MB

review

So I guess the real question is do I spend the money purchasing a new Hand Held Products Dolphin 9500 cell phone battery or do I just buy a new phone with a longer life battery? Replacement batteries are very inexpensive but a new phone would be good too. Always decisions need to be made.

I have owned a number of cellular phones over the last few years, as I am sure most people have, and while none have been particularly amazing, some have most definitely been rubbish. The main problem I have ever had with my cellular phones has been with the cell battery. The battery has either stopped working or it just would not last long enough and I would need to buy and carry a replacement battery.

I always use my mobile phone heaps, both for my career and for personal use, so having a backup battery is often worthwhile but having to replace a faulty or damaged battery is annoying. My latest phone is working fine but I would like a replacement battery for times when I am not in the office.

Cellular Phone Battery

These are the details of my current phone (yes, I know it is a bit outdated, I really should purchase a new cellular phone):

Samsung SCH-A990

Positives:
The Samsung SCH-A990 boasts a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and video-recording capabilities. The EV-DO handset also supports Verizon’s 3G services, has integrated Bluetooth, a swivel screen, a speakerphone, and good call quality.
Negatives:
The pricey Samsung SCH-A990 is occasionally sluggish when using the multimedia features, and it’s tripped up by some Bluetooth and music restrictions. Also, we wish Verizon would include more accessories with the phone.
Facts:
Despite a couple of design glitches and restrictions, the Samsung SCH-A990 is a high-end multimedia phone that boasts a sharp, 3.2-megapixel camera and good call quality.

Camera phones have come a long way over the years, graduating from mediocre VGA lenses to higher-quality megapixel cameras. Though these devices will never replace your stand-alone digital camera, they are getting better, and now Verizon Wireless has scored the first 3.2-megapixel camera phone for the States: the Samsung SCH-A990. It comes with an autofocus feature, video-recording capabilities, and a cool swivel screen. This high-end mobile also has integrated Bluetooth, support for Verizon’s 3G services, and excellent call quality. But it’s not without problems. The phone was sometimes slow to perform multimedia functions in our tests and is marred by restrictions set forth by Verizon. Yet, for those who crave multimedia and the latest features on their phone, the SCH-A990 certainly fits the bill. Just be prepared for a little sticker shock. At $349.99, the SCH-A900 is on the pricey side, though certainly cheaper than the Nokia N80.

The Samsung SCH-A990 is a phone of substance, but it’s not weighed down by an overly bulky design. At 3.8 by 1.8 by 0.8 inches and 4.4 ounces, the A990 certainly isn’t Razr-thin, but the flip phone feels solid in the hand and is very comfortable to hold against your ear. Plus, you get some distinct advantages with the larger size. First, you get a sizable 1.25-inch, (diagonal) external TFT OLED that shows the time and date, network strength, battery life, and photo caller ID (where available)–all in 65,000 colors. The view is even better inside where the 2.2-inch screen boasts 262,144 hues and a sharp 240×320-pixel resolution. Colors pop from images, and text is crisp and easy to read. But wait, there’s a twist–literally. In its open position, you can twist the A990’s display 180 degrees clockwise, then fold it down. This comes in quite handy when you want to use the mobile’s functions (see below).

The SCH-A990 is a bulky phone.

Below the screen, you’ll find the phone’s navigation controls. You get a four-way toggle with a center OK button; the up, down, left, and right are programmed to open the Web, the calendar, the Get Pix & Flix menu, and the Get It Now service, respectively. Surrounding the directional keypad are two soft keys, a camera activation button, a voice command control, a Clear button, and send and end/power keys. Overall, we found the controls easy to manipulate, but we had some problems with the OK button. Due to its small size, we pressed the Calendar button accidentally on a few occasions. The numerical dial pad, however, is quite spacious with large, tactile buttons that are adequately backlit for dialing in darker environments.

The Samsung SCH-A990 is a multimedia mobile, and there are signs all over the phone to reflect its entertaining side. On the left spine, are rewind, play/pause, and fast-forward keys for the music player, a headset jack and a Micro SD card slot. We should note that you can’t plug the headset into the phone directly; rather it requires a separate adapter. Fortunately, that’s included, but it’s still an inconvenient step, in our opinion. Speakers are located on both sides of the phone.

The camera lens is on the back of the phone, and we like that it’s protected by a sliding cover. There’s also a small portrait mirror and a flash. The camera’s controls sit on the right spine; you have a capture key and a zoom in/out rocker that adjusts the phone’s volume. There’s a speakerphone activation key in between these two buttons, which seems oddly out of place, but we appreciate it nonetheless. Finally, there’s an unmarked key that opens the camera options menu, where you can adjust such things as quality, flash, and resolution.

As we mentioned earlier, you can swivel the screen a full 180 degrees, then fold it down so that the LCD faces out. (In fact, doing so automatically activates the camera.) This, coupled with the side camera keys, which are on top when the handset is held horizontally, mimics the look and feel of a stand-alone digital camera and makes for a natural feel when taking pictures. We had two minor complaints, however. First, it was a bit difficult to navigate the camera’s different menus. While the Options button got us to the main menu, it wasn’t clear which buttons scroll through the various settings and which button selects an option. For the record, the volume rocker does the scrolling and the capture key does the selecting. Second, since the camera lens is on the back instead of on the hinge (à la the Nokia
N93) of the phone, you can’t take full advantage of the swivel screen by rotating it 90 degrees and using it as a viewfinder like a real camcorder.

