Got stiffed on repairs by Samsung May 13, 2013

Reviewer:  Lars W. Ericson "erxnmedia@hotmail.com"  (New York, New York United States) -

This phone has a poorly constructed USB charger port, it cracks easily and doesn't take a charge. I sent it to Samsung for repairs, for which they charged $70. When the phone got back, HDMI port no longer worked. They acknowledged that an OS upgrade they did when repairing the phone caused the HDMI port to fail. They refused to reflash the phone with the original OS to fix the HDMI port problem, or to refund their repair charge. In addition, a few months after the repair, the USB charger port is broken again.

I strongly recommend against the purchase of any Samsung products, because of their irresponsible and unresponsive repair practices and policies.

if you want an older, durable phone. May 12, 2013

Reviewer:  Jonathan Doak "average joe" 

still use the phone and works as good as the day i got it (almost two years ago). sure it may freeze on occasion but it still runs pretty well for a smart phone that has been dropped in puddles, and on concrete/hard floors. overall i am impressed with the quality of the phone and plan to keep it as a back up once i finally upgrade.

Poor Battery Life, Incredibly Slow Updates May 4, 2013

Reviewer:  C. Smith 

After this phone I'm done with both Samsung and Verizon. The battery life has always been terrible, the updates (the few that I got) were slow, and the phone came loaded with both Verizon and Samsung bloat ware.

For my next phone I'll be looking to get one straight from Google or perhaps switch over to Apple. At least with them you know the phone will be updated and they don't allow carriers to load the phones down with useless apps.

Worst phone ever April 24, 2013

Reviewer:  gremlin 

The battery life is awful. It only lasts a couple of hours. The phone freezes all the time. The only way to get it restarted is to turn the power off and restart it. I would give it 0 stars, if that was possible.

By far the worst phone I've ever owned. April 20, 2013

Reviewer:  J. Manning "Jgunnz" 

Ahh, where to begin with this hunk of junk.

Let's start with the beginning almost 2 years ago. Within only a few days, the phone was noticeably slower. But, whatever, I figured that happens with all phones. Over the next 2 years, a laundry list of problems has developed that has made me despise my phone to the point that I want to go "Office Space" on it once my upgrade comes in about 2 months.

-Let's see, I would say about 1/2 of the times I use the flash on the camera, it freezes the phone entirely, forcing me to pull the battery out to get it restarted.

-It constantly locks up and restarts itself.

-I would say... 80% of the phone calls I try to make freezes the "Dialer". Whenever it freezes the Dialer, 1 of 2 things happens. Either, it makes a phone call to the number I was trying to reach and gave up on about 5-10 minutes later and I only notice once I hear voices coming from my pocket, or it never makes any call at all. Pick your poison on that one.

-Forget trying to connect it to the PC to transfer files... it doesn't even get recognized anymore. Don't know at what point that problem started.

-Lately, texts from friends aren't coming through. I'll get texts from friends asking why I'm not responding to them, if I'm mad at them, or why I'm ignoring them? That's quite frustrating when your gf send you a list of groceries to pick up on the way home and you never get it and immediately get yelled at after walking in from work. Thanks Samsung...

-Opening any app slows the thing down to a crawl.

-I have 2 games on the thing (I figured keeping it light would make it work better), but the one freezes about half of the time, so I just have to get rid of that now too.

-The keyboard doesn't seem to want to work the majority of the time. It'll recognize me touching the letters, it just won't input them into the message bar. The only way to fix that is to lock it, wait about 5 minutes and try again. Good times.

So... there's more, I just don't feel like typing anymore. All-in-all, I'd say the Droid Charge the droid charge isn't just the worst phone I've ever owned, it's one of the worst electronic devices I've ever owned, period. Good riddance...

