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Last week Sprint announced the availability of the Samsung UpStage (aka SPH-M620). Sprint was kind enough to provide Skatter Tech with a unit for review. The dual-sided UpStage is notable due to having a phone on one side and a iPod-like Mp3 player on the other.
Although the phone is extremely compact, at first glance, the front side of the phone looks dull due to the tiny LCD display. However everything changes after turning the unit around to the backside. In terms of basic features the Samsung Upstage features a 1.3MP camera, microSD, Bluetooth, and background Music Playback. As a bonus Sprint’s service allows access to 99 cent music downloads, Live TV, Internet Radio, Games, Web Browsing, and other Power Vision services.
Samsung SPH-M620 Specifications:
- Provider: Sprint Exclusive (CDMA)
- Form Factor: Dual-Sided Candy bar
- Dimensions: 1.73W x 4.07H x .37D inches
- Battery: Up To 6.3hrs Talk Time with Wallet
- Screen: Front 176×65 & Back 176×220 pixels
- Digital Camera: 1.3 MP with 5x Digital Zoom
- Storage: ~53MB Internal + MicroSD (2GB max)
- Sound: Standard Headphones with Adapter
- Others: Bluetooth v1.2 + 4hr Wallet Battery
- Price: $150 + Tax w/ New 2-Year Contract
UpStage Body: 5/5 stars
This phone is tiny, measuring only .37 inches thick, making it thinner than the Motorola RAZR. Although a bit larger, the phone resembles the shape and form factor of an iPod Nano. The front side of the phone has a Alpha-Numeric Keypad for making calls or text messaging. The back side looks like an iPod Nano, but with a large screen and an square touch pad. The phone is small enough to fit in most pockets and can be placed flat on its back or front. The phone almost doubles in size after placing into the battery wallet, which I assume most people plan to use. Although the case allows access to both sides of the phone, it still becomes quite tedious to keep switching back and forth. Despite the fact that the unit is harder to hold with the wallet, the flexibility of removing the case is an advantage.
Displays: 4/5 stars
The front display is extremely small only 176×65 pixels making it hard to read text. Navigating the front display is quite difficult since it can only fit about one-line of data on the screen at a time. Luckily most functions of phone are performed through the large/bright 176×220 pixel screen on the back side. Unfortunately since there is no keyboard on the back, you will find yourself having to “flip” back to the front side for data entry.
Music Playback: 5/5 stars
The UpStage supports playback of DRM-Free MP3s, WMA, AAC, and WAV in addition to music purchased through Sprint’s Music Store. Sprint now offers .99 cent over-the-air downloads of high quality tracks (with a data plan). Music can be sorted by Songs, Artists, or Genre in the interface, however due to the lack of a search function, scrolling through hundreds of track is tedious. We still prefer Verizon’s standardized music playback application, which works on most of their phones. One big bonus is the ability to “hide” the music playback app while listening to music and continuing with other tasks such as browsing the web or playing games. Album Art is displayed during playback in addition to the track title, duration, and artist/album. Also supports playlists & shuffling songs.
Speaker and Sound: 3/5 stars
For a “music phone” the lack of a decent set of stereo speakers might be problematic. The phone’s single (mono) speaker does a mediocre job, which functions as a speaker for calls and music. As the volume level increases, the sound begins to crack. Although this should be fixed in a future model, the issue should be non-existent since most people will use headphones for music. (Adapter for standard headphones included.)
Digital Camera / Camcorder: 2/5 stars
The camera on the UpStage remains a mere 1.3 mega pixels while most new phones on the market are now 2.0. When the camera is activated, you must flip the phone around and use the large LCD on the back as the viewfinder. From our results, the image quality was mediocre and images were blurry even in well lit situations. Video clips may be recorded for a duration limited only by MicroSD capacity, however clips longer than 30 seconds may not be mailed. The small front LCD functions as a tiny viewfinder for self-portraits.
Battery Life: 5/5 stars
Unlike the majority of phones on the market today, the UpStage does not have a removable battery. Instead, the UpStage has a battery built into the unit. Since the unit is small and the talk time is only about 2.5 hours long, Samsung provides a battery wallet with the phone. When the phone is in its case, the talk time increases by over 4 hours. (up to 6.5 hours) Since the case is easily removable, you’ll have the freedom to choose whether you want the additional battery life or light-weight phone to carry around.
