Samsung SGH-C417 / C416 Specs, Features & Reviews

the people who have given this phone positive reviews must have pretty low expectations. there are so many frustrations with it it's hard to know where to begin. the design is bad, the programming is bad, the reception is bad.

1) at some point within the first five seconds of every conversation the sound cuts out. the reception is already bad enough, but this reliable failure is extremely frustrating. it happens whether in an area with great reception or poor.

2) phone freezes constantly, for just a couple seconds at a time. this results in lots of repeated actions - press the volume up button, nothing happens, press it again, nothing happens, press it again, volume goes up 3 times.

3) you can't hang up one call when another is beeping in. you can reject the NEW call, but not the one you're on. try it - you'll hang up on both calls.

4) don't close your phone before your text message is fully sent and the screen returns to normal. if you do, the phone will save an ADDITIONAL COPY of the message to your sent texts, meaning available space shrinks uselessly and duplicate texts proliferate.

5) i do not have fat fingers, but i'll be darned if i don't accidentally access IM or Openwave at least twice a day because the big buttons on the phone are dedicated to things i don't use, while the useful things (address book, text messages) are relegated to smaller buttons.

6) you have a limited number of appointments you can put in your calendar. once you reach the limit, you have to go find and erase old appointments one at a time to free up space. even when the event is over, the phone doesn't erase them!

7) you can record sounds with the built-in recorder, but you can't use your recordings as ringtones. you have to go buy ringtones on the internet, which you might do by accident anyway given the button locations and sizes.

enough. i am truly disappointed and irritated by this ripoff of a phone. shame on samsung. do yourself a favor and avoid it.

(in the time it took me to type this, I've had three calls fail. Stay away from this phone.)

In March 2007, I lost my Samsung X-497, which was a good phone for its price. I saw the C-417 and decided to "upgrade" (haha) to it.

What a mistake.

Within days, I realised that calls I was once able to make within my apartment, at my job, and at places I hung out were sporadically possible. Very frequently, I would get "Call Failed" notifications, despite the fact that I'd have had full signal mere seconds ago. Ironically enough, calls placed TO Cingular about the failed calls would also fail.

After only three months with the phone, I demanded another phone and a replacement was sent. Two days later, my inside screen cracked while in my front pocket; the pocket only contained my phone. I was then charged to replace the phone. The replacement phone worked fine for all of three months, when the calls started failing and the screen cracked AGAIN.

If your idea of a good phone is one that you'll have to replace every new season of the year, then go for it. Buy two, even.

As far as peripherals, the battery holds a decent charge (but the phone alerts you about every 12 seconds when the battery is low, which MUST drain battery resources)... the Bluetooth capability is a joke, the camera takes decent pictures but activates too easily (I just deleted 41 pictures of what it looks like inside my pocket), and the ring is nearly impossible to hear if you're around a decent amount of noise (for example, a bedroom with a ticking clock). Only 250 characters per multimedia message (most phones allow at least 1000), few customizable keys,

Pros:
Makes a good (if not oddly-shaped) paperweight

Cons:
This phone's best use is as a paperweight.

Conclusion: I'd rather have a Nokia 5165.

I just received this phone, and I'm quite satisfied.

PROS:
+ good build quality
+ light and thin
+ satisfactory reception and battery life
+ good software design, minus IM being everywhere
+ clear call quality and decent volume

CONS:
- average camera
- charger plugs in at odd side location
- not very customizable shortcuts/menus

I would definitely recommend this phone to anyone who wants a basic phone with a few extras (bluetooth, camera)... solid and reliable

Call sound quality is horrible. The phone is cheaply made and extremely fragile. The outside LCD was damaged by very little pressure (in my wife's purse) so I can't even take it back. This outside display was about useless anyway with very limited visibility or clarity of information. The battery life is not what everyone says it is. It was touted by the Cingular people as being a great phone, but it's not believe me. The camera feature is very basic and pictures look it. I will never get a Samsung anything again.

I'm flabbergasted by the negative reviews on this phone. This is my first Samsung; it has an easy, intuitive interface, the reception is terrific and it is has a great slim profile. also it is light, seems well put together and has nice positive action on the keys. the speaker phone is rather average but still no complaints. bravo, i'm sold on samsung

I hope that I can save lots of people out there the misery that I've been through with this phone. I first got this phone in March 2007. I was excited because it was so cute and looked like a nice phone....sadly I was wrong.

Only a month after I got the phone my screen mysteriously turned white for no apparent reason. I tried resetting it but to no avail. I sent the phone back and received numero two.

The second phone lasted exactly six months at which time the speaker went out. I again called the company that told me it was a defective phone.

I got the third phone in November. Lucky me. The screen went white again. I know three other people who have had this same problem so it has to be this phone! This time I'm going to go with a totally different brand and phone style.

Do not buy this phone! It's not worth the stress or the money.

The kindest thing I can say about this phone is its pretty.

The phone lacks the ability to connect and stay connected. The internet options do not allow pictures to be sent or received. Pictures can not be messaged to another phone. To get the pictures off the phone one must purchase a Data Kit which I have heard does not work.

This phone is a con, Samsung needs to apologize and replace these phones as lemons. I know three people with one of these and we all feel as though we have been cheated and robbed.

My carrier refuses to assist me, after eight years with them they endorse the phone by having their name printed on it, but refuse to replace it. No there was no 30 day replacement of the phone grace period, I know why now that is or was.

I am a very disappointed and angry former Samsung fan. This phone has done it for me.

It seems that dishonest people are making claims about how great these phones are, and that bothers me.

I was looking for a basic phone that had good clarity in both speakers, had good volume and reception. I use cell phones to make calls. I don't care about the camera or playing music. I could be standing still and could watch the signal bar go up and down, until it dropped the call. I took it back and they changed my SIM card. That made it worse. The phone would freeze trying to connect to the Bluetooth. I had to reset the phone to make a call. Don't waste your time with this phone for any reason and donÂ’t believe the Cingular rep. that you are the first one to complain. All I had to do is look at other reviews and know I wasnÂ’t the only one. The only good thing about the phone was the size

CONS:
Menu is very slow
No customizable options.
Bluetooth connection is horrible.
Reception is a joke. It can't hold onto a signal.
Calls are very choppy I was saying “what” every other sentence
Low clarity and volume in both speakers.
Short cuts are geared toward buying stuff from Cingular
Very hard to talk on if you are charging it The charger is on the right side in the middle of the phone.

PROS: Thin & lightweight.

I'm really disappointed with this phone. So far I have returned the phone for a new SIM card and a replacement phone. I keep getting an "INSERT SIM" message and have to reboot the phone constantly, causing missed calls. The location of the SIM card is in a very bad spot, causing it to shift. Luckily it's within the 30 days, because I will be returning this phone for good!

PROs: Love the slim and light weight design.

CONs: Reception is poor compared to my previous phone. Limited ring tone selection. Battery does not hold a good charge for a new phone.

After having the Samsung Sgh-c417 phone for a month the front lcd screen stopped working. I get very weak signal inside of my house. My other family members have differant phones and get alot better signal in my house. I replaced this phone under warranty and the new phone i got gets the same poor reception.

Pros:
Size
Price

Cons:
poor workmanship
Poor signal
Hard to customize ring tones without paying for them

I cant wait to buy a different phone