Samsung M520

I first got this phone as a replacement when my LG Muziq broke. I was considering the M520 before getting the Muziq, simply due to the fact that both phones had an MP3 player and supported the Pandora application.

At first, I had problems getting the Pandora app to even connect on the M520. I tried to start up the program every few hours, but it still wouldn't log in. I tried uninstalling it and then reinstalling it, but still no go. I checked to see if the firmware on the phone needed updating, but no updates were available. I took the phone back to Sprint, where I was told they would essentially refresh my connection to the network and that Pandora would run in a few hours. The good news is that Pandora worked, the bad news is the headphones would not.

I noticed, that whenever I run an application like Pandora or any games on the phone or if I am trying to view a video online, the cable which the headphones plug into needs to be just slightly plugged into the jack in order for the sound to come in at full volume and in stereo. That only defeats the purpose of using the headphones as the sound then comes out of the speaker as well and the cable keeps slipping out of the jack.

I wondered if maybe this was happening due to the fact that I was using a somewhat jumbled mess to connect my headphones. I didn't have a pair of headphones with the correct size jack, so I was using another cable to connect the headphones to the cable to the phone. I tried buying a pair of headphones with the smaller jack to plug directly into the cable, but that still didn't work.

Naturally, I figured the problem was with the application, I made sure I tried switching between using the ringer volume and the separate volume for applications to see if there was a difference. Neither choice helped and to make it even more frustrating, if I were to use the actual music player on the phone, the sound was perfect while the cable was fully plugged in.

I took the phone back to Sprint, explained the situation, and was given a new cable to try out. Still, the same problem happened. If using an application, I have to have the cable barely in, if using the music player, I have to have the cable all the way in.

I took the phone back a third time, they tried refreshing my network again, but it didn't help. I went back one more time and was given a replacement M520.

I have had the phone only four days and it already has a new issue. It still has the same issue with the cable, leading me to think there is a serious design flaw with the charging cable and headphones sharing the same port, but for some reason the speaker volume for all ringers doesn't even work.

The little beep that occurs when you check an empty text message inbox comes through, but the ringers do not.

I am going to have to go back a fifth time to have Sprint just take this crap phone off my hands for good and hopefully let me change to a completely different phone.

I just hope I am not the only one who has had this issue, because if I am I have terrible luck.