Ben
11th April 2005, 01:15 AM
Well, the time of using my Z1010 as my main phone is now coming to an end. Having used the phone since September 2004 I thought it'd be nice to reflect on my ~6 months of ownership.
I received my Z1010 two months before Orange launched 3G. I simply called up and asked if it was available yet, and a lovely woman said "Oo, it's on the system, and it's free!" Two days later, and with a lot of ill-feeling after Orange tried to stop it from reaching me, the Z1010 turned up. Despite the initial threat from a worried CSR that I would be charged and that the phone wouldn't work anyway, all was well. Other than the fact that the phone didn't work, and I actually had to go through to Handset Faults and, after the usual troubleshooting, get a new one sent out - no questions asked.
When I first got the Z1010 I was surprised at it's compactness. It was quite a bit more compact than I had been led to believe. I think my expectations helped a lot here, because after having carried it around for half a year I now appreciate that it, while by no means unbearably so, is a large phone considering its functionality. I also found it to be quite light initially, but again my views on this have changed over time. Perhaps having had an NEC e606 primed me, and then new products like the V800 influenced my later opinion.
I also now know that I'm not a big fan of flip phones. I have long maintained that flip phones, namely Samsungs, are for girls. Now, despite sounding sexist, the Z1010 is most certainly not 'for girls'. The V800... I'll leave that up to you, but the Z1010, in grey anyway, looks almost industrial. There doesn't seem to be any real advantage in having a flip phone, and they become horribly elongated when opened out. It's decided, I like my phones brick-shaped.
I did try and store some MP3's on the 128mb memory stick duo initially. However, I found the absolute lack of functionality in the media player installed on the Z1010 made this task almost impossible. It's just not a pleasant experience. I do like Sony Ericssons headphone connector (I loath Nokia's) but that's about your lot. The sound quality was good both through the headphones and through the phone speaker, but with a media player like the one installed on the Z1010 you just can't be bothered and end up carrying a separate MP3 player instead. I look to my future Nokia 6680 with high hopes here - being Symbian, if I don't like what's installed at least I can install my own.
One thing that does stand out is the internal screen. It's a lovely vibrant crisp screen as far as I'm concerned. Nokia screens often look quite washed out, but Sony Ericsson's consistently glow. The external screen is a bit of a disappointment - ideally it needs to be in colour and usable as a mini camera viewfinder - that way I'd actually have a use for the camera button on the side of the phone. As it happens, I've only ever used the camera button to make the front screen illuminate so I can check the time without opening the clamshell! Pointless, pointless, pointless.
Ok, here's a hate coming up for you - a big fat hate. I hate the position of the external camera. Hate it! When you look in the internal screen the camera, positioned on the bottom of the phone, is facing the floor. When you tilt the phone up so the camera is facing the right way, you can't see the internal screen anymore because the view angle is so appalling! This is NOT a cameraphone. To be honest, even if the camera was on the lid, you still wouldn't want to use it - the quality is just poor. The 6230 beats the Z1010 for shooting pictures and video hands down.
Here's a love. Video calling is really nice on the Z1010. The colour it captures is so warm and full. It does make you look a bit weird on the picture-in-picture screen, but on the receiving mobile you look great. The NEC e606 camera, on the other hand, was sending me the most grainy horrible washed-out image you've ever seen! The internal camera is certainly no more impressive than the external one, but it's spot on for video calls. If I actually knew anyone with a 3G phone I'd have been tempted to use this feature more.
Infra-red. Outdated and pointless here. Still, for a phone designed so long ago it's understandable.
I don't like the way the memory stick cover is hinged, and I don't like the cheap little rubber stop bunged into the USB miniport. I do love the way the whole phone feels when you hold it. I love the solidness of the open and closing mechanism, and I love that the plastic case feels nicer than the casing on a Motorola Razr V3. I like the little mirror on the back so you can take photos of yourself.
One great thing about this phone is that, with the exception of file management and the media player, it's exceptionally easy to use. Infact, even the media player is easy to use - it's just rubbish. The Sony Ericsson menu layout is really good, and the phone is nicely responsive most of the time. The browser lacks functionality badly for a phone of this size and weight, but again - old technology here.The number of themes installed is a bit minimal, and there aren't really any fantastic backgrounds or ringtones, but it's all of a reasonable quality and does the job well. Of course, I swiftly downloaded some much better SP-MIDI tones from CBFMobile (http://www.cbfmobile.com).
Signal strength! Ack! Sony Ericssons, the T610 and Z1010 at least, are rubbish with variable signal quality! With one bar on a Nokia you can still do pretty much everything. On the Sony Ericsson's, once you're in the red 1 bar or even the 2 yellow bars you're in trouble. In one bar of signal my phone would rather refuse to dial than let me attempt the call. I will, of course, compare the signal strengh with my new Nokia, but I fully expect the Z1010 to perform significantly worse.
For example, with a friends 7610 and my Z1010, zooming along through 2G signal areas, the 7610 always had signal. It fluctuated up and back down again as we went from cell to cell, but it always had it. My Z1010 however would go right down to no signal at all, then up to full, then back to having no signal at all. Perhaps the cell spacing was optimistic in the area concerned, but the Nokia coped fine and that speaks volumes. i didn't like not having the ability to lock my phone to either GSM or UMTS.
Data is handled well by the Z1010. Even when it has lost signal while I've had a data connection open, it seems to have managed to ensure I'm reconnected again. Moving between well covered areas, even across 3G to 2G (sometimes in quick succession) has been flawless. I have had one blatently dropped voice call when in medium 3G signal (not sure why), but that's it - and data, with the exception of certain orange dead-spots (or are they - Nokia here I come...) around Canterbury, hasn't let me down.
