Samsung SGH-T619 User Reviews

This is the phone I renewed my tmobile contract for. BIG MISTAKE! This phone worked fine when my mom had it for first 8 months. As soon as I get it I start having the exact same problems, can not send text messages, dropped calls like crazy! I called tmobile and they pretend like they have no idea what could be wrong with the phone. I have always had samsung and not had problems. This phone is such a piece of junk! Been with the company for 9 years and all they say they can do is offer me another 2 year contract. No thanks, as this contract is done I am switching. What happened to customer loyalty? I guess I will attempt to clean the connectors as I wait for another phone to arrive. 

I've been with T-Mobile for nine years and this is the first problem I've had with them. Unfortunately, it's a big one. This phone is defective. Samsung knows it, and so does T-Mobile. I am eighteen months into a two-year contract with them and sick to death of losing calls. Since T-Mobile will not back-up their products, I'm backing out. I am throwing this piece of s#@t T619 into the garbage, buying an unlocked phone, and waiting out my contract. Good bye, T-Mobile! Hello, AT&T!

I also have had problems with the poor signal after a while... on two different Samsung SGH-T619s. The post about the antenna pickups helped me fix one of them. Thanks! I opened up the phone and found that the connection was filthy. I cleaned it with the eraser on the end of a pencil and the phone works again. The problem persists on the other phone, though, even after I opened it up, cleaned the connectors, and put a bit of paper under the pickups to ensure they make good contact with the antenna. For anybody else attempting to open the back of this phone: Unscrew the screws, pinch the black section of the sides to release side tabs that hold the back in place, then lift and push from the end where the charger attaches, sliding the back toward the hinge end. I broke a few of the plastic tabs on the first phone before I figured out how it all fit together. I did a much nicer job with the second phone.

For those of you having problems with poor signal after a while -- I think the problem is with the two gold contacts on the circuit board that connect to the antenna.  They are on the upper left hand corner of the board if you are viewing it from the back.  They are flexible and supported by two small foam blocks.  Over time, they get pressed down and result in poor contact with the antenna.  There are two ways to fix it:  1) Try to tighten the screws as a previous reviewer mentioned.  This may indirectly force the contacts and antenna back together.  2) take apart the phone and gently pry the contacts back up.  You can also insert a slim piece of non-conductive material between them and the foam blocks for a more permanent fix.

I too have experienced all the issues stated in this forum regarding the SGH-T619. For those of us that were taken advantage of by T-Mobile & Samsung it is now time that we stand up & make our voices heard. The only way to prevent them from giving you the run around is escalating this to a higher level, litigation. No one within these corporations wants to take responsibility for this defective product, yet they still seek to rob us blind every month with bills for service we cannot even use.

I strongly encourage everyone on this forum to join in & participate in a class action lawsuit against the stated offenders, T-Mobile & Samsung.

Demand Samsung purchase back there defective products, threaten arbitration against T-Mobile who try’s to prevent you from canceling your contract. Even if you lose your case T-Mobile will still need to fork over hundreds just to arrange a third party arbitration settlement case. These company are not holding up there end of our business relationships, don't be afraid to make all terms void and humiliate these companies.

Customer satisfaction is not the business priority of T-Mobile & Samsung. T-Mobile & Samsung will not begin to settle with us until we start to hit them where it hurts, in their pocketbooks!

I bought this phone when my other one got wet. I love samsung and thought the samsung t619 would be a good buy. I was wrong, about a month or two after I got it I started having problems. First text messages werent sending when I had full signal, or phone calls wouldnt connect, or it would even disconnect calls. I also had problems with it turning on and off on me. Finally I called my service provider and after about a month of doing stupid troubleshooting, which seemed everytime I would start it that it worked fine til I got off the phone with them, Then finally they sent me another phone. Again the same problem, I even had to replace the sims card to see if that was the problem, soon people were telling me they would try to call and straight to voicemail when I had signal and was not on the phone. So again called the network, and again another phone. Everytime I call they say there are no problems with the phone but I am on my 3rd one in a YEAR! Something is wrong with it when its the same problem everytime! So I am getting a new one since they wont replace it again. The worst phone I have ever bought!

The T619 was quickly dropped by T-Mobile and I got stuck with one of these junkers. T-Mobile sent me two replacements and those were junkers too. Such a shame that another big name company like Samsung bites the dust and starts scamming folks with such garbage. The problems I had because this phone simply did not work a lot of the time was a real nightmare!

Pros:
Compact, has lots of features. (Same as a LOT of other phones.)

Cons:

No mater how it's set, it rings on volume level one which almost cannot be heard. (T-Mobile and Samsung both admit it is defective.) I used this phone for 8 months on vibrate only because that was the only way I knew someone was calling.

Simply won't work and hook into many towers after a while.

