Well, it's a Huawei, but it fills a void. I'll give it that.
Yeah, I wish it wasn't a Huawei but at least they'll finally appeal to people who don't want to spend more than $100 for a phone. They really need to get that Nokia 3555 though.
Anybody try this one out? My dad just got the Samsung last night. He likes bar phones. I thought we'd switch for him if the reports on this one are positive.
I just want to know how reception is on this phone. Can somebody compare it to the Samsung?
I believe this phone will sell very well but not because it's a good phone. People will buy it simply because it is cheap.
Don't be surprised if this phone is purchased largely by people with no intention of ever using it. Since people who bring their own phones no longer get a free month of service and now have to pay $10 for a sim card, I fully expect that people will do a "grab and go" of the phone and simply just keep the phone as a backup or even might go to extremes of just tossing it in the trash. This would be practiced because the buyer would no longer have to waste time bringing their own phone in to test or arguing with Wind employees to activate even though they forgot the phone at home or are still waiting it to be shipped to them from another source. People would also purchase it just as a filler phone to take advantage of the current promotion.
I haven't had too much time to get into every corner of the phone but so far, I am impressed, especially at the size and the 3.5mm port.
Anyway, here are some pics (3.5mm and miniUSB port are both on top, with the usb port covered by a flap. There seemingly is a volume toggle on the upper right side. No dedicated camera button from what I can tell.)
Front comparison with Samsung Gravity
Thickness comparison with the Samsung
Back of both units
Home screen (sorry its bad quality, couldn't get my G1 to focus well on it)
Picture taken by Huawei (default settings, on-the-fly)
Anyhow, I went to the Holt Renfrew store to get a plan for a family member, porting in from a Bell landline. It was awhile before it was officially entered into the stock system but around 5pm they made good on the promise and we were able to go ahead with the purchase.
On a side note, I would like to thank the crew there, from the frontline sales to the manager who were active all day and trying to keep everything organized and moving. There was huge lines up for a majority of the afternoon and even after we left. Seems like a lot of people were there to pay their bill or top up; seems like the major reason for delays. They announced numerous times, as an alternative, people could buy top up cards from Shoppers, 7/11, etc and even put out a printed sheet for all to take to see the list of stores. Some took them and decided to take that route, while others seemed to be happy to clog up the lines. C'est la vie, I guess.
If anyone has any questions or need more pictures of the phone from different angles, let me know.
EDIT: Just to verify, it does come with mini-to-USB cable, ACtoUSB charger and the stereo earphones with handsfree, in the 3.5mm plug form.
EDIT 2: RF quality seems to be ok. It's not as clear as my G1 but similar to the Gravity I guess. The G1 seems to hold 3 bars in my current location, where the Samsung holds between 2-3 and the Huawei is usually on 2 bars.
EDIT 3: Picture taken by the Huawei. I just took a picture on the fly, no tweaking of settings.
EDIT 4: All the USB transfer and modem software is preloaded on the phone. PC suite, etc.
Last edited by likebutta; 04-30-2010 at 07:33 PM.
Reason: Added more stuff, spelling
1) How's the reception and call quality compared to the Samsung?
2) How's the build quality?
3) Can it be used by someone with less dexterity or bigger fingers (say compared to the Samsung)?
We signed my dad up last night (because we thought the promo was ending) and got hit the Samsung. He likes a simple phone. I am wondering if this one would be a better fit for him over the Samsung. Especially since he doesn't need to text. But reception and call quality and being able to dial easily are very important to him.
1) How's the reception and call quality compared to the Samsung?
2) How's the build quality?
3) Can it be used by someone with less dexterity or bigger fingers (say compared to the Samsung)?
We signed my dad up last night (because we thought the promo was ending) and got hit the Samsung. He likes a simple phone. I am wondering if this one would be a better fit for him over the Samsung. Especially since he doesn't need to text. But reception and call quality and being able to dial easily are very important to him.
So far as I can tell at this point, reception and call quality is a tiny bit less than the Samsung but not nearly that big of a gap in difference where it's glaring. I still need more call time to get a judge of it's consistency but so far so good.
Build quality is okay... it definitely has a "toy" feel to it in the sense of the plastic but it seem put together very solidly. It doesn't feel like it's budging or about to fall apart.
As for the buttons, they are pretty sizable. A little bit bigger than the Samsung but the real estate between the buttons is consolidated. I am able to thumb the buttons with few mistakes, if that helps. For a phone this cheap, it's pretty feature rich (fm radio, 3.5mm port?!) and it doesn't look all too bad either. I was surprised by how thin it was. Some employees saw it for the first time when I did and everyone was surprised by it (in a good way).
So far as I can tell at this point, reception and call quality is a tiny bit less than the Samsung but not nearly that big of a gap in difference where it's glaring. I still need more call time to get a judge of it's consistency but so far so good.
If this new Huawei phone's reception is a tiny bit worse than the Samsung Gravity 2, that means that it's pretty bad. As it already is, the Samsung phone is not very good for reception.
It is what it is I guess. I don't necessarily have any problems with the reception so far with either phone, just that it's lower quality compared to my G1. Though the Huawei is not mine and I'm just personalizing it for a family member, so I guess beyond that it won't really affect my experience. Not to mention we're talking about a $70 price point here.
I don't think many on Hofo would buy it for themselves, but at least with a $70 phone--albeit using a brand not well-known in NA--they're placing themselves opposite to PM's line-up of affordable devices.
Smart move on the surface, let's see how the phone performs in practice.
when comparing a $70 and a $130 phone wouldn't you expect build and sound quality to be less then the samsung? the fact that the Huawei is only a bit cheaper feeling and a bit worse sound quailty means it is a great $70 phone.
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Originally Posted by kmusky
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