This phone is just what I was waiting for

I'll keep this review short and sweet, as there are a lot of other reviews with the pros and cons. I had Verizon's Droid Eris before this and the phone had only a 524mhz processor and to my surprise the Verizon network sucks where I live. The phone was slow, typing on the virtual keypad was horrible as it would lag and stutter, and everything about the phone was slow. This phone with a 1000mhz processor is super fast, I don't have to worry about killing apps, and the keyboard is fantastic!! Absolutely no lag and the screen is just gorgeous. Call quality has been great and I get great service where I am in AT&T.

I wanted to get the Epic for Sprint because of the physical keyboard, but after using the captivate I really don't need the physical keypad. This thing JUST WORKS.

Great Web Tool, Lousy Telephone

My wife and I both got new Samsung Captivates two days after they were released. We were incredibly excited to get them but it turned out to be a nightmare. The micro-USB charger/USB cord is a joke. It simply will not stay plugged into the phone which made charging or downloading my music from my computer almost impossible. If you held the cord pressed into the socket it would sometimes connect, but most often when you set the phone down even the weight of a couple of inches of the cord was enough to unplug it. It was the same with both phones and both micro-USB cables. A phone that you can't keep charged isn't much of a phone. Then the reception in areas where before we had no problems was terrible. Lots of dropped calls, and even the opposite: At times the phone would not hang up correctly. One would hit the "end call" button for a busy signal and the phone would go black so you thought it had disconnected, yet a minute or five later when I'd pick up the phone it would still be at a busy signal eating up minutes. The camera was awesome, the display and the panels feature was easy to use, the Internet was clear and all those features seemed to work well. Applications that are available are amazing, but the thing is a crummy phone. Not being able to sort contacts by last name alone almost killed it for me. I've a couple of hundred business contacts that were sorted by last name or company name, but this phone can't even do that. I know you can do a "search" for a contacts but one shouldn't have to do that. It is the simplest of things to sort a database by last names and it is wholly beyond me why this feature isn't in the phone. Lots of little bugaboos like that plague the phone features and I'm afraid it won't be till version 5.0 that they get it right. Ours are going back in tomorrow's mail and we are downgrading to simpler non-Android phones, because we need a phone that actually works as a telephone.

Perfect iPhone Replacement

We bought this from an AT&T Store only so I could keep my unlimited data plan (didn't see an option here on Amazon), but I can safely say that I have not missed my iPhone 3G one bit! The Captivate is a fantastic phone! Loving Swipe and what Samsung calls "Haptic Feedback" where the phone vibrates at every button push. Honestly, it's a great phone, and AT&T can't be beat for service and network quality here in SE Michigan! My Captivate has faster upload/download speeds on AT&T 3G than we can get through our Comcast cable internet!

Service for this phone in San Juan P.R.

Greetings!

I just call AT&T costumer service from San Juan Puerto Rico asking why they don't have service for this phone buying through amazon store. They tell me that they have service for this phone in Puerto Rico. My question is, Why amazon tell me that At&T don't have service for this phone when I enter my zip code number for San Juan?
This offer is sponsored by AT&T and is valid in the United States and Puerto Rico.

I just don't understand. Please clarify this. Thanks.

JEPR...

Good phone but terrible battery life

I've switched from iphone 3GS to Samsung Captivate because I wanted to try android phone and see what all the hypes were about. I agree the display of this phone is simply awesome, thanks to AMOLED technology, and apps available on adroid market are great. I also liked how I could customize the phone in so many different ways.

However, I decided to go back to my iphone after using Samsung Captivate for almost a month because it had such horrible battery life. I am not a heavy-duty user but the battery wouldn't even last a day! I don't want to constantly worry about my phone dying on me in the middle of the day. Seriously. If you decide to get this phone, make sure you get a car charger because you will definitely need it.

Sent it back The Same Day

I really wanted to like it but a very sensitive screen like this will drive you crazy,, read the other one star review and learn from it... i decided to send it back the same day when i realized i was dialing 911 because of the damn sensitive screen.

I did order iphone 4 today instead

LOOOOOOOOVEEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!

I just purchased a new Blackberry Torch 9800 an I must say for my first blackberry it is an awesome phone! It hasonly froze up one time since I've had it,the app world is great! The keyboard is perfect for texting amd the internet speed is fantastic!

Perfect combo of security and functionality

My Info Security folks laughed at me for asking about an iphone or android product. Apparently, RIMM has a stranglehold on the business user. The new BB Torch is a pretty good combo of security and functionality. Compared to Apple & Android, BB easily wins out on security & physical keyboard; looks about tied in browsing experience; and really delivers on data compression. Besides the security advantages, I almost never have a dropped call on a BB.

Best Blackberry Ever

I am a long time Blackberry user. When I lost my BB a while back I switched to the iPhone. I used the iphone for about a year then came back to BB when the Torch came out. I can't say enough good things about this phone. I can type literally type 10 times faster using the trusty bb keyboard. The BB implementation of the touch screen takes a few days to get used to but the combination of touch screen with a good keyboard makes for a very productive combination. I have good call quality and it seems to be able to hold a connection where my old BB and the iPhone would always lose their connections. The browser actually works and works as well as the iPhone. The old BB browser was terrible. The text messaging is much better as it groups and organizes text messages with the same metaphor as BB IM. If you are a teenager the iPhone may still be for you. If you are a grown up and need to use your phone for email, messaging, and calls first, then as a secondary goal to manage media then the BB is the only serious phone to use. The droids and the iPhone have been hacked and the number of viruses for these phones is growing. The BB has not been hacked and there are no viruses. Overall the phone is fast, well built, has great tools, good media management and is secure.

Disappointed

Totally disappointed. Phone constantly locked up after each use. I was looking forward to the new touchscreen, but replaced the unit with a Bold 9700 instead. I'm totally satisfied with the 9700.

Bargain phone!

This is far superior to most prepaid phones. Easy to use, many features, especially for the price. I recommend it.

phone

i love this phone my mom got me the phone today i love it and you get 150 free ?

Cheap price phone you can get to replace your old phone

I've never written any review before, but here is my advice.

This is a good LG touch phone at a good price specially $20 cheaper at Amazon.com. I am a regular monthly subscriber . My old sony phone was broken , so I was looking to buy a new phone, but Gophone is a great replacement phone. You can just take out the sim card from the old phone and insert into the new one and you will be able to talk instantly. However, when I called AT&T , they told me to call them back when I replace the sim card. But I didn't.

In general, I like the phone. But don't expect too much. The phone is not like a high quality smart phone. Also I experienced dropped call 3 or 4 times, since I have used it (about 2 months now). Another problem is that I was unable to read any text , pdf, word files. It seems that the function was disabled intentionally. LG Cookie (Previous model) was able to do this.

LG Prime GoPhone

I received this product about a week ago. Keep in mind that I am a technological idiot, but this phone was so easy to set up and use. I absolutely love it and would recommend it to anyone.

Worst Cellphone product I have ever purchased and horrible customer service

I bought the LG Prime phone recently from Amazon.com. This is the worst cellphone product I have EVER purchased and the customer service offered by both LG and ATT is unacceptable.

The phone is cheaply assembled and does not work properly. The browser function is horrible and when I called ATT to report my problems I was told to call LG or return the phone. I called LG and was told they would research the issue and get back with me. That was 5 weeks ago and they never got back with me.

DO NOT buy this phone. It is JUNK and ATT support is horrible.

Dreadful reception

Worst reception I have ever encountered in a cell phone. This Vibrant replaced my original G1 Android phone which died during a business trip.

For playing with Android apps, watching Avatar, checking the time, taking 5 megapixel pictures the phone is great.

For making and recieving phone calls it sucks. I travel all over the country and this phone just doesn't pick up signals very well.

It's as though the ability to make phone calls was an afterthought in the phone's design. I rarely have bars for reception strength, and people complain that their calls keep getting rolled over to voicemail or they simple go unanswered even by voicemail.

I would seriously avoid this phone and although I got mine from T-Mobile, I may be returning it.

Just purchased Vibrant....graduating from querty keyboard...Very Excited!!

I just purchased the Vibrant and I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this phone. I was so used to using the Samsung Messenger, that using a touch screen, just didnt want too. Because I am moving out of state, I had to switch carriers...getting the Vibrant.

I have had it for a few days now and I noticed after I changed to default security code to my personal that I noticed when I turned the phone on to enter the security code, the screen would go black but the top tool bar was only showing. I would have to hit the house button for the screen to appear then enter the code. It was not doing that before. Has any one had this issue? i posted on [...] as well.

Good hardware wasted by poor android software

Great Hardware. No questions about it. Beautiful screen, really slim body and sexy looks. It has a nice powerful processor that makes it speedy but alas the software is no match for the hardware. I bought this phone after reading good things about Android and hoping that Google will do justice to the hardware but was totally disappointed.

The phone comes with android 2.1 which is a fairly recent version but it still feels pretty old and boring. The phone is capable of displaying beatiful visuals but all that I end up using is the boring default UI and confusing visuals that Samsung decided to put on it. Theere are many annoying things to it. The phone locks up every so often, the programs are organized in a confusing manner. The Phone is littered with a number of crapware that I cannot get rid of etc...

Battery life is another thing that I did not like on this. Now I am not sure if it's Samsung who decided to put this anemic battery in there or its the Android that is eating it up but the phone barely makes it through a day. HTC Touch Pro 2 which was my last phone easily lasted for a couple of days.

Overall this phone gets 2 stars due to its good looking hardware. But nothing for the poor software.

What's the big deal?

I recently switched from a Blackberry Curve to this device and I am not impressed.

I have had this phone for ten days. I cannot get through an entire day without the battery dying. It's been a week of limited calling ability. I do not use the internet and very little messaging but by my third call each day, I receive a message telling me that I have a low battery and CANNOT MAKE A CALL. Are you serious?

The camera is a JOKE. The only way to take a picture is with the touch screen so if you try to take a picture of yourself or you and a friend, good luck.

There is no way to tell that you have a missed call or message without turning on the phone. No indicator whatsoever. This might be a missed setting on my part but every time I go to use the phone, I have to TURN IT ON, THEN UNLOCK IT. Why doesnt it stay on?

I charget his thing every night and changed the screen settings to save battery life but to no avail. The two stars are because I feel like being nice and I like two of the apps that don't come standard.

Don't Give up the Blackberry for Samsung Yet!

I had to finally take mine back after one exchange. if you get a large file(which I do on a regular basis) in your pop server, It will lock up.

1. Can not handle large emails from your pop server. it simply will lock up. all other emails after the large file will not show up on your handset until you resolve the large file issue. (delete the file from your server)
yeah, Like I want to do this every other email.
Blackberry will give you the email with "file too large" message. then you can get it from your laptop.

2. Battery life sucks. Blackberry 2-3 days. Samsung (if you actually use it 4-5 hours) try it. will not go beyond 5 hours.

3. It will reset the pop setting at will. Even the T-mobile guy was stunned.

4. if emails and phone calls are important to you, this is not the device. My seven year old loved it. he loves the games and Avatar. It is a great toy for him , but not a work device for me.

Awesome screen, setup, and looks. It is just like having a Rolls Royce that the engine starts but the transmission will not engage, the ac will not work and the brakes are out. Do you want that? I don't. I would rather have a Nissan that starts, runs and the ac works.

Best Android device out there

I recently upgraded to the Epic after a long debate of picking either this or the EVO. So far, I'm extremely satisfied. I wont go into the long list of features and benefits talked about to death by other re-viewers.

From my personal usage of the device there are a few things I can note that maybe others have not touched on.

First off, the battery DOES seem to go down rather quickly. But once you take into account the amount of things you are actually doing on the phone simultaneously, its actually not that bad. I also found that if you download the APP KILLER app (its free on the Android marketplace), and shut down unneeded programs runningin the background, you actuallly boost the battery life quite a bit.

Secondly, one of the key points that made me pick this phone over the EVO is the slide out keyboard. Its one of the most comfortable and efficient ones i've ever used. What impressed me the most is that even with the option of having the slide out keyboard, the touchscreen phone has a vibrant and easy to use virtual keyboard. I'm using the actual slideout keyboad much less frequently as I'm able to easily use the onscreen board, as well as the awesome swype feature.

It is my first Android device, so it took me a few minutes to update and sync my contacts and calender. Once i got the hang of it, it was smooth sailing. Some of the other reviewers complain that the screen seems dimmer or "grayish" when placed next to the iphone or other android phone. Thats because there is an auto brightness adjustment feature which automatically dims the screen when you are indoors to conserve battery. You can easily change the screen settings if its not to your liking.

Graphics are awesome and screen is crystal clear. I put it side by side to my wifes iphone, and there was not much of a noticeable difference.

The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5, is because for over $200, it would be nice if it came with some more accessories than just a charger and headphone. (maybe a case or screen protector / extra battery ?)

Great Phone but no Evo

I had been holding out getting an Evo because I knew this phone was coming soon and it was hyped pretty intensely. I'm not going to go over the tecs and specs, but mostly just bring up a few issues that made me return this phone after 2 days and purchase an HTC Evo instead...which I am extremely glad I did.

The first thing I noticed when I received the Epic was its Incredible screen! Beautiful, bright and vibrant colors. The super AMOLED screen certainly was not one of the letdowns on this device. Immediately after I started using this phone and carrying it around it started to remind me of my Palm Pre. It felt a bit cheap and "plasticky" in the hand, and the sliding screen would have the same oreo cookie effect as the Palm Pre did (the top part of the slider phone could slightly twist back and forth). I could also feel that the top part of the phone had some give and would push down against the kekyboard as I would type or scroll on the device screen. The power button being on the side would cause the phone to slide open a bit every time I would turn it on with one hand. Although the charging port has a great cover that conveniently slid open and closed, the port was located on the TOP of the device. When using these phones that require a ton of battery, you will be using it while charging at some point. When doing so, the cord would come out from the top of the phone and rest against my head, or fall back awkwardly behind the phone.

