New U.S. Friendly Version to Appear Soon??

So after talking again with Jesse Nowlin, the zzzPhone U.S. rep at CustomizeAPhone.com, a new U.S. version of this phone is supposed to be shipping soon. From the looks of the new pictures, the new OEM has made a big difference in the 'sexiness' level of the phone. Whenever the new version comes in, I'll post an update.

Update

I just received an update from a zzzPhone representative regarding U.S. incompatibility, he says:

"Dear Brandon,
We are aware of the issue. There is actually no way to get it to work. Due to a mix up at the factory, the incorrect phone was shipped. I apologize for the inconvenience. We will be shipping you a prepaid return label as well as a new phone shortly. Thank you for your patience."

I'll keep you updated...

ZZZPhone Review

Welcome to the first complete review of the zzzphone (as actually shipped late February, 2008 and received March 10, 2008). Since it seems like there is a lot of salesmanship/speculation about the actual contents and merits of this phone, I hope this review sheds some light on the subject.

First off the zzzphone I ordered and received is the zzzphone 1.0 (the first batch shipped I believe). I ordered the $149 base model with no added features, because I wanted to make sure that this was for real before plunking down >$500 on the full-featured model.

We'll do this cnet style so as to be thorough and fair...

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Product Summary

The zzzphone is a feature-rich and relatively easy to use phone. Its apparent lack of a radio stack that is compatible with U.S. carriers (see my experience below, and here: http://www.bostonpocketpc.com/ZZZPhone++Nice+Idea+Too+Bad+Its+A+Scam.aspx ) will leave it functioning as a generic ipod touch rather than the excellent phone it could be.

The Good

• Dual SIM slots that are easy to switch between make this phone great for traveling.


• A ton of pre-loaded applications and media players make this phone quite utilitarian.


• Customizability is a big plus, although some delays can occur depending on the upgrades.

The Bad

• The radio stack DOES NOT seem to connect with any GSM operators in the U.S.


• Small, but bothersome, problems such as volume control, and power-on button issues hamper the usage of the phone.


• Lack of WiFi option leaves out possibilities like skype that could make the phone truly versatile.

Specs

Dual 800/850 band (mfr supplied spec, not verified), GPRS, Bluetooth, dual SIM card slots, 500k internal memory w/ microSD expansion slot. 3.2 mpxl camera, 2nd front side camera, 5mpxl image sensor (mfr supplied spec, not verified), 3 inch 256K color touch screen display.

Proprietary OS, mp3/mp4 players, java, finance software, health software.

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Full Review

Initial Impressions

After a fairly long delay the zzzphone arrived in a good looking box that raised my hopes for the product. The phone itself gives off a good initial impression with a sturdy build and relative good looks with a polished aluminum and glossy black design. The phones proprietary OS mimics the Symbian OS and comes pre-loaded with a ton of applications. Using the touch screen, it is easy to navigate around in the phone and after about 10 minutes and configuring and getting acquainted with the features of the phone I was impressed. Then I tried to make a call. After hanging out on the phone for 30 minutes with T-mobile in the U.S., it turns out that the phone gets no signal reception (presumably because its GSM and GPRS radios are incompatible with U.S. carriers) essentially rendering the phone a generic iPod Touch. Right here this will pretty much end the review for anyone in the U.S. The phone was supposedly manufactured by ZTE which conveniently has a office across the street from me, so I’m going to head over there and ask my buddy to verify this. For the sake of the other 95% of the world we’ll continue under the assumption that the zzzphone operates on all of the EU, Russian, Asian, and Middle Eastern carriers that it comes preconfigured for.

Phone Design

The zzzphone has a fairly sturdy design, although the keypad buttons and charge panel feel a little flimsy. The phone comes with a combo phone/battery charger which does not use the standard usb interface that most of the new phones do today, so make sure to purchase all your accessories when you first buy the phone. The phone is designed quite similarly to the EU version of the Nokia N95 and comes with a 3” touch screen (stylus provided as well for those who prefer). It comes standard with a 3.2 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens, 5 megapixel image sensor (factory spec, not verified), stereo speakers, bluetooth, microSD slot (256MB card comes standard), and most notably dual SIM slots. These features pretty much speak for themselves although I will add that the interface that the zzzphone has designed in allows for easy switching between SIM cards which was a concern that I initially had. There are two all buttons on the keypad (one for each SIM) as well as two different reception status bars. The stereo speakers are also a pretty good quality although you’ll definitely want a good pair of Bluetooth speakers to enjoy the music and movies on the preloaded players. The touch screen that comes with a stylus although (and I have pretty fat thumbs) its not really needed except when scrolling through some of the longer configuration menus. The one bad part about this is that finger prints are highly visible on the reflective screen if you do decide to forgo the stylus.

The OS

The zzzphone uses a proprietary OS that is similar in a lot of ways to the Symbian smart smartphone OS. I tried using the phone without reading the manual to test the ease of usability and everything is pretty much straight forward for smartphone/pda users. The phone comes with support for English, French, Arabic, and simple Chinese character recognition and also has a touch screen keyboard that is easy to use. There are a couple of quirks to work out like a lack of volume control for some of the alert beeps, the overall volume of the phone being WAY too loud, and having to press the power button for up to 10 seconds for the device to power on. All of the applications that come with the phone (see above) are pretty straight forward and really give the phone some utility. Add on the fact that you can get programs like Yahoo Mobile preloaded and that’s a nice bonus. What would really have been useful is the inclusion of a WiFi radio so that skype could be used on the phone, but maybe this can be included in version 2.0 that seems to be coming out with Android as the OS.

Overall Conclusion

If you do not live in the U.S., the zzzphone is a fairly well built, feature rich handset that is easy to use and a good overall device. The lack of compatibility with U.S. carriers will make this a fancy pda for most folks in the U.S. although even this has some value as a pda/media player if you are willing to add another device onto your belt which most people aren’t these days. Provided that the phone works in other markets, it is a great choice for a low price substitute of other high-end smartphone models. The few small quirks that I noticed while using the product can be fixed hopefully in the first revision and are things that can now be easily disabled without causing too much of an impact on usage. For a first time out, this is not a bad product (U.S. caveats aside) and bodes well for the company once they can get a handle on logistics issues and customer support.