Preliminary Z520i Review

[Charlyee]

I just got this phone from www.plemix.com. I orederd it Monday and it arrived at 10:00 today from HongKong, extremely hassle free. Thanks much Gideon. This is the same phone as Cingular's Z520a, except it is unlocked and unbranded. I wanted it this way because of all the grief I got from Cingular about unlocking my 6682, I didn't want to go through it again.

It is difficult for me to evaluate this phone with an open mind because I keep wanting to compare it with my 6682 and that is not fair on it because it is two different class of phones entirely.

My first highly technical observation...oooh this phone is so cute...LOL. It is the exact size and shape of the Samy A670 and those of you who have known me for a while, know how much I loved that phone.

Pros:
Exceptionally good reception, in par with my 6682 and I can not give a higher compliment than that.
Excellent call quality - SO said "oh you are not calling from your desk phone?"
Very intuitive and easy to navigate the menus.
Setting up BT connectivity with my computer, IPAQ and 6682 was a breeze. Transfering ringtones & picture was very easy betwen the devices.
I am in the process of setting up the sybchronization software and seems to be pretty easy so far.

Cons:
Few minor ones:
Not enough programmable soft keys.
The power adapter is huge and rather cheaply made.

PS: I will keep adding as I play with it more...

[Steven2420]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

I just got this phone from www.plemix.com. I orederd it Monday and it arrived at 10:00 today from HongKong, extremely hassle free. Thanks much Gideon. This is the same phone as Cingular's Z520a, except it is unlocked and unbranded. I wanted it this way because of all the grief I got from Cingular about unlocking my 6682, I didn't want to go through it again.

My first highly technical observation...oooh this phone is so cute...LOL. It is the exact size and shape of the Samy A670 and those of you who have known me for a while, know how much I loved that phone.

Pros:
Exceptionally good reception, in par with my 6682 and I can not give a higher compliment than that.
Excellent call quality - SO said "oh you are not calling from your desk phone?"
Very intuitive and easy to navigate the menus.
Setting up BT connectivity with my computer, IPAQ and 6682 was a breeze.
I am in the process of setting up the sybchronization software and seems to be pretty easy so far.

Cons:
Nothing that I have found yet.

PS: I will keep adding as I play with it more...

Charlyee,

Happy you are enjoying your new phone. When all the "Tech Stuff" is done, I guess it's right to the "Edit Profile" link to change the word below:

Phone(s): Nokia 6682, SE Z520i (Soon), LG 7000, Moto V66

Have fun and enjoy!

[Jay2TheRescue]

Glad you like your new toy...........

-Jay

[Charlyee]

Thanks Steve & Jay,

Continuing on from yesterday:

Pros:
The reception is fantastic from every corner of the house and the garage.
The camera is very adequate for a VGA camera.
The speaker is full duplex, loud and clear and can be activated before the person on the other end answers.
It has a pretty extensive organizer.
It supports POP3 E Mail.

Some things specific to the "i":
It comes with a sandy grey exterior which is quite unique and an understated color. The Cingular blue covers also came with it as spares.
The phone has all the major European languages, which is kind of fun although not necessarily useful.

General Comments:The battery takes a long time to charge, 4+ hours. This ofcourse is good for the life of the battery but not for my lack of patience.

Cons::
Becuase of the great reception, SO wants to use this phone instead of the Verizon 7K he uses, so I left it with him today. Wait until he figures out all the customized light patterns and ringtones I put on it....

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Thanks Steve & Jay,

Continuing on from yesterday:

Pros:
The reception is fantastic from every corner of the house and the garage.
The camera is very adequate for a VGA camera.
The speaker full duplex, loud and clear and can be activated before the person on the other end answers.
It has a pretty extensive organizer.
It supports POP3 E Mail.

Some things specific to the "i":
It comes with a sandy grey exterior which is quite unique and an understated color. The Cingular blue covers also came with it as spares.
The phone has all the major European languages, which is kind of fun although not necessarily useful.

General Comments:The battery takes a long time to charge, 4+ hours. This ofcourse is good for the life of the battery but not for my lack of patience.

Cons::
Becuase of the great reception, SO wants to use this phone instead of the Verizon 7K he uses, so I left it with him today. Wait until he figures out all the customized light patterns and ringtones I put on it....

You're gonna drive him crazy................

-Jay

[Steven2420]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Thanks Steve & Jay,

Continuing on from yesterday:

Pros:
The reception is fantastic from every corner of the house and the garage.
The camera is very adequate for a VGA camera.
The speaker is full duplex, loud and clear and can be activated before the person on the other end answers.
It has a pretty extensive organizer.
It supports POP3 E Mail.

Some things specific to the "i":
It comes with a sandy grey exterior which is quite unique and an understated color. The Cingular blue covers also came with it as spares.
The phone has all the major European languages, which is kind of fun although not necessarily useful.

General Comments:The battery takes a long time to charge, 4+ hours. This ofcourse is good for the life of the battery but not for my lack of patience.

