Well, I know the opinions so far are very varied on this model of phone.
This is my first "smart-phone-wannabe", so I can't compare it to anything but previous
Sanyo and Motorola phones I've owned.
When I got the phone, I was actually pretty surprised by how small this thing is!
Not that I expected a Kindle-sized phone, but I certainly thought it would be maybe 2" bigger than it was. That being said, it makes it a bit of a challenge for us older people who already need magnifying glasses on occasion! The saving grace for me will be that I can add the numbers I call the most to the contacts list and go from there! The Querty keypad that I thought would be great works great, but is really a bit of a pain to use. Men forget about it. The keys are miniscule and close together. Ladies and younger teens/tweens will probably have no issues. The numbers only exist as a shift/key stroke on the middle set of keys. See the silver color in the middle keys? Those are your numbers. Yup that's all. I didn't even see numbers on them at all until I turned on
the overhead light and got my glasses on! So, it's a bit of a pain in daylight. In a dark room, they do light up as part of the lighted keypad.
We have a regular family plan with another carrier. When we tried to add a phone for me, we were told we could not add another phone yet. (??!?) I suppose they are waiting for the current contract to expire. Anyway, it was a real pain in the rump. I started looking for other services.
NOTE: How well this or ANY other prepaid service phone is going to work for you is really dependent upon your area. Tower access differs all over the country, so there isn't any way to say an absolute yes or no as to whether or not this will work for you. That being said, do some research and find out what phones are listed as working in your zip code. WalMart offers that right on their site for the phones they sell. (For me, it was between this and one other carrier. I decided to give Net10 a shot.)
I also read HUGE discrepancies in the customer service and workability on this model. The reason seems to stem from where you buy it. The phones, plans and minutes bought directly from the Net10 website seemed to have the most issues with both the phones and the loading of minutes, etc. I guess perhaps the phones were not checked for working in the areas before being sent out. Buy locally, or from a big retailer with a good return policy, like Amazon or WalMart to cover yourself. Also, there were more issues with the auto-pay monthly plans than with loading minutes that you bought on refill cards, so be sure to consider that. You can load a new card directly from your phone OR from the Net10 website. I bought my card from an online retailer and loaded the code from the airtime code place right on my own phone, and had no problems at all. In fact, it gave me extra time.
My phone came with 10 minutes of airtime. The one I bought was also a package which had lots of extras, including a microSD card, car charger, home charger and headphones. What it did NOT come with and you will want, is an LG USB cord so you can transfer things like photos and music from your computer to your phone without using your minutes. (I ordered one today!)
Being a prepaid service, it does not allow you to send emails with attachments (sms/mms). Net10 has so far been charging me 2.5 minutes for accepting a message with an attachment from another phone, plus 1 minute to open it, for a total of 3.5 minutes. That is, for example, if someone is sending you a ringtone from their phone. It is worth it, and cheaper than buying one from the Net10 site. The minutes round UP, so if you make a connection and only talk 30 seconds, it is still going to deduct one full minute from your account.
This phone is LOADED with features for the price (I got it cheaper than the current Amazon price as of the day of this review). It offers bluetooth (you will need a separate ear or headset which is not included), internet, FM radio (you have to use the headphones for the radio, because the antenna is in the headphones), MP3 player, and oh yeah you can make and accept calls on it too! ; )
If you want to look for ringtones or wallpapers, I would advise doing so from the ''' Net10 dot com slash data ''' website. Otherwise, it charges minutes against your account while you browse. The only app mine came preloaded with was Facebook. I think it was a quick connection I got to the signin page, but didn't use it so I saved my minutes.
On getting a phone number that was the only "bummer" part I could not choose from available numbers. I had to put in the zip code where I would most be using the phone (home for me), and it was randomly assigned from their available number pools. I guess I could call and request a different number if it was something I really hated, but I can live with it. So far, I have no complaints on the call quality. Most of my calls (incoming and outgoing) will likely be local anyway. My husband works in another city, so we'll see when he goes back to work how good the quality is from there. He called today from the store, and I could hear him very well, and even the people around him were picked up. He could hear me perfectly as well.
So, it gets an "A" for quality of call. Again, this probably depends on your local market and cell tower availability.
One carrier might work better for you than another, and just read all the reviews you can find. (PS I learned to pretty much
discount the ones who were profane. If they don't mind reviews full of venom, you can bet any interactions with customer service
were the same, and didn't get a friendly warm welcome!)
I look forward to trying out other features as I have the phone longer. I'll be sticking with the prepaid minutes instead
of the plans, however, because as I understand it, the company is based out of Mexico. I don't want to try to fix a problem
with an auto-debit with someone who lives in another country. Be sure to refill your minutes before your days are out, or you will lose them. If you refill BEFORE the days are out, they will just be added to the amount and both minutes and days will roll forward.
Overall, very pleased so far. I would NOT recommend it as a business phone anyone trying to use it for business surely
would want an unlimited plan with a local carrier anyway. But, for the everyday user, tweens, teens, soccer moms, college students
and people who want to be able to access a map if needed, this is a really nice phone.
It feels good in my hand, and I am now on Amazon, shopping for a silicone case for it. I am used to (and prefer) flip phones.
However, I really wanted to try a smart phone, and so far, I am really enjoying this one. Note that it is NOT a true smart phone.
It looks a lot like a Blackberry, but it isn't. I can't play Angry Birds on there, or scan the new black and white info squares with it. But I can live with that for the difference in the price.
UPDATE:
Okay, loving this phone still. We've tried it in a couple different cities, and everyone can contact me without a problem.
The calls are clear, the voices are clear (both ways!). I wish Amazon sold the refill cards, but hey, I'll live with other places.
I've played around with it a lot more, bought a USB cable (you will need one, and it does not come with one, even in the bundle),
and plan on moving photos and ringtones to the phone. (You can download them, but why pay for it with your minutes if you can
transfer from your PC for free?) I ordered a gel case today as well, since I often have it on my desk, and it slides around.
The gel will keep it in one spot. (Update the case works great no more sliding, and it looks great too.)
All in all, this is just a hair below a true smartphone, and is totally affordable.
Still in love with it too. I downloaded BOLT mini browser, which is much faster than the one that comes installed
on the phone. Someone else said they are spammed from Net10 with text messages. The only ones I have had were one quick text
within a day or two of loading a new card, reminding me of their website and thanking me for purchasing the minutes. I haven't received an unusual amount of spam/ad texts from them, even though I wish it was zero. (I'll let them know if I need to get in touch! Ha!) I also occasionally get an email from them, but it is far from spam-filled, and has not been annoying.
I have downloaded a couple of games, but there is a big lack of games for this phone. The model is basically the same as the GW300 (European version of the L900G). While there are a load of games for the GW300, when I tried to download one of them to my L900G, I got error messages telling me that it was not compatible with my phone! So, I don't know what they have done with that part they really need to tell the getjar people that it is the same basic phone. Once you download a game, you do NOT have to spend minutes to play it unless you are in an online version of the game. For example, I can play the skeeball I downloaded with nothing against my time or minutes. I also downloaded a small program that allows me to make my own ringtones. The weird part is that I cannot send them directly to my phone (I have not tried to transfer via bluetooth connection yet), but can get them if I send them to my daughter's phone and SHE sends them to me. I don't know what the holdup in the loop is on that one, but a small burp is not insurmountable.
Still loving the phone, and very glad that I chose this model.
SPECIAL NOTE: For those wondering where the heck the L900G hid the speakerphone it is the "OK" button.
Push the button while in a conversation to turn it on, push again to turn it off.
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