ArcticW
07-10-2007, 03:06 PM
I love this phone, but it does come with some ' issues'.Before we go into detail about the IC902, let me first describe my background. I began my Sprint experience with the the Sanyo Katana, and since then have changed to a RAZR red, and most recently to the IC902. I also have played with some AT&T devices , including the storied iPhone. Anyways. Now, onto the piece de resistance!(Long Reading!)
Opening the Box:
Not even waiting to get home to open the USPS Priority Package, I open the box to be greeted with an unusually well equipped phone kit. It includes the phone , charger( unusually large compared to my RAZR adapter) , reverse facing belt clip(yay!), battery, user guide, SIM card,stereo headset (with mini-headphone port Woot!), and 128K micro sd.
The phone itself is deceptively beautiful.A photo does not capture how good this phone looks. For those expecting some kind of brick like old school Nextels, go get a hands on look at a local store.Youll be pleasently surprised.
Moto built external music and camera controls thoughtfully into the side of the top flip of the phone.The buttons need a firm push to skip or pause music, but that is a good safety measure to avoid accidental music skipping. They don't activate anything else when the phone is not playing music.The opposite side of the flip houses the micro SD card. At last, no more antics with the battery to install a micro SD card.This phone also has a mini-USB and headset port on opposite sides of the phone so, yes indeed, you can charge the phone and play music simultaneuously.They even have swivel covers over the ports so no grime or dirt gets in . Way to go Moto.
Using the Phone:Sprint must have subcontracted its Hybrid activations to FEMA.After that horrific process was done, I pressed the flip button/status light (very clever) to be rewared with an animated, very sharp QVGA screen. If you have ever seen a Samsung Sync or AT&T Blackberry screen, this phone's screen sharpness is in the same category.Awesome resolution, compared to my RAZR it makes the thinner phone look like some ancient museum piece.The menu looks nothing like that of the RAZR. Same structure, but this time around Moto actually put some elbow grease into making the icons prettier, the menus sharper and easier, and the colors more vibrant.Surfing the web with Opera Mini now looks almost iPhone clear on this device. Its difficult for me to think that the IC902 and the RAZR are made by the same company.
Bluetooth: One of the reasons I bought this phone is for the A2DP bluetooth profile. It has that , and more. While I haven't had the explicit opprotunity to utilize all the bluetooth functions, this phone now has object push and dial up networking, so you can PAM with this device using a bluetooth adapter for PC.
Camera:2.0 MP with flash ,and it shows. The RAZR uses a 1.3 MP shooter, but you'd think it was a VGA from the lame quality of the shots. Video recording is something I rarely use, but judging from the picture resolution I'd say you won't be dissapointed in the video clarity. I WAS about to buy a digital camera ,but who needs one: this phone is perfect for an on-the-moment shot.The LED flash is so bright that you can use it as a flashlight in a pinch:) .
Overall Usability : This is why this phone is awesome. Having a beautiful screen, overall design, and an awesome camera are no doubt good things, but it does no good if the phone itself is a pice of garbage ( ahem ....RAZR...cough ). Compared to my RAZR, in the course of a days useage,heres a side by side comparo:
With my RAZR, if I surfed the web and then decided to play music, it would either throw an error and crash, or simply drop EVDO connection without warning. Want to download a song? Get your fingernails ready .Moto should have made my Razr not with a battery cover, but a hatch:It would be a good day to actually have to reset the phone via battery removal only once in the course of the day.Ususally it was a 3 times daily chore:just as well, as the battery life was so lame that , to play MP3's while at my sales job, I'd have to change batteries halfway through an 8 hour shift to keep my phone on.
Using my IC902 , the battery life on the phone is robust enough to last 8 hours without so much as a bar drop in strenghth. While in that instance I did charge it for 30 minutes while I was on break , it still places this phone light years ahead of the RAZR in battery stamina.It also is SUBSTANTIALLY more stable.The music store, personalized apps, even the EVDO sprint radio works far smoother than I ever could have hoped using my old phone. Even when a bad install of Opera Mini 4 Beta crashed the phone, I could still turn off the phone and restart speedily WITHOUT involving the battery.