Although the screen was bright and vibrant, it was easy to notice the pixels on the screen and once I saw them, it was hard to ignore. Even though the HTC Evo has less colors and not as saturated, the images are much smoother and almost as brilliant as the Epic. This made the screens basically a tie as to which one was the nicest.

I also was not overly impressed with the "iphone" style app layout and the inability to change out the 4 apps at the bottom of the screen. Maybe the 2.2 update to Froyo will change this.

Overall I really found myself using swype on the Epic and never opened up the slide out keypad. Once I found out I could get Swype on the HTC Evo, I was convinced that without a need for a physical keyboard and not overly impressed with the (Epic) screens pixelation, the Evo was the better choice for me.

I would say that if you absolutely must have a physical keyboard (even after using Swype) than the Epic will be a great phone for you. Aside from the keyboard, the Evo (in my opinion) beats it in every way.

Almost great, but...

I bought one from Sprint because I couldn't wait the extra several weeks to save $50 on Amazon. I've been waiting for this phone for a loong time.
+ Numeric row on physical keyboard makes real note and contact entry much faster. I've used Palm Treo's for years for this reason. Little shifting.
- Buttons are not raised enough to prevent bumping the wrong keys. Hard little bumps like the Treo or blackberry keyboards are as easy to type on as this monster, so the size was wasted due to bad choice of keys. I'm thinking of putting glue bumps on there already.
+ Great display
- Battery only lasts if you are very careful with what you use and enable, and charge often. Phone gets hot when recharging, and once even overheated and shut down due to the back side being on a foam couch (and in a skin) while recharging. For something that needs to be plugged in constantly, the charge connector is finiky and in the wrong place (top). Expect to buy a couple of extra chargers, one for every place you want to park it.
+ Android apps! Yay! Free coolness! Some seriously great stuff.
- Sprint wants $30/Mo to enable the wifi hotspot feature, which only works as well as the local signal strength. For example, don't pick the phone up and use it while streaming music over the hot spot, it will drop out.
-+ Will improve somewhat once they get 2.2 on it.

Finally another android phone with 5-row keyboard.

Well what else can be said that hasn't been already....
- The Super Amoled screen is just amazing, although now on day 3 with my phone I already have a dead pixel(I wonder if that would merit a hardware replacement any thoughts?) It's tiny i know but still bugs me especially since I've only had it for a few days.

- The keyboard is very roomy, though(like any phone) it takes getting used to. Coming from a T-mobile G1 I could text pretty quickly without ever having to look down at the keyboard. I hope I can get to the same level with this phone.


Some major(for me) gripes that I've had with the phone so far:
- When using the supplied cable to charge from a usb port(except for the supplied wall-usb charger) the phone automatically unmounts the SD card. So for example while playing music from the phone in my car through the AUX jack... I plug it into my USB car charger using the supplied cable and the music stops. I have to unlock the phone, turn off the usb mass storage and resume the music playing. Hopefully this can be fixed with a software update.

- The 16GB micro SD card is generous in size but really slow being only a class 2. Large transfers to and from PC through USB can take a while. I haven't had any issues with the camera and taking pictures though i haven't yet tried video but I'm sure it'll be fine. And yes I know this is a VERY easily remedied issue. But i thought I should let would-be buyers know.

- Battery(like others have mentioned) isn't the greatest. But keeping the 4G off(especially if your not in a 4G area) and occasionally using the task manager to end apps that you are not and will not be needing for a while, will greatly extend battery life. Also the live wallpapers look AMAZING on the screen but also rapidly drain the battery.

- Battery related... If your running low on battery the phone will not allow you to use the camera. This might be a case where a spare would be useful while on vacation, etc...

- Lock Pattern: I was basically forced to use one with this phone since while in my pocket i felt it get really hot and when i took it out i noticed that it was unlocked and doing all sorts of weird stuff like launching apps and bringing up the long-press menu randomly. Having a lock pattern is good to have anyways but I was kind of hoping that I wouldn't need one. I have fairly large hands but even still, now with the 4" screen writing the unlock pattern is a slower process than it was on my G1. If you have smaller hands I would recommend physically holding the device before purchasing online.

Don't get me wrong I've been waiting for a 5 row keyboard for a while now and I don't regret my purchase at all, i absolutely love this phone.

On a side note I haven't had any issues with Sprint so far, coming from an almost decade long T-mobile customer it was a tough decision switching carriers but their plans and plan features are great so far. Also I haven't had any issues with coverage in the Los Angeles area, I usually keep 4G off though to save battery.

Cheers!

Battery is pathetic

The battery is absolutely pathetic.

I had the phone 100% charged as of 2pm yesterday. Drove home, played with the GPS features, made on short call and that was it. This AM at 6:30 a.m. is 100% dead. You are kidding me, right? This is absolutely ridiculous to be honest. I didn't really use the darn thing, and by the way shut down many of the features to try to prevent this.

The phone itself has a ton of features, but what good is a wireless device IF I have to more or less keep it plugged in? Ridiculous.

I don't know what was worse the phone or the cell phone provider

My Droid X experience has been a nightmare. My phone worked fine for a week, and then it was all down hill from there. My phone constantly went in to airplane mode, and I couldn't turn off airplane mode because the phone said it wasn't in airplane mode. Then I couldn't call my contacts, the screen would go black and then go back to the home screen, I found out from messing with the phone that it had to do with contacts that were synced from Facebook, but when I contacted Verizon CS and Tech support they acted as if there was something wrong with me. Then the phone stopped charging...first from the outlet and then when connected to the computer with the USB. I took the phone to the store and they couldn't see anything wrong with the phone, they noted it wasn't dropped and didn't have water damage, but no explanation for what was wrong. The device was soft reset, and hard reset and the problems were not fixed. I returned the phone but have yet to receive my refund for the defective device. Although the phone was a lot bigger than I am used to, I got use to it and I loved the Swype feature. But everything else left a bad taste in my mouth and I will not do business with Verizon or buy a phone on launch day ever again.

im a droider with an x

i just upgraded from the htc eris to the droid x and i love it here are a few of my pros and cons for you to ponder:
pros- the most obvious is the nice size screen. going from a 3 nothing inch screen to a 4.3 is a huge difference. i can easily read emails text as quick as a whip and watch tv shows while laying down.fyi keep the screen brightness down it drains the battery.
since i mentioned batteries this is an huge improvement over the htc eris i had to charge that phone at least twice a day with this one i only have to charge it at night. i do keep wifi bluetooth and gps off so that helps. i am a heavy phoner user so battery life is important.
the phone is light and nonbulky it fits easily in my hand and i do put it in my pocket it hasn't had an accident to date.
browsing on this phone is superfast. no longer do i have to twiddle my thumps waiting for the page to load.
it is dnla enabled which makes file sharing super easy.
the android market is pretty good not as good as iphone market but it will get there as the market gets more demand for apps. and i love the amazon ereader app the phone screen size is good for reading.
an hdmi port to connect to your tv. this is awesome you can view your phone videos crystal clear.
now the cons
i hate hate that blockbuster app is a permanet app. the iphone has the itunes store which you can purchase music movies and tv shows and verizons versions verizon comes with blockbuster. r they kidding me the movies are too expensive and has few selections. i almost want to root this phone to get this crap off.
i dont like this updated motoblur crap my eris was way smoother synced with my accounts how i wanted and didnt fill my contact book with everyone in my social account.

otherwise i love it its fast its sleek its a good contender against the iphone.

Goodbye Blackberry!

OK - please bare in mind that when I got my Blackberry a few years ago, I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. I LIVED on it in my work and personal life, and recommended it highly. The problems started over a year ago when BB couldn't seem to create a BB updater for MAC (which I am on). I won't bother with this story here, suffice it to say, it left the door open for me to consider something else....Admittedly, I would have gone in for the IPhone, but I am on Verizon exclusively, so all I could do was sit around and wonder.
I was very intrigued by the first DROID, but wondered if alot of their claims were just hype as all new smart phones bill themselves as the next big thing (think Palm Pre - which now looks like the Edsel) so I waited. And read. And listened. And finally I fell in with all the suckers and decided to actually WAIT to own the Droid X.
Well, today it arrived....
And while discerning folks will note that I can't talk about bugs or fixes yet, what I can share after being on this phone all day today is this:
1. The camera is SPECTACULAR -- and, hello BB, it actually has a flash! Who knew?
2. The apps are incredible and literally make the BB offerings look embarassing
3. The screen (and visually in general) makes the BB look like it's alot older than it actually is
4. Call quality is superior
5. Touch screen (which I was hesitant about) is excellent, and in many ways superior to BB's keyboard
6. Simply put, the Android OS can do things that BB could only envy (voice-activated e-mail, texts, search)
7. Integration across platforms is nothing (i.e. if you use Google Chrome this device is unbelievably easy to sync -- and even if you don't, good luck syncing BB with a MAC....seriously)
8. This is really an addition to #7, but the truth is that BB never made ANY real attempts at integrating their device with the realities of the rest of what all of us rely on. In fact, I remember being excited when Google made an app
for BB...well, Google woke up and said f### BB, why don't we make our own phone?!? (or at least OS for many phones)
Of all of these, #8 is why you should buy one.

The End.

Now with Android 2.2 it is even better

I was a little leery of getting a phone with no keyboard. Then I learned about Google Voice Actions (GVA). I wanted this phone because of GVA. My phone came with Android 2.1 and I was disappointed to learn that I could not use GVA unless I had 2.2. Since GVA was free, VLingo decided to give their app away for free and I installed it on my phone. I was surprised how accurate (99%) the speech recognition was. I can search, navigate, email, text--anything done with the virtual keyboard can be input with VLingo. Phone calls are clear and never dropped whereas I had daily problems with the purveyor of iPhones.

I found that using the virtual keyboard was not so bad. It has built-in suggested words that you can tap on, and any word you type can be added to the dictionary. I like the easy customization of wallpapers and sounds. It comes with a 16GB micro SD and you can install up to 32 GB cards if you like. I use linux at home, so it doesn't connect so well with my laptop for transferring files. I usually just use email or remove the SD card for huge files. I do tether it for laptop internet use on the go. You do not have to pay for "hotspot" service to do this.


I have now manually upgraded to Android 2.2 and things are even better. The screen is clearer and the sound volume is better. Processing and graphics are faster. I can tell by real observation and usage as well as by running benchmarking apps. Battery life has improved. I would have recommended this phone before the upgrade, but now I am even more satisfied.

I almost bought it here, but WF shipped it to me in two days, so I cancelled.

So much better than the Iphone

I had to choose between this and the Iphone. Here's why I chose this:

1. Larger screen. 4.3" vs. 3.5" is a huge difference. With a 4.3" screen I can surf the web without having to constantly squint and zoom. With the Iphone's 3.5" screen, the text (although in very high resolution) is so small that it really strains your eyes.

2. Verizon's unlimited internet. My Droid X is running nonstop, as I listen to internet radio, watch internet television and so on. ATT has a 2GB per month limit, even though they charge the same price.

3. Apps. Droid has a HUGE library of applications. Not as much as the Iphone, but as much as you could want. And the good news is lots of good Droid apps are free!

4. Flash. It is simply ridiculous of apple to try and boycott flash. With Droid 2.2 (which offers Flash 10.1) you can surf all the websites without having to miss out on the cool flash content.

I also had to choose between this and the Droid 2 (this is thinner and has a bigger screen, and I don't need a slide out keyboard), the Samsung AMOLED Droids (this has a slightly bigger screen and slightly higher resolution, although they have a much lower SAR rating, so this was a tougher call) and the HTC droids (this is equal or better in every category).

So bottom line is this: The only phone that you would get instead of this is one of the Samsung AMOLED Droid phones. Don't get the iphone for reasons above. Don't get the Droid 2 (if you want a keybaord get the Samsung Epic 4g). Don't get the HTC stuff. Possibly get one of the Samsungs due to their lower SAR.

Very Slow! Always Freezing!

I purchased the HTC Hero as my first android phone. I previously have owned both an iPhone and a Blackberry, so I am not new to smart phones.
Here are some things I liked about the Hero:
1. Track ball: I find the trackball makes surfing the internet and going through pictures easier.
2. The call quality: The people on the other end sounded good and they said they had no problems hearing me.
3. Camera: The camera is a 5mp camera and it takes great pictures. Camcorder function also works great.
4. Screen Lock: The screen is not unlocked my enter numbers like most phones, instead you create a pattern that you have to trace to unlock it, I feel it is hard to remember that then a number, making it more secure.
5. Quality of the phone: The phone seemed like a high quality phone, it was heavy but not to heavy.

Things I didn't like about the Hero:
1. Incredibly slow! To open the clock on the home screen it took 10 seconds and to open the weather it took 15 seconds (these are not apps, I'm talking about the default HTC Sense Clock) It doesn't happen all the time but enough to be incredibly annoying.

2. Always Freezing: My phone would always freeze when I tried to type messages, and I would have to enter the same number 5 times (I'm not exaggerating) when trying to place a call because would not register)

3. Android Market: I know it's not fair to compare it to Apple but the market is nothing close to what iPhone has to offer. From what I have found (this may not be true, but from some research on the internet I found it) Android apps can pretty much be made by anyone. So they are a lot of not so great apps on the market. The number of apps related to Marijuana is ridiculous. A lot of the apps that had to be purchased were in Euros, which I found to be strange as well.

4.Email: I have always used yahoo mail. I knew that when I got the phone I had to have a google account to activate it which was no big deal. The problem is that you can not use yahoo mail with the email program that android has, unlike most phones. The email either has to be a gmail account or a pop account. There are 2 ways to solve this: pay yahoo $20/yr to allow pop access to your email or you can download the yahoo mail app (which is free) and have your mail there. It's not a big hassle but still annoying.