Drops calls constantly, and that's IF it works at all.

Eventually refuses to work at all.

My opinion: I can't take a chance with another Samsung product, especially if it's used for business or an emergency. As far as I'm concerned, Samsung phones are a nightmare and I don't care if another model is better. I won't be stupid enough to try another one, so Samsung can go to hell with their scams and junk.

I too had the same, "Retry?" "Network Failed" "Call dropped" problem, and after reading the post stating that screwing in the screws in the back of the phone, i gave it a desperate try.
well, as soon as i turned it back on,
i recieved 5 messages from last night and this morning
and a notification saying that i had 6 missed calls.
hopefully it'll stay in this condition,
because it really is a great phone,

give it a try!

I too have had nothing but problems with this phone. I try and call out and it will not connect, I replaced sim card and the phone itself and problem solved for only three months now new phone, new sim card and same old problem... my daughter has a samsung but different model and she has NEVER had a problem.. stay away from this phone....

I, like other reviewers, liked the phone until it started dropping calls and refusing to send text messages. I had one for about four months that started doing this, swapped my SIM card into an old nokia, was able to call and text fine. Called TMobile, they sent me a new Samsung t619, two months later, same problems. Shutting off the phone and turning it back on allows to send one or two text messages before it exhibits the same problems again. Still have yet to see if tightening the screws will help. Poorly constructed/programmed phone in my opinion. Very frustrating. I personally will be avoiding samsung phones in the future.

When I renewed my contract with T-mobile this is the phone they recommended. I will say that it is a nice clam shell phone and easily fits in your pocket.

That is about the only good thing I can say about this phone. Since switching to this phone I have started to drop 1 out of 4 phone calls. When I am not dropping phone calls, my calls are in and out and difficult to hear. The overall sound quality is poor and often comes off sounding very digital.

I would also like to point out that my phone is dropping calls while telling me that I have full signal strength. If you value you phone time do not use this phone.

Thanks for that suggestion. After not being able to send out any calls for the last couple of hours, I tried tightening the screws and was able to send one. Not sure how much longer this will last, but I seem to have gotten some instant results. So, thanks!!

I had this phone for 10months before it started acting up, text messages not sending, calls dropping, unable to hang up, during a call the end party could not hear me unless i put it on speakerphone, many many MANY headaches, it was unfortunate because I loved the phone before it started doing this...I called tmobile many times they flashed the phone etc...said they were having problems, etc.. I took the back cover off battery and used a screwdriver to tighten the tiny screws holding the phone together, ever since I tightend them, everything works fine. I am curious to see if anyone else solves this problem the way I have.

matt mchugh
q2mobile@gmail.com

i am also wasting money every month, paying for bad service. same problems as above- dropped calls, inability to make or receive calls and text messages. these problems were not present when i first purchased this phone but have conveniently appeared after the warranty expired.

it is extremely frustrating. and after reading other comments, resolution through tmobile or samsung does not look promising.

I have T-Mobile family plan and two T619. My phone gives me lot of headaches and other works fine. My phone has all the symptons mentioned in above emails (call failed, call ended... etc). I made several calls to T-Mobile service/tech center. They alwas do the same routine to solve the problem. But it fails. T-Mob wants me to buy a new phone and renew my contract for another two years or buy brand new phone for full price and keep the current contract (I have one more year).

Then, I called Samsung tech center. Their told me the proble was with the phone software. It does not register the network. I believe that. When I re-register the T-mobile network, it works for few minutes and loose the connection. Samsung told me tell T-Mobile to do the following:
T-Mobile has to flsh-out the software and reload. But, T-Mobile did not want to do it or did not know how to do it. The techies were did not know what to do. I went to a T-mobile owned shop and asked them about this but they have no clue. Byh the way they changed my SIm but the problem persist. My sim works beautifully on the other phone.

We need to file a case against both companies, T-Mobile and the Samsung. The phone and the services do not meet the customer requirements and satisfaction. I lost money due to phone failure. I cannot reach my agents while I am on the road.

What do you think and suggest?
(T-Mob and SS)e companies see this WEB site?

I am very unhappy and agry with T-Mobile the way they try to avoid the problem and make money for themselves.

Camera is great for snapshots. Voice quality is excellent. Signal strength is solid. Solid UI that is quick and responsive. Despite all these qualities the phone is a horrible value. My 4 month old warranty replacement broke with the same symptoms mentioned above and died just like my original t619 that worked for 8 months. Phone won't connect to the network, receive incoming calls, send or receive text messages. It took 4hours on the phone with t-mo over 10 business days before they believed the phone was broken. If I swap the SIM to any other t-mo phone I have no problems. t-mo said it was a network problem or a phone software problem that could be fixed by resetting. I believe this is a defective model that should be recalled. My iPods last 3-4 years, car stereos 7 years, PC's for 7+ years, my dad's Siemens phone was a hand me down from his mom and is 5 years old. Don't purchase this phone, it is buggy and will stop working in under one year. I am 1 month past my 1 year warranty and don't expect t-mobile to provide any support. It will be a deal breaker if they don't stand behind their products, shame since their billing and rates are great in my area.