Cons::
Becuase of the great reception, SO wants to use this phone instead of the Verizon 7K he uses, so I left it with him today. Wait until he figures out all the customized light patterns and ringtones I put on it....

Charlyee,

I am glad you are enjoying the phone also. Isn't it so typical though that as soon as we get a new "Toy" that we love, the SO spots it and says..."I want that". I go through that all the time with my wife. She bought me an awesome Canon Elph 5.0 MP camera for my birthday, and after I played with it all night, I made the mistake of showing her the new software and the pictures gallery, and she said, "Leave that here tomorrow, I want to take my eBay pics with it"! Hey, why did you REALLY buy me this camera??? Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Now, she is not a tech geek like all of us are in WA, so she will be calling me today at least 10 times to ask me how to do the 1,000 different things that the camera can do. I just think it is so funny how we buy and they try!! Again, have a great time with the SE!!

[YourDream84]

I have the Z520a, I'm not sure the exact similarities. But on mine it has a feature which I've never experienced on any other phone. When I call someone who is on another call, my phone will notify me of that.

It won't tell me who they're speaking to, it just pops up a little message telling me the party I'm calling is already on a line basically... (I don't remember exact wording)

I like that. Because my parents are the worst at not answering when they're on the other line, then calling me back. So now I know why they're not answering...

~*Ash*~

[Charlyee]

That is a nice feature thanks Ashley.

Mine doesn't get used that much, it has a Pre Pay card in it and is basically a back up to my 6682 and also for overseas use.

I do like the phone

[josephd]

Glad you like your new phone Charlyee, I am due for an upgrade but I am a little torn I have not seen anything on Cingulars website that sparks my interest maybe I will give the SE a second look. One thing I did notice about the SE as opposed to the V551 is the screen size, it is noticeably smaller when I look at the specs but I am curious how it looks in hand, thanks.
Joe

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by josephd

Glad you like your new phone Charlyee, I am due for an upgrade but I am a little torn I have not seen anything on Cingulars website that sparks my interest maybe I will give the SE a second look. One thing I did notice about the SE as opposed to the V551 is the screen size, it is noticeably smaller when I look at the specs but I am curious how it looks in hand, thanks. Joe

Hi joseph, sorry I am a little late. The screen size is small. I never had a V551 but I did have a V600 and this is noticeable smaller and ofcourse much smaller than the 6682. The phone itself is small, so you are going to have to handle it and see if the size of the screen bothers you. It does not bother me and I love the overall size. .

One thing I have to warn you is that when my SO(not me) hits the "#" key his fingers often hit the power button which is right below the "#" key, because the buttons are small and placed close together.

Let me know if you have any more questions. It's a great phone with fantastic reception and I really like it.

[josephd]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Hi joseph, sorry I am a little late. The screen size is small. I never had a V551 but I did have a V600 and this is noticeable smaller and ofcourse much smaller than the 6682. The phone itself is small, so you are going to have to handle it and see if the size of the screen bothers you. It does not bother me and I love the overall size. .

One thing I have to warn you is that when my SO(not me) hits the "#" key his fingers often hit the power button which is right below the "#" key, because the buttons are small and placed close together.

Let me know if you have any more questions. It's a great phone with fantastic reception and I really like it.

Thank-you Charlyee for the feedback,I usually keep the phone in my pocket so I prefer small. I will keep you posted if I decide to purchase one. Joe

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by josephd

Thank-you Charlyee for the feedback,I usually keep the phone in my pocket so I prefer small phones.I will keep you posted if I decide to purchase one,Thank-you Charlyee
Joe

You are most welcome , one other thing I forgot to mention, the vibrate, although adequate is not strong as the 6230 or 6682, I don't remember what the vibrate on V600 was like.

[josephd]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

You are most welcome , one other thing I forgot to mention, the vibrate, although adequate is not strong as the 6230 or 6682, I don't remember what the vibrate on V600 was like.

The vibrate feature on a phone is important to me, despite my wireless phone being my primary phone I am very private when it comes to using it in public. My V551 is adequate but could be better but it is not enough to sway me from not buying the phone. I also have a newly purchased HS850 which is a very nice headset so I hope it is compatible with the SE.

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by josephd

The vibrate feature on a phone is important to me, despite my wireless phone being my primary phone I am very private when it comes to using it in public. My V551 is adequate but could be better but it is not enough to sway me from not buying the phone. I also have a newly purchased HS850 which is a very nice headset so I hope it is compatible with the SE.

For me too, I keep my phone on vibrate almost 100% of the time. I loved the vibrate on the 6230, it was so very strong, the first time it went off in the pocket of my jeans, I just about jumped....LOL

I have no experience with the HS850 but the BT pairing with all my other devices was extremely easy.

[josephd]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

For me too, I keep my phone on vibrate almost 100% of the time. I loved the vibrate on the 6230, it was so very strong, the first time it went off in the pocket of my jeans, I just about jumped....LOL

I have no experience with the HS850 but the BT pairing with all my other devices was extremely easy.

My AT&T 6200 was like that, Good luck with your new phone.