Customer reviews from Samsung US
Samsung - I917 Focus Mobile Phone (Unlocked) - Black
Average customer rating
4.4
(868 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 868 reviews
5 Stars
535
4 Stars
224
3 Stars
47
2 Stars
29
1 Star
33
87%of customers recommend this product.
(
686 out of
785)
Customer Reviews for Samsung - I917 Focus Mobile Phone (Unlocked) - Black
Customer Rating
4
First Smartphone
on March 21, 2011
Posted by: GreenBayDan
from wisconsin
Expertise:Intermediate
All in all, I really like the W7 platform and this phone. theres some bugs that need to be worked out by ALL parties involved in this thing. such as the updates for software, the SD card issues, and MAYBE some hardware bugs...juries still out on that.
I figured since i was finally taking the smartphone "plunge" I'd go all in. this phone is the result.
Pros: Bright display, Lightweight
Cons: software bugs, sd card issue, headphones jack touchy
Features
5
Performance
4
Design
5
Value
3
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
Love this Phone
on March 22, 2011
Posted by: GadgetHead90
from Providence, RI
The os is fairly new, doesn't have that many apps. But other than that its a great phone. Beautiful screen, lovely camera, and overall smooth fast operating system. Sold my iPhone 3g. Its a huge upgrade, let me tell you.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Inexpensive, Realistic color, Lightweight
Cons: no video calling (no front camera)
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
5
A Home Run by Samsung
on March 22, 2011
Posted by: MrWindows
from Maricopa, AZ
Expertise:Expert
This is my first Samsung handset, and my third Windows-based phone (the first two being models utilizing Windows Mobile 6.x).
The screen is stunning More on that in a moment.
Out of the box, the Focus is as easy as any GSM phone to assemble and turn on. I turned my Fuze off, pulled the SIM card, inserted it into the clearly marked slot in the Focus, put the battery in, slid the back cover on the device and turned it on. After about a 4 or five second boot-up, the new Windows Phone 7 tile menu appeared. I plugged the phone into my laptop with the included microUSB cable, and ActiveSync came up, drivers were installed and shortly I could see the people tile populating with my contacts.I could not believe the clarity of the screen. It looked like a mini Plasma HD display. Swipes were smooth. Graphics crisp and clean, text easily readable even with smallish fonts and oldish eyes. Contrast is amazing and the black doesn't look black, it just disappears. Colors pop and are correct and vibrant.
When I first saw the pictures of the Focus, I wasn't impressed with the roundish form factor, but after a week or so of daily use, I like it a lot. The phone is thin, thinner than my daughter's i-device, and much lighter. In fact, she commented on that straight away.
I was able to easily connect it to the Sync in both my Ford vehicles much more easily than my previous devices. Bluetooth works and connects quickly.
I consistently get 5 bars and the little 3G symbol pretty much wherever I go.
I have had no issues with battery life. The phone lasts all day long even after several games of FreeCell, frequent email downloads for three accounts, and using the Now app that has your weather, news and stock market info.
Windows Phone 7 is lightyears away from the old Windows Mobile, but that is beyond the scope of this review.
I have no idea how Samsung could improve upon this phone. It answers just about every need. I would like to have a front-facing camera for video chat. I'd like to see a keyboard slider with the same size screen, as I got used to having the physical keyboard with my last two devices, but the touch screen is very responsive and the screen size makes for easy typing on the soft keyboard. Most sliders reduce the screen size significantly.
I would like to see more free apps from Samsung, as that is the other key to WP7's success, as well as the OS updates that haven't yet materialized.
Samsung has the hardware part down pat.
The screen is stunning More on that in a moment.
Out of the box, the Focus is as easy as any GSM phone to assemble and turn on. I turned my Fuze off, pulled the SIM card, inserted it into the clearly marked slot in the Focus, put the battery in, slid the back cover on the device and turned it on. After about a 4 or five second boot-up, the new Windows Phone 7 tile menu appeared. I plugged the phone into my laptop with the included microUSB cable, and ActiveSync came up, drivers were installed and shortly I could see the people tile populating with my contacts.I could not believe the clarity of the screen. It looked like a mini Plasma HD display. Swipes were smooth. Graphics crisp and clean, text easily readable even with smallish fonts and oldish eyes. Contrast is amazing and the black doesn't look black, it just disappears. Colors pop and are correct and vibrant.
When I first saw the pictures of the Focus, I wasn't impressed with the roundish form factor, but after a week or so of daily use, I like it a lot. The phone is thin, thinner than my daughter's i-device, and much lighter. In fact, she commented on that straight away.
