Customer reviews from Samsung US
Samsung - Stratosphere 4G Mobile Phone - Black (Verizon Wireless)
Average customer rating
3.7
(236 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 236 reviews
5 Stars
83
4 Stars
73
3 Stars
32
2 Stars
19
1 Star
29
71%of customers recommend this product.
(
151 out of
214)
Customer Reviews for Samsung - Stratosphere 4G Mobile Phone - Black (Verizon Wireless)
Customer Rating
5
Nice snappy phone at a great price
on January 24, 2012
Posted by: Sleepeatplay
The phone works great, very responsive and quick. The physical keyboard is perfect for my hands. I have had no software issues. The camera works well, and the screen is great. I'm a fairly light data user, but I could see where battery life could be an issue if you are a heavy user. The extended battery would be a must.
It does come with the usual bloatware, which I moved to a folder. Problem solved.
Overall, the phone is a great bang for the buck, though an ICS update would be a plus!
It does come with the usual bloatware, which I moved to a folder. Problem solved.
Overall, the phone is a great bang for the buck, though an ICS update would be a plus!
Pros: Bright display, Inexpensive, Realistic color
Cons: battery life for heavy data users, no ice cream sandwich update yet
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
4
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
2
Not a fan
on February 9, 2012
Posted by: kiwitina
from California
Expertise:Intermediate
I've had this phone for about three months now. It constantly freezes, the unlock pattern often won't recognize what I'm drawing. When I plug my phone in to the charger, it lags and freezes up. I can't use the onscreen keyboard most of the time because it likes to double up letters. Sometimes the screen will go black, and it won't let me answer calls. It's very disappointing. Factory resetting doesn't even help.
Data issue? The data for this phone will just drop out of no where, and I have no access to my apps during that time.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Lightweight
Cons: Did not meet expectations, freezes, data keeps dropping
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Features
5
Performance
1
Design
3
Value
2
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
4
3rd Samsung smart phone in past 5 years
on April 18, 2012
Posted by: RochHam
from Rochester, MN
Expertise:Intermediate
This is my 3rd Samsung "smart" phone over the past 5 years, since in general I have been happy with Samsung features and quality. I use this phone as a PHONE, few texts, occasional internet access when I need it direct through the phone or through a feature our new car has for select apps on the car's display. I do NOT use the phone for gaming or much off-the-powersupply processor/internet intense activity like music or videos ... when it has extended car trip use I attach it to our car audio system via bluetooth.
Things I like. The phone is lighter and thinner than our earlier phone, perhaps 10% taller/wider. It fit in a leather
horizontal belt snap case I found locally. The screen has better visibility outside in sunlight. My son has a higher end Samsung phone and a lot of familiarity with 'Droid apps so that and the open systems concept swayed
me to this vs another brand and OS. I got the phone at an excellent price from a local retailer. In the first month of
ownership I am only at .1 GB 3G since I seem to be finding WIFI much of the time and have not done extensive use in our new car yet, but that will probably change in the future. Oh yes, I got this phone because it has the slide out keyboard, which I find much more faster/reliable to use than a surface keyboard, even though I do not do much Text Messaging either,
don't have a plan so rarely do more than 5 TMs/mon although spammers make it worse.
horizontal belt snap case I found locally. The screen has better visibility outside in sunlight. My son has a higher end Samsung phone and a lot of familiarity with 'Droid apps so that and the open systems concept swayed
me to this vs another brand and OS. I got the phone at an excellent price from a local retailer. In the first month of
ownership I am only at .1 GB 3G since I seem to be finding WIFI much of the time and have not done extensive use in our new car yet, but that will probably change in the future. Oh yes, I got this phone because it has the slide out keyboard, which I find much more faster/reliable to use than a surface keyboard, even though I do not do much Text Messaging either,
don't have a plan so rarely do more than 5 TMs/mon although spammers make it worse.
Things I don't like. Would like to do a delete of certain apps that come with the phone - I do not want them and won't use them.
Then BATTERY LIFE is not good. I knew it would be bad compared to prior phones and reading the other reviews across the internet but didn't realize how bad it would be. Just leaving the phone sitting in the holster with synch off means charging it every night. We still have a landline so typically do turn off our cell phones overnight.