Signal Strenghth: The IC picks up a better signal than my RAZR ever did,at my college campus places where my RAZR would show no or one bar the IC get two.I havent put the PTT to the test yet, as my friend who used nextel switched to AT&T , thus depriving me of an iDen field test. So , sorry to dissapoint, but I cant comment on the PTT, as I havent used it yet
The keypad. Nice and big. Puts the RAZR to extreme shame.I can comfortably speed text without fear of errors. ( incidentally, this is a dealbreaker for me with the iPhone.I will never be able to speed type on that phone , due to the touchscreen and lack of tactile feedback.I'd never be able to 'Learn' the keypad to where I could type a text in the dark)
Ringers and Music. LOUD. Mega Loud.It uses two forward stereo speakers facing the front , and man does it use them.In contrast to the RAZR's imitation speaker , the IC902 is quite loud.I have never heard a phone with as loud a speaker as this.Between this phone and the RAZR ( as well as the church-mouse quiet Katana) , you could put both next to each other ,set the IC on level two, and the RAZR on max, and still the Deluxe will drown out the RAZR.
Now , for the ugly news. Java apps for some reason don't run too well.Attempts to install Opera Mini met with failure until I took a chance and installed the lo-memory version. Lo and behold, that worked, but other than google maps, every other java app Ive used on this phone has had problems. NuTsie DOES work on this phone, but the menu has some kind of error, so youll be listening to your iTunes collection on a blank screen .The included stereo headset also tends to slide out of the plug slightly from time to time, but that's about the only honest problem with the phone.
Now, I mentioned 'issues' with this phone. The issues would be related to activating this phone.I got stuck with some clueless reps and ended up without a phone for 2 hours.Because this is an iDen device partially, if the SIM is not registered, the phone will not work, not even *2 is an option with this device. Because the SIM# was not entered in by the activating rep, I was forced to navigate the phone tree and hold system on my POS RAZR for 50 minutes almost to the second before I got a hold of someone to properly activate my phone.Even then , my plan was jacked, so that had to get sorted out to. By the grace of God I had migrated to the new billing system already in anticipation of getting this phone.
All that to say , if you have a grandfathered PCS plan on the old billing system,you might want to reconsider this wonderful phone until Sprint gets their hybrid activation system in better shape.If youre on the PCS side and still want this phone, migrate your plan FIRST, then call in separately to change your equipment.Youll save yourself hours of grief.
And, well , tis all. Its an awesome phone, one that if you can deal with the red tape from Sprint is well worth the money . Its expensive, but the saying goes , you get what you pay for, and in this casy, what you get is well built, thoughtfully designed hardware that will last.Its easily the best clamshell phone from Sprint right now.For those who swore off Moto after the disaster that is the RAZR/KRZR line, your phone has arrived.Thanks for Reading!
Opening the Box:
Not even waiting to get home to open the USPS Priority Package, I open the box to be greeted with an unusually well equipped phone kit. It includes the phone , charger( unusually large compared to my RAZR adapter) , reverse facing belt clip(yay!), battery, user guide, SIM card,stereo headset (with mini-headphone port Woot!), and 128K micro sd.
The phone itself is deceptively beautiful.A photo does not capture how good this phone looks. For those expecting some kind of brick like old school Nextels, go get a hands on look at a local store.Youll be pleasently surprised.
Moto built external music and camera controls thoughtfully into the side of the top flip of the phone.The buttons need a firm push to skip or pause music, but that is a good safety measure to avoid accidental music skipping. They don't activate anything else when the phone is not playing music.The opposite side of the flip houses the micro SD card. At last, no more antics with the battery to install a micro SD card.This phone also has a mini-USB and headset port on opposite sides of the phone so, yes indeed, you can charge the phone and play music simultaneuously.They even have swivel covers over the ports so no grime or dirt gets in . Way to go Moto.
Using the Phone:Sprint must have subcontracted its Hybrid activations to FEMA.After that horrific process was done, I pressed the flip button/status light (very clever) to be rewared with an animated, very sharp QVGA screen. If you have ever seen a Samsung Sync or AT&T Blackberry screen, this phone's screen sharpness is in the same category.Awesome resolution, compared to my RAZR it makes the thinner phone look like some ancient museum piece.The menu looks nothing like that of the RAZR. Same structure, but this time around Moto actually put some elbow grease into making the icons prettier, the menus sharper and easier, and the colors more vibrant.Surfing the web with Opera Mini now looks almost iPhone clear on this device. Its difficult for me to think that the IC902 and the RAZR are made by the same company.
Bluetooth: One of the reasons I bought this phone is for the A2DP bluetooth profile. It has that , and more. While I haven't had the explicit opprotunity to utilize all the bluetooth functions, this phone now has object push and dial up networking, so you can PAM with this device using a bluetooth adapter for PC.