Don't bother! April 1, 2013

Reviewer:  Vanessa 

I've had this phone for a year and a half and I can NOT wait to get rid of it. The Music Player turns on by itself randomly and seems to play the same song every time. It's very slow, freezes a lot. I restart it a few times a day. Sometimes I would text and nothing appears on the screen, restart again. I would try to make a call and have to wait 5 minutes for it to register and it might not even make the call and just switches to the home screen. Very frustrating.... But you know how it is.. they'll put out a new phone and design it to only last a couple of years. My boyfriend still has a flip phone to text and call and uses his tablet for everything else. I think I'll do the same.

this phone SUCK March 31, 2013

Reviewer:  Eva Svoboda 

i have this phone for almost 2 years, this is 3rd phone and 2nd battery, it was replaced and still it is piece of JUNK, please don't buy it, also, worse is I got it from Verizon and NO support from them, made many calls to Samsung, chat with them, WORSE service on any devices I ever have experienced, very upset with them, although i have tablets, tv, refridge from them, very glad never needed service from them, they are just taking your money and never help you with any issue...... because there is no other justice, I am spreading my bad experience with Samsung all around internet...... shame on you Samsung

Quirky phone September 22, 2012

Reviewer:  StardelSol  (Hudson, NH United States) -

I've had the Samsung Charge since it was released in 2011. I'm currently on phone #3 (through Verizon's service plan). I was not able to use the GPS with the first phone - every other feature worked great. The second Charge died within 1 week of receiving. I've had no issues with the third phone - the GPS works great, the connection is stable, etc. The Samsung Charge will burn through a fully charged battery when it is in 4G if I am using anything that requires the data plan. I have to plan for this and make sure to either carry my extra battery or plug it in when possible.

Happy after 1 year September 16, 2012

Reviewer:  GD 

Owned for 1 year now. Battery life isn't great, but I haven't had any serious problems with it. I have only had to restart the phone once or twice due to errors over the past year. Slow start up. Other than that I have been very happy. Bought the same phone for my teenage son and also no problems over the last year - and he uses his phone a lot!

This phone does crazy things! August 17, 2012

Reviewer:  Scott 

All I can say is if anyone has seen the Terminator movie, when machines are in control, this phone would make you believe that one day it could happen. The phone starts apps by itself, makes calls by itself, rearranges contact names & phone numbers by itself, and shuts off by itself. This is one of the weirdest phones I have ever had. It was funny when it started but now I am completely frustrated and can't wait until the new Iphone arrives. I will never buy a droid product again. The battery life is terrible. If you actually use the phone & make calls the phone will last maybe 5 hours if your lucky. If you use the internet cut that to 3-4 hours. No car charger will actually charge this phone. It will only keep the battery from further draining. I bought this phone because I'm in the car a lot and even though I heard the battery life wasn't good I thought that I would be charging the battery in the car. Wrong!! I bought the extended battery but don't waste your money, it's just as bad. The only plus about this phone is that the battery cover is easy to take off so that I can turn this damn phone off quickly!! So if you're looking for a laugh or two, & just carry a phone in your pocket all day without using it, this phone is perfect for you. But if you actually need a phone to talk to people, or need to use the internet and email DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE!!

Samsung Droid Charge - You are Gonna Love this Phone! June 11, 2012

Reviewer:  Mathew Manzano  (Temecula, Ca) -

I got this phone 2-months ago for 1 penny from Amazon. Verizon wanted $100...I waited to review until I got used to the phone and could give an honest review, instead of those people who give crappy reviews because they haven't gotten used to the phone...

Anyhow...This is an excellent phone. I made sure to get all the updates done the day I activated it. I restored my back-up from my Droid X and didn't lose a single contact. I made Diverse sound profiles so that I could tell who was calling and associated their text and social media profiles to my calling profile.

The battery lasts around 6 hours with all the gadgets turned on, (which is better than the Droid X) such as wireless, bluetooth and 4G. I get 10 to 14 hours if I turn off Bluetooh, and only a smidge more if I turn off Wireless. Compared to the Droid X this is a superstar phone...The screen is MUCH better, brighter, and displays many more vibrant colors (Super - AMOLED vs Moto Crapola). The microphone is better at understanding voice commands, and it comes with a 32GB Micro SD Card. The calls sound way better, too, IMO. Pair that with a nice headset (I used the Aliph 2nd gen Jawbone), and you are golden.