Bottom line: To me a phone should be able to make calls and send text messages with out any problems. Since the Hero can not do that, I feel that what ever else it has to offer is worthless. I have found that you can root your phone to make it faster, but I don't like messing with the programming of my phone. I never had to jailbreak my iPhone to get it to cooperate, so I should not have to root the Hero to make it work. It is a fairly simple smart phone, but it's not right for me.

Great phone at a great price!

I purchased my Hero when it first came out almost a year ago. At the time, I thought I wanted the newest Windows Mobile phone since that is what I was used to, or maybe the Palm Pre. When I saw the Hero at the Sprint store I knew this was the phone for me. I have been pleasantly surprised and very happy ever since. The phone is a nice compact size - a benefit in most cases as it slips easily into a pocket. The newer Evo has a much larger screen which makes things easier to see but with a drawback of bulk. I have owned many PDAs and smart phones in the past but this was the first one that I felt worked the way it should. If I had to choose again today I might pick the EVO 4G for the bigger screen, 4G and faster processor, but I don't feel compelled to upgrade right away as I am still happy with the Hero. These two phones seem to be fine choices and at the lower price of the Hero now it is a real bargain. Spint service has been great and just seems to get better. I don't have reception or service issues, the voice quality is excellent and Sprint customer service has been very good (not like the old days of waiting forever for an operator) - plus the price of my plan is so much cheaper than Verizon or ATT. My friends on ATT with their iphones get dropped calls all the time - knowing what they pay for servcie, I just chuckle. Just try making a call at the Javitz convention center with an iPhone - ha. I have not used any cases for my Hero and it has held up great.

great phone, terrible lag.

i hate being the one to give negative reviews, but my experience with the hero has been a very, very laggy one. yes, being a geek, not only have i used all sorts of task managers and whatnot to keep the phone as clear as possible, i have even flashed some custom ROMS on it. the 528 mhz processor just doesn't cut it. a big issue with the phone is that when trying to type landscape, the delay between hitting the key and the letter appearing is too long to merit use. the portrait keyboard is only slightly less laggy. nearly every aspect of this phone is framed by lag, holding back what is otherwise a beautiful, wonderful android experience. the HTC sense UI is stunning, and android is just wonderful. that being said, don't waste your time and energy on this sub-par device, sprint ahead(see what i did there? lulz ^_^) and pick yourself up an evo or epic that can take advantage of sprint's wonderful high speed (even on 3g) network, with those phones that can handle the wonderful android experience.

Dials in your pocket

I have this phone about a year. It will dial numbers on its own once you put it in your pocket(even in a case! Touch the screen the wrong way and major units pre loaded on the screen when you got it will disappear. I have an i-touch and so I can compare applications in both. The Android applications I have down loaded, for the most part, are second rate. If you have adult fingers like mine, you are constantly entering the wrong letters into the phone, because the symbol is too small. The touch pad dialing is flawed. If you press too hard instead of dialing the number an edit/information screen comes up and you have to close and start all over. All in All the phone is more trouble then the internet connection it allows is worh. It has turned me off on any HTC phone.

Decent, but not perfect

This was my first android phone, and won't be my last.. but the phone is lacking, I'll say that much.

The good:
Android is a great phone OS, hands down. The platform has rich community support, and isn't locked down like Apple's iOS.
The android app store makes this phone MUCH MORE than just a phone.
Call quality is great, phone feels comfortable (haven't found a "grip of death" on it, either).
I get great signal.
Battery life is fairly good. I can go about 2 days on a single charge, and I use my phone quite a bit.
HTC's Sense UI is one of the best out there.
Multitasking works well.

The bad:
Sluggish response. It's got some slower hardware compared to devices like the HTC Evo, which will be very annoying at times.
A pain to update to the latest android OS, which I recommend.
Preloaded apps are mostly crap. Thank goodness for the android store.
No flash on the camera. I don't get what is with phone manufacturers not putting flashes with the camera anymore.
Camera software uses the click of the trackball to operate the shutter... while rolling the trackball handles the zoom. Needless to say, this gets frustrating when you're trying to flip the phone around for a snapshot of yourself doing something obnoxious, like eating an iPhone.
No HTC Sync support for Linux, which drives me up the wall. Glad I still have an XP-loaded desktop, otherwise I would be very, very pissed.

The side stuff:
The screen is "meh". Nothing spectacular, but not horrible. Touch response can be a little flaky since the phone is so sluggish. It gets a little hot sometimes when playing games/charging, too, so keep that in mind. Watch out when placing it in your pocket, though; I've had mine do all sorts of random stuff without my intent (no pocket dialing, thank goodness). When I put it in my pocket, I slide it in facing out, with the buttons/trackball up at the top, which has eliminated most of those problems.
There are better phones out there. The Evo is amazing (aside from the battery life), for one.
One thing to note with Sprint: They may have a slower data network, but it has been 100% reliable for me. I'd rather have reliability over speed (and the speed isn't that bad - I've tethered it to my laptop via USB to utilize the data connection when I'm away from legit wifi sources).
If you're looking for a smartphone to use with your day job (I'm a systems manager), be sure to check on your corporate policies regarding smartphones. Some only support Crackberries syncing with Exchange, so while the Hero will support it, your corporate IT staff may not.

Worst invention since the atom bomb

This phone has caused me more aggravation even than any computer I've ever owned, and that's saying something. I've started more than one friendship through mutual complaints about this horrible, malicious, lazy device. It must be sentient because no inanimate object could be so consistently, incorrigibly, contemptuously defiant. Basically I got it because Verizon is the better service, but I'm beginning to think I'll take the hit in reception and get an iPhone. Be part of the market response to a scam and refuse to buy this insult.

LEAPS Ahead of my BB Tour--but battery life is dismal at best

I am most likely going to trade in my Incredible for the Driod X (as soon as one becomes available that is) however I am doing this for purely personal & impatient reasons rather than because the phone is not up to what I had hoped. I have (secretly) wanted an Android device for several months now having originally started my smartphone experience with a Palm Treo 650 (at the time I LOVED that phone), I upgraded to the 700p and subsequently the 755p before making the HUGE leap to another OS altogether with my first Blackberry, a Bold using AT&T. While I had viewed most BB users as arrogant A-Holes (for the most part, entirely unjustified of course) I reluctantly began to not only like the BB platform, but slowly I came to prefer it. I still maintain that BB's are NOT as out-of-the-box user-friendly as ANY of the ancient Palm devices, but I really appreciated what it COULD do that my Palm couldn't.

I became--again, quite reluctantly--a power Blackberry user. Unfortunately I was attached to the abysmal AT&T service, which has almost a universal bad rep for spotty (at best) service. They brag (and brag and brag...) about having the 'Nations Fastest 3G Service', which may be true--however what GOOD is it when your phone cannot receive a signal in the same location where my wife's Verizon BB Curve had 3G service?? I'll take reliable connection over spotty and fast 3G service ANY day. Long story short, I had to trade my phone in and without having to explain WHY, I was given a Windows Mobile Tilt 2 as a replacement (not MY choice--it was a promotional thing which I had zero control over). This proved to be without a doubt, the WORST phone I have ever used or even heard of. I applaud HTC's design, the phone itself was very nice (although it WAS amazingly heavy--easily the heaviest I have ever owned, by quite a large margin, too)...what I did NOT like was the HUGELY unreliable Windows Mobile platform. My phone froze on me multiple times per day and I couldn't wait to get rid of it. I went back to BB only this time I finally signed onto Verizon and LOVED my Tour.

I decided it was time to upgrade and while I LIKE the iPhones, I have serious issues with Apple in particular and how they have twisted so many people into thinking their devices are superior 'Just 'Cuz' they're made by Apple, thereby also making the owners superior as well. While my initial thoughts of BB owners, once upon a time was unjustified, I have to say that my opinions of the vast majority of iPhone owners I have run into have been pretty much right on the money: arrogant A-Holes. Sorry, but its true--not ALL of them, mind you, just those I seem to run into, apparently.

I have been eyeing the Droid X for quite some time, but the wait to get one seemed impossibly long. I went ahead and got the Incredible based on several comments by the Verizon employee assuring me that other than screen size, the Incredible was its equal. She insisted it came pre-loaded with a 16gb SD card--it did not (2gb) and also had the 2.2 Froyo update as well--it does not, at least not yet. Based on this information, knowing that along with 2.2 the Incredible is supposed to have mini WiFi hotspot capabilities as well as HD video recording, I went ahead and got one all the while in the back of my mind knowing that if I didn't like it, I could always bring it back within 30 days. Sure 'nuff, no 2.2 OR 16gb card, which really pissed me off. How is it the employee (a manager no less) would NOT know this? Honestly I think she was just seeing a guaranteed sale and put on her Used Car Salesman sportcoat and said whatever I wanted to hear in order to make a quick sell.

With that being said, the Incredible really IS a fantastic phone. Honestly, with the amount of texting I do just between my wife and children and me, the Speech-To-Text feature is worth the cost alone. While not 100% accurate and good for pretty much just short comments, using it while driving is a LIFE saver--literally, and I am NOT endorsing texting while driving, mind you. Its SO simple, instead of playing around with the 'virtual keyboard' which is hard enough to use--and downright stupid to do while driving. I still believe that driving and using a cell phone is stupid, which is why I believe this feature to be so great. The number of apps I have found are amazing...and best of all: most are FREE. Sure you'll find more than twice the number of apps available for the iPhone, but come on, seriously, how many apps do we NEED?? It took me over an hour to just browse a small fraction and I found more than what I will ever use in that time. If you prefer iPhones and their apps, that is fine, I'm just saying you can find JUST as many really useful apps for Android devices and much, MUCH more free apps than you will ever see available for iPhones, iPads and whatnot. As new as the Android platform is, to have as many apps available as it does clearly puts it ahead of how far apples app store was at in the same time frame.

The live wallpaper is just awesome. Its entirely useless I'll admit, but amazingly cool nevertheless. I really like how I can customize my phone however I see fit. I really like the fact that whenever I see fit, I can change my phone any way I want. Just cool. The touch screen is very responsive--almost too responsive--and you'd have to experience it to understand I guess. The optical track pad is a nice addition, especially for the times when I want to edit on the screen but my fingers were too big (another reason I want an X), however if there is a way to adjust the sensitivity of the pad, I couldn't find it, and I wish I could. Also, when looking up a contact, I couldn't immediately pull up an on-screen keyboard in order to begin a text, which was a bit frustrating, especially if alphabetically their name was far down on my list...it took that much longer to get TO the contact. If there is an easy way around this, someone please let me know. Having the weather on the main screen with the ability to update whenever I want is convenient, and unlike the same similar feature that was included on my old HTC Tilt 2, this one automatically grabs the weather from the area closest to where its receiving your signal from--all without you asking. I suppose you can pick from different cities, but as a general rule, I only want to know what the weather is like where I currently am, so I am perfectly satisfied with this feature as is.

The camera takes rather great pics--so far the best I've personally seen from a camera. Unfortunately as is normal for cell phones, as soon as it becomes dark, your ability to take better pics becomes dramatically reduced. Lets just say, for everyday point-and-shoot situations in decent light, this camera is a pretty good substitute for your regular digital camera. The photos--while 8MP in resolution, as we've all seen thanks to the fantastic processing on the iPhone 4's 5MP camera, more does not necessarily mean better. This is one area where the iPhone truly does excell ahead of all major phones available at the moment, although that probably will change here within the year I would imagine.

For a phone with a 1Gig processor, switching between texting chats certainly can take up to 5-6 seconds before it opens up the screen, which I just did not expect. Most everything else is as quick as I've been hearing from other users, but to open a chat log in texts takes MUCH more time than I expected, and to be honest, longer than my 2 year old BB Tour did. However, in every OTHER way it is blazing fast...especially with the internet. Coming from a BB which, as we ALL know has just about the worst browser available on a hand-held device, man I gotta tell you I felt like I was connected to DSL speeds like my home computer...and while that comparison is mighty generous, it really isn't all that far off the mark. Pages load incredibly fast with this browser, which I put on par with the iPhone in EVERY way--and once this receives update 2.2 it'll blow it out of the water...literally.

The screen is, well, wonderfully vivid and easily the best I have owned (thus far). Pictures are crisp, clear and detail is always easily projected. I have only seen an iPhone 4 briefly, and while everyone seems to universally praise it for having the best screen available to any smartphone at the moment, I think you'd have to have beyond normal vision to be able to look at one and say with absolute certainty that you can clearly see a major difference between one and the other. Seriously, phone pixel density is becoming so good these days that almost nobody can honestly see a measurable difference. I'm not saying you CANNOT see one, but I AM saying that what difference there is, well, has to be a minor one at best. I am 100% certain however, that there will be apple fans who cannot help but disagree vigorously, and while my eyesight isn't what it used to be, its good enough to say this with confidence. I am NOT knocking the iPhone here at all, either. It has an amazingly clear, crisp and vibrant screen. I just think the gap between that and the incredibles screen is closing rather quickly, thats all.

Battery life is lacking to say the least. This is one place where the iPhone not only is the clear winner, but knocks one outta the park in comparison. Supposedly with 2.2 battery life will increase dramatically, but until I get that update, it pays to purchase a car charger and never be very far away from an outlet, either. Honestly, the battery life is dismal--at best...and I have worked hard to organize my phone in such a way that I use only what is necessary. I dim the screen, don't use bluetooth or WiFi hardly at all and even just sitting on my desk it saps the battery down noticeably in a short amount of time. Sorry, but this is ridiculous, especially knowing that the Droid X with a MUCH larger screen has a great deal better battery life than my smaller one...? This is one area where I believe the Incredible doesn't just do poorly, it downright fails--and is my ONLY major gripe about this device.