Camera:2.0 MP with flash ,and it shows. The RAZR uses a 1.3 MP shooter, but you'd think it was a VGA from the lame quality of the shots. Video recording is something I rarely use, but judging from the picture resolution I'd say you won't be dissapointed in the video clarity. I WAS about to buy a digital camera ,but who needs one: this phone is perfect for an on-the-moment shot.The LED flash is so bright that you can use it as a flashlight in a pinch:) .
Overall Usability : This is why this phone is awesome. Having a beautiful screen, overall design, and an awesome camera are no doubt good things, but it does no good if the phone itself is a pice of garbage ( ahem ....RAZR...cough ). Compared to my RAZR, in the course of a days useage,heres a side by side comparo:
With my RAZR, if I surfed the web and then decided to play music, it would either throw an error and crash, or simply drop EVDO connection without warning. Want to download a song? Get your fingernails ready .Moto should have made my Razr not with a battery cover, but a hatch:It would be a good day to actually have to reset the phone via battery removal only once in the course of the day.Ususally it was a 3 times daily chore:just as well, as the battery life was so lame that , to play MP3's while at my sales job, I'd have to change batteries halfway through an 8 hour shift to keep my phone on.
Using my IC902 , the battery life on the phone is robust enough to last 8 hours without so much as a bar drop in strenghth. While in that instance I did charge it for 30 minutes while I was on break , it still places this phone light years ahead of the RAZR in battery stamina.It also is SUBSTANTIALLY more stable.The music store, personalized apps, even the EVDO sprint radio works far smoother than I ever could have hoped using my old phone. Even when a bad install of Opera Mini 4 Beta crashed the phone, I could still turn off the phone and restart speedily WITHOUT involving the battery.
Signal Strenghth: The IC picks up a better signal than my RAZR ever did,at my college campus places where my RAZR would show no or one bar the IC get two.I havent put the PTT to the test yet, as my friend who used nextel switched to AT&T , thus depriving me of an iDen field test. So , sorry to dissapoint, but I cant comment on the PTT, as I havent used it yet
The keypad. Nice and big. Puts the RAZR to extreme shame.I can comfortably speed text without fear of errors. ( incidentally, this is a dealbreaker for me with the iPhone.I will never be able to speed type on that phone , due to the touchscreen and lack of tactile feedback.I'd never be able to 'Learn' the keypad to where I could type a text in the dark)
Ringers and Music. LOUD. Mega Loud.It uses two forward stereo speakers facing the front , and man does it use them.In contrast to the RAZR's imitation speaker , the IC902 is quite loud.I have never heard a phone with as loud a speaker as this.Between this phone and the RAZR ( as well as the church-mouse quiet Katana) , you could put both next to each other ,set the IC on level two, and the RAZR on max, and still the Deluxe will drown out the RAZR.
Now , for the ugly news. Java apps for some reason don't run too well.Attempts to install Opera Mini met with failure until I took a chance and installed the lo-memory version. Lo and behold, that worked, but other than google maps, every other java app Ive used on this phone has had problems. NuTsie DOES work on this phone, but the menu has some kind of error, so youll be listening to your iTunes collection on a blank screen .The included stereo headset also tends to slide out of the plug slightly from time to time, but that's about the only honest problem with the phone.
Now, I mentioned 'issues' with this phone. The issues would be related to activating this phone.I got stuck with some clueless reps and ended up without a phone for 2 hours.Because this is an iDen device partially, if the SIM is not registered, the phone will not work, not even *2 is an option with this device. Because the SIM# was not entered in by the activating rep, I was forced to navigate the phone tree and hold system on my POS RAZR for 50 minutes almost to the second before I got a hold of someone to properly activate my phone.Even then , my plan was jacked, so that had to get sorted out to. By the grace of God I had migrated to the new billing system already in anticipation of getting this phone.
All that to say , if you have a grandfathered PCS plan on the old billing system,you might want to reconsider this wonderful phone until Sprint gets their hybrid activation system in better shape.If youre on the PCS side and still want this phone, migrate your plan FIRST, then call in separately to change your equipment.Youll save yourself hours of grief.
And, well , tis all. Its an awesome phone, one that if you can deal with the red tape from Sprint is well worth the money . Its expensive, but the saying goes , you get what you pay for, and in this casy, what you get is well built, thoughtfully designed hardware that will last.Its easily the best clamshell phone from Sprint right now.For those who swore off Moto after the disaster that is the RAZR/KRZR line, your phone has arrived.Thanks for Reading!