I definitely have a love/hate relationship with this phone. While contemplating what to write in this review I realized I probably like it more than I thought I did. But, I still don't really like it much.
The reason is that I didn't buy it because I fell in love with it, I bought it because I had just purchased an iPAQ which uses Bluetooth technology and this was the only phone I could find that had Bluetooth. I was using a nifty Motorola phone that I adored before purchasing this phone so of course I hated everything about this phone when I first got it!
But being objective and with the passage of time I've come to like a few things about it.
First, the things I don't like:
I still hate the software it runs. The menu system is so clunky and hard to navigate around in. I still dream of the day when Motorola with its fine menu system will make a Bluetooth phone. For instance, to this day I have never been able to figure out the Redial function. It's really strange and very confusing. You press Yes to redial a number. However, it seems that every number that ever interacted with the phone comes up when you press Yes. In other words, not only do the numbers I've dialed get displayed, but the numbers of people who have called me also get displayed! How can you "re"dial a number you haven't dialed yet!? A redial list should only display the numbers I've dialed. The incoming calls should be displayed somewhere else. Anyway, it gets very confusing. I see this whole list of numbers - half of which I recognize as being dialed by me and the other half are people who called me!
Another annoying and very strange thing is that if someone calls me and I answer the call and then later want to go back and find their number, it's very confusing to do. Because again, the numbers I've called and the numbers that have called me are all mixed up together!
The Call Info menu has Missed Calls and Call List. Missed Calls only shows the calls you missed - it doesn't show the ones you answered - hence the name - Missed Calls. Call List shows ALL calls - ones you've made as well as ones you've received. It makes it very difficult at times to find the number you're looking for with them all mixed in together like that. It would be much better if there were just two lists - one for all incoming calls and another for all outgoing calls. The only differentiation this phone makes between phone calls is between missed calls and all other calls, whether incoming or outgoing.
The buttons are tiresome as well. They're tiny, hard to see in the dark and they don't always work well. The pound # button stopped working a couple of months after I got the phone. It now works intermittently if I press it really hard.
I still haven't exactly figured out how to turn the phone on. I guess I could read the manual, but turning a phone on should be the one thing you don't have to read the manual to figure out how to do! The Motorola had a PWR button. Just press it and it comes on. This phone you have to press NO to turn it on! And NO to turn it off. But the amount of time you have to hold it down I've never quite figured out. You'd think 5 seconds would do it, but it doesn't seem to. So I usually end up holding it down for what I estimate is 10 seconds and hope for the best. Sometimes it comes on, sometimes it doesn't. So I try again and hold it down longer the next time.
What I do like and the reason I keep it is for Bluetooth. I haven't yet been able to find any other phone that offers Bluetooth, so I'm kind of forced to keep it for now.
I needed the Bluetooth technology because I had just purchased an iPAQ (you can read my review on that at: http://www.epinions.com/content_106626256516). With Bluetooth I can initiate a call from the iPAQ through the cell phone to any ISP and connect to the internet. That's why I originally got the phone.
Then I discovered Bluetooth headsets and am absolutely in love with that! It is so convenient to put this headset on, leave the phone in my pocket and when it rings, just answer it with the button on the headset. So the reason I keep the phone is because I rarely have to look at it and it's clunky menu system! Amazingly, people can hear me fine when I use the headset and I can hear them fine also. Being able to have a headset with no wires is an awesome convenience. I just put the phone in my pocket, the headset on my ear and when it rings, I don't have to fumble around to find the phone or detangle wires, I just press the button on the headset, wait for the beep and then start talking.
The SIM card functionality is good too. Because you can take the little card out and put it into any other phone that has that feature and change phones just like that. You have the same phone number and account regardless of which phone you use.
The other nice feature is that it's very slim and very light. I can put it in my pocket all day and never know it's there. However, fatter phones usually come with belt clips that seem to work pretty well and I'd rather have that so I could free up my pocket space. I wasn't able to find a belt clip for this phone, it seems to run a little low on accessories. Speaking of accessories - how's this for strange? It doesn't come with its own Bluetooth headset! I would think that would be its primary reason for having Bluetooth. But I had to go to a different store to find a Bluetooth headset for it. The store I bought the phone from wasn't even sure what Bluetooth was!
The battery lasts for as long as I've ever been able to use it before recharging. I can't say for sure how long, but seems like 3-4 hours of talk time. The Bluetooth headset can go for about 2 hours of talk time.
My final recommendation is that because of the very strangely designed and very confusing menu system that seems to be something out of the 1950's, that if you don't have a specific reason for having this phone, like its Bluetooth capability, I wouldn't advise getting it. If you're American, you'll feel like this phone is speaking Swedish!
The minute Motorola, or anybody else for that matter, offers Bluetooth - I'm outta here!
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