Call quality seems good to excellent. Speaker volume was exceptional. Love the app Market for Android. My wife and I were wondering where to go for dinner, and within 90 seconds, I had found an app to help me find a place to eat, downloaded it and received directions on my screen. Amazing. While we were at dinner, I downloaded Flixter (for free), found the closest theater, and even watched a theatrical trailer for the movie we wanted to see, all within about 90 seconds. Sorry, but this is one way in which the Android platform is not just better, but head & shoulders superior to iPhone and the slow & clunky way you have to access their app store. Again, if you are okay with this, then fine. I happen to like doing things this way, personally.

All in all, I have to say that this phone is purely awesome, and such a leap ahead of my BB that words hardly can describe. The ONLY area in which BB's STILL continue to dominate is in push e-mail delivery, regardless of where your email comes from. I still can't help but wonder why no other carrier or manufacturer after ALL this time, still cannot mimic the push email with the same ease of set-up and swift delivery that BB has delivered for YEARS. Oh well, that is--in MY opinion--the ONLY place where android suffers. While the calendar application isn't as polished as say my ancient Palm Treo was (face it, Palm RULED when it came to organizing schedules, which is what it was originally designed to handle), but what I have is certainly workable, and I'm absolutely certain that right now if I looked hard enough, I could find a FREE calendar app to download that would give me everything I need...heck, maybe I'll run and fetch that right now...and thankfully because I am not tied down to my home computer with iTunes, I can download it on the fly wherever I am as long as I have a decent connection--which, thanks to Verizon is just about everywhere I plan to go.

Before I get hateful responses, let me say this: clearly apple manufactures an amazing product in the iPhone. I find it interesting that literally out of nowhere, when it debuted, the iPhone instantly became the phone to beat. Just look at all the smartphones available today, they are ALL judged by the iPhone standard and almost no other. When a new phone comes out, they almost always are compared to the iPhone--and there is good reason for this. Some like everything about apple, Steve Jobs and all that goes with it. Face it, Steve has done an amazing job--like him or not, thats just a fact. With the iPhone 4's reception issues aside, it is clearly still the phone to beat out there. Has Android made a better platform than iOS? Yes & No. In some ways I believe the Android OS is clearly superior and in some ways the iPhone is. At this moment, it basically comes down mostly to what you personally prefer (unless you aren't a fan of AT&T). If I weren't on Verizon and I lived elsewhere I probably would own an iPhone myself--but having been ON the AT&T service for a little over a year, I can say that at least in the area that I live, it isn't an option because their coverage is so poor. But when it comes to comparing one phone to another, you need to do your research and go with what you personally like, and if thats an iPhone, good, if its something else? Fine. Do what YOU want, and don't let anyone tell you differently.

I think that if you are a fan of the android OS then you cannot go wrong with the Incredible...unfortunately, without my reading glasses, I need the X in order to fully explore everything my phone is capable of...and admitting that is certainly not a simple thing to do in my case.

***UPDATE***

After using the phone for over a week now, I am STILL impressed as I (im)patiently wait for the next stock of Droid X's to arrive. One additional thing I really like about the HTC Sense UI that I believe is not available on the X (however I am NOT 100% sure of this) is how I access the calendar, choose a specific date, and as long as it isn't too far ahead, at the bottom of the screen will be the weather prediction for that day. While I don't put an aweful lot of faith in the typical meteorologists ability to accurately predict anything beyond 36 hours at best, it still is a pretty nifty feature to have.

One thing I found weird was that the phone did NOT come with a full user manual. It DID come with a Tips & Tricks booklet, but that essentially is good for just unboxing the phone for the first time & getting it started. I downloaded the manual from the internet, but again, the script was small enough that reading it and scrolling from one page to the next to find what I wanted was a bit too inconvenient for me to want to rely on it for very long. I'll stick to reading about it on a PDF on my home PC.

If I had to add a small-but significant gripe, the charging light, which also doubles as a blinking alert when you receive a text or email is quite a bit smaller and much harder to see than on my old BB. I wish that while it was charging that it could still somehow alert you to a new message, but unless you feel & hear it vibrate, tough luck. To the left of the Verizon logo just underneath the speaker in front I can make out an alert light of some kind, but I have no idea what it is for. It hasn't gone off once since I have used my phone and haven't found what its purpose is for in the manual, either. I suppose I'll keep looking it up til I find out.

Its nice to receive alerts to new updates for specific apps I've installed...and I never went looking to see if they had updated, I just received the notice overnight and gave me the choice to update if I wanted. STILL waiting on the update to Froyo 2.2 but I suppose I'll just have to wait that one out. Verizon confirmed that the update was ready and they started sending them out wirelessly as of Friday August 27th, but they were doing it region-by-region and I am pretty sure that the higher populated areas will get theirs first and soforth (meaning I'll get it last more than likely). I found where I could manually download from google direct the update, but I have read too many stories of how the phone didn't work properly if done even slightly incorrect to even a few horror stories that afterwards the phone ended up bricked as a result of missing a step or not doing everything literally EXACT. As much as I want better battery life--which apparently seems to be one of the many by-products for the Incredible while using 2.2--I'm gonna wait 'til it arrives from Verizon directly. I just hope it doesn't take much longer.

***UPDATE #2***

Woke up this morning with a notice saying Froyo 2.2 HAD arrived. The OTA update took maybe 7-8 mins and I lost no data--which seems to be an issue, or at least a worry of some Incredible owners. I have noticed a few new perks right up front: 1 new live wallpaper (the background that we always see on the Nexus 1), an app for mobile hotspot and faster internet browser...it isn't THAT much faster because, lets face it: it was already pretty dang fast. The dInc already had Flash Lite, so haven't had time to mess with other websites sportin' Flash just yet, but I will.

I noticed that the texting threads look a bit different, and the SEND button is no longer there...it has been replaced with an icon that I wasn't too sure what it did--at first. While it isn't a big deal, especially since I figured out how to send my texts once ready, I gotta wonder why they would get rid of such an obvious button like SEND? Weird.

So far battery life is dramatically improved with the new update. Normally between waking up and arriving to work my battery will have noticeably drained, but not nearly to the same degree now. My phone also seems faster to respond going from task, to task. I hope this isn't wishful thinking. Yesterday I found a Direct Message shortcut to texting so I don't experience the MAJOR 6-7 second lag (it got worse) it would take to open up a single threaded text message...which had to be my BIGGEST complaint against the phone. Finding a way around it was absolute pure bliss to be honest.

As another reviewer noted, I suppose the only real drawback to owning an android phone is how UN-Productive you can be become because of spending so much time playing with the darned thing. Seriously, it seems that daily I find a new and really cool new thing it can do. I haven't been this happy with an electronic device since--well, since, I guess I've never BEEN this excited before because I've never owned anything that can do as much as it can--and I haven't even scratched the surface of what its full potential is.

One more thing: I am VERY impressed with how thin the phone is. I know iPhone claims the new model is the thinnest smartphone available, but I'm sorry, but if it is, then it sure isn't by any degree that I can see with the naked eye. I also LOVE the rubberized coating on the back. I know not everyone likes that particular style, but it sure feels comfortable in my hand. I know I am still looking forward to whenever my X will arrive, but it certainly seems that after each day goes by, I contemplate keeping the Incredible more and more. Who knows? I just might hang onto it after all...

Before you buy the Droid X check this spam

I was about to buy a Droid X when I read this very believeable account of the spam that is included in the phone as an app. An app you can't erase without opting into it. This is horrible.
"But this week my Droid X suddenly morphed into a high-priced billboard dedicated to displaying a full screen message advertising CityID-- a service that I hadn't asked for, didn't want and, maddeningly, could not opt out of. As the screen shot illustrates, the CityID message was impossible to remove from my Droid without first agreeing to either pay for or to continue a free trial of the service by clicking on this unsolicited advertisement."
The url for the article is: [...] This privacy-invading, ineradicable app is totally against Verizon's own privacy policy.
I'm not buying the Droid X with this app.

Love it!!!!

I absolutely love this phone. Others have mentioned the hardware and software and how they kill the iPhone. I also want to note that I am getting over 2Mbps on *average* on this phone (Verizon) compared with the 500kbps I was getting on ATT!

Compared to iPhone 4

It seems that many reviewers already gave top-notch reviews of the Droid Incredible itself. I wanted to just add a bit as someone who had the iPhone 3Gs, switched over to the Incredible, switched to iPhone 4, and then BACK to the Incredible.

I had initially preordered the Incredible and received it two days earlier than the expected date. This detail is irrelevant now but it definitely added to the whole experience of what is an awesome phone in so many ways. My primary reason for getting an Android phone is because I'm a heavy Google user for both personal and work. The three most used apps are:

1) Gmail
2) Calendar
3) Google Voice

Without a doubt, Android excels in these three. You can read more about the "how" in other reviews. If the phone is so great, why did I go back to iPhone?

Well, when it became legal to jailbreak your phone (i.e. install apps not approved by Apple), I thought that I would go back and give it a shot to see what some of the 3rd party apps were like. In particular, I wanted to use GV Mobile, widgets, shortcuts, and a new lock screen. After jailbreaking your phone, you do get back some of the functionality that comes with an Android phone. But in the end, it simply fell short in all those areas when compared to the Droid. The Droid is fast, customizable, and uses HTC Sense which provides a nice polished look.

The areas where iPhone 4 out"does" the Incredible:

1) Camera. Don't be deceived by this whole 5 megapixel vs 8 megapixel. The iPhone camera/video camera is significantly better.
2) Polish. HTC has done a great job making the phone nicer to look at and use, but this is still Apple's territory and they are still king of the hill here.
3) Apps. Andriod's app selection is growing but the apps on their own (not multitasking capablities) are availability in a wider variety and higher quality.
4) Battery. I was surprised at how short the life of the Incredible battery was. I was equally surprised at how good iPhone 4's battery is.

I would still recommend the iPhone 4 to almost anyone that is just looking for a fun phone with lots of random apps. But if you definitely want the best experience with any Google service, don't waste your time - get the Incredible. Simply put - it is the best phone I have ever used and Android is developing at a rapid pace that is improving with every step.

This is a Really Great Phone Overall

I got this phone in late July & I really like it. It's the first smartphone I've ever had so I don't really have anything to compare it to in that category, but I went with the Aria over the iPhone 4 & BlackBerry phones because it just seemed like the best option from my research. It's a great size, especially for people out there who carry their phone in their pocket & don't like bulky phones. I like that the case is easy to grip to prevent it from slipping out of your hand accidentally. As far as functionality, I really like its speed. The only drawback is that touchscreens can be overly sensitive at times & not sensitive enough other times. But, overall it does what I need it to do and more. The actual call reception is always really good for me. I haven't had any issues with dropped calls like some poor iPhone 4 users had when that phone first came out. I really like the voice dialing feature because it's really accurate, especially if you speak loudly & clearly. The camera takes really good quality pictures for a phone. You just have to pause for a few seconds after taking a photo because sometimes there's a slight delay in pushing the button to take a picture & hearing that photo capturing sound. My only real gripe is what has been mentioned before: battery life. Honestly, I charge my phone about every other day. But, how often you have to completely recharge the phone obviously depends on how much you use it & what you use it for. Like if you're a slight Facebook addict & checking in a few times a day from your phone, you might have to charge it more often like I have to at times. LOL. But, with a phone that does as much as this phone, more battery energy is required so the limited battery life isn't all that surprising & is to be expected. But, it is annoying sometimes. Once again, overall this is a great phone & I would definitely recommend it. =)

Great upgrade from my iPhone 3G

I've had my Aria for a month and a half now, and coming from an iPhone 3G, it has in no way disappointed me. The Aria is more responsive, lighter, smaller, and has a crisper display than my old iPhone. My wife has a 3G also, and now every time I pick up her phone, I am immediately surprised by how much larger, heavier and less refined it is than my Aria.

The Aria runs Android, so it has mostly the same apps as an iPhone. I find the experience mostly the same as my old iPhone, except that in general the Aria is more responsive, especially the browser. There have been a few instances where I've missed the simplicity of the iPhone interface, but there have also been plenty of occasions where Android has surprised me with amazing features the iPhone doesn't have.

For being a "freephone" through the right channels, I find it hard to believe that anyone could be disappointed with an Aria. I highly recommend it, and would quickly buy it again given the chance (in fact, if my wife's contract was up, we would have bought one for her also!)

Great little phone

My wife has HTC Aria and I have iPhone 4. iPhone 4 and Aria do not compare, iPhone 4 is just so much better, better hardware, better response in most cases... I do like HTC Sense Android software and HTC Aria feels great in the hand. I think its a great phone for the price. I would not buy it for myself but my wife loves it! The call quality is very good, works great as a phone.

Too Fragile

I bought my HTC Aria 10 days ago. For 8 days I loved everything about it and all of my IPhone friends were jealous. Then while picking up the phone from a backpack on the floor it slipped and fell 9" to the ground. The screen shattered and the phone is now useless. HTC and AT&T will not replace the screen because it is "physical damage". They offered to repair it for $100 instead.

The glass on this phone is thin and will break the first time you drop it. Spare yourself the grief and buy something sturdier.

Excellent starter android phone

I've had the phone for about a month and I really like it. It's my first smart phone/android phone and I find it pretty easy to use. Before I had the Aria, I was using the LG Shine. I purchases from Amazon Wireless and thought it was worth the effort, especially since I saved about $70.

Opening the box upon arrival, the most impressive thing about it is the size and feel of the phone. I'm a petite gal, so I like the size of the phone in my palm, especially in comparison to the iPhone 4. The rounded edges add to the comfortable feel. It's not heavy (obviously, it's going to be a lot lighter than the Shine) and fits well in the front pocket of jeans. I do like the rubberize backing of the phone, but I still intend on getting a case because I want this puppy to last for a while.

