I’ve been using it a couple of weeks so I thought I’d write down my thoughts and see if they change over time.
As everybody else has written about (much better than me) it’s very slick, schmick, sexy and the rest. The packaging is lovely, and it was easy to setup and get going. But… there was no manual, just a little booklet that came with it. I’m all for getting rid of the 140 page user guides that Nokia have but there were some simple things that I couldn’t do - for example, put the SIM card in.
After googling it, I now know that you need a paperclip and you need to jam it into the tiny invisible hole in the top but it really wasn’t intuitive - it would have been nice to include that information on the booklet.
My first major gripe is that you can’t copy contacts from your SIM to your phone. Yes, there is a function that says “Copy contacts” but it’s broken. You can click that, it says copying, then does absolutely nothing. No error message, it just doesn’t copy your contacts. That was really frustrating, and I’m surprised that there isn’t a bigger deal made about it - I had 350 contacts on my SIM card and I had to manually enter them into my address book and sync them.
Why the hell didn’t Apple decide that people had phones before the iPhone and would want to copy them across? Seems like a bizarre decision to me.
Second major gripe - I’ve only had this for a bit over two weeks and it’s crashed three times already. Just won’t “wake up” when you press the centre button, I’ve since found out you need to hold the on/off switch for about 45 seconds before it restarts. A brand new phone really shouldn’t be crashing like that, especially when I haven’t even installed that many apps.
Third gripe - the phone itself is really bad! The sound is terrible, I’ve had 30 dropouts out of about 100 phone calls, and often the calls won’t even get through, I just get an error. I really don’t have time to wait 60 seconds for the phone to try to get through - the point of a mobile is it’s a mobile phone. It’s great to check facebook etc but I really want it to be a phone first. Almost every phone call I’ve had has had at least one party say “What?? I can’t hear you… are you on a train or somewhere windy?”.
I only use my mobile for work and it’s reached the point where I’m seriously thinking of getting a landline as so many calls are dropping out it’s getting embarrassing.
It’s also sent calls straight to voicemail without ringing, and I don’t get the voicemail alerts for a few hours.
Ok this is a petty tiny gripe, but the “silent” button on the side is in a really bad spot. I keep accidentally knocking it in my pocket or bag and the phone goes into silent mode - it’s a bit annoying that the switch is so easy to trip.
Final gripe - I am pretty rough with phones but it’s already dented, scratched and bruised and I haven’t really dropped it that much. I hate to see it a year from now…
I do love the applications though, I have no idea how I lived so long without them. Google Maps works like a dream and it’s actually really accurate to use as a GPS. Camera Bag is a nifty little app enabling you to use a helga, Lomo or cinema effect. And although people gripe about the camera, it’s a million times better than the camera on the Nokia N73.
So - I’m not sure if I’m going to keep it or not. At the moment it’s useless to me as a work phone as the dropouts are too bad, and with the crashes I can’t trust it to work as a phone when I want it to. It’s a great computer and it will come in really handy travelling but if I keep it I’ll also have to get a landline for office use.
This post is tagged under: Design, Usability, innovation, random thoughts
I’ll have it
Very detailed review! Ive heard a few comments along these lines but not all in one post. Thought of being a movie critic? :)
I agree, the applications are what makes it. Vodafone here in the UK is due to deliver me a storm…but have been less than impressed with how it’s been panned, plus no comparable apps!
I think I got a good one, as I don’t get the drop out problems - thank god! But at the same time, maybe I don’t use my phone enough for voice to experience them.
But re the paperclip thing. I was flummoxed by the same thing, saw the hole and just thought “I’ll use a paperclip”, which I wasn’t that enthusiastic about with my lovely new shiny device. However, after I had got it all set up and was packing away the box, I found this funny little metal thing stuck to the back of one of the pieces of paper in there. That’s what you’re meant to use. Pretty sure I still have mine somewhere…
The iPhones are very gimmicky - they shine nicely and do have some cool features, but you can’t seriously use the iPhone as a phone and you can’t seriously use it as a web browser, email client or pda with the silly little keyboard and no copy-paste.
I’m waiting for an Android phone…
Now that you’ve said something that’s not glowingly good, the Apple secret police (”The Men In Black Skivvies And Blue Jeans”) will come crashing through your window and remove the iphone from its abusive environment, thus solving the problem ;)
Seriously though, this backs up what I’ve heard from a lot of people now - the iphone is awesome at lots of things, but it’s crap at being a phone. Ironic really.
Yours sounds pretty bad though, have you taken it back to Apple to get it checked out? Use that AppleCare before it runs out…
Instead of a business landline, maybe you just need a prepaid nokia from Coles that just simply works as a phone? Business mobile rather than business landlline.
Hey Cheryl - why not write a review of the mozo.com.au site that you designed ??
Don’t forget to use your usual cynical tone in slamming how hard it is to use, how confusing the layout and navigation is, and - oh my - how senseless the categorisation of the whole review system is !
Fan
Hi Fan,
Quite a coincidence that you’re posting to my blog, ostensibly from an ANZ address, at the same time that Tori from ANZ posts over at Kelpenhagen.
Thanks for your suggestion but I think it would be a bit cynical of me to review the customer experience of a site I designed the customer experience for. It would be like The Bank Channel blogging about their own projects - I think it’s a conflict of interest.
Here’s a better suggestion for you Fan from ANZ. Why don’t you go and setup a blog and then you can write about whatever you want. It’s easy to get a blog, just go to Wordpress or blogger - it’s free and almost as easy as posting “anonymous” snarky comments on other people’s blogs….
Ben - yeah I’m taking it in to be sent back to see if I got the Friday Afternoon Phone (you know, it was on the conveyor belt at 4pm on a friday afternoon and everyone just wanted to knock off for the day).
I don’t want to get another phone for business as I just want to have one device. I don’t want to be tied to the office/home/anywhere if I’m waiting for a call or email… and I don’t want to have to carry around 2 phones, or swap SIM cards.
If Apple can’t fix this one, I’m going to cancel my contract and go back to using a Nokia brick - it’s not as schmick but at least I could use it as a phone!
Dan - me too, I’m hoping that by the time Android is released in Australia they’ll have ironed out any bugs from launch.