ZTE D90 - First Impressions

[HighTech]

So I visited the local Telus stores and played around with a few of the ZTE D90's, and here is what I noticed:

Incoming Audio - I tried the basic *611 to hear the activation message and found the incoming audio not as loud as the LG8600 or the KRZR. I also found that my Nokia 6265i incoming audio was as loud as the ZTE D90.

Keypad - Although there are many fans of a fast tap phone, I wish the engineers/designers at ZTE put some thought into the keypad. When the backlight is off, the numbers (not letters) can be seen pretty easily. When the backlight comes on, the numbers show up as white, and it is pretty hard to see the keypad. I doubt people who are outdoors will be able to see the number portion.

Build Quality - The phone is pretty solid built and the rubber feel reminds me of the IDEN i885 (although the i885 is far superior).

What have others found with this phone?

[d.dan]

So I visited the local Telus stores and played around with a few of the ZTE D90's, and here is what I noticed:

Incoming Audio - I tried the basic *611 to hear the activation message and found the incoming audio not as loud as the LG8600 or the KRZR. I also found that my Nokia 6265i incoming audio was as loud as the ZTE D90.

Keypad - Although there are many fans of a fast tap phone, I wish the engineers/designers at ZTE put some thought into the keypad. When the backlight is off, the numbers (not letters) can be seen pretty easily. When the backlight comes on, the numbers show up as white, and it is pretty hard to see the keypad. I doubt people who are outdoors will be able to see the number portion.

Build Quality - The phone is pretty solid built and the rubber feel reminds me of the IDEN i885 (although the i885 is far superior).

What have others found with this phone?

Ive heard many things about the UI...
is it the new one or the old UI?!?!?!

[The_Deen]

Ive heard many things about the UI...
is it the new one or the old UI?!?!?!

it's a new UI. It still has that Telus look about it, but the way you navigate the menu actually seems totally different....and not in a good way.

Also to touch on what Hightech was saying, when the keypad is lit it's hard to see the numbers, and when it's not lit it's kinda hard to see the letters. kind of that damned if you do and damned if you don't type of flaw.

the phone does seem fairly sturdy, with that rubberized grip. All the buttons seem easy to access( and i have large thumbs)

On a side note one cool thing with the phone is that in the box the phone comes with a adapter so you can use any wire headset you want.

[Jayto604]

[QUOTE=The_Deen]it's a new UI. It still has that Telus look about it, but the way you navigate the menu actually seems totally different....and not in a good way.[QUOTE]

I really didn't think it was possible but in my opinion UI seems worse then the standard telus UI. It's almost the same but seems dumbed down and very plain and boring.

[Roldy]

Any opinion yet on battery life or RF strength? How about if it can play MP3's out loud without a headset?

[megaman1x]

Anyone else have any other input?

[Roldy]

I got this thing on Wed, and Im afraid Im not too happy with it. I might be being picky, but quite honestly with telus' lineup, I feel as though Im trying to find a phone that does MOST of what I want, instead of one that I like.
My probelms with it include:

-Reception: Sound quality is really good, above average. But I'm finding alot of times, I have 2 bars or less. Places I've never had reception issues before...

-Battery life: Sub Par. Since I've only had it for a couple days this might improve, but so far Im charging it every night with nominal usage. I put it through a bit of a torture test and didn't charge it last night. Went to bed with 2/3 - 3/4 battery showing, woke up, and it hadnt changed. Used the phone for 10 min today, down to 1 bar, turned on the mp3 player, one song in I got a batt. low warning. 1/2 a song later, it shut off on me!

-Fasttap: This is why most ppl will buy this phone, and I am happy to see something in the telus lineup with robust predictive txt, but when you pick a word, you have to hit ok, and then put in a space after every word. I thought the idea was to avoid extra clicks...

-Side buttons: This is just anoying. The volume buttons dont get suspended with the flip closed so you can accidently change the volume in your pocket. Not only that but if you push and hold it, the volume keeps stepping up or down. So I've found myself going from high&vibe to silent just from holding down the button for 2 seconds.

-USB: Don't get fooled, its not a standard mini USB connector. I dusted off my old motorola car charger only to find that it's a proprietary 1/2 sized usb connector. Not quite as advertized.