The interface does take a bit of getting used to, though, again, I'm new to this smart phone thing. Once you get used to the interface, the phone is pretty easy to use. Initially when HTC put out the update so one could download third party apps to the Aria, I purchased the phone. And then the next day after ordering, HTC took down the link. (Thanks internet blogger nerds.) The fact that I can't download third party apps isn't a deal breaker. You _can_ actually download third party apps--there's a work-around--but it takes a lot of effort from my non-developer perspective. There are decent apps in the Android Market anyway. The AT&T bloatware is annoying, especially since I don't use most of it. One of the most impressive aspects of the phone is that it syncs your contacts from your address book, Gmail contacts, Facebook. Re-organizing and linking all of profiles didn't take very long--just sit through an episode of something for an hour and it's all done. I use Gmail and Google Calendar, so I really like how it's all easily set up for syncing on the phone.

I did follow the message boards on the battery life and took suggestions on changing from 3G to E, not auto-syncing, etc. and have been happy with the results. I charge the phone every other day.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the phone. My iPhone friends are pretty envious.

Perfectly and exactly what it is meant to be.

I had a Blackberry Torch and returned it for this model. I am 100% happier with this model. I've owned more Blackberries over the years than any other brand, but most recently have been an iPhone and Android user. That being said, I can appreciate the niche that Blackberry fills, and it has a few things that it is very good at -- email being one of them.

Some of the reasons I like this phone are reason that it is NOT like the Torch. The torch isn't great at anything-- with a touch screen, navigation button and a keyboard, it tries to be the everything phone to everyone, and I don't feel like any of it was great. This phone has a very usable keyboard, a very good screen, great battery life and super build quality.

For someone who has never had a smart phone, I would never steer them to a blackberry first. But for someone who has to be on a blackberry, or doesn't want to change, this is my choice for a blackberry. There aren't nearly as many apps available for blackberry as there are for android or iPhone, but that being said, a lot of the big names are available.

After using phones with larger screens lately, this screen feels a little small. But it is what it is-- a blackberry, and it does what it is meant to do very well.

And to close: If Blackberry wants a touch screen phone to fly and do well, they need to start fresh with a new OS. The OS we have on this phone is optimized for a keyboard and a navigator key. Putting that on a touch phone screen just doesn't work for me. Keep this OS around as Blackberry Classic and start fresh.

Anyway, enjoy this phone, I think it is the best "real" blackberry.

Works Well for Me

I have had this phone for a couple of months now and I have to say it's very impressive. I've always been a simple kind of person and I thought these high tech phones would be too difficult to handle but that wasn't at all the case. The camera was amazing and took great pictures for being just a phone, also the keyboard and browser are really cool. Everything about this phone is beautiful. It's screen, speaker, apps, and themes. It all works really well for me and I can definitely recommend this phone for others looking to buy a cell phone.

Best in its (Blackberry) class

Any current Blackberry user should be happy and possibly happier with the 9700 if upgrading from a previous model. When it comes to new users, it's a crowded marketplace out there. Those who prefer great physical keyboards may want to look into the current Blackberries. I got this company-issued Bold a couple of months ago through my employer to replace my old 8830. As a Blackberry user for more than 10 years now, I am quite happy with what I got and I see many improvements over what used to be a standard-issue Blackberry some 2-3 years ago.

First, the good things about the 9700 Bold:

- IT'S STILL A BLACKBERRY - This is important to the many BB users who want their Blackberry to change only slightly from one generation to another, at least as far as the physical form and the user interface is concerned. While Blackberries evolved from the little 'wheel' to the track ball to the current touch-sensitive square that's replacing it, they are still recognizable and I bet that if a time traveler from, let's say, 2002, popped up in 2010, he/she should be able to use the 9700 in no time. All buttons are at the familiar locations and, at least when comparing it with the previous generation, the 9700 responds very much in the same way.

- IT'S SMALLER, LIGHTER - While the screen appears to be (very slightly) larger on the 9700, it's bulk is significantly reduced. The 9700 is thinner and it weighs a lot less than its predecessor. Not everyone may appreciate this in the beginning and I was one of those but I got used with the lighter device quickly and I would consider it an improvement now.

- IMPROVED PICTURE QUALITY - While not the best screen in business, the picture on the 9700 is significantly better as far as resolution when compared to previous models. I would not use the Bold to watch movies or read books with the Kindle application but... this is a Blackberry and it's good at doing what Blackberries are expected to do: email, voice, enterprise integration. Everything else I see as 'extras'.

- EXTRAS - Of course, you get a camera which I'm not likely to use but it's good to know it's there, you can get video for free or subscribe to some pay service, have the ability to store various media and so on. It's good to have them but I'm not likely to spend much time with the 'extras' except maybe for the Web browser.

- IMPROVED WEB BROWSER - This is good news. The built-in browser is not quite as good as, let's say, Opera but it's coming pretty close and it's a major improvement over what Blackberry used to offer. And you can always install Opera or some other browser.

- 3G - Of course. EDGE is still available as the fall back service but, whenever 3G is detected, the 9700 will take advantage of it.

- BLUETOOTH, WI-FI - they work great and pairing with a Bluetooth device can be done literally in seconds.


In addition to the above, on the 'the same' or not necessarily 'improvements' category, I noticed no significant change as far as battery life is concerned. The 9700 needs (and comes with a) MICRO USB power adapter so the old MINI USBs won't work on this model. You also get the official Blackberry black leather case with a belt clip.

On the not-so-good or 'really annoying' side, I really hated the abundance of bloatware - I call it 'crapware' - that seems to have invaded the Blackberry world. There is an abundance of little pre-installed apps and services that, shortly after you click on and go to the trouble of activating them, it turns out that they are 'pay' things, ranging from Pac-Man to TV services, and it's either impossible or very difficult to remove - I didn't have the time to waste so I was able to quickly hide them but... there SO MANY of them. If Research in Motion is listening, they should know that I do NOT love Blackberry more for turning the BB desktop into some apps and services peddling space.

Still on the 'not-so-good' but this could be only an isolated instance, my first 9700 was dead on arrival but I was able to get a replacement quickly from AT&T and this one works well.

When it comes to rating the Bold 9700, within the context of Blackberries, it's probably one of the best. It's lighter, brighter, sharper, faster and provides more functionality than previous models so it's a five-star.

A "Bold" new Phone

a great non touchscreen Phone from the RIM stable....fast,reliable and great at multi tasking
The only improvement can be in the Browser department and by ATT not compelling you to use 3G network for youtube and other video streaming...Great Call quality and a very accurate GPS service .... 3G service decent limited by ATT 3G network performance. apps run great on local wifi networks.

p.s : had a problem with ATT though. They charged me the activation fee despite the contract saying no activation fee on purchase. ATT needs to stop doing this if they intend to retain customers (especially for returning loyal customers like me). Had to argue with the customer service rep many times (with atleast 0.5 hr call hold each time) to finally get them to remove the charge

Couldn't be betterl

I use blackberries for 10 years and their biggest flaw was the trackball.
Now it's solved !!
Perfect !

Wow!! Blows Blackberry away!

I've had a series of blackberrys for 5 years and made the leap, with serious apprehension, to this phone and will not be looking back. My husband has the HTC Android and I've played around with iPhones so my comparisons are those and my blackberry pearl and curve.

Some of the things I love:
-speed and clarity and almost unlimited amount of things it can do. I went on vacation for a week with my laptop and never took it out of the bag.
- The web surfing is almost as fast as my verizon fios on my computer while the blackberry speed was more like dial up.
-Having flash makes almost all websites accessible (except viewing videos on hulu and netflix - coming soon, I hear)
-The camera and video camera are great quality.
-I read my kindle books on it easily.
- The apps are what make it more like a computer than a phone. I can't believe how many are free and how incredible they are on the Market. Using one on vacation, called Places, I was able to find the nearest anything to where I was standing (cofffee shop, atm, restaurant, etc.. and get reviews and phone numbers all at once, then directions with the navigator - no switching between apps - it is seemless), I could locate the nearest movie theatre, see movies, times, watch trailer and order tickets all at once;
- Programming my Verizon Fios DVR when I'm away from home - apparently you can turn it into your remote too, but that's going just too far (if possible).
- Watching Youtube
- news feeds - don't have to go to websites for my breaking news - great for the news junkie
- the pullout keyboard!!! I am not fan of touchscreen typing for longer texts or emails so I needed this Droid over others or the iPhone because of the pullout keyboard. Glad I did. Althought it has swype, which is a way of typing on the touchscreen without lifting your finger, I still make a lot of typos.
- google calendar - never used it before and love how I was able to share with my husband so he can always see the family schedule on his phone too.
- google everything - wirelessly, syncs everthing to your computer - calendar, contacts and email all updated on device or computer as soon as input
- the way you can enlarge anything you are viewing by pulling your fingers apart on the screen to zoom in. Took awhile to figure out and get good at, but it is great!
- easy to read attachments - word, excel, pdfs, and powerpoints.
- mP3 player - works as well as an ipod. Will be using the Amazon MP3 store for all my music purchases now.
- came loaded with newest android operating system so no waiting for the newest one to come like the others are now.
- the 5 home screens and how you can personalize them. Keep playing with them to get it most functional.

What I don't love:
battery life - it's actally pretty good considering how much I use it for, but I have to keep an eye on it because I use it so much that it can be hard to make it through the day. With my blackberry, I was fine as long as it slept at night in its charge. Now I charge it whenever I'm near a charger - car, kitchen counter, desk...
- size - its not small and is hard to slip in my pocket. But I don't think I would want it any smaller as the screen size if fabulour and to be thinner I'd need to give up the keyboard. Can't have everything.
- getting used to it. Don't know if I could have figure it all out without my husband to teach me. I'm very computer literate and gadget savvy, but I think I would have missed a lot of what it can do without him around to walk me through the basics and set me on my way.


That's it. Haven't found anything else I don't love

One slightly defective phone should not turn you off.

I really wanted to like this phone. I have had the iPhone 3G for 2 years. AT&T was so bad I had to change, so I went with this phone and Verizon. Initially, I was impressed with this phone. It took a while to get everything activated, but no longer then it would have with any other carrier. BUT, after a day of use, I had a hard time hearing people and had people complaining that I sounded muffled.

I called Motorola, Verizon, and eventually Amazon. Motorola said they heard some people had a problem with the noise reduction microphone and that a software fix would be coming out that should fix it ... but they never gave me a date ... (the guy even hinted that I could stuff a piece of paper over the wire (causing it to vibrate less)).

In the end, no one would give me a solid answer, so I had no choice to return the phone. Amazon is usually pretty good with returns, but the woman on the phone explained that Amazon's policy for Phone returns is 30 days FROM THE SHIP DATE. I wasn't able to get the phones activated for several days after receiving them, so I was already a week or so into their 30 day period, so I decided to play it safe and ask for an exchange.

Besides bad phone call quality for me, I really thought this phone was nice. However, I think Google and Verizon are trending toward Apple and their strict controls over your device ... for the life of me, I can't understand why they insist on telling me what I can and can not do with a device I paid for and OWN!

Once I get the new phone, give a ride around the block, I'll update the review.


UPDATE 09/03/2010
The replacement phone is much better. The phone arrived almost instantly, and as a added bonus, not only did my phone number switch to the new phone when activated, all my programs that were installed ported too.

Also, for whatever reason, this phone's charge lasts a whole lot longer. I don't understand how that could be since I am running the same programs. I know there are performance settings for power management (something I like) so my settings might have changed ...

I was so pleased, I went back and gave it another star.

Great phone, just don't add FLASH (comes in a update)

I bought this phone last week directly from a Verizon store local to me. Awesome phone, until the 2.2.20 update was pushed to it. I didn't realize it, but that update pushed Adobe Flash 10.1 to the phone, and enabled the browser plugin. My phone suddenly became nearly a brick. Asking it to swap from the browser to another app, or from another app to the browser, and if you were sitting on a page with flash (most use it for adverts, etc. nowadays), you can plan on waiting up to 15 seconds for the phone to become responsive again. It was totally ridiculous, and I can't believe Motorola, Verizon, or Google would endorse Adobe Flash on the phone.

Uninstalled Adobe Flash and the phone was 100% again.

The keyboard is small, but it is a phone, and it feels like a football field compared to my old BB 8330 and 8530 phones (both were excellent machines). I do wish the "search", "return", "home" and "menu" "buttons" were mechanical keys, rather than touch regions on the edge of the screen. I occasionally end up touching them at the wrong time, throwing off my concentration on the task I was performing.

The phone uses a battery in about 10 hours if you are a heavy mobile web user like I am, so be sure you have charging facilities around. I don't know if the Motorola charger uses any special charger wiring to the micro-usb port, but they do separate the charging cable and charger, so if you install the charging drivers on your laptop or desktop, you can easily charge the phone with your computer, without purchasing another micro-usb cable.

The only software I'd like to see improved is the mail reader. I think Apple has a slightly better interface for mail, with the swipe to delete a single mail (rather than tap and hold to delete). Additionally, I find that the overall gmail account vs. email is somewhat confusing. When you activate the phone, it asks you for your gmail account info to setup mail, contacts, and sync. But initially, for several days even, I didn't get any mail through this account. So, I setup my gmail account as a gmail imap account in the email reader as well, and all was well for a couple days, then suddenly, my gmail starts coming through the overarching account you setup when you activate the phone. I am not sure if this was a problem on google's side or not, but it was annoying. Now I can delete the gmail IMAP account. However, even more annoying, the phone gmail account doesn't seem to integrate with the universal inbox. I find this annoying. Google needs to get on the ball with the consistency issues here with gmail and phone sync accounts. That's the only reason I knocked one star off the phone, really.

I'd recommend the phone to a friend, and I would NOT recommend waiting for the iPhone 4 (even though the iPhone 4 seems to be a well executed piece of hardware), but to each his own!

Best Android phone with keyboard *yet*

And as such, it's a moving target, as T-Mobile has a new G2 coming out (G1 Blaze, HTC Vision, etc.) with a keyboard and 1Ghz CPU. For now, this is Motorola's official update to the original Droid (which also has a keyboard), and it's a winner.

