Barnes and Noble introduces the NOOK
- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 82 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"A phone that does what it's DESIGNED to do."
Pros: Rugged, Signal Strength, Looks, Desktop Charger, SIZE
Cons: Silver Keypad, Keypad Back-lighting, Battery Life, Small LCD
Summary: I ordered this phone being fairly confident with Casio's products. After making an order for the cellular phone over the phone with Verizon as a replacement for my BlackBerry I read some reviews on the Gzone Boulder. Practically all of them were negative. My normal response was to think great, now I'm going to have to deal with getting my phone swapped out without even getting it yet. Even worst was that I usually check into something before buying it, but I wasn't due for an upgrade but got one anyways for being a VIP customer and being with Verizon over the Last 8 years; I was put on the spot for a one time opportunity. Well here's the verdict... I got the phone and it works great. It sounds a little muffled, but that's normal with water resistant phones because all the ports have to be sealed off. The muffled sound isn't bad though and only affects call quality slightly; I can hear over the phone without a problem. I've had worst phones without being to military standard. I can't understand why so many people would bash a good product that does exactly what it's made to do without taking into consideration design limitations or affects to the sound because of design, seems like common sense.
Pros. I live out in the boonies and tend to have trouble getting a good signal, I haven't had any problems with this phone yet. I figured with it being a fairly standard flip phone that I needn't have such high expectations, but they were more than exceeded. The phone is also physically solid and fits in the grove of the shoulder well. The desktop charger is ingenious sense you don't want to be opening closing ports on the phone too much. After time they would wear out (as on any water-proofed product), but that was taken into consideration; props to Casio for longevity. The best part of this rugged beast is that it is a slim phone for being rugged and fits in the front pocket well. I've had a few nextels and never had the experience of having durability and confort of being able to fit it in my pocket like a regular phone.
Cons. I don't care for the silver keypad. The silver makes it difficult during evening hours to see with overhead lighting because the finish is reflective. The back light is also orange. One of my old phones used plain white lighting for the keypad back lighting and that seems to be most friendly on the eyes in dark conditions. The battery is good for 1-2 days of light use. As long as you charge it nightly u should be fine. If not get an extended battery. My last critique is the display. It's very small and makes it difficult to read text when browsing the web.
Overall I'm overly satisfied with this aesthetically pleasing phone and can see it hanging around for a long time. Hope this review helps. Take care.
- 1 reply to this review
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I wonder if using a blue tooth earpiece would help sound quality. Could you give it a try and review?
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