I know im relaying mostly bad news, haven't had enough of a good experience to bother playing with OBEX or bluetooth. I think im gonna get the w385 when it gets here, and un-retire my Iriver for MP3's. Hope this info helps

[megaman1x]

Thats awesome, thanks for the input Roldy

[billygee]

I got this thing on Wed, and Im afraid Im not too happy with it. I might be being picky, but quite honestly with telus' lineup, I feel as though Im trying to find a phone that does MOST of what I want, instead of one that I like.
My probelms with it include:

-Reception: Sound quality is really good, above average. But I'm finding alot of times, I have 2 bars or less. Places I've never had reception issues before...

My LG490 rarely gets the full 4 bars. In my own living room it gets only 1-2 bars, but texting still works as does the reception.

How is the sound quality for you with just 2 bars?

-Battery life: Sub Par. Since I've only had it for a couple days this might improve, but so far Im charging it every night with nominal usage. I put it through a bit of a torture test and didn't charge it last night. Went to bed with 2/3 - 3/4 battery showing, woke up, and it hadnt changed. Used the phone for 10 min today, down to 1 bar, turned on the mp3 player, one song in I got a batt. low warning. 1/2 a song later, it shut off on me!

THAT I don't like but more than likely there will be hi-cap batteries for this phone all over Ebay soon. I always have a charger in my desk at home and at work, fully charged and since I have an inverter in my car, I never run the battery down.

-Fasttap: This is why most ppl will buy this phone, and I am happy to see something in the telus lineup with robust predictive txt, but when you pick a word, you have to hit ok, and then put in a space after every word. I thought the idea was to avoid extra clicks...

The LG490 doesn't even have predictive text, so likely I would just turn it off on the D90 as I am used to not having it now.

-Side buttons: This is just anoying. The volume buttons dont get suspended with the flip closed so you can accidently change the volume in your pocket. Not only that but if you push and hold it, the volume keeps stepping up or down. So I've found myself going from high&vibe to silent just from holding down the button for 2 seconds.

Does the keypad lock (holding the # key) not lock the side buttons?

-USB: Don't get fooled, its not a standard mini USB connector. I dusted off my old motorola car charger only to find that it's a proprietary 1/2 sized usb connector. Not quite as advertized.

Half-sized connector.. Like the USB connectors than come with digital cameras?

Like the battery, likely there will be cables for it out on Ebay soon. I have USB cables for my phone but I never use it for anything. Easy enough to use a cheap $2 card reader to add things to the MicroSD card. Even Telus doesn't show any USB cables in thier accessories list for this phone.

I know im relaying mostly bad news, haven't had enough of a good experience to bother playing with OBEX or bluetooth. I think im gonna get the w385 when it gets here, and un-retire my Iriver for MP3's. Hope this info helps

A couple other questions...

How is the speakerphone? Is it loud and clear?

And does the main display get washed out in sunlight like other phone displays do?

Thanks for the review!

[d.dan]

I got this thing on Wed, and Im afraid Im not too happy with it. I might be being picky, but quite honestly with telus' lineup, I feel as though Im trying to find a phone that does MOST of what I want, instead of one that I like.
My probelms with it include:

-Reception: Sound quality is really good, above average. But I'm finding alot of times, I have 2 bars or less. Places I've never had reception issues before...

-Battery life: Sub Par. Since I've only had it for a couple days this might improve, but so far Im charging it every night with nominal usage. I put it through a bit of a torture test and didn't charge it last night. Went to bed with 2/3 - 3/4 battery showing, woke up, and it hadnt changed. Used the phone for 10 min today, down to 1 bar, turned on the mp3 player, one song in I got a batt. low warning. 1/2 a song later, it shut off on me!

-Fasttap: This is why most ppl will buy this phone, and I am happy to see something in the telus lineup with robust predictive txt, but when you pick a word, you have to hit ok, and then put in a space after every word. I thought the idea was to avoid extra clicks...

-Side buttons: This is just anoying. The volume buttons dont get suspended with the flip closed so you can accidently change the volume in your pocket. Not only that but if you push and hold it, the volume keeps stepping up or down. So I've found myself going from high&vibe to silent just from holding down the button for 2 seconds.

-USB: Don't get fooled, its not a standard mini USB connector. I dusted off my old motorola car charger only to find that it's a proprietary 1/2 sized usb connector. Not quite as advertized.

I know im relaying mostly bad news, haven't had enough of a good experience to bother playing with OBEX or bluetooth. I think im gonna get the w385 when it gets here, and un-retire my Iriver for MP3's. Hope this info helps

do you have a picture of the UI maybe. I just want an idea. I like this phone so far but it might be the UI that is the determining factor between the moto w385 and the D90!!!