So let's start with the good stuff. It's very fast, and it has Android 2.2 (Froyo), and supports Flash, and does nice things like synchronize your settings with Google if you so desire. The keyboard is coated with the same semi-sticky plastic they use on the body, which is a good thing since this is a $600 computer and you don't wanna drop it. As I've been using Android since 2008, I can say that this device has never given me a "Force Close" on any application I've run thus far. Two years in, and this is the best Android device I've used: G1, Garminfone, MyTouch 3G Slide, HTC Incredible, LG Ally are all devices I've used, and only the Incredible would tempt me away. But, gotta have a keyboard.

Internal storage and apps2SD are two huge wins with this device. If you want to go ahead and store apps on the phone, you'll likely not run out of space. If you think you might, you can push the app right to your SD card, and it supports 16Gb microSDs. If you're an iPod user and your iPod holds less than 32Gb, this could replace it easily.

There's bad stuff though. One, this is a Verizon-branded phone, and for some reason, call signal quality is not really very good. Calls on my block are static-sounding, which is really bizarre given that I live in Essex County, NJ and Verizon has blanketed my area for years. I hope Verizon hammers this out, as it isn't a good beginning to the experience.

Also bad is the usual carrier-specific branding and lock-down: there's no way to go 2G-only to conserve battery life, but you do get a battery-use profile tool that may or may not. I have it set to max battery but by day's end, I need to recharge this. With GPS or WiFi, you might get 6 hours of solid use before you worry, 8 and you're done. The radios just use lots of power.

Flash is not supported by default for this phone from Verizon. I had to manually download it and install it. It was available, then not, and I don't know who is at fault there (likely VZW). The root procedure for the Droid 2 is out there, so maybe that's where I will need to go. But, I shouldn't have to... but that's another bit of trouble, in that Motorola is not HTC. Motorola is happily locking these down, whereas with the HTC devices, it's more of a token effort. Openness is a more effective tool for adoption than walled-gardens.

The camera works, and the flash is actually fairly effective in dark rooms. I like it, but for me a camera on a phone is your last-ditch documentary tool. It'll do the job and capture the moment, but I wouldn't rely on it due to shutter lag. It isn't the worst but it still doesn't immediately respond, so you'll get a few blurry shots.

I waited four months for this phone, and it delivered. I fully expect VZW to fix my connection issues in some fashion, and the crew at XDA to supply me a custom ROM in the future. As someone who uses his phone for more than calls, this should last me at least two years before I get the itch go upgrade.

-C

Switched from the Incredible.

When I switched to the Incredilble I couldn't stand not having a physical keyboard. So I traded my Incredible for the droid 2. From my 4 day experience I can definitely say its a keeper. Its just as fast as the incredible and same as the X. The screen is just right, not to small and not too big like the x. It fits in the hands nice. It is a little more bulky than my incredible but you get over it when you use that keyboard. I miss having the sense interface, but there are plenty alternatives. Battery life is what you would expect from a smartphone. A day at the most with moderate usage. I guess it works out good if you have a car charger. I charge it when I sleep and throughout the day I charge it whenever I get in the car. I absolutely love android and this phone runs it very well. I haven't had a crash yet in the 4 days. I am somewhat disappointed in the cases for it. I personally like rubber cases but for the droid 2, the keyboard limits that. The snap-ons are the only alternative and it causes the phone to slide harshly. Other than that I really enjoy it.

*****************UPDATE*****************
I Have had this phone for a little more than 2 weeks and it still does not disappointing. My only real complaint was the battery life, but now I have invested in the extended battery. For $50 it is a million times worth it. Before I was pushing about 12 hours and would die before I hit the hay. Now with the extended battery im at 40% when I go to bed and still have not stayed around long enough to see how long it will last. It adds less than a millimeter and you cant even tell its an extended battery. Fits with my case perfectly. I couldn't be any happier.

sub-par phone and the worst service

got this 2 weeks ago, only to return it in a week. first of all, phone crashed twice in 3 days. I faced too many problems with this phone before i got to discover any positives. the worst part was sprint charging $10/mo for 4G service which constantly disconnects you when you are moving.

A smarter phone than most of its owners

I am coming at this review as something of a techno-phobe(I'm 59). For every sparkly new technology step forward there's always something dauntingly complex or "glichy" that makes me think why bother keeping up with the latest buzz toy? This phone is in a whole different catgory of brilliant. You have hundreds of other reviews on the net to sift through so I'll cut to the chase-

1.Blazing speed, a million things you can do with it(that you never imagined a cell phone could do),voice recognition that's eerily accurate,a fairly intuitive learning curve that didn't drive me crazy.

2.Battery life-Everybody chill! This thing easily lasts all day with the 4G,Gps,
Wi-Fi turned off most of the time. If you're going to spend your life with your nose pressed to this thing(tempting but resist the urge) ANY phone that does as much as this one does is going to need a touch-up charge at some point during the day-that's the tradeoff. A ridiculous reason to pass on the best cell phone on the market if you're a Sprint customer, and the professional cell phone reviewers generally rank this the best from ANY provider.

More than a cell phone, maybe a combination auxillary memory bank and concierge service for us senile citizens?!

got it, tried it, and now returning it.

I gave this HTC EVO a heck of a chance for the past 30 days. The size, weight, and horrendously bad battery life are just a few of the features causing me to go back to ATT for my old phone. Honestly the screen is amazing- crisp, bright (if you dare use battery), and smooth to the touch. The camera is pretty great too. The photos are like none other that I have seen from a cell phone.

Oddly enough, when transferring the video off to the computer, the sound got lost - on all videos. I don't know if this is typical, but certainly frustrating. The ability to transfer music, files and video onto the phone as a drive is great, but the players that come with the phone seem to be lacking the "smart" features that the old iPhone had - like where to start back up, how it reacts when there is an incoming call, etc.

The Sprint plans are right on the money for pricing. Nothing else comes close to the "deal" you get for unlimited talk, text, web, but the call quality is lacking! I've had random people cut into phone conversations which sounded like wires were getting crossed, and if you talk at the same time as the other person, then you both cant hear anything! It doesn't handle that too well.

I definitely don't think its a terrible phone, but it just wasn't right for me. For those who want to give it a try, the absolute worst feature about this phone is its battery life. The extended battery works well for my husband, but he still has to charge it every night with regular use.

Another excellent product by HTC

This is my third HTC phone ( Mogul >> Touch Pro >> Evo ) and I have yet to experience issues with the quality of HTC products.

The phone's large screen makes it easy to adapt to an on-screen keyboard, which was a bit of a concern.

The battery life is not too bad if you know how to manage your use. Doing things like turning off unnecessary apps, radios and dimming the screen all alleviate the battery issues a (tiny) bit. I'd gladly take a battery hit for great performance and robust features, but I don't expect everyone to feel the same way.

the best and greatest phone i have purchased

here it go believe me when i say that this phone is the best of 2010 now all my family members left their iphone 4 and iphone 3gs and now they all love their evo thanks to me i was the first in the family to get mine now a total of 25 family members with the evo. That must be bad for apple and at&t.

Best Phone I have ever owned

Touchscreen is very responsive. The phone is a bit bulky but it keeps it safe. The apps are all very nice and it is an all around type of phone.

Frustration and waste of money

I have had this phone for 5 months the first one did not work right so they gave me a new one. It would go into airplane mode and I would have to take the battery out to get it to work again the same with it freezing up all the time. I can't call or receive calls inside of buildings and a lot of times from my car. There is no speed dial it takes several steps to get to the phone number you want. If you ever have an emergency or need to call 911 may God be with you because you will be at his mercy! That is how bad this phone works. You DO NOT want this as your only phone you need a land line. With the old software I could receive internet service most of the time with the new update very seldom. The gps doesn't work right sends you way out of the way or wrong directions. That is if you can get it to come up.It makes phone calls on its own I guess that's why it's called a smart phone! When I am able to talk on the phone my cheek touches the mute button so we think we've lost connection. If and when you can get a connection to the internet it take minimum of 1 min. The speaker phone is very low and the speaker is in the back of the phone when I use the speaker other people can't make out what I'm saying.
With the touch screen key board you get the wrong key and have to delete, (very time consuming). The battery life sometimes I can talk 15 min. up to 1 hr. on a fully charged battery, makes no sense. Battery life with internet who knows since it very seldom works with the upgrade. When the battery is to go dead no warning just shuts down. The camera is very slow to load so if you want a picture of anything other than still life forget it, it will be long gone by the time the camera gets loaded. I would rate this phone 0 stars if I could. I have had sprint service for over 10 years and have lived at the same house before I bought this samsung moment M900 I used to have a 8 year old analog phone with limited internet it had good service most of the time. I upgraded because sprint told me everything was digital so if I wanted better service to go digital well it sucks. I am hoping that they will give me a new phone that works here at their expense or an antenna for the house so it will work. I am paying for services that I am not able to get. They told me the phone was not working because it needed to be updated with the software, it still does not work it's worse.
Before the phone was updated when it did work it did have a lot of useful and neat things on it. This phone takes way to much time to get anything to work on it and is very frustrating.
Save your money, time and frustration and get something else.

Not Just a Phone, It's a Lifeline from Amazon and Sprint

I'll admit I was afraid to buy something so complicated looking. All the reviews and Sprint product info made me want to try it. Easy to learn and fun to use. You can check email, send email, browse the internet and keep up with everything you would have to go to your computer for when you don't have the time. The Sprint service is always available and never fails you. The still camera and video are an unexpected plus. The quality of the pictures and the ease of working with the pictures and film is simple and fun too. Battery life ok, keyboard it great, but the touch screen is awesome.

Good Smartphone

I have used many smartphones, Palm Pre, Blackberry Tour 9630, HTC Hero, HTC Touch Pro, Samsung Instinct, Blackberry Curve 8330, and the Palm Treo 755p. Each phone is unique in each way, the samsung moment isn't for everyone, but it is a good phone. When I got the phone first I was greatly concerned about battery life, WIFI really uses alot of power, but if you are concerned about battery life get the other new Samsung Android phone which has REV O, which uses less power, and gives better battery life. The moment is for people who are tech savvy, and really have the time to understand and play around with their phone. It is not for people who want something that works out of the box, the Palm Pre / Pixi best suits those people. If you want something reliable, the blackberry is the best bet, but has less features. The reason I gave this phone a 4 was since Sprint will no longer support with it with future updates after 2.1, even though the hardware can handle it. The phone is well built, and can last two years, and if your into programming you can get the latest updates from the tech forums. This phone is actually better than the Motorola droid on Verizon, which gets more hype because Verizon can charge an arm and leg for their service.

Way to underpowered, buggy hardware

I decided it was time to get a cell phone after finally fulfilling my contract with a VOIP carrier. I initially chose the Moment thinking it was a good midrange phone, with more then enough features for me. I never wanted a phone that could make the bed and start my car for me, just one that could make calls and have a few useful apps.
The phone itself is just underpowered plain and simple. The hardware was never meant to run android and it shows. The phone is very unresponsive, irritatingly so. It also has a few known issues, the phone constantly locks up in data mode, and gets stuck in airplane mode. The touchscreen looks nice but doesn't always register touch, Im not sure if this is because of the laggy processor or the screen.
Furthermore, this phone is discontinued @ sprint. It no longer will be receiving any other software updates ans had been replaced by the even sadder samsung instinct. If you want an android phone on sprint you only have one choice, and that is the Evo4 which I now own. Amazing phone (but thats a different review).

Great Phone

Let me begin by saying that I am somewhat new to smartphones. Now that i have the Droid I have to say that I love it. I got the Android 2.2 on September 3, 2010, from Verizon. The screen is crisp and very responsive. The apps are great and there are plenty of them on the android market. With 2.2 you have 5 homepages and having adobe flash player (which can be downloaded from the market) makes the browsing experience top notch. Google has some awesome apps that come pre-loaded on the phone. such as, maps, navigation, and my favorite goggles. the only downside that i found was that the slide out keyboard is very flush, but having it is a plus. i cant really compare it to any other phone that i have had, but i have played around my friends iphones and i must say that i don't envy them!

The droid is good

This is the first really well functioning cell phone I have every had. I am convinced that it is more than just the phone service providing the excellent sound quality. Call quality is great, picture and video are amazing, and the app store has so far supplied me with every extension I've thought up for my phone. The full, physical keyboard was a must for me and while my big fingers do occasionally mis-type things it's not as bad as I thought it would be. The on-screen keyboard isn't terrible either. With the first major update that was released, the browser, gallery, and Google maps all now have multi-touch pinch-to-zoom support. The new gallery is great and it also links in my picasa web albums so I have direct access to all my pictures from picasa as well. The best thing about it for me as well is that it links right into all of my google account, which means I can more easily manage my contacts, and I get to take gmail, gtalk, google voice, etc. everywhere I go. Can't say enough great things about this phone. Just went in the last week and got my wife one as well and she's really been enjoying it. I would highly recommend a protective case for Motorola Droid It's a little difficult to install, but made the touchscreen experience much better and keeps smudges off the screen as well. I, like many people, have been interested in an iPhone and almost left Verizon to get one when the DROID came out. I'm so glad I stayed and didn't leave... The DROID the best phone I've ever owned. It's everything I wanted out of the iPhone, but with a swappable battery and none of the apple-tax. This phone is as easy to use as the iPhone, but with all the bells and whistles that someone who's more technical could ever want.

Comparable to iPhone 3GS

I am a former owner of iphone of 2 years but after my phone was stolen I had no reason to tolerate AT&T's poor coverage anymore. I settled for Droid because it is only 7 month old model, compatible with Froyo and it is buy 1 get 1 free.

I upgraded to Android 2.2 the next day.