The android experience is better than the Droid X as more apps seem to be compatible with it. I got a case and a Car Charger for free from Amazon so 5 STARS to them too.

So far this phone has outshined all others I have had. 4G is awesome! I love how easily I can go to Hulu or Vudu or Netflix or...and stream movies. I was able to get an unlimited data plan as I have been grandfathered in so I'm not worried about that. The quality of playback are phenomenal, unlike the Droid X, there were no stutters or stops when acting as a Hot Spot through my wireless at home. And this phone has mirror mode so what you see on-screen you can see on your HDTV through a micro-HDMI port on the phone. As far as using it as a Hot-Spot, I have connected my Blueray, Wii, XBox, and HDTV to it at the same time and they have all performed flawlessly as described by Samsung.

The only thing, and it is VERY minor IMO, is that when the phone is on with a headset the screen sleeps after 30 seconds...there is a fix, which requires you to "touch" the screen, but that sort of defeats the purpose of hands-free communication...If anyone knows of a better workaround please post it so I can "fix" and "educate" myself better.

Overall I give the phone 5-Stars, because for my experiences with Blackberry Storm 2 (Waste of Money at any price)and Moto Droid X (too Slow), this phone rocks...Obviously it will be slower than a phone with a dual-core processor, but I didn't have one so I can't comment on that.

Get this phone if upgrading from a single core processor and you with love it...if you already have dual core, move to the Samsung Nexus, as that phone is just awesome, even when compared to the greatness of the Samsung Droid Charge.

Good Luck!

Great phone....very pleased! May 30, 2012

Reviewer:  Francis Rom 

This is my favorite phone to date. Very nice, Samsung makes the best android phones hands down. Such an easy to use, nice, fun, phone. Thank you SAmmy!

A really nice phone! May 24, 2012

Reviewer:  JerryWithaJ  (USA) -

Added in edit 06/02/2012: Got the new phone. It's a marked improvement. I'm now happy. See the rest of the review. I'm holding off on awarding 5 stars because while this phone is a great improvement and one I'll be happy to have for the next two years, my sense is that the Charge I used for comparison is even clearer, which is also the sense of that phone's owner. This suggests that there is considerable variation among phones. This is cause for concern. Once one chooses a particular model, the quality of the phone one receives should not be a lottery.

Kudos to Amazon for the way the replacement was handled. One short phone call resolved everything.

Added in edit 05/27/2012: The title of this review was "Wonderful! Wonderful! ...except for the fidelity" but I became so disgusted with the phone that I tried swapping phones with someone else with a Charge. That phone sounds as clear as a bell! So, I called Amazon and am having a replacement shipped to arrive 5/30. More to be revealed...

---------------------------

I upgraded to this phone from my Samsung Fascinate. It's met my all of expectations save one--the fidelity of the calls is not very good.

I liked my Fascinate but we grew apart due to its slow processor. I was pushed over the edge by the Fascinate's unpredictable auto-reboot even when I had the phone on silence in seminars. Since one of my sons was not planning on upgrading in the near future, I swapped his current upgrade eligibility with my September eligibility on my family plan to get the Charge. I've been happy in every way but one--the audio quality of phone calls is poor.

I like Samsung phones. The picture is crisp. The Charge's dual core processor means my live Koi pool wallpaper doesn't stutter. (I'd had to remove it from my Fascinate, which couldn't handle it.) No auto-reboot.

I had hundreds of apps on my Fascinate, which no doubt was part of the problem. I've been very careful with the Charge to install only apps that I'll use. No power savers. No task killers. I get through the day with one battery charge, no problem.