Verizon packages the Samsung SCH-A990 with a handful of accessories, but we’re a little confused by the choice of peripherals. For example, you get an AC adapter, a TV-out cable, a headset adapter, and a wrist strap, but if we had our choice, we’d much rather have (and get more use out of) earbuds than a TV-out cable. For now, you have to buy these as part of the Music Essentials Kit for $29.99, which also includes a USB cable and software. Other accessories available for purchase consist of a belt holster ($19.99) and Micro SD cards ($29.99 for 256MB; $49.99 for 512MB).

The Samsung SCH-A990 is Verizon’s flagship phone, and with good reason. For starters, it’s the first phone in the United States to boast a 3.2-megapixel camera, trumping the recently lauded Nokia N80. It has an autofocus feature, zoom, and plenty of imaging options. You can choose from five picture modes (auto, portrait, landscape, micro, and night), three quality settings (economy, normal, and fine), and five resolutions (2,048×1,536, 1,600×1,200, 1,280×960, 1,024×768, and 800×600). You can adjust the brightness, white balance, color effects, and ISO settings. There’s also a multishot mode and a self-timer, and you can change or turn off the shutter sound. Many of these options are also available to you in camcorder mode, although you get a choice of only two resolutions (320×240 and 176×144). You can capture up to an hour’s worth of video with sound.

The SCH-A990’s camera is fully equipped.

Once you’re done shooting your masterpieces, you can save them to the phone’s 72MB of internal memory (32MB is user-definable), set them as wallpaper, or upload them to Verizon’s PIX online service, where you can send picture/video messages and share albums with family and friends. Alternatively, you can take advantage of the SCH-A990’s TV-out capability to display photos on your TV, or you can send them to a Bluetooth-enabled printer right from your phone. The SCH-A990’s image quality was one of the best we’ve seen to date from a camera phone. Subjects were defined clearly and colors popped; even the videos were fairly watchable, despite a bit of blurriness. We should note that there’s a slight delay from when you press the capture button to when the camera actually takes the picture as the autofocus feature kicks into gear.

The SCH-A990 has superior image quality.

The EV-DO-capable SCH-A990 supports Verizon’s 3G V
Cast service for streaming video content as well as the V
Cast Music store. V Cast offers news, sports, entertainment, and weather content from various providers, such as ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, ESPN, Fox Sports, Comedy Central, and the Weather Channel. Like other V Cast phones, the SCH-A990’s video player can rewind and fast-forward through clips and has a full-screen mode. We watched a few videos from ESPN and MTV, and though the quality wasn’t mind-blowing (see Performance for more), we enjoyed having the option.

For music fans, the V Cast Music store allows you to browse through its catalog of more than a million songs and download tracks to your phone wirelessly. However, it’s pricey at $2 per song. If you can wait till you get home, you can purchase songs from your PC for a more reasonable $1, then transfer them to your phone. You can also transfer music from your own library using Windows Media Player 10, with one annoying stipulation; you have to convert any MP3 files to the WMA format. Another aggravation? You’ll also need to purchase a USB cable since one isn’t included, and we suggest you invest in a Micro SD card, as well, since these multimedia files tend to be memory hogs. The music player itself is pretty rudimentary; there are no options for tweaking the sound, but it displays album art and you can create playlists.

And let’s not forget that behind all this multimedia talent, the SCH-A990 is still a phone. Its address book holds 500 names with room in each entry for five numbers, two e-mail addresses, and notes. For caller ID purposes, you can assign a group ID to each contact, as well as a photo or one of 12 ring tones. You also get a speakerphone, which you can turn on before making a call, a vibrate mode, voice dialing and commands, virtual business cards (VCards), and text and multimedia messaging. The SCH-A990 has integrated Bluetooth, but as is typical with Verizon, it doesn’t support all OBEX profiles. You can use it for connecting to wireless headsets, Bluetooth printers, and dial-up networking. Other goodies include e-mail support, instant messaging, a calculator, an alarm clock, a stop watch, and a notepad.

You can customize the Samsung SCH-A990 with a number of wallpapers, themes, and sounds; in addition, you can change the backlighting time and font size. The phone supports BREW 3, but no games are included on the phone. Of course, you can always download titles, as well as other customization options, from the Web. Finally, if you’re directionally challenged, you’ll be happy to know the SCH-A990 supports Verizon’s VZ Navigator GPS service.

We tested the dual-band (CDMA 850/1900; Samsung SCH-A990 in San Francisco using Verizon’s network, and call quality was great. We could hear our callers loud and clear, and our friends reported the same, adding that they couldn’t even tell we were on a cell phone. Speakerphone quality was just as good, and we had no problems pairing the handset with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset.

Surfing the Web on the SCH-A990 was blazingly fast. Sites like ebay.com, ESPN.com, and nytimes.com loaded within seconds. Unfortunately, we didn’t experience the same speed with the rest of the phone’s functions. There was a noticeable lag when we launched the music player and skipped through tracks. Also, accessing the V Cast content was slow going, as it had to first get the content, then buffer the video. We also noticed on several occasions that the video and audio were out of sync. Music playback through the phone’s speakers left much to be desired as songs sounded tinny, but audio quality improved when we plugged in Verizon’s headset, though we must say, they were mighty uncomfortable.

The Samsung SCH-A990 is rated for 4.1 hours of talk time and up to 13 days of standby time. In our tests, we came in slightly under at 4 hours of talk time. According to FCC radiation tests, the SCH-A990 has a digital SAR rating of 1.09 watts per kilogram.

So for now the right question is do I spend the money getting a new Samsung SCH-A990 cell phone battery or do I just buy a new phone with a better battery? Replacement batteries are quite inexpensive but a new phone would be great. I must make a decision…