The hardware spec is similar to iPhone 3GS but slightly better. First up, the screen is really sharp and even at its brightest it is slightly difficult to see screen in sun. Live Wallpaper really rocks.
The sound from speaker is crystal clear.
I haven't used slider keyboard much simply because soft keyboard works just fine. I am a fast typist but iphone was great at auto suggesting words so end result was much faster and uninterrupted typing. I could only type at half the speed on Droid because for auto suggested word I have to stop typing to pick the word. I even had touch screen issues in some places - flicking photos in camera album didn't always respond well, using thumb slider in Contacts didn't work with left thumb with works great with right thumb.
The icons on the phone are smaller than iPhone's so it could be harder to see for people with poorer vision. Market has many apps that are popular on iTune.
I love the Car Home feature - navigation is as good as you would find on standalone GPS device. Voice search feature is very easy to use and accurate.
I am little disappointed with the photos but the video is just great. Good thing is that it takes photos even in low light but pictures taken day time do not reproduce the original colors. Subject seems to be covered in white haze/fog. Video is very sharp and clear.
Battery lasts me through the day with moderate use. You have to be careful what programs you run because multi tasking can really suck up your battery. I have turned off sound and vibrate for all alerts. Good thing is that settings shows which part of the phone uses most power (50% is used by the display

Email accounts are easy to setup. Contacts and Calendar sync online which is very reassuring. Using cable to connect your phone to PC is so 20th century. Clock feature is very well designed so it can be kept at bedside.

Overall, it is a good replacement for iPhone 3GS and I would recommend it. I bought my wife one too.

Still the best

Still the best on the market for bussiness use with the keyboard and ease of use.

Droid verses the Droid Eris

I love my Droid. I started with the HTC Droid Eris 3G and I will say it is a very classy, streamlined phone with a look similar to the iphone. The Eris is easy for anyone to use. The layout is nice and it does a lot of what the Droid does. My husband surprised me by giving me the Motorola Droid 3G however and while it took me about a week to get it set up to my preferences, I must say I couldn't be happier with it. It's like my own little laptop. The Droid is a little heavier and boxier than the Eris but its battery life far outlasts the Eris which would die on me in half a day.(I use my smart phone heavily and the Droid can usually make it through the day.) One of the great features that the droid has that the Eris does not is the voice navigation which works through google and you do not need a gps in your car when you have a Droid. I have used it and it has the same onscreen look that other stand alone gps systems use and the voiced directions are essential. I am the type of smart phone user that takes advantage of almost every feature the droid offers. I am a writer and I can download my book from my email or computer. Up-size it so that it reads in larger font (less words on a line is all) and I can edit and save and either dock or email the results back. I also use Pandora on my phone so I have tunes all the time. I can check my bank accounts safely. I text a lot with my kids. (I don't like the slide up keyboard as much as the onscreen for texting but the Droid out-does the Eris with its larger onscreen keyboard. I play games on my cell; Night at the Museum, Prince of Persia, Sims 3,Iron Sight, and Spore are a few and the Droid runs them flawlessly. Another fun feature the droid has that the Eris does not is animated back grounds,the aquarium looks just like the one on windows and cost only 2 dollars from the marketplace. You can feed the fish and when you touch them they swim fast and it has a shark and manta ray so its a fun little app(many apps are free BTW). I use the camera and the droid phone comes with a flash whereas the Eris does not.They both seem to take good quality pictures. The internet is faster on the Droid than the Eris. You tube works smoothly on both devices, they say both phones do video but the one movie I put on was glichy on both. I think the size might have been to large. I do miss the end and call button that the Eris comes with, the droid has onscreen buttons and calls are terminated when the other person hangs up, but I would have liked those buttons. I only use the physical keyboard when editing in word otherwise I stick with the onscreen one. Both phones use a real basic FB app but you can see posts and mail so its ok. Bluetooth works well on both devices. All in all I highly recommend the Motorola Droid over the Eris, though if you are a light user; internet, calls and a few fun apps the Droid Eris would be just fine.

Should have listened to my gut!

'UPDATE' 9/2/10 - I've downloaded ADW Launcher and it performs much better than the standard launcher. In fact, the problem w/ the soft keys has all but gone away. The application soft key button on my wife's phone was almost unusable but w/ ADW launcher, it works every time. I am not revising my rating, however, as Samsung doesn't admit to the problem nor is there a common fix. The fact this phone (marketed as the Moment II) is actually a downgrade keeps the rating where it is.

==================================

I should have gone with my instincts and fellow reviewers NOT purchased this phone. I purchased three of them to replace expensive iPhone data plans and how could I pass it up at $.01? It was a toss between this and the Moment as I don't want to drop a few hundred dollars for the EVO or Epic and the additional data costs. I was frustrated that the Moment (with better reviews) won't be getting any additional support or updates from Sprint or Samsung even though it's a better device (faster modem, better display, camera flash).

After a few days of playing I have discovered the Android OS to be much better than iOS, in fact, I feel somewhat liberated being out from under Apple. However, the phone is poorly done. Reviewers are correct in that there is a definite lag with the haptic feedback on the softkeys. Of the three we purchased, my daughter's phone never has lag. The two for my wife and I continually have lag and problems. I assume this must be a hardware issue and later production lines were resolved. The best I can hope for is to exchange the phones and see if the replacements work as they should.

Samsung missed the mark with this phone by offering a sub-par product as a replacement to the Moment. More than that, it's extremely frustrating as a consumer to have a choice of coal or diamonds, nothing in between. It's obvious Samsung and Sprint dumbed down the Moment with the Intercept to force customer's hands to the more expensive data plans w/ the Epic.

Big giant fail in my opinion.

Warning! Phone doesn't perform as marketed

The Samsung Intercept is a great looking phone, but as a phone any land line phone performs hundreds of times better.

The Good:
- Has talking turn by turn GPS
- looks good
- pull out keyboard
- integrates with google pretty well

The BAD:
- Constantly drops calls. It has even froze up after dropping a call. So, you canNOT call person back and they can't call you back.
- This phone takes 3 minutes to boot up after you hit the start button
- The "HOME" button probably works about 25 to 30% of the time
- The "MENU" and "BACK buttons work about 25 to 30% of the time too
- Everytime I restart the phone I get an error message "Process system is not responding." Then, you have to either "foreclose" or "wait" button.
- While driving I set the GPS, it worked fine until someone called me. GPS cut off and the ringtone for the call just played but I could not pick up the call. Then, it froze. So, now I don't have direction to my destination. I could turn off and back on and wait another 3 minutes and hope it will work. It leave it alone and hope it unfreezes. I wait 10 minutes for it to unfreeze. They call person back and ask for direction. (What a phone!)
- while talking to technically support today, my call dropped twice and they had to call me back.

Basically, It's a slow locked up piece of crap. You've been warned buy at your own risk.

A Step Backwards

This was the next phone after the Samsung Moment - with the same 800mhz processor ram/rom. This device stepped backwards despite being released a year after the moment, here is the list. The moment had EV-DO Rev A (significantly faster, about twice as fast as 3g, some call it 3.1g 3.2g and 3.5g, its still technically 3g), BUT the intercept dismisses the Rev A and is only EV-DO. In real world tests I would only pull 700kbps download (.7mb per second) rarely, and oddly, peaking as high as 1000kb per sec (1mb/s) EVDO Rev A in the same area would be peaking 1800kbps with 1300 more consistantly.

THe second issue is screen resolution. For those of you who don't much care about this - you will. I am one that appreciates a nice screen, but functionality was my priority - I'm not watching TV or movies on the damn thing like other losers. However, not only is does the odd pixle rates make it slightly blurry, it also means YOU CANNOT USE SOME OF THE ANDROID APPS available on the market because they are not formated for this pixle ratio. The screen, despite being AMOLED, does not seem as bright.

Third, despite bieng the same 2.1 Android software, something about this phone makes it just a hint slower, but this will be fixed presumably when it gets 2.2 as sprint promised. (and thus, THIS is the only advantage over the Samsung Moment - you will officially get Android 2.2 which will make the phone its self very noticably faster - NOT your connection speeds, just the phone its self).

Lastly the build quality. This is the geo metro of Android phones - it belongs on metro pcs to be honest, and the full retail price on this would be hard to swallow at 200 bucks... let alone the 400 or what ever it is they are asking.,

Sprint is out of their god da*n mind - this phone is terrible.

PS that 800mhz processor SOUNDS appealing - until you find out that android 2.2's flash support requires an A8 processor... this and the moment have an A11

happy I chose it

I have been using windows PDA phones since they were created, but wanted an android phone (Sprint) and had a tough time choosing between the Hero, the Moment, and the Intercept. I test-drove the Hero but found it difficult to use the touch-keypad. The moment was bulkier when I handled the phones in the store, and of course will not be supported with android updates. I read 1000+ reviews about these three phones, and went with the Intercept, although they all had their share of complaints. My phone has been great. No soft-key problems. Fast web browsing (it's all relative but it seems fast enough to me), no freezing up, no problems at all, really. The battery will last a full day with moderate amounts of talk, texting, email and some streaming TV and web browsing. The GPS works great, the camera as well. No complaints at all from me.

don't let the bad reviews scare you ... its a nice phone

I wanted a light phone with a physical keyboard that gave me a better internet/app experience than the Blackberry I'd been using (oh, and didn't cost a freaking fortune even with the upgrade and rebate credits from sprint). The Intercept met the criteria and has far exceeded my expectations! I've had no problems with the buttons, screen (the resolution is very nice) or anything else, for that matter. Its a very nice phone for the price, but if you're on the fence, get it from Sprint, use if for a couple of weeks and return it if you don't agree.

Awesome TMobile Phone

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS PHONE!!! This was the absolute best deal, the phone, the service, everything included in one order, and it was shipped, easily tracked, and received within days.

my thoughts on this phone.

I had the Behold and I can tell you that compared to the myTouch Slide, the Behold might as well be a paperweight. RE your comment about the lack of Snapdragon, you honestly won't even notice it. There are moments (however, VERY small) that you will wait for things to show up but this is normally due to the strength of your network or wifi....

Concerning battery life, I've been using it almost constantly so I can't give you any real thoughts on this until my consumption slows down. Then, I'll try to update you on the battery life under normal circumstances. I can already tell I'll be using it MUCH more than the Behold.

I haven't noticed any glitches--though I wouldn't doubt that they exist. Speaker volume seems great, both on speakerphone and otherwise. Signal strength depends on area so that is a N/A field. It does have flash but hulu doesn't allow videos on android--version 2.2 should fix this but it isn't certain yet. GPS with voice navigation is by far a favorite of mine--used with the Genius button, navigating while driving is quite simple.

Now for the not so good things, in my humble opinion--the Genius button is great but sometimes isn't exact when sending texts...Speak clearly and you'll have a better chance. The touchscreen is way more sensitive compared to the Behold so there is a learning curve there. Also, the Genius button has a connection time out for some reason. I can't think of any others at the moment, but I'll be sure to update you should I come across any more.

All in all, compared to the Behold, this phone will blow your mind. Android has literally thousands of apps and, unlike the Behold, they install painlessly.

Good tips at [...]

A solid 3rd gen choice for T-Mobile G1 veterans.

T-Mobile must have contracted a refresher for the G1 with HTC, and it's a weird one for sure. Armed with an ARM11 600Mhz processor, it's an upgrade over the 1st gen G1 processor in terms of speed and RAM, but the keyboard and optical trackpad are steps backwards from the G1, as is the microUSB connector away from the more-common miniUSB.

In searching for a replacement for my twice-bricked G1, I evaluated the Garminfone and MyTouch Slide. The conclusion I'm fast approaching is that the new Droid2 from Motorola looks like my long-term choice, but that means switching networks.

Within the context of T-Mobile Android phones with keyboards, this one is very good. Outside of that context, it hassome dubious design choices leaving me flat.

To begin, it has a good camera with a flash, it has Android 2.1, and an OTA update just hit it. Terrific. It has some built-in apps and makes use of HTC's Sense UI for an improved feel over stock 2.1 and 1.6. However, you will look in vain to change the desktop wallpaper directly; you'll either alter the "mood" as provided by T-Mobile, or you'll pick you wallpaper with an app that supports making it your desktop (Astro File Manager being your best bet for this and all Android tasks).

The keyboard lets you avoid fat-fingered input at every turn. If Swype and Graffiti and even Dragon Dictation fail you, the keyboard surely bails you out? Well, maybe, if you can decipher the bizarre, non-standard silk-screened letters and numbers. It's a four-row, not the five-row of a G1, but it's spaced a little more and has shift/function keys on both sides. However, the top row has numerals the same size and color of the letters, so you aren't reading QWERTYUIOP, you're reading Q1W2E3R4T5Y6U7I8O9P0, which screws you up when you are looking for a zero or "O". Like I said, bizarre. A second color for alt-keys or a smaller font would have helped immensely. You get used to it over time, but why do I need to get used to bad silkscreening? This should be fixed in later versions.

The Genius button is fun. You press it, and the Dragon Dictation listens and tries to figure out what you want. Call your wife, find pizza near your location, open an app, whatever. Over time the Genius button is likely to expand functionality, but for now, it is limited by its Dragon engine and its lookup ability. The more I try it, though, the more I like it. This may be a killer feature if the API is readily accessible.

In all, this is better than the Garminfone and original G1. I would love to keep the G1 keyboard and physical trackball but that's not going to happen; I would love to keep the thin form of the Garminfone but I need a keyboard. Compromises aside, this is a solid 3rd gen Android device and if you can get it close to zero on contract, you're coming out way ahead. T-Mobile is very good about OTA updates, so you can plan on 2.2 very soon as well.


--#

Best Phone Ever

I think this phone is fantastic. I think it is way better than an iphone. I owned an iphone for years, and I think it was a bit like a monopoly. This phone is so much more impressive.

Thanks Android!

Killer phone, weak battery.

My first smart phone and reasonably easy to figure out, a simply amazing phone.

Battery struggles to make it through a day! Hopefully will improve after pairing back unneeded apps...

