Thanks for the review, its really hard to find info on this model. I’m eagerly awaiting its debut on Sprint, hopefully some time soon.

This is the first slim slider on Sprint, so I can forgive the lack of specs. If it sells well I’m sure Sprint would be amenable to bringing more sliders over, maybe the U600 too. (SCH-C220 Ultra Edition II)

I bought the M520 two weeks ago when it appeared on Qwest.com’s website. I had been using a LG 575 Slider until then, not at all happy with it. This new phone? Words can’t begin to describe. My favorite feature: keytones that sound like a marimba! The screen is sharp, the slider function works well, and the thinness of the phone fits in the side pocket of my Carhartts quite nicely.
The only issues I have: the phone gets WARM after prolonged use. The antenna is in the bottom of the phone and reception can be compromised if it isn’t ‘out in the open’. Otherwise, I can honestly say this is the best cell phone I’ve owned (and it is #5 to date, since purchasing my first in 2001). I wanted an iPhone (and still do!), but for $150.00 and a one-year commitment with Qwest, this phone far exceeded my hopes for it.
I have since ordered two more: one for my Mom and one for my boyfriend.

This phone’s beautiful display caught my eye. The clerk I spoke with (at a kiosk for the phone company offering the Samsung m520 at a deep discount…if you get a contract for their wireless network, of course), he didn’t seem to know much about their own product. Can hardly blame him, as the owner’s manual (readily available from Samsung’s web site as a .PDF) is barely adequate.

This clerk insisted the phone would only display images downloaded (i.e. purchased individually, like ringtones) via the optional web service aka “Sprint Vision”, US$10/mo not including the cost of each individual downloaded file specific to the phone.

After about 3 or 4 hours of fiddling with the phone’s File Manager and Photo Album applets, I found that you can in fact upload any .JPG image (via a USB cable, or a microSD memory card — both sold separately) and use it as the “screensaver”, which is what would be called wallpaper on a computer. The screen’s resolution is 176 x 220 pixels. Ideally you’ll use an image with the same aspect ratio (to avoid black “letterbox” bars on the sides of the image).

Presumably you could copy images using Bluetooth, if your PC has an adapter.

This phone looks amazing – thanks for the info. It’s hard to find any info on this phone – this was one of the few places! Does anyone have any idea when (and if) Sprint is going to launch this phone?

best fone ever dawgg!!!
i luv it &hearts

does anyone know how to put songs you’ve recieved via bluetooth as ringtones? i cant seem to figure it out

My understanding is that to set up ringtones, you must sign up for “Sprint Vision”: that being the user manual’s jargon for the phone’s optional Internet service.

I haven’t tried this. If I did, I’d probably sign up for a short time, download everything I want, then ask to have the feature discontinued. (So I wouldn’t have to pay for it every month.)

But my experience has been that the manual is incomplete, and the phone has many undocumented features. Maybe someone else could tell us how to take an .MP3 for example (copied via USB or Bluetooth, or added to a memory card) and make a ringtone out of it?

It seems an odd shortcoming…it’s easy to set up ringtones even on phones which have much fewer features than the Samsung m520. But you nearly always have to pay for each one.

tj said: does anyone know how to put songs you’ve recieved via bluetooth as ringtones? i cant seem to figure it out

__ I can’t seem to figure it out either, actually. I’ll mess around with it more once I __ get my microSD card (2GB for $20 on newegg!).

I just got this phone for free on Thanksgiving weekend with my Qwest 2-year renewal plan. I’ve been using it for about 3 days, and I have to say I am pretty impressed. This model doesn’t feel flimsy or cheap whatsoever, and it’s very shiny on the front. It’s very thin and lightweight (I thought it was going to be larger) and the display is crystal clear. The front part is relatively easy to slide up and down. The buttons are easily distinguishable, and the backlight looks really cool.

There seem to be a good amount of features that come with the phone, but as said above me, they aren’t all described very well in the phone guide. The menu has a great layout; you’ll be able to find any feature you’re looking for pretty easily. You can also add “favorites” to your favorites menu, making easy accessibility for basically anywhere in your phone.

I gotta run, but I’ll be back later to describe more of the features like images, the camera, and music.

If anyone has any specific questions about the Samsung M520, feel free to e-mail me at: BMANZZS@gmail.com

Good tip about the Favorites…I’ll look into that. There are a couple of features I often use which are buried deep in the menus.

One is the Airplane mode, which ignores incoming signals but allows you to use all of the non-phone features. It’s handy when I’m at a medical office: where the staff usually demand cellphones be turned off, as a potential nuisance or hazard. In Airplane mode I can still check or add appointments in the calendar, without disturbing anyone.

(I find it annoying that the calendar alarm warns you an hour in advance, as a maximum. I take the bus or train–I don’t drive a car–so usually I need the alarm to go off 1.5 or 2 hrs before an appt. But I can offset the time field to be a bit earlier, while reminding myself of the actual time of the appt in the memo field.)

The other is the browser for the Photo Album. I’ve created somewhere around 30 .JPG graphics to use as backgrounds, and it’s fun to change them periodically. After that, I might change the type of clock, depending on how well the foreground and background go together. The menus for those settings are more accessible.

It’s amazing how inexpensive memory cards have become! I’ll soon be upgrading my PC’s RAM, and it’s costing a great deal more per GB. (In this case, it’s because my PC is getting old, so the type of memory module it requires has become a specialized oddity.)

I’m waiting for microSDHC cards to continue dropping in price. When the 8GB size becomes more common, maybe I could get a 4GB card for my MP3 player for less than $40. Right now a 6GB card costs twice as much as 4GB…no thanks.

As for the Samsung m520, I don’t care whether it ever supports high-capacity cards. I’m using a 2GB card, which is more than I can imagine ever needing. All my .JPGs on the phone total less than 1 meg.

