After a short break, back to writing some reviews :) I hope you find them interesting.
After a short break, back to writing some reviews :) I hope you find them interesting.
Member since:01.05.2003
Reviews:47
Members who trust:11
I recently upgraded to the S55 on the Orange UK network. I had waited some months specifically for this and the Nokia 6100 to be released before buying. I have owned Motorola and Nokia cellular phones in the past so this was a new brand and new way of operating to be learned.
Key criteria for my selecting this phone: ----------------------------------------- Tri-band - so it roams pretty much anywhere; Colour - grey/green is so uninteresting; Bluetooth - wirefree headset and connection to PC; Small - previous phone was a Nokia 9210 (aka Brick); Light - see Small. Vibrate battery - alerts me in noisy trains/offices. Mobile email - I can keep in touch. GPRS - quicker WAP access for information.
In competition was the latest Nokia tri-band phone (6100) which was well built and even lighter, but lacked blue tooth.
Other features: --------------- Camera - came with a clip on camera which is low resolution and fairly bulky to carry around. Big plus is a built in flash so you can use it in low light. Data
suite - come with a mini CD to load the phone software and datasuite to your PC. Note though that my package did not come with a data cable. Built in memo recorder - I have yet to use this feature but it is annoyingly easy to activate by mistake. Voice activation dialing - does work but only if you are in a *very* quiet place. Limited real use.
What I have liked about this phone: ----------------------------------- Battery life is excellent - often exceeding a week with some use - which is way better than I have ever had before.
The phone features are comprehensive and allow this phone to be a diary and contact book too.
This is a very good looking phone for those of you who are style orientated.
Sound quality is excellent with a clear reception and good signal capture.
What is not so good: -------------------- Screen resolution is poor - the competition beat this easily and it shows in the lack of information that can be displayed on the screen at once. The contrast and colour depth is also poor making it seem dull.
Ease of use - the menu system is different to others and requires some learning. In my opinion, there are just too many button presses to achieve some functions to make this really easy to use. It need some practice to be really slick.
The build feels less solid that the rivals - time will tell how this stands up but is has a plastic feel. I guess this was one way to lighten the phone up.
The printed manual - very poor and does not cover all the features or set-up. Note that this was an Orange UK varient of the manual so other networks may do better. The online manual is more comprehensive but you need a PC to read it and it still does not cover all the set-up and features.
It took me some time to get all my email accounts operational. The set-up is not easy and is in several menu locations. It does not conform to industry terminology standards and the manual is less than helpful. Basically you are relying on the network to pre set-up and supply your services for an easy life.
Accessories - or lack thereof. Orange does not supply a case, data cable, headphone or car charger for this phone as standard; yet it does come with a camera! Basically this is a business featured phone targetted at a non-business market. Very poor and it can get expensive buying all these new pieces which are fairly important.
Lastly, the data suite installation to my PC (XP build) was flawed and did not work properly. It took many nights to sort this out and there was little or no help in the form of a proper manual. For the technical amongst you, the issue seemed to be around bridging from the standard COM port to a USB port so that I could use a USB cable. It is still unstable and frequently crashes. The software itself has poor online manuals (very short and basic) and has some bugs in the interface to the phone (e.g. it claims the phone is full, drops connection and has updated only part of a phone list). I can only assume this relates to the dynamic memory in the phone (shared between all applications).
Overall ------- Despite the problems, I still like this phone and it meets my needs as a worldwide communication tool. It is very feature rich and has significant capabilities. The overall package is, however, poor and needs considerable work to make this a good buy. There are too many flaws and bugs. I will certainly be looking at the Nokia again when the time to upgrade comes as the quality of my previous Nokia has been excellent.
**Update** After using the phone for nearly a year I have some more thoughts and views:
The features ----------------- I have had many problems synchronising and updating the phone book and calendar - so much so I no longer bother. The poor quality of the display makes the calendar less than useful - you sometimes cannot tell a day has a meeting because the bold text looks like standard text.
The alarm function is very annoying - I discovered to a waiting room's annoyance that an alarm will go off even if the phone is switched off - it restarted itself and warbled away.
Durability ------------- Having dropped the phone several times now, the plastics seem to be holding up well - no breakages and no attritiion.
Bluetooth ------------- With the changes in laws regarding the use of phonesin cars (I always used to pull over), I have invested in a bluetooth headset.
The setup for this was ridiculously easy and worked first time.
I have had a number of 'errors' displayed on the phone when calls have arrived but not reached a conclusion as to why. I suspect the constant in and out of range caused the phone to get 'upset'. A restart always cures this.
WAP ------ I have started to use this more but the Orange billing is very confusing. Train timetables are very easy to procure and very useful working in London. The display lets this down again with many WAP graphics not displaying.
Picture Messaging -------------------------- I have received some pictures from a friend with a Nokia camera - the attachment is recognised but will not display. Apparently all other recipients can see these pictures fine. More investigation is needed but this really should be idiot proof. Overall picture messaging is not a feature I intend to use much.
Camera ----------- The lack o a built in camera is a real pain - it is simply too much trouble to carry around the camera all the time. Interestingly, Orange supplied a case for the camera with the phone, but not the phone itself.
Battery Life --------------- After a year, the battery is starting to become tired and standby time has fallen by a full day. Bluetooth activation recently has also taken it's toll and drains the battery quite quickly when left polling for the headset.
Ease of Use ----------------- A year on and I still have not gotten my head around the menu system - too many times the next button press switches to the other menu button or it requires 6 button presses to close a simple menu sequence. The Nokia menu set-up is superior and more logical - Siemens need to rethink their layout.
One Year On ------------------ This was an expensive, new phone and newer phones have easily surpassed this one. I regret the purchase and look forward to when I can justify changing this phone.
I have downed my Ease of use rating to Difficult an my Range of Features rating to Good.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
this is very informative - my friend has this phone and we wanted to know more - you gave us the best information and we appreciate the update too! I like siemens anyway... My best phones have been Siemens... ~(:-)--{---<|<
The_badger 04.06.2003 10:19
A good op, thorough in content and easy to follow, i have one of these phones and agree with the comments made.
jo1l 03.06.2003 20:39
Must admit it does sound good but I do love my nokia phone!
Jun 3rd, 2003
(Jan 29th, 2004)
exceptional by (5%):
very helpful by (75%):
helpful by (20%):