I was able to easily connect it to the Sync in both my Ford vehicles much more easily than my previous devices. Bluetooth works and connects quickly.
I consistently get 5 bars and the little 3G symbol pretty much wherever I go.
I have had no issues with battery life. The phone lasts all day long even after several games of FreeCell, frequent email downloads for three accounts, and using the Now app that has your weather, news and stock market info.
Windows Phone 7 is lightyears away from the old Windows Mobile, but that is beyond the scope of this review.
I have no idea how Samsung could improve upon this phone. It answers just about every need. I would like to have a front-facing camera for video chat. I'd like to see a keyboard slider with the same size screen, as I got used to having the physical keyboard with my last two devices, but the touch screen is very responsive and the screen size makes for easy typing on the soft keyboard. Most sliders reduce the screen size significantly.
I would like to see more free apps from Samsung, as that is the other key to WP7's success, as well as the OS updates that haven't yet materialized.
Samsung has the hardware part down pat.
Pros: Bright display, Inexpensive, Realistic color, Lightweight, great battery life
Cons: no forward facing camera
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
A great phone, and easy to use.
on March 22, 2011
Posted by: hlgeisel
from Milwaukee, WI
I needed a new phone, and hadn't bought one in over two years. I went to the AT&T store, and really loved the Samsung Focus. I was debating over this one and the iphone, but I thought the features for a first-time smart phone user were great.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Durable, Realistic color, Lightweight, great for taking videos
Cons: picture quality is not always great, flips around to different screens often
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
4
Design
5
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
4
Windows Phone Updates needed
on March 22, 2011
Posted by: samsungfocus81
Most of the issues with the phone itself are related to the OS and not the hardware, overall this is a great phone and if they can work out the micro sd quirks it would be a lot more user friendly.
Pros: Bright display, Inexpensive, Lightweight
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
4
Performance
4
Design
5
Value
3
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
Best Smart Phone Ever Owned
on March 23, 2011
Posted by: WixosTrix
from San Francisco, CA
Expertise:Expert
This device plus Windows Phone 7 is amazing. Office, Xbox, Zune are all amazing services/hubs that really showcase the strongest products in the Microsoft ecosystem. Facebook integration, while limited at the moment, is spectacular. I have all my pictures ever uploaded in the palm of my hand. Pinning contacts is great for catching your closets friends new status updates and even picture uploads, they just flip in right in their tile. The screen is stunning, responsive and smooth to the touch. The entire device is just so zippity, with the exception of some apps that drive a lot of data from the internet (Facebook). Pictures look great; there just needs to be an update that will save the camera settings, c'mon Microsoft. I haven't recorded many videos but I have done a couple in HD and they are great as well. I love how the camera dynamically auto-focuses. My only gripe about the sound is that it doesn't go high enough at the times you are listening to music, while typing and an alert comes on, the typing tap sound gets really loud in your ear if you are using ear-buds. Battery life isn't great but it isn't horrible. Hopefully power management optimizations will be presented in future updates. Overall, I love this phone. Get it!
Pros: Bright display, Inexpensive, Realistic color, Lightweight, fast power on (<25 secs.), wireless sync, great sounds quality
Cons: sensitive capacitive buttons, volume not high enough, ugly back door, no dlna support, battery life
Features
4
Performance
5
Design
4
Value
4
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US
Customer Rating
5
tougher as steel and concrete
on March 23, 2011
Posted by: jleavitt88
from burlington, ma
Expertise:Intermediate
today I tested the quality of my samsung focus, not on purpose though. i brought my phone up on a communications tower at approximately 150 feet in the air. The phone was in my cell phone pocket in my work pants and while i was working, it slipped out of my pocket. It fell to approximately 50 ft and hit the tower I was on, spiraling to the ground. The phone landed on a concrete slab. Like anyone else, when i saw this happen i kissed that phone goodbye in my head and went back to work, at the end of the work day i picked it up and it turned right on. YES, I AM SERIOUS. NO, I AM NOT TELLING A TALL TALE. extremely minimal amount of damage, none at all to the screen or any functionality in anyway. Buy this phone!!! its done nothing but impress me from day one,
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, 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
Excellent
on March 24, 2011
Posted by: vikey
from New York
Expertise:Intermediate
This is my first smart phone, and I liked it so much that I am glued to it all the time. Its great in features, performance and its picture quality is also very good even during low lights. I would definitely recommend this phone to everyone.
Pros: Built-in speakers, Bright display, Inexpensive, Realistic color
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
5
Performance
5
Design
5
Value
5
Written by a customer while visiting Samsung US