Usability & Interface: 4/5
The interface on the front is a joke, it only allows performing four menu actions: view call history, find contacts, add a contact, or send a text msg. Other than that, the only other use of the front is to display caller id, date/time, battery life, signal, and Bluetooth status. The interface on the back is a different story. The back is controlled by using the square touchpad at the bottom. UpStage users must make up & down motions on the left/right sides and left-to-right motions on the top & bottom instead of using circular motions to navigate as you would do on an iPod. (Apple Patent!) In addition the top left/right corners act as soft keys while the other labeled parts are the Menu, Back, and End buttons. The only hark key is the center Select/Play button. Although navigating becomes quite easy after a bit of practice, data entry will remain a hassle. For example, while browsing the web (back side), you’ll have to flip over to enter the URL text and then flip back to view the page. Some applications support an onscreen keyboard, however you’ll find yourself flipping back & forth a lot.
MicroSD: 4/5 stars
Like most phones on the market today, the M620 supports up to 2GB MicroSD cards. Since Samsung intends this phone to double as a MP3 player, as a bonus, they include a USB data cable, which most cellphone makers do not. The included CD assists installing the necessary drivers. When placed in “Sync Mode,” the phone appears as a disk drive. Windows XP users can either manage data themselves or use the included application. Mac OS X users must manage the data on the MicroSD themselves since the included software is Windows Media Player based.
P.S. 1GB microSD cards cost only about $12. 2GB microSD for ~$25
Bluetooth: 5/5 stars
The Samsung M620 uses Bluetooth 2.0, which supports the use of Stereo Headphones for music playback, in addition to standard headsets. The Bluetooth can also be used for transferring contacts, printing photos to wireless printer, and to connect to computers for use as a wireless modem. Another new feature is Audio Caller ID, which reads out a name or phone number when using a bluetooth headset. From our testing, sound quality was excellent there were no issues with pairing devices or other features.
Sprint Power Vision: 4.5/5 stars
At this time most Chatting, Navigation, and Gaming apps are not yet available for the M620 due to compatibility issues because of the unique controls, however new working versions should be available soon. Applications such as Google Maps Mobile and Opera Mini work great. The On Demand section provides access to News, Weather, Movie Show Times, Maps and more. Sprint Power Vision offers access to thousands of clips and Live TV channels such as ABC, FOX, MSNBC, CNN, and Comedy Central (plus radio). One of my favorite features is the built in Podcasting client, which streams any podcast you choose directly to your phone without the need of a computer. Saves the hassle of having to sync new files.
Designs similar to that of the UpStage have been available in Asia for a while, yet this marks the release of the first dual sided phone in the U.S. Although we like this phone a lot for its new innovative and compact style, text entry remains a hassle and is probably the #1 problem. Other than that, another thing we found frustrating was that songs you own may not be used as ringtones. Anyways this is one of the best phones Sprint has had in a while, therefore if you are ready to upgrade you should consider this. The Samsung UpStage is available in Sprint Stores and Online now for $150 + tax with a new 2-year contract. In my opinion this is quite a good deal since Sprint includes the Battery Wallet, headset adapter, USB Sync Cable, and a 64MB microSD all of which is not normally included.
DEAL ALERT: FREE Samsung UpStage (M620)
Links: Sprint.com | SPH-M620 Spec Sheet
Product Shot: High-Resolution UpStage Image
Help & Support: fourms.skatter.com
I’ve used furture dial (snapdialer) for internet in the past but it doesn’t work with Vista or the upstage. What are my options (other then subscribing to internet)?
When ever I want to listen to my songs it has to load each of the songs individually before I can even see my playlist, is this normal?
Is there a place on the upstage to plug in headphones on it.
[Comment ID #27154 Will Be Quoted Here]
There isn’t an actual headphone slot on the phone itself, but a adapter is provided which plugs into the power/headphone slot and you can then connect any standard pair of headphones into that.
I just wanted to says that I have this phone and it is great. The camera is fine and if you want to take a picture of yourself you can flip it and see yourself on the other screen. As for ringers you can take an mp3 and convert it to a 3g2 file (the movie format the phone uses) then use it as a video ringer. Only problems I have found is that the first hald second of mp3s are cut off, the skin for the mp3 player can be changed but doesn’t save so you have to chane it everytime, and of course the fact that mp3s cant be used as ringers. Anyway, I contacted Samsung and an hoping for a productive response. Hope this helps.
i got the upstage and i was tryin to put my mp3 as ringers how do u do that
I have read that the phone side sucks for texting and contacts due to the really small screen. BUT, I didn’t read anything about the voice dial option. How does this work? Is it good enough to make having to access your contact list obsolete?
the voice dial is decent, however it is quite slow to load. On most other phones with this feature the application loads almost instantly after pressing the voice key either on the phone or via bluetooth headset. However on this UpStage it takes about 2.5 seconds for the app to load. Therefore it takes about 10 seconds or more before you can actually end up calling a person.
