Ben
30th March 2005, 03:05 PM
Features: 6/10
Performance: 7/10
Purchase price: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Date: 11-09-04 18:07
This phone is something of legend, and my expectations lay far and wide.
What's in the box?
-Z1010 handset
-battery
-charger
-manuals
-wrist strap
-32MB Memory Stick Duo & Adapter
-USB Data cable (connects to mini-USB connector on phone)
-Stereo headphones/hands free
First Impressions:
It's lighter than I expected, that's for sure. It's also smaller than you'd think if you've read even a fraction of the mythology that surrounds mentions of this handset on the Internet. It's very well put together , and you can tell from the feel of the phone in your hand that it's constructed of high quality materials. Not much of a comparison I know, but all the same it's smaller and of exceptionally higher quality than the NEC e606. Branding is minimal (also unlike the NEC!), kept down to a single Orange logo on the inside of the phone, near the mic.
Likes:
There's an awful lot to like about this phone. For a start, the internal screen is excellent. Very vibrant, bright and detailed. The external screen is also functional, albeit in 4-tone greyscale. The phone looks and feels solid, and the flush keypad is a pleasure to use.
I particulary like the navigation on this phone. The navigation keys (two softkeys, back, cancel, video call, and Orange World) are very good to use and make navigating the phones incredibly responsive operating system very easy indeed. Compared to my T610, this phone is a dream - things actually happen when you push the buttons!
Orange World functions well and downloads such as South Park Clips are both quick and hillarious. The 32MB Duo, expandable to 128MB, gives plenty of room for storage. Open WAP access means speedy access to the likes of news.bbc.co.uk/mobile and the ability to download java games and ringtones at a fraction of the cost of Three. Data charges are as per the Orange World Access packs.
The cameras on the phone are of acceptable quality. I have not tried video calling on this handset yet, but then video calling was never a big thing for me anyway. What I have been using, however, is my Z1010 as a bluetooth 3G modem. Super :P I bet there are a few datacard users reading this now who are a little frowny to say the least. Whether connecting from PDA or laptop, the process is quick and simple. Handovers are left to the Z1010, and unlike the datacard you can see your signal strength in realtime.
On the subject of handovers - voice handover (UMTS-GSM) is seamless. This is a great feature of the handset, but also of the Orange network. Time has obviously been spent ensuring that dropped calls will not be an issue.
The inbuilt player for MP3's et al is basic but functional, and sound quality through the supplied headphones is excellent.
The handset does not generate excess heat, and battery life is up to 3 days with intermittent use. For heavy use, it'd last the day or two, but you'd want to try and remember to charge it up each night.
Dislikes:
I love the phone, it's a big hit with me (no jokes about size please!), but there are a few niggles.
I have noticed that after switching from UMTS to GSM, while the call is transferred without interruption, dialtones stop being sent. This means if you're using a touch-tone-phone operated system you'll need to restart the call. However, this rarely happens unless your phone is switching between UMTS and GSM a lot.
It has also switched itself off once or twice in about 3 weeks for no apparent reason. This hasn't happened enough times to be annoying, just to make me a little curious.
The phone does like to cling to 3G signal and, as with Three handsets, cannot be locked to GSM. However, this isn't really a problem, as once something starts to happen the phone will just transfer itself to GSM if the signal isn't strong enough.
Verict:
This is a great phone that could have done great things for whichever network had managed to launch it several months ago. Time has moved on however, and while this phone feels by no means out-of-date, Vodafone's announcement of the V800 somewhat overshadows it. Still, it'll be an ideal starting point for the soft-launch Orange intend. Functional, easy to use, large vibrant display, durable, feature-packed. It's the way we should have been introduced to 3G technology in the first place.
Performance: 7/10
Purchase price: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Date: 11-09-04 18:07
This phone is something of legend, and my expectations lay far and wide.
What's in the box?
-Z1010 handset
-battery
-charger
-manuals
-wrist strap
-32MB Memory Stick Duo & Adapter
-USB Data cable (connects to mini-USB connector on phone)
-Stereo headphones/hands free
First Impressions:
It's lighter than I expected, that's for sure. It's also smaller than you'd think if you've read even a fraction of the mythology that surrounds mentions of this handset on the Internet. It's very well put together , and you can tell from the feel of the phone in your hand that it's constructed of high quality materials. Not much of a comparison I know, but all the same it's smaller and of exceptionally higher quality than the NEC e606. Branding is minimal (also unlike the NEC!), kept down to a single Orange logo on the inside of the phone, near the mic.
Likes:
There's an awful lot to like about this phone. For a start, the internal screen is excellent. Very vibrant, bright and detailed. The external screen is also functional, albeit in 4-tone greyscale. The phone looks and feels solid, and the flush keypad is a pleasure to use.
I particulary like the navigation on this phone. The navigation keys (two softkeys, back, cancel, video call, and Orange World) are very good to use and make navigating the phones incredibly responsive operating system very easy indeed. Compared to my T610, this phone is a dream - things actually happen when you push the buttons!
Orange World functions well and downloads such as South Park Clips are both quick and hillarious. The 32MB Duo, expandable to 128MB, gives plenty of room for storage. Open WAP access means speedy access to the likes of news.bbc.co.uk/mobile and the ability to download java games and ringtones at a fraction of the cost of Three. Data charges are as per the Orange World Access packs.
The cameras on the phone are of acceptable quality. I have not tried video calling on this handset yet, but then video calling was never a big thing for me anyway. What I have been using, however, is my Z1010 as a bluetooth 3G modem. Super :P I bet there are a few datacard users reading this now who are a little frowny to say the least. Whether connecting from PDA or laptop, the process is quick and simple. Handovers are left to the Z1010, and unlike the datacard you can see your signal strength in realtime.
On the subject of handovers - voice handover (UMTS-GSM) is seamless. This is a great feature of the handset, but also of the Orange network. Time has obviously been spent ensuring that dropped calls will not be an issue.
The inbuilt player for MP3's et al is basic but functional, and sound quality through the supplied headphones is excellent.
The handset does not generate excess heat, and battery life is up to 3 days with intermittent use. For heavy use, it'd last the day or two, but you'd want to try and remember to charge it up each night.
Dislikes:
I love the phone, it's a big hit with me (no jokes about size please!), but there are a few niggles.
I have noticed that after switching from UMTS to GSM, while the call is transferred without interruption, dialtones stop being sent. This means if you're using a touch-tone-phone operated system you'll need to restart the call. However, this rarely happens unless your phone is switching between UMTS and GSM a lot.
It has also switched itself off once or twice in about 3 weeks for no apparent reason. This hasn't happened enough times to be annoying, just to make me a little curious.
The phone does like to cling to 3G signal and, as with Three handsets, cannot be locked to GSM. However, this isn't really a problem, as once something starts to happen the phone will just transfer itself to GSM if the signal isn't strong enough.
Verict:
This is a great phone that could have done great things for whichever network had managed to launch it several months ago. Time has moved on however, and while this phone feels by no means out-of-date, Vodafone's announcement of the V800 somewhat overshadows it. Still, it'll be an ideal starting point for the soft-launch Orange intend. Functional, easy to use, large vibrant display, durable, feature-packed. It's the way we should have been introduced to 3G technology in the first place.