Sonim XP1 user reviews (yellow, unlocked)

2.0 stars

"TOUGH & DURABLE but with CRAP BATTERIES" on October 26, 2011 by squodgy

Pros: Definitely TOUGH and durable and the positive keyboard for big stumpy working man's fingers is a pleasant change.

Cons: ABSOLUTELY CRAP BATTERIES, both original and the heavily marketed SOCKETMOBILE spares.

Summary: Losing confidence at an accelerating pace.

2.5 stars

"Should have been better" on August 7, 2010 by rm05

Pros: Loud ringer is for me main benefit of this phone. Ringtones functional and not too silly like usual modern nonsense...
Rubber edging and general solidity / chunkiness. Have submersed mine with no problems.

Cons: Screen is NOT scratch proof. Speakerphone is no louder than most other phones and audio poor. Digital RF pulsing noticeable. Earpiece audio sounds thin. Should have used a mono LCD. Battery guage unreliable.

Summary: A bit disapointed by this phone after buying on the strength of some other online reviews who clearly had low standards.

Its good points are for me are its robustness and loud ringer, which can at least be heard when walking along a main road, unlike almost all other modern phones!

However, there are several issues which haven't been thought out well. The screen is merely standard grade plastic and so scratches and chips quite easily, as mine has done with no abuse.

The earpiece audio is thin and not as nice as my other phones. The speakerphone is very poor, distorting at louder volumes (not that it goes very loud), accompanied by a pronounced digital RF pulsing interference like you hear through a nearby FM set. Poorly shielded internals, no doubt.

The LCD color screen is an annoyance since when the phone is locked it means holding down the * key three senconds and then waiting another couple of seconds for a subsequent dialog box to disapear, just so I can read the time, which I want to do often. It's frustrating, since if a mono LCD screen was used instead as on a Nokia 1100 there'd be none of this messing around... It's not like there's a need for color since there's no camera. It's like comparing a crumby old 'press to see the time' early 1970's LED wristwatch with a superior LCD always-on screen in terms of usability. I often think modern phone design has gone backward.

The battery guage has fooled me since I had two bars, yet the phone switched itself off reporting low power.

Despite the shortcomings I will probably stick with this a while longer, mostly because I really do like the loud ringer, which is useful to anyone like me who doesn't work in a quiet environment and saves me missing calls.

3.0 stars

"good phone but needs more" on December 3, 2009 by dmc081

Pros: i test it out many times the screen neva broke or anything else and the battery neva came out wen it falls. the features are very basic, well it's a phone for work not to use as a toy to play games while at work and taking pictures.

Cons: the inside antenna some wat broke i had to send it. scratch resistance? na my screen scratched wen i was working i notice it wen i went to use the phone. loud speaker? yes but only wen ur phone rings but talking on the phone on speaker mode no way.

Summary: good phone for work use only

Updated on Mar 20, 2010

i have notice issues with this phone model very rare times it wont hang up, wont turn on sometimes, it turns off sometimes seems wen it was made it wasn't made correctly to make the battery tightly fit, very slow internet.

another thing is very poor customer support i get no reply on emails, they hardly pick up the phone, very very slow to process your replacement i got mine within about around 3 months the phone is good but u'll be lucky if u want ur phone replaced by sonim another thing is if u buy the phone used that could be a problem because if u buy it used and lets say something happens to it and u wanna replace it they wont replace it if it's under someone elses name when the person have registered the handset to sonim that could be hard to replace u a new phone other than that i don't trust the company the company needs pro training

if u really want to something like this for ur own phone from drops and water for like iphone, blackberry ect. get otterbox case at otterbox.com

2.0 stars

"mediocre phone,BS customer service." on October 20, 2009 by philpark

Pros: Rugged,fairly loud ring

Cons: After 3 months the phone started using fully charged batteries in 18 hours of just standby,no calls made or received.
Hopeless vibrate.Abysmal customer service,3 year guarantee not worth a damn.

Summary: After contacting sonim support,and i use that term lightly,i was given a courier number to return the faulty phone and told i would receive a replacement within 10 working days.I returned the phone which they received in 7 days.2 weeks after they said they had sent the phone i got an email from them saying"due to technical difficulties no replacement had been sent.I asked what technical difficulties mean't that they could,n't send me a phone for 2 weeks,even after they said they had and they replied they are out of stock.***? They said bear with them and they will send a phone on Monday.Monday comes and goes and on Tuesday they send an email saying 'We apologize for the delay, we will ship your replacement as early as possible" ***? what happened to sending it on Monday? absolutely BS customer service.Not only that they sent an email requesting tracking and shipping info on the phone i sent back.When i checked up with the courier,they had received and signed for it 4 days earlier.May as well guarantee it for 10 years with customer service like this.