Samsung Exhibit II 4G Android Phone (T-Mobile)

Tmo admits phone has 'known issues' May 2, 2012

Reviewer:  Maxx&Me  (USA) -

A warning to everyone considering this phone. Look at the Tmobile forums first. Tmobile admits this phone has many 'known issues' but this hasn't been publicized. It seems that a percentage of them are defective but TMobile refuses to fix the problems or give customers an alternate working phone. So whether you got it for free or paid 199 or 350, you may be sorely disappointed. Many customers can't even send an SMS on 4G...Tmobiles fix for t his is to tell people to turn off that 4G network they're paying for (and advertising the heck out of ) and switch to Edge every time they want to send a text. This apparently is happening on some other devices. The other major known issue is freezing...At first, Tmobile will blame you but after you reset the phone a dozen times or send it to Samsung for repair, you'll see that the problems don't go away. Theres also power cycling and the phone mysteriously turning off at random times. These problems seem to only affect certain handsets as some people seem to have no problems and others have a nightmare experience. The main thing is Tmobile acknowledges them but is doing nothing. "Theres nothing we can do...Maybe you should switch carriers" Since Nov 2011, they've been claiming they're working with Samsung on a fix but there hasn't been a single software update and if you contact Samsung, you're told they have no record of any issues and they blame Tmobile --- esp for the text problems but even for the daily freezing. Tmobile needs to fix this or provide customers with an alternate working phone...but they refuse --- thats evidence of the decline in their customer service.

As for other issues, the camera isn't very good and the screen is very hard to see in daylight. But if you don't want to turn your phone to 2G whenever you want to send a text or you don't care if you have to take your battery out every day when the screen freezes so you can reset the phone...think about this purchase...PLEASE LOOK AT THE SAMSUNG EXHIBIT 2 FORUMS ON TMOBILES WEBSITE SO YOU CAN READ THE NIGHTMARE MANY OF US HAVE HAD WITH THIS DEVICE AND TMOBILES TOTAL DISREGARD OF THEIR CUSTOMERS!!! Even a Tmobile Tech Support person told me he had the same problems with freezing and SMS failures and he said Tmobile has already purchased the device so they're not going to do anything. Samsung doesnt care cuz this isn't their flagship device but one would think Tmobile would want to reduce their churn and improve their sucky customer service and provide customers with a working phone. This is considered a mid-grade phone but one should expect and demand minimal functionality...inability to send 4g texts...having your phone freeze daily or having it turn off and on is not normal - even for android

Absolutely horrible phone with T-Mobile Customer Service to Match. May 9, 2012

Reviewer:  Mark E  (Las Vegas, NV USA) -

I purchased this phone at a T-Mobile retail location for $329.99 with a 2-Year contract. All I got for the contract was to pay for the phone in 20 monthly payments interest free with $29.99 down. Wow, what a mistake that was.

Within a couple weeks the phone was overheating and freezing/shutting down a few times a day. It was related to the battery and the only way to get the phone back up was to put it on the charger until it reached "full charge." This would take 30 minutes, or hours, depending on how low the battery was when it froze. I took it back to the store and asked for a different phone, the response was "sorry, you're past your 14-day "buyer's remorse" period but you can send it in for a replacement under warranty of the same model, so that's what I did.

The second phone didn't have the overheating problem, but had an issue with SMS/text messaging. Text messages were failing, or just showing a "failed" message with some going through (unknown to me). This was also an issue with the first phone. I contacted T-Mobile tech support and they said it was a "known problem" and they were "working" with Samsung to fix the issue. I tried multiple recommended solutions such as trying to text in GSM only mode, clearing the cache, and eventually resetting the phone to factory defaults (all a total waste of my time). Nothing worked.

After a few more calls to customer service and tech support I asked for an alternate replacement phone and they said no, I would have to wait until the issue was fixed. I asked if I would have to pay my bill in the meantime, and they said yes, of course. I then demanded to be let out of my contract since they were not providing the services I was paying for. They responded by offering a $5 dollar discount for 6 months (but still no SMS or solution). I said no, that is not acceptable I purchased this phone and signed a contract because I need text messaging. If T-Mobile cannot provide the full service I will need either another phone or another provider. They still said no but gave me an address to write to (no phone number), and said it would take 10-14 days before I got a response.

I wrote to the address, and they did not even acknowledge the problem I outlined in my letter, just a short standardized response saying sorry you 14-day buyer's remorse period has expired and you are obligated under contract. Apparently the contract does not apply to T-Mobile, who admitted selling a phone with a known problem and provided no solution. They just said sorry, not our problem, bring it up with Samsung. Maybe the problem really is with Samsung (debatable) but T-Mobile should not be selling a phone with a 2-Year contract if they know there is an issue with the phone and have no solution. One would think T-Mobile would just do the right thing and just replace the phone they sold with one that works, but they systematically refused.

After the response I called customer service again and reminded them I was paying my bill, keeping my end of the contract, and the only acceptable solution was to provide me with an alternate phone that works or let me out of the contract. Again they said no, followed by "is there anything else I can help you with today?" I said I was not going to hang up until they got me somebody who would resolve the issue, so the woman said okay I'll take care of it right now, and told me my service was canceled effective immediately. Before I thanked her for resolving the problem I asked her to confirm I would not have to pay an early termination fee and she said yes your will, thank you for doing business with T-Mobile and hung up.

I hope this serves as a warning to anybody who is considerding purchasing this phone or signing a contract with T-Mobile.

Do not buy this phone! February 8, 2013

Reviewer:  dyamondangel86 

This phone is slow. It freezes up. It force closes everything. It was a waste of money. Tmobile even told me this phone has problems... after I bought it!!! dont buy this overpriced piece of junk.

Worst. Phone. Ever. April 30, 2013

Reviewer:  Carrie 

My husband and I have each had this phone for just under 2 years. We've been eagerly awaiting the day we could drop T-Mobile (and this terrible phone) for about a year and a half. A few of the problems we've had:

* Occasionally it will force close the "text message" "dial" and "contact" screens back out to the home area at random times. Once it starts happening, it will continue to do so until a full restart of the phone.
* Randomly disconnects the data service, making all webpages/facebook/email unavailable until you figure out the problem and re-check the box.
* 2 out of 3 of the phones my husband has had (same model as it's all that was covered under warranty) won't connect to wifi (although mine will).
* GPS consistently locks up mid-route.
* With nothing else running, normal applications like Angry Birds or Facebook will start lagging to the point where we have to force close the phone.
* Phone will randomly power off for no reason.
* Phone will force close applications constantly.
* Screen Lock will sometimes lock completely, forcing a hard restart of the phone.

Add to that the spotty reception from T-Mobile, and you have a crappy phone with crappy reception. All in all... terrible.

Piece of crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! April 23, 2013

Reviewer:  estella 

Exhibit 4G keeps adjusting the setting by itself. One minute I go normal texting mode, then the next it jump to predictive text (auto finish the word I intend to text). Very difficult to text. Screen is very small and all packed into tiny space. Need to click "send" but the button has been blocked. I tried to send picture text (normal pic) but it automatically converted into multimedia file. I ended up not being able to send any type of pic. Had to change phone. It was a piece of crap. These are not the only problems. Can't transfer pictures from camera to micro card - can't move anything from one file to another, even within the cell phone. Stupid apps don't do anything. Can't open any adobe file when i tried to open pdf from email. I have wireless. Display light keeps jumping to dim - can't see a thing. I didn't do anything. it was automatic. I thought I've set up battery saving time mode - but no, it has nothing to do with battery saving! Cell got hung up while talking- did i press the "end call" button while i talked, nope!!! Fudge!