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"Missed key details on every single function" on by pkteison
Pros: Beautiful display
Cons: The major functions that this device tries to do, it fails in some critically important way. It seems so close to being a fantastic phone, but the execution is critically flawed.
Summary: Phone is critically flawed: It only rings about half the time, even with full battery and signal bars. There is no audible or vibrating indication of a missed call, so you have to take it out and check it every few hours to be sure you aren't neglecting your friends. This from a phone that is supposed to be all about being social?
Messaging drops characters if you type fast, EVERY single message I write loses characters, so I can't type a message without reviewing the whole thing before I hit send.
Web browser doesn't display some photos right and can't scroll right if stuff is off the screen - facebook photo album, flickr, and picasaweb all don't work. They work ok in Opera Mini, if you can get it installed - the phone randomly reboots when trying to install Opera Mini, keep trying eventually it will work took me a dozen reboots, but you can't install signed apps so you can't do things like give the browser permission to save files to the filesystem.
In short, it does a poor job at the things it is supposed to do. It comes so close, and falls just enough short that it ruins the experience. -
"Great phone, NOT a smartphone" on by joedemartino
Pros: Size, style, full keyboard, vibrant screen, lots of USEFUL features
Cons: Not a smartphone, so not for heavy internet use
Summary: I was looking for a quality phone to be used for talking and texting, and this one hits the mark. The style and size are unique, giving it a "cool factor". Now that everyone has a touchscreen phone, this one is actually different than what everyone else has.
The phone is excellent for talking and texting. It has a good camera. It has a vibrant and big screen.
It is not great for internet, it only supports mobile type sites. But I don't use the internet on my phone except for the RARE occasion where I must look up a score or something and there is no other option. It does that just fine.
There are lots of settings and features with this phone.
A previous review stated that the phone rings only half the time. This is not true. When you receive a call or more often a text, the phone rings briefly, and then shows an alert.
The thing is it is very brief (1 or 2 secs), then there is no further audio or visual alert. So it is easy to miss the alert. I actually prefer this. It allows me to leave my phone at my desk at work without worrying that the thing is beeping and blinking incessantly like some phones do over and over until you pick them up. I guess it could have a blinking light or something that you could choose to turn on or off if you want, but this is a minor thing in my opinion.
Call quality is excellent as is signal strength, and I live in a very rural area. Not one dropped call to date. I have never "dropped" any characters while texting either, so I guess the guy who said it happened to him must type extremely fast, or he had a dud.
I conclusion, this is a excellent phone for talking and texting, plus it has lots of extras "just in case" Again, it is not a smartphone or Blackberry, so don't expect that. The best thing about this phone is does NOT require any upgraded plan, but you can use it to do pretty much everything. -
"Great non-PDA, with function that keeps up with form." on by MrGadgetman
Pros: Great for texting/emailing/IMing. BIG displays, loud volumes. Good working voice recog. interface. Lots of features and good working camera. Attractive style and pocket-friendly.
Cons: A bit of lag if you hurry it or when switching between aps. No backlight duration setting for keypad..., only for display. No flash. Must have icons on home screen.
Summary: I really like this phone. It has been a while since I got excited about one and this one delivers on great features that actually work good. I gave up a Smartphone PDA because the feature set didn't justify the hassle of the touchscreen and the constant bogging and need to manage apps open so you won't run out of memory. This thing makes having a phone fun again! It supports all the social applications like POP3 email, IM service, and media texting. Great photo quality. Love the big screen and picture ID works great cuz it actually uses the screen area for callers. I hated how other phones were stingy with the space they allocated for the picture ID ringer.
Great tactile feedback on the buttons. The QWERTY has useful buttons that don't require you to hit "shift" or "alt", for example, the '!' and '?' are normal keys. I love that it threads your text conversations like an IM let us not forget the dedicated "TEXT" button too!!
It will bog for a split second if you hurry it between programs or while switching, and at times while texting if you are trying to go really (really) fast. It is possible to outrun the keyboard interface. It is also a bit annoying that you cannot change the QWERTY backlight timeout. You always have to hit a button to get it to light up. Waaah. Personally, I don't like crap on my main screen (just like my hatred for excessive PC desktop icons!) and you have to retain the carousel. You can customize it, but not remove it. In all fairness, it does go transparent. Other than that..., I cannot poke any other holes in this boat to sink it. -
"Metro area dream come true." on by jmpetersen
Pros: Volume! Awesome volume for earpiece and Speakerphone features.
Watching Sprint TV on the external screen with the phone closed, first model I know of with that feature.
Qwerty keyboard, which isn't a big deal anymore.Cons: Inaccurate signal indicator.
NFL game-day radio does not work. Confirmed at Sprintusers.com
Fringe areas drain battery quicklySummary: I've used my phone for about 10 days now. I'm overall pleased, but I would only recommend this phone to people that stay within a strong signal area. I hate the dreaded "Samsung Syndrome" - park your phone somewhere it says it has 1-2 bars of signal, and then try to call it. Almost 80% of my tests on Samsung phones, the call goes to voicemail. Sanyo indicators have always been reliable in my tests. I have tested the Lotus 4 times, and it failed twice, so I would say it's somewhere between a Sanyo and Samsung.
The other small issue is that I can kill the battery in 12 hours by staying in fringe areas, but with very little use (Less than 30 combined minutes of calling/email), so that's why I urge the people to know their signal strengths before purchasing this phone. -
"Great Phone!" on by tammo85
Pros: -Well designed
-Lightweight
-Easy to use
-Big vibrant screens inside and out
-Tons of great featuresCons: -A bit of lag
-Sprint's mobile browser
-Camera doesn't have flashSummary: This phone is really great despite its few flaws. The square shape is unique and the internal and external screens are large and vibrant. It's very easy to use, especially with the full qwerty keyboard. My only complaints are that it lags a bit when switching between applications, Sprints mobile browser is horrible, and the camera doesn't have flash. All in all a great phone!
P.S. I would recommend the Opera Mini mobile web browser; it's much faster and you can view any site, not just mobile ones. Just go to operamini.com on you phone.
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