Samsung Smooth Pre-Paid From Verizon
I recently purchased a Samsung Smooth pre-paid phone from Verizon.
I did so after a lot of research on pre-paid wireless plans and knowing two other people that had purchased this same phone prior to me.
This review will look at two things.
First I will tell of my experience with the actual phone itself, and then I will discuss the Verizon pre-paid service.
I chose the Samsung Smooth for two basic reasons.
One was the price.
I was able to purchase the cell phone for just over $20.
00 at Wal-Mart.
After researching other pre-paid cell phone prices, none of them I found were as cheap as the Smooth.
The second reason was because I knew two people that had also recently purchased the Smooth.
They did not report any issues to me with the phone, so with that and the price I decided to buy it.
My first impression of the phone itself was not too bad.
I liked the fact that it included a camera and the construction, although seemingly cheap, seems to be fairly durable.
The camera itself takes a fairly decent picture.
I was pleasantly surprised with this aspect for a phone that costs so little.
On the downside, the phone does not have many bells and whistles beyond the camera.
But that should be expected for a phone at this price.
Overall the phone initially seemed to be a great deal for what you pay.
The reception was not as good as I got on other Verizon phones I had in the past as a contract customer, but Verizon states that you are not using all the towers they have available like a contract customer either.
The phone also comes with a $10.
00 account credit that is added to the account upon sign up.
So you do not necessarily have to purchase any other minutes to use the phone right away.
After having the phone for a little less than a week I ran into a huge problem.
As I went to respond to a text message, the phone reset itself.
When the phone came back on it was completely in Spanish.
I attempted to reset the language feature on the phone, but was denied access to do so.
I then attempted to reset the phone to factory settings, but once again was denied access.
It was then that I attempted to call Verizon customer service and found that I was unable to even make a phone call.
I thought for a minute and then attempted to send a text message, but once again the phone failed to operate properly and failed to send.
I finally got another phone to call Verizon customer service on and was told to take my phone to the local Verizon store and let them attempt to reset it there.
I did so, but the courteous workers at Verizon were unable to reset it as well.
The lady that was assisting me then promptly began doing the necessary registration to have a new Samsung Smooth sent to my house by two day Fed-Ex.
I will say that neither of the two people that I know have had any issues with their phones.
As for the Verizon pre-paid service I have been satisfied with it thus far.
As I already stated they quickly took care of my problem with my cell phone with no fuss.
The set up online of my account was fast and easy.
You can access all the different aspects of your account online and easily make changes to your plan and add minutes either by a pre-paid card or by credit card.
You can also change the phone you are using by simply entering in a new EIN number online.
I did this with an old Verizon phone I had from when I used them as a contract customer.
I am not sure if it will accept any and every type of Verizon phone, but it did an ENV 2.
After entering the EIN number and submitting online, I merely had to dial *228 and then program and update my roaming capabilities on the phone itself and I once again was in business.
The plan I opted for was the Core Plan which charges you a .
99 cent daily usage fee.
By calling anyone or accepting an incoming call you are charged the .
99 cent fee and it will automatically be deducted from your account balance.
On the days you do not use the phone you are charged nothing.
With the Core Plan you have unlimited Verizon mobile to mobile minutes on the days you use the phone for phone calls, and are charged .
10 cent per minute for any other calls.
I also opted to add the $20.
00 texting plan, which includes unlimited texts for a month to any other cell phone user.
Here is where Verizon needs to be more specific in their terms and agreements.
Verizon specifies that instant messages, as in Yahoo and MSN, are also included in the unlimited text plan.
The misleading aspect to this for me was that the Samsung Smooth was listed as being chat capable.
To me this meant being able to use Yahoo instant messenger, but I found out it meant that you could "chat" via text messaging or by using the phones web browser which costs an additional .
99 cent a day to use on pre-paid.
Verizon does sell at least one pre-paid phone that is capable of using IM services to my knowledge and that is the Blitz.
My ENV 2 has the IM feature, but when I tried to access it I was told the service was unavailable to pre-paid customers.
When I contacted Verizon via email on their website, I was informed that the ENV 2 uses IM 3.
0 and it is not usable by pre-paid customers.
I am not sure what version is at this point if the Blitz is capable of using this feature.
One thing to note though is that you are not charged a daily access fee to text if you opt for either of the texting plans offered by Verizon.
You also will have access to the text feature and ability to send text messages for the entire month you have paid for the service, even if your account balance drops to zero and you can no longer make a call.
This was a huge plus in my decision to include the text plan on my pre-paid phone.
If you do not opt for one of the text plans you are charged a per text charge which is dependent upon which plan you choose.
You are still not charged the daily usage fee to text, merely the per text charge.
With all things said and done I would still recommend anyone try the Samsung Smooth phone with Verizon pre-paid.
I feel as though what happened with mine was a fluke, being not only the two people I mentioned before having no issues, but also one other person that purchased the phone after me having no issues.
I do not think you can find a better deal out there as far as price when it comes to a camera phone.
Also, if you do have issues you should be able to take your phone to any Verizon retail store and get satisfactory results in fixing your problems.
