I just bought the new AT&T Avail with the $2/day prepaid plan.
Two major flaws with this phone: low battery life and no camera flash.
Pros: Lively, easy interface, good screen illumination, good call quality. Case feels good in hand. Wi-Fi was easy to set up. Good user manual. The charger cord is also a USB cord for easy photo downloads to my PC. 5MP camera with zoom seems OK so far.
Cons: Really hate the low battery life (must recharge this every night). The lack of camera flash really limits photo opps. WARNING: you will not be able to return or exchange this phone once you open the box, if you decide you don't like it.
Summary: Overall, not a bad prepaid GoPhone but I'm glad I'm not locked into a contract with it. I didn't discover the lack of flash until I opened the box, so I am stuck with this phone. OTOH, the phone alerts me to my $2/day usage and it's easy to replenish $$. Good AT&T customer service support.
I bought the Avail about a month ago and I would have to agree with you about the battery life. I don't use it that much and still have to recharge about every other day. But I'll give it a pass on that one since this is my first smart phone and I'm very pleased with every other aspect of the phone. I also like the customer service and the easy replenishing from my online account. I read on here that some people have had problems with the customer service but I haven't. All in all I'm pleased with my purchase.
Your not going to find a android that doesn't need to be recharged nightly if you use it regularly. Trying keeping Bluetooth and GPS off if not needed. Disable background data syncing. And well you knew you didn't have a flash when you bought it. If not, do your research next time.
Seriously thinking about getting this phone. Hope someone can answer a couple of questions.
Does it have an LED indicator?
The Fusion I took back had trouble with the touchscreen. Many times it took 3 or 4 presses to activate whatever you were pressing. Do you experience this on the Avail?
Hmmmmm.....don't know what you mean when referring to "LED indicator". As far as the touchscreen, no problems so far. I did find out that when I first got it I was trying to hard to "push" on the screen. It only needs a light touch since it's not pressure sensitive. Since this was my first touch screen it took some getting used to. I love it now that I'm used to it.
I just bought the new AT&T Avail with the $2/day prepaid plan.
Two major flaws with this phone: low battery life and no camera flash.
Pros: Lively, easy interface, good screen illumination, good call quality. Case feels good in hand. Wi-Fi was easy to set up. Good user manual. The charger cord is also a USB cord for easy photo downloads to my PC. 5MP camera with zoom seems OK so far.
Cons: Really hate the low battery life (must recharge this every night). The lack of camera flash really limits photo opps. WARNING: you will not be able to return or exchange this phone once you open the box, if you decide you don't like it.
Summary: Overall, not a bad prepaid GoPhone but I'm glad I'm not locked into a contract with it. I didn't discover the lack of flash until I opened the box, so I am stuck with this phone. OTOH, the phone alerts me to my $2/day usage and it's easy to replenish $$. Good AT&T customer service support.
The phone can be returned. Return it to Walmart if you bought it there. If from at&t store, they have a $35 restocking fee but is returnable.
I've had an Avail for about a month now, as a replacement for a Virgin Mobile flip phone and an aging iPod touch. Tired of carrying 2 devices, but wanting to continue with prepaid voice service only, I went with the Avail because AT&T's GoPhone was the only prepaid that would let me activate one of its smartphones without paying a monthly data fee. I chose the Avail over the Thrive, their other prepaid smartphone, since at the time it was $20 cheaper and the AT&T store associate said they had had less problems with the Avail.
The Avail is no iPod touch (or iPhone), but the touchscreen does respond quickly to a light touch, I'm getting bars except in the most isolated places (office bldg. basements, etc.), and the call quality is adequate. The wifi reception is not as good as on my iPod touch (i.e, I don't get as many bars), but I still connect just about anywhere there is wifi, and it has free automatic login to AT&T wifi hotspots. The camera is OK for taking a picture when you don't have anything else available, but it won't replace a pocket camera. The phone has a solid feel and has already weathered a couple of drops. Any other issues are with Android, not the phone (i.e., I quickly replaced the stock e-mail app with MailDroid, etc.). So for an inexpensive, prepaid smartphone, it does the job, and so far I'd recommend it.
I have a question about the Avail. How does the phone dialer look? Does it have dark grey keys ala stock Android or does it have white keys ala Samsung and LG phones?
I have a question about the Avail. How does the phone dialer look? Does it have dark grey keys ala stock Android or does it have white keys ala Samsung and LG phones?
Thanks. I was afraid of that. I still think this is going to be my mom's next phone. Now, if only AT&T woukd be bothered getting an Android with QWERTY ala Optimus Slider, I'd switch my own line to GoPhone too.
Thanks. I was afraid of that. I still think this is going to be my mom's next phone. Now, if only AT&T woukd be bothered getting an Android with QWERTY ala Optimus Slider, I'd switch my own line to GoPhone too.
Thanks but stupid Amazon doesn't ship most items to Puerto Rico so I avoid giving them my money as much as possible. I tried to order that phone but they won't ship it. I did find a Galaxy Pro in Expansys with AT&T 3G bands for $200, which is more reasonable than the $350 AT&T asks for the Crossover. My mom will get the Avail and I'll have a keyboard. All is good now.
I activated my mom's Avail yesterday. She's still learning it but since I had to do all the setup and configuration, I did get some good hands-on experience with it. My only complaints are that the ringtones aren't too loud, and that battery life doesn't seem that good. There's also that ugly clock widget right in your face, but of course that can be removed and replaced with something else from the Market. Speaking of apps, I'm glad AT&T is no longer blocking app sideloading. None of the included bloatware is uninstallable, by the way.
Question......I have the ATT Avail and have been to two ATT stores and nobody at either store could answer my question. The icon on the notification bar at the top of the screen that lets you know when your wifi is on. Sometimes it's white and sometimes it's green. What's the difference?
Review of AT&T Avail GoPhone
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Originally Posted by VAbirdwoman
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