I have the same problems as most other people above me who have commented. Call failed, dropped calls, no network, cannot accept calls etc,. T-Mobile did switch a SIM card for me for free and that helped for a couple days. I'm now charging the phone without the SIM card in it and it seems to help. Has anyone had any luck going after the manufacturer Samsung??

I had same issues as authors of # 9, 10, 15 . It end the call abruptly or fails. Also, I cannot re3cieve the calls. T-Mobile is going round and round. They have no clue of the problem. My conclusion is, this phone is a lemon. I asked them to replace the phone. But, they want to change the sim card free of charge. I will only make one more call to them and unless they give me a new phone. I will cancel my contract (without having to pay the cancellation fee). I am not satisfied with their resolution and services.

I have had this phone for about seven months now and all of sudden the phone does not want to work correctly. To start off I did not drop it or submerge it in water or get it wet. I will have a full signal and the phone will either not allow me to text, make a call, or lock up. The most frustrating part is that you will be talking to someone and then it just cuts off and locks up. I'm so tired of this cell phone and need to get a new one. I'm calling Samsung as well because my girlfriend has the same phone as mine and her's is doing the same exact thing and we purchase the phones at the same time. Random lemon maybe but two phones at the same time failing?? This is an obvious flaw in the phone and Samsung and T-Mobile need to do something for their customers or I'll just boycott all Samsung products. Please email me if you have any suggestions at davidvo@shsu.edu. Thanks.

I got this "call failed" problem too. Worked fine until ~ 1month ago when it perpetually says call failed when I try to call.
I talked to Tmobile today, I will see if they can fix it remotely.
Sucks to be paying for service and your phone does not work.

*** having issues call SAMSUNG directly @ 888-987-4357 ***
Within the past 14months I have been through 3 of the T619's and did i mention the 3rd is failing now?@! All three phones have the same problem... random locking up when attempting to get into text messages... once it locks up it then automatically powers off and occassionally vibrates for about a minute straight and then automatically powers off. Once it starts locking up that is that... that feature is done for good! I have had other issues too... like having bars and not being able to make a call, not being able to send a text "retry?" over and over, you name it I experienced it. T-mobile seemed confused and could not resolve the issues so with my warranty up I have moved on to Samsung directly. Hopefully the will make good for their product although they claim to not have any reports of issues with this phone... so unless t-mobile is not relaying the issues to the manufacturer....samsung is not being honest. If this is an on going known problem they should do a product recall!!

If you have an iPod and Digital Camera then this is good if you don't need those features and only need calling, texting, and communicating. It takes decent pictures and the design is a basic flip phone. I recently moved to Cricket, but while I had this phone it was alright. It is free with service, so why complain?

Overall the phone is great: when it works. Like others, I have had the same problem. It just stops consistently working for no reason after a few months of use. Does anyone know if T-mobile has a replacement plan for it? I've taken it to get replaced under warranty several times, but the reps are "baffled" and "aren't aware" of any large scale problems. Now my warranty is gone and I do not want to pay for another phone when this one inevitably freaks out. . . . ..
Any suggestions?

I have the same exact issue with not being able to send texts or make calls. I haven't been able to find out anything else about it and thought I might be the only one because T-mobile always seems baffled and they run me through phone resets, etc. I have had it replaced twice and always end up with the same problem like it can't find the network for some reason causing me to miss calls, texts, etc. Love the phone but a phone's no good if you can't use it to communicate.

I purchased two of these phones from t-mobile back in early January, on recomendations from my brother. We needed a phone that could take pictures and this little baby was perfect. Small, thin and it could take pictures. The phone worked great, until about mid may of this year (2007). Then my phone, my girlfriends phone, and my brothers phone all started to act up. We could not, and still can't, send messages right away. I end up hitting retry over and over and over. Sometimes it takes five minutes to go through. When I go to call somebody it attempts to make a call but it never goes through. My phone will then say, Call Ended, Call Failed, Network Busy, Not Allowed among other things, this is when I go to make a call. When I go to receive a call and I hit the accept button it does not answer, I could hit the button 15 times but it will not answer. It will then say Call Ended or Call Failed. The best is when you look at the screen and you have six bars and then all of a sudden it states no network available and you still have the six bars.
I took my sim out of this samsung and put it back into my old samsung and all of these problems went away. I don't know if it's a phone issue or if it's an issue with the tmobile network and this samsung phone. All I know is that I, my girlfriend and my brother all have the same phone and we are all having the same problem.