Verizon may not be the cheapest service, but they make up for it in reliability in coverage and customer service in my opinion.
I did so after a lot of research on pre-paid wireless plans and knowing two other people that had purchased this same phone prior to me.
This review will look at two things.
First I will tell of my experience with the actual phone itself, and then I will discuss the Verizon pre-paid service.
I chose the Samsung Smooth for two basic reasons.
One was the price.
I was able to purchase the cell phone for just over $20.
00 at Wal-Mart.
After researching other pre-paid cell phone prices, none of them I found were as cheap as the Smooth.
The second reason was because I knew two people that had also recently purchased the Smooth.
They did not report any issues to me with the phone, so with that and the price I decided to buy it.
My first impression of the phone itself was not too bad.
I liked the fact that it included a camera and the construction, although seemingly cheap, seems to be fairly durable.
The camera itself takes a fairly decent picture.
I was pleasantly surprised with this aspect for a phone that costs so little.
On the downside, the phone does not have many bells and whistles beyond the camera.
But that should be expected for a phone at this price.
Overall the phone initially seemed to be a great deal for what you pay.
The reception was not as good as I got on other Verizon phones I had in the past as a contract customer, but Verizon states that you are not using all the towers they have available like a contract customer either.
The phone also comes with a $10.
00 account credit that is added to the account upon sign up.
So you do not necessarily have to purchase any other minutes to use the phone right away.
After having the phone for a little less than a week I ran into a huge problem.
As I went to respond to a text message, the phone reset itself.
When the phone came back on it was completely in Spanish.
I attempted to reset the language feature on the phone, but was denied access to do so.
I then attempted to reset the phone to factory settings, but once again was denied access.
It was then that I attempted to call Verizon customer service and found that I was unable to even make a phone call.
I thought for a minute and then attempted to send a text message, but once again the phone failed to operate properly and failed to send.
I finally got another phone to call Verizon customer service on and was told to take my phone to the local Verizon store and let them attempt to reset it there.
I did so, but the courteous workers at Verizon were unable to reset it as well.
The lady that was assisting me then promptly began doing the necessary registration to have a new Samsung Smooth sent to my house by two day Fed-Ex.
I will say that neither of the two people that I know have had any issues with their phones.
As for the Verizon pre-paid service I have been satisfied with it thus far.
As I already stated they quickly took care of my problem with my cell phone with no fuss.
The set up online of my account was fast and easy.
You can access all the different aspects of your account online and easily make changes to your plan and add minutes either by a pre-paid card or by credit card.
You can also change the phone you are using by simply entering in a new EIN number online.
I did this with an old Verizon phone I had from when I used them as a contract customer.
I am not sure if it will accept any and every type of Verizon phone, but it did an ENV 2.
After entering the EIN number and submitting online, I merely had to dial *228 and then program and update my roaming capabilities on the phone itself and I once again was in business.
The plan I opted for was the Core Plan which charges you a .
99 cent daily usage fee.
By calling anyone or accepting an incoming call you are charged the .
99 cent fee and it will automatically be deducted from your account balance.
On the days you do not use the phone you are charged nothing.
With the Core Plan you have unlimited Verizon mobile to mobile minutes on the days you use the phone for phone calls, and are charged .
10 cent per minute for any other calls.
I also opted to add the $20.
00 texting plan, which includes unlimited texts for a month to any other cell phone user.
Here is where Verizon needs to be more specific in their terms and agreements.
Verizon specifies that instant messages, as in Yahoo and MSN, are also included in the unlimited text plan.
The misleading aspect to this for me was that the Samsung Smooth was listed as being chat capable.
To me this meant being able to use Yahoo instant messenger, but I found out it meant that you could "chat" via text messaging or by using the phones web browser which costs an additional .
99 cent a day to use on pre-paid.
Verizon does sell at least one pre-paid phone that is capable of using IM services to my knowledge and that is the Blitz.
My ENV 2 has the IM feature, but when I tried to access it I was told the service was unavailable to pre-paid customers.
When I contacted Verizon via email on their website, I was informed that the ENV 2 uses IM 3.
0 and it is not usable by pre-paid customers.
I am not sure what version is at this point if the Blitz is capable of using this feature.
One thing to note though is that you are not charged a daily access fee to text if you opt for either of the texting plans offered by Verizon.
You also will have access to the text feature and ability to send text messages for the entire month you have paid for the service, even if your account balance drops to zero and you can no longer make a call.
This was a huge plus in my decision to include the text plan on my pre-paid phone.
If you do not opt for one of the text plans you are charged a per text charge which is dependent upon which plan you choose.
You are still not charged the daily usage fee to text, merely the per text charge.
With all things said and done I would still recommend anyone try the Samsung Smooth phone with Verizon pre-paid.
I feel as though what happened with mine was a fluke, being not only the two people I mentioned before having no issues, but also one other person that purchased the phone after me having no issues.
I do not think you can find a better deal out there as far as price when it comes to a camera phone.
Also, if you do have issues you should be able to take your phone to any Verizon retail store and get satisfactory results in fixing your problems.
Verizon may not be the cheapest service, but they make up for it in reliability in coverage and customer service in my opinion.
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