Samsung Upstage SPH-M620
Last updated: Review by Geek.com (added on 21/05/07)
The Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 is a very stylish dual-faced CDMA music phone features large display and touch-sensitive music control keys on the one side and numeric keyboard, small display and 1.3-megapixel camera on the back. It has microSD slot, stereo speakers and supports stereo Bluetooth. The Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 will be available in April 2007
+ REVIEWS (last updated: 21/05/07)
Geek.com reviews the Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 and writes;
“Overall, it’s a great phone and definitely has that cool factor. I think Samsung could have included a bigger screen on the phone side and the built-in speaker leaves something to be desired, but for the price point I think it’s a great buy. I also like the extra touches such as the included “flip the phone” instruction that pops up on screen when you press the flip button.”
PCWorld reviews the Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 and writes;
“For video viewing, the UpStage’s screen is small, and the device falls short as a serious device for messaging or e-mail due to its lack of a QWERTY keyboard. But if you’re a music lover who isn’t especially keen about video, e-mail, or messaging, Samsung’s approach might upstage Apple’s iPhone–and its price certainly does.”
MobileBurn reviews the Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 (rating: Not Recommended) and writes;
“I have to admit that when I first removed the Samsung UpStage from it’s yellow Sprint box, I was enthralled with it. Without having yet turned it on, I told my wife how “cool” it was. I knew what its capabilities were, and the physical design was quite appealing. That seemed a recipe for success. Five minutes of actual use, though, showed me how wrong first impressions can be. Yes, the UpStage has the basic ingredients to be a fantastic music phone. Said ingredients were just put together in the wrong way. It will probably suit a certain demographic of users, I’m sure. But for me, the UpStage is far too Mr. Hyde and not enough Dr. Jekyll. I have to give it a “Not Recommended” rating due to its myriad usability issues.”
Infosyncworld reviews the Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 (rating: 67%) and writes;
“The Samsung UpStage is such a unique flip, it seems almost more a design study than a retail phone. To be blunt, we did not appreciate the flip design. It did not make the music playing experience better, and it did not add to the ease and enjoyment of using the phone. Except for music features, which are controlled completely by the music side, every other feature was hurt either by the inconvenient flipping, the small screen, or the touch sensitive controls. If the design truly appeals to you, the phone has few major flaws besides this point. Music sounds good, and we like that Samsung includes a headphone adapter. Calls sound good, though not great, and other 3G features worked very well, including streaming movies on Sprint TV. Still, though we applaud a leap in design, we just don’t think we’re up for making the jump ourselves.”
MobileTechReview reviews the Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 (rating: 3.5/5) and writes;
“Pro: Iconic design and cool factor. Very thin and small. The strong music accessory bundle, $0.99 per track price and Sprint’s complete music software solution make the UpStage a good music phone choice. The 1.3 megapixel takes good photos. Good Bluetooth implementation. Strong software bundle that includes voice command, On Demand and Sprint TV. Bargain price for a premium feature phone. Cons: The inconsistent controls will certainly turn some users off. Battery isn’t user replaceable and the internal battery has a short run time meaning you’ll really have to use that wallet case.”
PCMag reviews the Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 (rating: 3/5) and writes;
Compared with the iPod, the UpStage makes very poor use of the touchpad to move through long lists. A “sweep” of your finger down the whole touchpad skips only two options on a list. Holding your finger down at the end of the sweep steps through the list very slowly. Compared with, say, a quick twirl of the iPod click wheel, this makes moving to the end of 300 songs an ordeal…Sound quality through wired headphones, however, is very good. and the included adapter means that you can use standard music-player headphones. The built-in mono speaker is loud but tinny when playing music, and podcasts over the speaker are inaudible.
LaptopMag reviews the Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 (rating: 3/5) and writes;
In most other respects the UpStage satisfies. The 1.3-megapixel camera took sharp photos when we had a good amount of light, and Sprint TV looked decent on the 2.1-inch display, although with the usual artifacts. Other pluses include compatibility with Sprint’s streaming music services (MTV, Sirius, and VH1) and fast Web browsing courtesy of the EV-DO data connection. Our test calls generally sounded crisp on our end, with only occasional complaints from other callers who said we sounded a bit faint…Unfortunately, although it certainly offers a lot of bang for the buck, the UpStage isn’t as fast or as easy to use as Samsung’s own MP3 players, nevermind Apple’s icon.
CNET reviews the Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 (rating: 8/10) and writes;
The good: The Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 has decent call and music quality, an included extended battery, and a complete feature set that includes stereo Bluetooth, a music player, a megapixel camera, and EV-DO support. It also offers an original, ergonomic design that’s user-friendly and attractive. The bad: The Samsung Upstage SPH-M620’s battery isn’t user-replaceable, and its tiny phone display isn’t very useful. The flipping motion can also become tedious when used over time. Finally, the music player was somewhat buggy, and the single speaker had unimpressive output. The bottom line: If you can get past the learning curve, the Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 is a unique, powerful, and attractive phone that successfully combines music and calling functions into one handy convergence device. It’s not perfect by any means, but it remains an innovative, satisfying phone.