I find myself frustrated when owners report short battery life without explaining what's killing the battery. Settings/About Phone/Battery Use reveals exactly what has been using the battery. (Right now, I'm down to 72% after 7h 9m 58s since last charge. 36% of usage has gone to the display, 30 to cell standby, and so on. I've learned from my Fascinate and stick with the standard email app, checking my IMAP server only once an hour, since I'm almost always at a computer. I found that K-9 on the Fascinate with Push was often responsible for half of my battery use.)

If Settings/About Phone/Battery Use is too awkward, there are apps that one can install that will get you to the information faster. There's one in the AppStore, but, call me old-fashioned, I don't care for the name, so I got one elsewhere.

I cannot recommend this item May 19, 2012

Reviewer:  John Griesedieck "modeljohn"  (Missouri, USA) -

(1) The battery life is terrible. After minimal use over 6 hours (a few phone calls, sending a few texts, maybe use the internet, but for no more than 5 minutes total), the battery will be almost completely drained (10% or less left). So basically after an afternoon away from a charger, you have to run home to recharge, or else you've got a dead phone for the rest of the evening. This isn't a rare event, either. Every time I take it off the charger I have a problem with the battery life, even when I don't use the internet. This alone makes me want to get a new one.

(2) The 4G network is spotty. I live in a major metropolitan area, and the phone does not always get 4G coverage. Sometimes it doesn't even get 3G coverage. I bought this phone for the faster network and so I could use the LTE network while talking on the phone. At least half of the time, however, that's not an option.

(3) Audio is bad. Often when I'm talking on the phone I get a loud static sound over the line. The people on the other end of the call don't hear it, so it's not a network problem. I also never had this problem on my previous phone.

(4) Sometimes there are dead patches on the screen. This is especially problematic when I am trying to swipe through the security feature. I have honestly been locked out because I had 5 failed attempts, when really the phone's screen was not responsive.

I have owned this phone for 11 months. I'm ready to buy a different phone at full retail price just to get rid of this one. Overall, if I could buy this phone again, I definitely wouldn't.

Good screen and fast downloads, but those are the only good things May 7, 2012

Reviewer:  James Gardner "JGard"  (Foster City, CA) -

I've had this phone for about 8 months now and I want nothing more than to replace it. I consider myself a bit of a "power user", I'll often flash other ROMs to my phone, I use a lot of data, text often, don't make a ton of phone calls, though. Overall this phone sucks. Battery life is awful. On 4G, I'm lucky to get through my work-day without having to charge the battery. Developer support is not good. Of the 4-5 ROMs I've tried over the past 8 months on this phone, none of them work particularly well. Some seem to run great for a few days, but then they slow down to a crawl where the phone is unusable. Samsung's stock UI (Touchwiz) is the most awful Android interface I've ever used, and their RFS file system is outdated and laggy. Samsung's own support for this phone is highly lacking, with no ICS update scheduled.

The only good things... First, the screen. It's a perfect size and the color saturation and resolution quality are superb. I haven't seen a screen this nice on another phone (granted I haven't checked out any of the newer phones). The 4G data speeds are pretty nice, too, at least when running a speed test. The browser, however, is still pretty slow (more a drawback to Android Gingerbread than the 4G, though). Downloads through the market are quick, as well. I can download about 300MB of apps in only a few minutes.

Overall, I can say that for the first month or two I had this phone I loved it. That quickly turned to an indifference to the phone, which now has turned to hatred.

Worst Phone Ever May 7, 2012

Reviewer:  Matt A. Gordon  (Amherst, MA United States) -

Like the title says, this is the worst phone I have ever had the displeasure of using. When the phone isn't freezing or rebooting, it is busy overheating and draining the battery, so that you need to plug it in by 2pm. Did I mention that the user interface is slow and laggy with apps that crash all the time? Thankfully, when my phone finally received it's OTA upgrade to Gingerbread, the boot time was cut from 4 minutes to 1 minute, which is really handy since the phone needs to reboot so frequently. See Verizon's forum for all of the other problems with this phone: [...]. I can't believe Verizon and Samsung would actually let this miserable phone fall into the hands of consumers.