BUT This phone has a neat feature: 1. Go to Settings 2. About Phone 3. Battery Use 4. Press/hold the top greyish info and you will get a graph showing % used on the left with components Phone Signal, Wi Fi, Awake, Screen On, Charging on the bottom. You can easily see from that or the even more thorough components in the prior screen what is going on when your battery usage drops like a rock! What I found the past few days is if I keep both my WIFI and 3G/4G (under settings see Mobile Network) turned OFF, I am now up to 30 hrs of use with 50% of battery life yet! Note I did turn on and synch email,
some bluetooth, etc during those times too. Doing this I got 54 hours of battery life before it was down to 5%.
some bluetooth, etc during those times too. Doing this I got 54 hours of battery life before it was down to 5%.
Many may comment, why have a smart phone if all you have active is your cell phone signal? I have 3 other PCs in the house including a lap top that are much better at web browsing so when I am truly portable then I can turn on the phone for email, searching, weather radar on the golf course, etc and when I am done turn off the needless drain on the battery. It would appear I can get at least 4-6 10 hour days of battery life just paying attention to what I need the phone for. There are Android free and low costs apps out there that does this occasional internet checking etc as well.
Pros: Bright display, Inexpensive, Lightweight
Cons: battery life
Features
5
Performance
4
Design
4
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
1
Great Idea, Bad Execution
on July 11, 2012
Posted by: MeekoBalu
from Rochester, NY
Expertise:Expert
I was really excited to get the Stratosphere at first. It was exactly the design I was looking for. A great touch screen with a slide out keyboard. I got it, and then, two days after the deadline to return it passed, it started messing up. The keyboard randomly decides to turn buttons into shortcuts for apps, so I can't use it half the time. The touch screen glitches out and becomes unresponsive. I am constantly having to remove the battery because the screen freezes or locks up. For no reason at all, the phone will lose signal, or refuse to send a message, or will close or open an application for no reason. I'm tired of the phone, but I'm stuck with it till my renewal comes in a year. Friends of mine have had the exact same problems with this phone. Do NOT get it. Sorry Samsung, cause I <3 you guys.
Pros: Bright display, Inexpensive
Cons: Did not meet expectations
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Features
5
Performance
1
Design
4
Value
2
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
Great Product
on September 30, 2012
Posted by: textechgeek
from Lockney, TX
Expertise:Expert
Easy to use. Easy to customize. I would buy this phone again, in fact in November this is the phone my wife wants because of the keyboard.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Inexpensive, Durable, Realistic color, Lightweight
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
Samsung Intensity and Stratosphere S
on December 4, 2012
Posted by: MtnGirl
from Suwanee, GA
Expertise:Intermediate
I have purchased my third Samsung cell phone and am delighted with all of them as I upgrade. They are the most user friendly of any cell phones and I plan to continue with the Samsung products.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Durable, Realistic color
Cons: Too big
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
1
Would not recommend this phone
on March 27, 2013
Posted by: blazer200
from Harrisburg, PA
Expertise:Intermediate
I would not recommend this phone to a friend. Keyboard frequently freezes and must restart. It seems I'm always restarting it. Not sure if the 4G in our area is part of the problem but the phone is usually not on 4G but mostly 3G. Have most of the problems when it's searching for 4G. The concept of wireless is exactly that. Eversince I've owned the phone (over a year) I haven't been able to get very far from a charger.
Pros: Bright display, Inexpensive
Cons: Did not meet expectations
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Features
2
Performance
1
Design
3
Value
1
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
1
not the best phone
on April 8, 2013
Posted by: andmil
I must say i am really disappointed with this phone. Calls going out are slow and can not have more than 20 apps or the phone will slow to a crawl. The only way i can get it back to working right is to format the phone. I am an advanced android user and this phone can not keep up the pace. Also the regular battery did not last 4 hours before needing to be charged. I had to get the 4000 mha battery to make it last most of the day.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Durable
Cons: Poor quality, Did not meet expectations
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Features
2
Performance
1
Design
3
Value
3
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US