+ SAMPLE PHOTOS
- Samsung Upstage SPH-M620 Sample Photos @ MobileBurn
+ VIDEOS
Samsung Upstage Tour by Gizmodo
Samsung Upstage Preview by Phonescoop
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hello I my upstage for $50 at sprint and so for its ok I mean it could use a lil work on the speaker part but other then that its ok . I don’t get an signel anywhere wiht this damn thing doe why is that and the web is slow pluse how to I save music on the phone and not the card
At the top of this page it says it has stereo speakers, that is not true.
The reception is fair at best. The speaker phone needs a dedicated button and the phone will not let me use MP3’s as ringtones, even though the Samsung website says It will allow that.
I have a feeling that the Sprint people have severely handicapped this phone by disabling features.
It should also be noted that Sprint still charges $2.50 per song unless you agree to pay extra for a data service.
….all in all I am not impressed.
Though Sprint charges 2.50 per song, it’s not hard to hook up the USB to your PC and get your own music on there much easier and faster with a quick transfer from your own CDs. I’ve had the phone for around 4 months now. Bought a much larger memory disc for like $10 and now i hold the key to a all in one phone and mp3 player. My phone holds more mp3 than my sisters ipod, and i can hook it up directly to my jeep. Though one thing that bothers me is the flip option sometimes. It gets annoying to flip back and forth sometimes when i’m texting. Also, one of the bottom corners are getting scratched due to the style of how you pull it out of the leather battery case they provide you. The default music player doesn’t actually shuffle music each time, so I have to go deep into the mass storage and use another music player that actually shuffles the music each time. I figured out a way to put stuff i downloaded onto the memory card as a ringer, but I had to find a converter for the mp3’s, so now I just have to remember how I did it the first time…. -_-”
Overall, I recommend this phone if you plan on using it for music.
did you ever figure out how to make the ringtones? did you send them to you phone via a text or did you hook your phone up directly to your computer using the usb cable?
How did you get your songs to be used as your actual ringer?
i hate this phone it sucks ass. im already selling it
I FEEL THE SAME WAY ……
THIS PHONE SUCKS……. IT IS A PAIN IN THE U KNOW WHAT TO USE ,IT GETS CRAPY RECEPTION, ALWAYS HAVE TO HAVE EXTENED BATTERY ON CAUSE THE BATTERY LIFE SUCKS, YOU ARE ALWAYS FLIPPING THE PHONE TO DO BASICE FUNCTIONS. I WILL NEVER NEVER SPEND MONEY ON A SAMSUNG PHONE EVER AGAIN…… DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS PHONE …….
YO buddy Samsung did a good job makeing this phone i am guessing you cant handle it… i have it and its sweet. the most shitty phone u can buy is the Lg choloate.. i went threw 2 of them
this phone is like a mitten on a cold day! -well deserved.
ok i have the TElus one The olny Fing thing that make me mad is because the Things locked by telus… i need some unlocks codes so if anyone has any tips or what not…
I want this phonee soo bad !
when i got this phone it was really nice and i loved everything about it but maybe two weeks into it, i started having problems. im a big text person and on this phone if you get two texts at once, or if you get one while your messing with the phone on the small side, the whole screen will freeze. you cannot press any buttons, cannot turn it off, cannot flip it. you just have to wait until it unfreezes. after doing that a few times i decided maybe i should turn the phone off for a few hours and let it rest, when i turned it back on i saw the power up screen, like normal. when the word samsung popped on the screen the phone froze again. i cant turn it off, cant do anything. the battery is internal so i cant take it out and clean it. this is where i am now, stuck like this with no phone.
Yeah Im stuck in the same situation. :l But, I looked on a few other sights trying to see what I could do without resetting the whole phone, And A few tips say to just let it die out and then let it Recharge then try it.
I have had this phone now for a few days and despite some initial difficulties getting used to the flip and touch-sensitive controls, it has really grown on me. As usual the Telus firmware is obnoxious but thankfully you can steer around most of its problems using the phone’s built-in media functions.
This phone is extremely light and thin compared to other CDMA phones on the market right now! Of course, it does have less battery life then a larger phone but I don’t find that inconvenience outweighs the advantage of portability. I would say that for my requirements, the battery is more then enough - and I don’t use the supplied wallet / secondary battery.
The m620 is loaded with nice features and the voice quality is on par with most other phones I have used - and is especially nice when used in conjunction with a quality bluetooth headset (built-in speaker is nothing special).
The bad: My package did not include a headphone adapter and the supplied samsung earbuds don’t do the phone justice.
The good: Its super thin and classy looking, especially when placed next to bulky blackberry pearl or iPhone.
Summary: Think of it as the “Macbook Air” of cell phones. It is stylish, lightweight, and very functional - provided you can get used to its quirks.
Leave the external battery wallet in your glovebox for emergencies - the additional bulk it introduces can be a pain, especially with frequent “flipping” between screens.
i got this phone about a week ago and im really loving it. im still getting used to it and everything its got to offer. but i love it, its so small and looks really nice.
how do you use ringtones you didnt buy on the phone’s browser?
this phone dose suck, im selling it already aswell