On the plus side, at least the screen is pretty and 4G data is fast...when the phone is working.

Keep Searching for a Better Phone May 3, 2012

Reviewer:  Jim Hyatt "James" 

I purchased this phone shortly before Verizon eliminated the unlimited data plan almost a year ago. The phone was brand new with the HTC Thunderbolt being the only other Android 4G phone available. I lived in a 4G area, but worked in a 3G area. Since the phone was new, it was at the introductory price (almost $300). I don't think the phone was worth that value (nor even worth getting). My various problems with the phone are listed below:

1. Limited upgrades from Samsung. This was my first smartphone, and I knew nothing about Android versions. After a few months it became obvious there were system issues. The phone ALWAYS dropped connectivity when leaving a 4G area and various system programs would crash. After 6 months, we finally received an "upgrade". The upgrade for the phone was for Gingerbread and not the newer Ice Cream Sandwich OS. While some issues were fixed, I am disappointed that users have not received support from Samsung/Verizon. Additionally, it appear the phone will never get Ice Cream Sandwich, which means I will never buy a Samsung phone again.

2. Battery usage - Don't listen to the lies. It is less than 12 hours with a fully charged factory battery. On a bad day, the battery lasts less than 8 hours. It has always been this way. My problem with this is I would leave for work in the morning and routinely lose cell signal while trying to arrange dinner. God forbid, I ever have a car breakdown at night. I started carrying around a second battery, and it is a constant reminder of how stupid I am for buying this phone. What is so stupid about this is that it would be dead by 8PM without me even using the phone one time throughout the day. I'm sorry, but I believe a phone should be able to survive 12+ hours on standby....

3. Connectivity and GPS issues. Originally the phone would have to be restarted when switching from a 4G to 3G area. This has lessened with the update; however, I did not enjoy living with it for 6+ months. The phone still has GPS issues where maps will not work 100% of the time. Sometimes requiring a force close of the program. I routinely have to force close Verizon's Backup Assistant.

4. No flashing light to notify of new messages.

5. TONS of bloatware that you can't delete (another reason why I will never buy a Samsung phone).

Pros:
Call quality has been OK.
4G is fast (when available)
Colorful graphics/video are wonderful (probably why the battery dies so fast)
Camera quality is sufficient for both front and rear facing
I have been able to fine accessories that work well with the phone (case, cover, back up battery).

the worst April 15, 2012

Reviewer:  jordi 

I think any positive review of this phone comes from those who have used it for less than 1 week. It dazzles you out of the box with a big crisp screen, and seems to function well. Then the microphone gives out, and your voice will come though as a muffled gargling. Then there's the static. If the microphone doesn't get you, the static will. Think firecrackers in your ear.
I say this having tried and returned THREE of these phones. This was not an isolated issue. I finally got my carrier to give me a different model. Maybe it won't be as pretty, but who cares? If you want an expensive GPS and mobile browser, get yourself a Charge. If you want to use your phone as a phone, the Charge isn't bad, it's completely unusable.

you either get one that works, or a lemon April 10, 2012

Reviewer:  kenneth deetz  (huntington, in United States) -

Terrible audio quaility, battery life, latency and response time with screens, dropped network connections. On my second one, first one got so hot I nearly burnt myself! GPS get's it stuck in a dump battery life mode, will eat a extended battery(3800mah) in less than an hour! Not going to recommend this one to anyone.

Terrible phone April 10, 2012

Reviewer:  Metaltron462 

I am a frequent traveler and work from my phone a lot more than the average user. I got this with the mindset that Samsung puts out good product and their phones are sharp. However, this is one of their flawed products. The reception is terrible, the gps rarely works and the camera at times will shut the phone off causing me to pull the battery. I've had many software upgrades and bug fixes downloaded. I've also had it replaced twice now and it seems the build for the phone is all the same. Some pro's are that the screen is nice and its an android phone but thats about it. I can't wait till my upgrade so I can get rid of this paper weight.