Very, very nice.

Rip off

Do not buy this phone!!! It is a rip off. I called my sister and it played an ad at the start of the phone call, I was on the line for 1 minute and 1 second. That cost 50 cents. It always rounds up the minutes.

Nokia 2320-GO Phone

Nice phone..great styling..activation(?)/I called AT&T..they suggested I visit an AT&T retail outlet for help/25-dollars for this phone is the best deal I have ever seen..ever..I had some problems removing the REAR-cover..it really is forced OFF--once the Button is applied fully--The Cell Phone was easy to set up..yet--is delivered without Activation..so I'll visit AT&T tomorrow at the Mall.

Simple, functional, cheap = 5 stars

My old Nokia flip phone just gave up on me (the LCD broke) and I was opting to buy a Nokia E63. I thought about it and realized that a smartphone would only be useless in my hands because I'm really not willing to pay for the monthly data usage/Internet fees. I also thought about getting the new iPhone 4G but I just bought an iTouch last month and I still have a year remaining in my contract with AT&T. I browsed through all the unlocked and prepaid phones and I thought this is the best choice. It's only $8 (without the go package) in AT&T's website and that totally sold me on this phone. It's not bad considering all I really do with my phone is text and call. I also don't need a phone which can play music and/or take pictures because I have an iPod and a digital camera which can take care of that already. It's sleek looking, it does what a phone should do and it's cheap.

I just got this phone today (shipped from AT&T) and it was better than what I expected. It's nice looking, it's thin and it works! I just put my old postpaid sim card on it and voila! If you're looking for simplicity, functionality and affordability, this is THE best phone you can get.

A Real Man's Phone Without the BS

Do you want a compact phone that makes reliable and clear calls without all the hassle? This is the one. If you want to spend all day stroking a sissy phone with finger gestures, dealing with bad service and plugging it in to every socket in sight, go get a "smart" phone. This Nokia does the job like MacGuyver--no excuses. Face it, you're a man and you should have a real man's phone. So man up! Give that smart phone to your girlfriend. Buy the Nokia 2320 now!

Great phone, pre-paid or not; can custamize

This small phone is great as a great back-up or daily use phone.

Pro's: if you play with the phone enough you can customize this phone quite a bit. As far as customizing the phone it is great everything from changing what the buttons do on the front to where the menu icons are located in the menu. ability to add music and other things through a sync cable that you can buy from amazon. BATTERY LIFE AND SIGNAL ARE ASTOUNDING! :) this phone is also quite loud. screen is plenty bright and i have not had a problem yet seeing it in any environment, i.e. sunshine/cloudy/indoor. etc.

Note: if you have a phone contract with AT&T already you CAN take you're sim card out of the current phone you have and put it into this phone; So long as all of you're numbers are saved to the sim card you are all set.
there is actually 11.414 mb of hard memory in the phone as far as i can see, this is enough to add a few tones and some pictures for the background.

Personally I do not use the "prepaid" service so i cannot comment on that subject.

Con's: the buttons are a bit small, when it comes to texting they are a bit too small but when typing in a number or such under short-term use they are suitable. It comes with a limited selection of tones and extraneous features but that is deal-able. when accessing the menus and switching between menus there is a lag. there is no way to add an external memory chip.

Note:
Accessories it comes with: (1) alarm clock, calendar, to-do list, notes, calculator, timer, stopwatch, voice/sound recorder, you can sync and backup the data on the phone, i.e. contacts etc. has a speed dialing function. has T9 or text auto-complete. there are 6 different profiles that allow you to switch tones, ring volumes, and vibration.

Awesome phone

I acquired the Blackberry Bold 9650 as part of my annual phone upgrade. I was able to get a 2 for 1 deal so my wife got one as well. This is the first smart phone for both of us. After having it for a little while I feel I can make an educated review.

My Service is Verizon Wireless. In my area I get excellent coverage with very few dead zones (haven't found any yet). The Verizon 3G is extremely fast and reliable and I have yet to use the wifi as the 3G is as fast or faster than wifi in my area.

The phone is a nice size. My friend has the Curve 8830 and they are almost identical in size. The Bold is slightly longer and slightly thinner than the Curve (were talking fractions here, almost undetectable). First thing one will notice is that this phone feels sturdy. I wouldn't toss it off a roof, but it definately feels very well made. There is also some weight to this phone. I don't know how it compares to other BlackBerry's weight wise, but you definately feel like your holding a phone. The phone is not heavy though and I can hold the phone all day long as it is a very comfortable fit.

For previous BlackBerry owners, the keypad has been redesigned. The keys are slightly larger than those on the Curve. The keys have also been pushed together whereas on the Curve there is some spacing between the keys. This helps to keep the phone narrower and also help keep food / liquid out of the gaps. The keys are easy to push and again feel solid. The keypad for me is easy to type on though you will make a few mistakes. It does take some getting used to the keyboard. The keyboard is the standard QWERTY type so should be familiar to most users. The keyboard is backlit for easy visibility and the phone adjusts the backlight depending on surronding light levels. The track pad is easy to use and is a vast improvement over the trackball on previous models. The trackpad works the same way as a touchpad on a laptop.

The screen is bright and easy to see. I would recommend a screen protector to anyone buying this phone. The screen is also smartly organized with the icon positions. Like the keypad, the screen will automatically adjust its intensity to the surrounding light levels. The screen is level with the case with no where for dirt or lint to get trapped.

The apps and programs for this phone are what make Blackberry number 1. I really enjoy blackberry messenger and app world. The programs are very simple to use and straight forward. I will caution anyone that the Verizon Apps (vcast, vz navigator, etc.) are an extra charge on top of the data plan fees. For those like me that don't want to pay the extra charge a quick search in BB AppWorld will find you as good or better apps to replace the VZW ones. My one complaint is VZW loaded some games onto the phone which are demos and require you to purchase them. If I want to buy a game, a quick search in BB AppWorld will let me pick from a large selection. BlackBerry is mostly for business use, but don't let that fool you. There are plenty of fun apps with more coming out all the time.

I have never had an issue with the battery life. One will find that the smartphones will go through a battery faster than a standard phone. However, if you turn wifi off and make sure you exit all of your apps then battery life isn't an issue. I suspect that people reporting poor battery life either don't know how to turn off their apps properly or are leaving the wifi on.

I have yet to use the wifi feature as VZW 3G is extremely fast in my area. I do my web browsing through the google app and find that a page will load in 10 seconds or less. The web browsers fuction the same as any web browser on your computer. Imputing webaddresses is slightly slower since you wont be able to type as fast but still easy.

The call quality is excellent. People often tell me they forget that I am on a phone. It is by far the clearest phone I have ever owned. Included with the phone are a belt case and earphones. There are also international adaptors for the plug so you can plug your charger into any outlet. The belt case is well made and good for casual wear. I am in public safety and the case is inadequate for my needs so I ordered an OtterBox. The case should hold up for your average person. There is a magnet located inside the case that will automatically put your phone into sleep mode when you insert it. This helps to conserve battery life, yet you can still hear incoming calls.

There are a few negatives to this phone. First is where Research In Motion (RIM) decided to put the mini usb port used for charging. They located it on the right side of the phone about mid way up. This makes it a pain in the butt to type while charging your phone. Charging ports should be on top or bottom of the phone. Also, the convience keys on the side of the phone are a pain in the butt when pulling your phone out of its case. I have disabled them to make it easier for me. The earphones that come with the phone are horrible. They are clear sounding and do have a built in mic so you can use them as a handsfree device. They are also stereo which is good. However, that is the end of their good points. The earphones are extremely uncomfortable to wear. I wore them for about 40 mins and was left with ear pain for about an hour afterwards. The earphones do not allow you to hear in comming calls so if your phone is not on your hip you will miss a call. They are good for occasional use but I would recommend a bluetooth.

Accessories I would recommend for this phone are a car charger, Bluetooth, and an aftermarket case and screen protectors.

I wanted to love this, but came away disappointed

I have had a Blackberry 8830 (Verizon) for a couple years, and was recently given the 9650 as part of a periodic refresh at work. While I've been mostly happy with the 8830, it is showing its age; compared to the iPhone and various Androids, it feels slow and dated, Verizon's disabling the built-in GPS in the 8830 is aggravating, and the 8830's scroll wheel is mechanical and notoriously trouble-prone.

When I was offered the 9650 as a replacement for the 8830, I was excited. No more crippled GPS (and in fact, the GPS on the 9650 is great -- with A-GPS enabled, it acquires position in seconds). The new optical trackpad is a huge improvement over the 8830's scroll wheel. And it has WiFi, much more memory, a much faster processor (624 MHz vs 223 MHz).

After I got the 9650 on Tuesday, I charged it, and took it home. Wednesday morning I turn it on, except it won't turn on. Turns out the battery is drained. Thinking I hadn't charged the battery long enough, I charged it again. Wednesday afternoon when I left work, it was at 100%. Yesterday morning I once more woke up to find the 9650 completely drained. Actual standby time appears to be much closer to 15 hours than 300 with WiFi enabled, which is pretty awful. Yes, I can disable WiFi, but shouldn't the phone's own power management functions do a much better job? My friends with Droids and iPhones don't seem to be having these issues.

Also disappointing: even though it has a much faster processor, it still feels as slow as the 8830. Booting can take several minutes(!!!) after installing apps. And for some reason, SMS and MMS messages now have a separate inbox you have to navigate to to read; on the 8830 they came in the same inbox as your regular email. This is hopefully configurable, but I haven't figured out how.

Mild annoyance: RIM switched from mini-USB to micro-USB between the 8830 and the 9650 *and* moved the jack position, so you need to put the phone in the holster upside down if you want to charge it while holstered.

Sorry RIM, but no sale. This one is going back.

Better than new curve

My old curve gave out, so Verizon swapped it for the new Curve 8530. Wow what a piece of junk that phone is. Fells cheap like a toy, and I had all kinds of problems with bluetooth and battery life and freezing, keys sticking. Do not buy that phone. So I went back before my 30 days and swapped for the Bold 9650.

I really like this phone. It is a bit larger form factor than the new curve, much like the old curve. It feels robust in your hand not cheap like a toy. The keys are bigger, but I still do miss the old curve as the keys were more spread out which is better with my fat fingers. I love the Wi-Fi feature. I keep it off until I need it and then it is easy to fire up when I am ready to use it. Fairly fast connection with it and a great feature to have. I have been getting about 2 days out of the battery which is a bit less than the old curve.

The coverage with Verizon is the same with brown spots here and there, but generally good. This phone is much much faster than my old curve. Start up is quicker and switching between applications is much faster. Basic functionality is also improved. I use the phone for business and so far it is working great. It would be nice if they would make a phone with a slide out keyboard like my daughters LG. When that comes out I will be ready.

Was expecting better

This is my first BlackBerry, so maybe I was expecting too much. The battery life stinks, the red numbers are very hard to see. The browser is extremely slow- its not worth the wait to get online.
I would dump the browser function if I could keep just the email. It has locked up a couple of times in the GSM mode even though I was not roaming- FYI don't allow phone to set GSM or CDMA automatically to avoid this.

So far, the best BB ever

I think I have had every BB so far between work and personal and this one is by far the best. What is the best, feels the best (quality wise) best speaker, cell phone battery life. Nothing to complain about, it works well. What wy I like to see improved, well the Internet but I know accessing the Internet on a BB sucks so I cannot complain much but boy would it be sweet with a better easier to read browser.

LG Neon

At first this phone was great. i bought it from Best Buy for $100 and was so excited because of the nice features and it hooked up right away. Unfortunately, glitches started happening 6 months after I got the phone. The screen wouldn't lock causing it to call people while it was in my pocket, or hang up on someone that I was talking to. it would also turn off whenever I flipped it open to text someone. I got it switched for another Neon and 3 weeks after i recieved the new one, the same glitches started happening. The phone is great, but only for a little while.

Bad

I bought this phone, and it was great and everything then a little less than 3 months the phone decided that it wasnt going to work or anything, i didnt do anything to it, just tried texting people and the screen turned white and hasnt come on since. I was very disappointed in at&t......

WORST PHONE EVER.

This phone I had purchased was the worst one i have ever owned... I have had a new phone every 8-12 months (I get tired of them very easily)... When you get too many text messages everything starts to freeze, pixelate, wont change position of screen, and at some points, it would restart by its self. My friend also has this same phone, and hers does the same... I take EXCELLENT care of them... I have never once dropped it. It's still in perfect condition, and hers is close too... The touch screen is pretty cool i have to admit... but you can only use it for dialing... Its overall not too horrible [if you have an empty inbox and 100% free memory] but, if you arent using it for texting, and stuff... why would you buy this KEYBOARD phone? I'm going back to blackberry... None of my LG phones have been too good, but this was the worst!

There's a reason the reviews are all over the map

My son ordered this phone even though the reviews were all over the map. We ordered and received two phones neither of which worked. The first phone came with a charger that did not fit the phone and did not charge- rendering the phone useless. We asked for a replacement and sent back the first phone. When the second phone arrived, the sim card did not work on the phone. After a lot of time on the phone we found out that we should have kept the first phone to unlock the second sim card (who knew?). We then asked to have the first phone mailed back to us, but it was probably already untrackable and they could not send it back. So now the second phone was rendered useless. In frustration, we sent back the second phone and hope to have a full refund. The Amazon customer service person was very helpful about issuing the return paperwork. It's a shame because there are some people who received good phones and loved this phone. Meanwhile, it's taken a month to go through all this and my son has been without a phone.

LG neon

Its a neat phone, works just fine and texting is easy.
Does have a short battery life but charges up pretty fast.
You do have to watch accidental key hits while screen is active, so have the key pad locked after a few seconds.
Bluetooth works and sending text to your computer works also.
I use the phone alot and really rely on it.
Also camera works good just wish it had a zoom while taking a pic.
I could not get a data cable to work.