[AdmiralPaulo]

i have hear a few people complain about bluetooth, maybe they will fix that soon

[Roldy]

My LG490 rarely gets the full 4 bars. In my own living room it gets only 1-2 bars, but texting still works as does the reception.

How is the sound quality for you with just 2 bars?



THAT I don't like but more than likely there will be hi-cap batteries for this phone all over Ebay soon. I always have a charger in my desk at home and at work, fully charged and since I have an inverter in my car, I never run the battery down.



The LG490 doesn't even have predictive text, so likely I would just turn it off on the D90 as I am used to not having it now.



Does the keypad lock (holding the # key) not lock the side buttons?



Half-sized connector.. Like the USB connectors than come with digital cameras?

Like the battery, likely there will be cables for it out on Ebay soon. I have USB cables for my phone but I never use it for anything. Easy enough to use a cheap $2 card reader to add things to the MicroSD card. Even Telus doesn't show any USB cables in thier accessories list for this phone.



A couple other questions...

How is the speakerphone? Is it loud and clear?

And does the main display get washed out in sunlight like other phone displays do?

Thanks for the review!

-Sound quality is good with 2 bars, but I find it going from 2-1-0 in places that I'm use to having 3 stable. Im in a major metropolitan area and havent had reception be so fickle on any other telus phone.

-No button lock at all that i could find

-Like the camera USB but it doesnt fit the one that my digital camera has, a kodak.

-Speakerphone sounds fine, but I havent had any comments on how I sound on the other end. & the diplay is just like most others, washed out but "readable"

And as for the UI, except for the txt engine overlay, it's almost exactly the same as my samsung A720 (aka our nemisis UI 1.0)

[dr.opie]

ive had this phone for a couple months after my lg 6190 got destroyed and the phone itself seems nice sturdy
i like the rubberized coating
reception seems par with other phones Ive used and tested
i also like the
bat holds a good charge now (the first week or so 12 hrs (only txting maybe 50 txts a day) was all it could do) which isnt unusual

the fastap is not too bad buttons as someone else here said are hard to read without backlight or in certain lighting conditions

i still much much more prefer the lg 6190 and 490

the downside the UI telus software is absolute garbage making the phone basically
and yea the predictive txt is a pain in the *** i find it much faster to just type it all out

there is no key lock at all

ive shaved the volume and camera side buttons down so it wouldn't turn up or down in my pocket or take pictures of the inside of my pocket (very annoying)
i did the same to my 6190 a few months after i got it just made them level to the side of the phone so it was harder to accidentally press the buttons but could still press easily with the fingers

there is no option to have txts/msgs vibrate and calls ring like the lg 6190/490

you can only use telus ringtones

the speaker phone is a bit quiet and mp3s without the headset is not very good which isnt a big deal for me I doubt id ever use it for music

honestly if anyone has a 6190 or (490? in good condition and clean to sell i would really like another one

i would not recommend anyone to buy one of these zte d90's from telus anyway
i have heard the russian versions
are better??

[erichau]

ive had this phone for a couple months after my lg 6190 got destroyed and the phone itself seems nice sturdy
i like the rubberized coating
reception seems par with other phones Ive used and tested
i also like the
bat holds a good charge now (the first week or so 12 hrs (only txting maybe 50 txts a day) was all it could do) which isnt unusual

the fastap is not too bad buttons as someone else here said are hard to read without backlight or in certain lighting conditions

i still much much more prefer the lg 6190 and 490

the downside the UI telus software is absolute garbage making the phone basically
and yea the predictive txt is a pain in the *** i find it much faster to just type it all out

there is no key lock at all

ive shaved the volume and camera side buttons down so it wouldn't turn up or down in my pocket or take pictures of the inside of my pocket (very annoying)
i did the same to my 6190 a few months after i got it just made them level to the side of the phone so it was harder to accidentally press the buttons but could still press easily with the fingers

there is no option to have txts/msgs vibrate and calls ring like the lg 6190/490

you can only use telus ringtones

the speaker phone is a bit quiet and mp3s without the headset is not very good which isnt a big deal for me I doubt id ever use it for music

honestly if anyone has a 6190 or (490? in good condition and clean to sell i would really like another one

i would not recommend anyone to buy one of these zte d90's from telus anyway
i have heard the russian versions
are better??

This phone is absolute trash... Snap it in half... and buy a Pay&Talk phone...

[skullan]

There are plenty of reviews or threads out in this forum about the ZTE D90.

The phone itself, for when it was released was a powerful handset neutered by it's Operating System.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...&highlight=ZTE