Double Blind

After getting jerked around by Virgin Mobile (see prior October 2010 post), I managed to find a new phone and cheaper plan with Rogers last November.

Much to my absolute shock and amazement, over the past four months of service, I have not had any problems with them since the time I ported my number over. I am very happy for switching and making sure my money does not go to Bell Canada (who acquired the remaining 51% of Virgin Mobile sometime two years ago).

The phone I chose was the Samsung Corby Pro, which is a “dumb-phone” that is used primarily for messaging. I chose this phone because it was the only one available had built-in WiFi, and was not considered a “smart” phone – I am just not ready in the stage of my life for a smart phone yet (nor do I subscribe to a data package). The cost would have been around $300 for the phone but I signed up for a 3-year plan, so my out-of-pocket expense was zero (although over the next three years, the subscription will be about $25/month after HST).

Although it was a radical change from my previous phone, the new phone generally works well – now that I have unlimited text, I am getting used to the notion of sending text messages as a means of communication. I know this might sound funny to those that have been doing it for the last five years, but I have previously found text messages to be generally useless, but am now finding functionality with them (probably due to the zero cost nature).

The flip-phone feature works quite well, it is physically easy to doing so, but not overly so where it inadvertently flips. The screen changes from portrait to landscape promptly when doing so. The button placement is relatively optimal, although one minor quibble is when the phone is ringing in your pocket you may inadvertently take or reject a phone call by accidentally pressing the main buttons on the bottom. I’ve learned to take the phone out of my pocket more carefully when it is ringing.

One big complaint is that Rogers loads up the menu interface with lots of crap that I do not need – for example, I do not care about Facebook, Myspace, the Weather Network, etc. I wish I could completely remove them off of my phone.

The internet browser is very basic, but it enables you to view Gmail from a hotspot, which is all that I really needed. It also saves you from having to whip out the netbook or even the requirement to carry it with you for quick emailing. There is a “mobile mail” function which would cost an extra $5/month to use which I may consider in the future.

The camera on the phone, to put it mildly, is poor. There is a one-second respond time from pressing the trigger to when the actual photo is taken. It is very poor in low-light situations. It is very poor when you have to take a “moving” snapshot. If all you need to do is take pictures of store shelves or something, it will do, but the camera otherwise is pretty poor. Viewing pictures on the phone, however, is easy and iPhone-like.

Battery charge appears to be fine – typically once every four or five days I have to plug the thing in.

The phone locking feature is very functional and does not appear obtrusive in any way, except for the accidental time or two when the phone is angled in your pocket and pressing the unlock button.

The date/time display on the phone is perfect. It shows whenever you lock the phone or tap the lock button.

Contact management is simple – names and numbers get entered in manually, saved to either phone or SIM card. I had to manually import my old contacts from my old dinosaur phone, but the keypad made it quick.

The keyboard itself works “well”. The key placement and tapping seems to be rather well designed, especially for people with large fingers like mine.

I wish the speed of the phone could be more snappier, when pressing the menu keys or flicking through the contact list – there is a slight (200ms) delay which is not bad, but I wish things could be a little “quicker”. It is not to the point where it is annoying, but it is something I wish would be better.

Sound volume is fine, both in an automobile and in silent environments. The speaker is loud enough, and the person on the other end seems to be able to hear OK. I still wish phones existed today that had a feature where you could automatically record conversations.

Not having experienced a huge baseline of phones to work with, I believe I can work with this phone for the next 32 months.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 20th, 2011 and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.