Domain
09-08-2007, 09:22 PM
I've had this phone a couple of days now, and have just a few thoughs on it:
BUILD QUALITY: Better than Moto has ever done. I'm very much impressed. The phone feels completely solid and I have no worries about it taking a minor drop or so.
BUILD QUALITY RATING: 5/5
PERFORMANCE, Voice: Stellar. Clearer than my vx8600. Lack of crystal talk is not an issue. Not the super duper ultra best, but still quite good.
PERFORMANCE, Voice Rating: 4.5/5
PERFORMANCE, SMS: Someone is sleeping at the switch. Although usable, prediction lags a bit and you can't correct a word that was incorrectly predicted if you've already spaced to the next word, without retyping the original word. This was annoying. Also, the SMS composer only allows you to see two lines of your text. That was also annoying. Still usable, but laggy, and not user oriented.
Also, I can't reply from the front screen, and it just shows the original message without "message from..". I like that privacy.
PERFORMANCE, SMS Rating: 3.5/5
PERFORMANCE, Data: Not bad. WAP browser has caused the browser to restart twice on me. Go figure. Data roams quite well on verizon and Sprint TV, when it does work, streams smoothly.
PERFORMANCE, Data: 4/5
PERFORMANCE, General RF: Good, I've had better reception than my prior Verizon phones, that usually hovered on the 800 MHz where Sprint is 1900, PCS obviously.
When roaming on Verizon, solid 6 bar reception. Sprint fluxuates, but I chalk that up to 1900's PCS penetration.
PERFORMANCE, General RF Rating: 5/5
BATTERY: So far, a let down. First two days I used it heavily, so I had to recharge it twice. I completely ripped up the data access and exchanged 230 SMS in 24 hours. Dangerous thing to have unlimited messages.
I have to give it a few more days to break in, but right now, with one short call and maybe 20 texts, it's not lasting a day. This needs to change.
It does however recharge quickly. That is a plus.
BATTERY Rating, tentatively: 1/5
INTERFACE: A little slow here and there, but doable. I chalk up part of the crappy battery life to the processing time required to actually do the things required in the interface. However, it still feels like a Motorola. As CNET stated, Sprint's interface isn't half bad, and is lightyears ahead of Verizon. Alltel's v9m will likely be the best on the CDMA side.
INTERFACE, Rating: 3.2/5
OTHER NOTES: CNET states you can replace the memory card without removing the battery. This isn't true, the battery has to come out. This is a pain, but not a big deal. THe haptics on the front screen are nice, but are completely unnecessary when using the side rocker buttons. You can feel those click in. I wish I could plain turn off the haptics, I find them very much unnecessary.
Doesn't seem to play nicely with Java apps. The latest beta of Opera seems to freeze, and the WAP browser refuses to download Mobile Gmail. Granted, some developer action is needed on that side by the people who are making these applications, and that isn't completely Motorola/Sprint's fault. Just a caveat. Be aware.
Sprint Music Player is embarassing. It looks cheap and wastes space. Sprint's fault, not Moto's. Sprint TV is at least decently polished.
The camera takes good pictures. Not much else to say there, except that I wish I could turn off or at least turn down those god-awful annoying shutter sounds. At least make something that sounds logical and isn't stupid.
Despite the complaints, I love the phone. I love the vibration that doesn't let you forget there is a SMS or call (though I wish it were a customizeable vibe like the pre vzw-ui motos (v60, e815) and design of the phone in general. Even the color rocks! Battery light and bluetooth indicators are quite nice as well. Battery sucks, but at least for now, I can deal with it. Would be nice to get at least 2 days out of this thing though. I will wait for the battery to break in yet.
BUILD QUALITY: Better than Moto has ever done. I'm very much impressed. The phone feels completely solid and I have no worries about it taking a minor drop or so.
BUILD QUALITY RATING: 5/5
PERFORMANCE, Voice: Stellar. Clearer than my vx8600. Lack of crystal talk is not an issue. Not the super duper ultra best, but still quite good.
PERFORMANCE, Voice Rating: 4.5/5
PERFORMANCE, SMS: Someone is sleeping at the switch. Although usable, prediction lags a bit and you can't correct a word that was incorrectly predicted if you've already spaced to the next word, without retyping the original word. This was annoying. Also, the SMS composer only allows you to see two lines of your text. That was also annoying. Still usable, but laggy, and not user oriented.
Also, I can't reply from the front screen, and it just shows the original message without "message from..". I like that privacy.
PERFORMANCE, SMS Rating: 3.5/5
PERFORMANCE, Data: Not bad. WAP browser has caused the browser to restart twice on me. Go figure. Data roams quite well on verizon and Sprint TV, when it does work, streams smoothly.
PERFORMANCE, Data: 4/5
PERFORMANCE, General RF: Good, I've had better reception than my prior Verizon phones, that usually hovered on the 800 MHz where Sprint is 1900, PCS obviously.
When roaming on Verizon, solid 6 bar reception. Sprint fluxuates, but I chalk that up to 1900's PCS penetration.
PERFORMANCE, General RF Rating: 5/5
BATTERY: So far, a let down. First two days I used it heavily, so I had to recharge it twice. I completely ripped up the data access and exchanged 230 SMS in 24 hours. Dangerous thing to have unlimited messages.
I have to give it a few more days to break in, but right now, with one short call and maybe 20 texts, it's not lasting a day. This needs to change.
It does however recharge quickly. That is a plus.
BATTERY Rating, tentatively: 1/5
INTERFACE: A little slow here and there, but doable. I chalk up part of the crappy battery life to the processing time required to actually do the things required in the interface. However, it still feels like a Motorola. As CNET stated, Sprint's interface isn't half bad, and is lightyears ahead of Verizon. Alltel's v9m will likely be the best on the CDMA side.
INTERFACE, Rating: 3.2/5
OTHER NOTES: CNET states you can replace the memory card without removing the battery. This isn't true, the battery has to come out. This is a pain, but not a big deal. THe haptics on the front screen are nice, but are completely unnecessary when using the side rocker buttons. You can feel those click in. I wish I could plain turn off the haptics, I find them very much unnecessary.
Doesn't seem to play nicely with Java apps. The latest beta of Opera seems to freeze, and the WAP browser refuses to download Mobile Gmail. Granted, some developer action is needed on that side by the people who are making these applications, and that isn't completely Motorola/Sprint's fault. Just a caveat. Be aware.
Sprint Music Player is embarassing. It looks cheap and wastes space. Sprint's fault, not Moto's. Sprint TV is at least decently polished.
The camera takes good pictures. Not much else to say there, except that I wish I could turn off or at least turn down those god-awful annoying shutter sounds. At least make something that sounds logical and isn't stupid.
Despite the complaints, I love the phone. I love the vibration that doesn't let you forget there is a SMS or call (though I wish it were a customizeable vibe like the pre vzw-ui motos (v60, e815) and design of the phone in general. Even the color rocks! Battery light and bluetooth indicators are quite nice as well. Battery sucks, but at least for now, I can deal with it. Would be nice to get at least 2 days out of this thing though. I will wait for the battery to break in yet.