Hey Charles, do you have a USB data cable? If so, will you please e-mail me? I have a few questions.

Yes, I have a USB data cable for my Samsung m520. I bought it on-line from Qwest. (I don’t think other cables would work, as the connector on the phone seems to be proprietary.)

Well I suppose just asking my questions here wouldn’t hurt anyone.

1. With the data cable, are you able to look at your phone memory as well as your memory card?

2. If so, does the phone memory contain the greeting/power on or off sounds? (I would like to change those)

3. Can you access any of the content you download using the Sprint Power Vision service?

Hey Charles, is there any way I could get in contact with you (e-mail, AIM, etc…)?

hi I got the samsung m520 and I love everything about it , only thing is I dont have the internet access on it (cant afford to add on to the 40 dollers a month bill) and i have songs and everything on it only thing I want more is games, problem is I dont no how to get them with out having to download them on the phone. I have the usb data cable if its what I need to add games.

Can someone please help me!

Want .mp3 ringtones?!? I made a tutorial. Go here:

any questions? e-mail me at BMANZZS@gmail.com

Wow, ignore that last link. It’s actually: Link

Sprint is launching on 2/17 for exclusive dealers and 4/13 for all other dealers. This is the target launch date from Sprint as of 1/2

Sprint is launching 2/17 for exclusive dealers and 4/13 for the rest of them.

Sprint is releasing on 2/17 for exclusive dealers and 4/13 for everyone else.

If an Admin can delete the second two posts I’d appreciate it, sorry. It kept giving me an error and wasn’t posting on here so I figured they never went through. Delete this too when that’s done…Thx

WOW – I love this phone. If you go to the Qwest Kiosk, them them you don’t have to pay for the phone – they will tell you they can’t waive it, but they do.. I can’t wait to try Bret’s mp3 ringer directions. My husband has phone envy.

I havent got the phone yet but it looks really sweet. I just have a few questions before i buy it, so if you know the answers it would be much appreciated to give me a answer. First im pretty sure that it cost like.99cents to buy a song on the phone is that true?

Does anyone know how to set a song on your micro sd card as a ringtone on the samsung m520? I am driving myself crazy tring to figure this out. I don’t want to have to pay for a ringtone. Is there anyway to do this off your micro sd card or using a usb cable? PLEASE HELP!! Thank so much!

I’m thinking of buying one of these. I have a LG Fusic and hate it!!!!! This phone has alot of the same features. Would this be a wise purchase?

I’m looking at this phone for my dad. He really likes the look of it, as do I. Just one question though, does the slider open easily if he’d just put it in his pocket?

i am getting a samsung m520 in a tomorrow. i think the m520 is better than the katana and razr which my mom and dad has which i think suck!
I HAVE A QUESTION: Does the m520 have a music library where you store your music?

so i guest i will get this phone look at all yall comments thanx very much

I’m thinking about getting this phone.I have a sanyoscp 8100 now,and have a hard time getting reception at my rural home.I would like to know if reception is better on the m520.

I have a Samsung M300, and it sucks, I am looking into getting the M520. Can anyone tell me if it is hearing aid (T3) compatible? (My husband wants this phone too but he has hearing aids.)

For hearing aids, phonescoop.com says the M520 is M4 compatible, which I guess is very compatible.

I know of a website with a free ringtone maker, wallpaper maker, and video maker! The site is http://WWW.CELLSEA.COM and there is no membership fee or any fees for that matter. You can download your ringtone to your computer or download it directly to your phone by going to WAP.CELLSEA.COM

Just so you know – phone will only utilize and recognize 2Gb of memory – above that is a waste

i really want to get this phone and i have qwest but this phone is not on their website. do they still sell this phone?

Jeff…. are you gay.. because it’s hard to think a girls name is Jeff.. and you said you bought one of these phones for your boyfriend..?

actually the phone utilizes up to 4.2 gigs of memory just found that our plopping an 8 gig in mine oh well I’ll fill it up on my PC an see what happens .Other then that I love the phone louder and clearer sound then any cell I’ve seen plays 3gpp files nicely have 40 episodes of family guy on in it and 2 gigs of mp3′s .

The phone is great, and sprint tv works great on it, however the one thing it can not do that my old phone did well was display my personal site. It also has an issue with alot of other websites I go to.

okay i am 13 and i am going to be getting this phone, my last phone was a pink katana 2 and i am wondering if i will be disapointed?? can i record stuff and then set it as a ringtone? what are some MAJOR things i should know about? also can anyone tell me where i can get super awesome covers, ringtones, etc. ??????? pleez and tankyou!

I love it; however, I do have 2 gripes!

1. No speaker phone or am I missing something?
2. I sent a :30 second video yesterday and my sister never received it. I usually send photos all the time.

I have seen many videos and i am pretty sure that it does have speakerphone but u have to make sure than when sending videos you must have their area codes.

The keypad backlight goes out when the unit is charging after a call is initiated. It will stay lit if you make a call when not charging but for whatever reason it won’t stay lit when charging during a call. It makes it a pain in the ass when you try to call voicemail at night in the car. I have tried every possible setting, upgraded the software, and even tried new phones out of the box and they all have this glitch. Any ideas on a fix???

does anyone know how to set incoming text messages so that the contact name appears? During incoming calls, I receive the contact name, but texts only the number. I have already been on-line chat with sprint and they could not find a setting for this – I’m sure that can’t be the case.

Hi,

I am experiencing a camera issue. When i slide the phone open then use the appropriate keys to get to the camera. It opens up but the viewing screen has a blurry resolution. When i snap a shot it still shows up in the photo album blurry. I have to open and close the phone a few times to get to a regular normal resolution. I would like to know do i need to send it back. Or is there a setting that i may need to adjust.