For Display > Backlight settings > When I turn the Power Save Mode ON, the screens (both sides) never shut off. When I turn Pwr Save Mode OFF, the screens turn off after the 8 seconds that I have the backlight set for. Seems backwards to me.
Also, when on the Web > Search > I am using the Large LCD screen. Unable to type any text in while on the large LCD sceen. If I flip > it kicks you off the Web. How do I search the web and enter text in the Yahoo search field?
I was surprised that when I loaded the Sprint Music Manager on my PC, it found my entire IPOD library. Was able to pick and choose what IPOD Lib songs to load onto the phone. This is a great function. The songs sound great on the phone.
One other comment > the phone takes 3 hands working together to disconnect the extended battery from the phone. Over time, I’m sure I will break it. Plan on leaving it connected from now on. Wish it had a velcro tab so you could fasten the one side of the cover so it doesn’t flap around. Any ideas?
@Dv
The power save is a bug and Sprint is aware of the issue. They were suppose to roll out another firmware upgrade soon, hopefully fixing this issue. Your phone is not the only one with the problem.
I like the case since it is protective however it is quite annoying to keep having to flip back/forth with the case on. In addition it is slightly uncomfortable to speak with the leather flap down since it hits my mouth. I have no choice but to use the case since the battery life is too short with out it.
OK thanks about the Pwr save Mode bug. Not a big deal as it works fine with the opposite setting. I’m still confused how to type text in a web search field while on the Web. Have a feeling this is impossible for this phone. I have the Vision Plan and still can’t get the TV mode to work on one of the avail TV selections. Managed to play a video clip just fine.
If I want to listen to music, can I use a bluetooth headset to listen? The cable that goes in the battery recharge slot is so you can plug in earphones but this connection slot is vulnerable in breaking due to the design. Plan on using only for recharge.
Edit: Ok, got the TV to work just fine. Another bug maybe > on the small LCD, managed to get an orange “searching for signal” text stuck on and slightly overlapping the date/time. The phone showed I did have a good signal but the orange text never went out all day. I turned phone OFF and tried the “Reset” pin button. It finally went out.
Question asked back on 4/14 but not answered. Can’t find in manual. > on same side with reset and USB connecter, about a 1/4 of an inch away is another slot, (small square). What is this for?
if you want any rigtones on your phone, go to fry’s and get podmaxx 07
when i downloaded my sprint music manager and tried to download songs from my computer, the music manager tells me that my phone is not hooked up to my computer. although my phone says “connected to computer, phone disconected”?????? any thoughts?
Dennis, I used the USB cable with the music manager and everything worked fine. Might try to Pwr down your phone and push a paper clip into the reset slot and hold. I had to do this once due to a stuck message on the small LCD screen. This fixed the problem.
Does anybody know if contacts or phone numbers can be set to “secret” or hidden? It looks like they left that needed feature out of this software version…we really need that back…anybody have any idea?
hey all, got my songs downloaded, just reinstalled the software.
I will be updateing my phone in a few weeks I was thinking about getting the upstage is it really worth getting or not and how many songs does the phone hold I really dont want to get it if it only holds 6-10 songs
If you want to use this as an MP3 player, as most people do, you need to purchase a microSD memory card to pop into the phone. The UpStage it self has barely any space for storing music internally. The cards are EXTREMELY CHEAP. On Amazon you can get a 1GB MicroSD for ~$7 and a 2GB MicroSD for about $23. You should be able to hold plenty of songs with either one.
Telenav…or Navigator…doesn’t work yet?
The phone can tell you, your approximate location…but hardly ever works in Televav/Navigation mode. Nor does the compass…and I’ve been a lot of places, including open fields to try it…to nearly no avail. Also…has anyone heard whether they will put back the “privacy” feature for certain phone numbers? A lot of folks are complaining about this on the net….it is even featured on some of the cheaper samsung phones….
i have a 2 gb chip and i have 200+ songs on my upstage
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[Comment ID #26210 Will Be Quoted Here]
Does anyone know if you can download pictures from your computer and view them on the Upstage?
ok guys I have the upstage and I found a way to put ur own ring tones and pics as wallpapers. Go to this web site its the best I have my own ring tones free its about 30sec and the wallpaers u do it ur self here the web site is http://www.mixxer.com if u guys have any question on this hit me up 646-221-1463 its easy and free
does anyone know if u can upload videos from your computer to the upstage? ive even tried converting them to 3gp but the sprint music manager doesnt add em to my library? got any ideas?
it has to be 3gp2, not 3gp