Oh, and Erix is a good game. :)
Basically, good 3G phone. I didn't even successfully use my e606 as a main phone (I'm rather fussy - but you don't need to be to know an e606 is a no-go), so the Z1010's 6 month stint is a testament to its quality. If Three UK had managed to get this phone when it initially started to be produced then they would have had a much happier launch. Some markets did have it, of course, but just not the UK.
As it's outdated now, I wouldn't recommend it anymore - unless you want a very easy to use 3G phone that's robust and has nice easy to press buttons and plenty to hold on to. It really should have been so much more successful than it was, and I'll definitely be holding on to it.
I received my Z1010 two months before Orange launched 3G. I simply called up and asked if it was available yet, and a lovely woman said "Oo, it's on the system, and it's free!" Two days later, and with a lot of ill-feeling after Orange tried to stop it from reaching me, the Z1010 turned up. Despite the initial threat from a worried CSR that I would be charged and that the phone wouldn't work anyway, all was well. Other than the fact that the phone didn't work, and I actually had to go through to Handset Faults and, after the usual troubleshooting, get a new one sent out - no questions asked.
When I first got the Z1010 I was surprised at it's compactness. It was quite a bit more compact than I had been led to believe. I think my expectations helped a lot here, because after having carried it around for half a year I now appreciate that it, while by no means unbearably so, is a large phone considering its functionality. I also found it to be quite light initially, but again my views on this have changed over time. Perhaps having had an NEC e606 primed me, and then new products like the V800 influenced my later opinion.
I also now know that I'm not a big fan of flip phones. I have long maintained that flip phones, namely Samsungs, are for girls. Now, despite sounding sexist, the Z1010 is most certainly not 'for girls'. The V800... I'll leave that up to you, but the Z1010, in grey anyway, looks almost industrial. There doesn't seem to be any real advantage in having a flip phone, and they become horribly elongated when opened out. It's decided, I like my phones brick-shaped.
I did try and store some MP3's on the 128mb memory stick duo initially. However, I found the absolute lack of functionality in the media player installed on the Z1010 made this task almost impossible. It's just not a pleasant experience. I do like Sony Ericssons headphone connector (I loath Nokia's) but that's about your lot. The sound quality was good both through the headphones and through the phone speaker, but with a media player like the one installed on the Z1010 you just can't be bothered and end up carrying a separate MP3 player instead. I look to my future Nokia 6680 with high hopes here - being Symbian, if I don't like what's installed at least I can install my own.
One thing that does stand out is the internal screen. It's a lovely vibrant crisp screen as far as I'm concerned. Nokia screens often look quite washed out, but Sony Ericsson's consistently glow. The external screen is a bit of a disappointment - ideally it needs to be in colour and usable as a mini camera viewfinder - that way I'd actually have a use for the camera button on the side of the phone. As it happens, I've only ever used the camera button to make the front screen illuminate so I can check the time without opening the clamshell! Pointless, pointless, pointless.
Ok, here's a hate coming up for you - a big fat hate. I hate the position of the external camera. Hate it! When you look in the internal screen the camera, positioned on the bottom of the phone, is facing the floor. When you tilt the phone up so the camera is facing the right way, you can't see the internal screen anymore because the view angle is so appalling! This is NOT a cameraphone. To be honest, even if the camera was on the lid, you still wouldn't want to use it - the quality is just poor. The 6230 beats the Z1010 for shooting pictures and video hands down.
Here's a love. Video calling is really nice on the Z1010. The colour it captures is so warm and full. It does make you look a bit weird on the picture-in-picture screen, but on the receiving mobile you look great. The NEC e606 camera, on the other hand, was sending me the most grainy horrible washed-out image you've ever seen! The internal camera is certainly no more impressive than the external one, but it's spot on for video calls. If I actually knew anyone with a 3G phone I'd have been tempted to use this feature more.
Infra-red. Outdated and pointless here. Still, for a phone designed so long ago it's understandable.
I don't like the way the memory stick cover is hinged, and I don't like the cheap little rubber stop bunged into the USB miniport. I do love the way the whole phone feels when you hold it. I love the solidness of the open and closing mechanism, and I love that the plastic case feels nicer than the casing on a Motorola Razr V3. I like the little mirror on the back so you can take photos of yourself.
One great thing about this phone is that, with the exception of file management and the media player, it's exceptionally easy to use. Infact, even the media player is easy to use - it's just rubbish. The Sony Ericsson menu layout is really good, and the phone is nicely responsive most of the time. The browser lacks functionality badly for a phone of this size and weight, but again - old technology here.The number of themes installed is a bit minimal, and there aren't really any fantastic backgrounds or ringtones, but it's all of a reasonable quality and does the job well. Of course, I swiftly downloaded some much better SP-MIDI tones from CBFMobile (http://www.cbfmobile.com).
Signal strength! Ack! Sony Ericssons, the T610 and Z1010 at least, are rubbish with variable signal quality! With one bar on a Nokia you can still do pretty much everything. On the Sony Ericsson's, once you're in the red 1 bar or even the 2 yellow bars you're in trouble. In one bar of signal my phone would rather refuse to dial than let me attempt the call. I will, of course, compare the signal strengh with my new Nokia, but I fully expect the Z1010 to perform significantly worse.
For example, with a friends 7610 and my Z1010, zooming along through 2G signal areas, the 7610 always had signal. It fluctuated up and back down again as we went from cell to cell, but it always had it. My Z1010 however would go right down to no signal at all, then up to full, then back to having no signal at all. Perhaps the cell spacing was optimistic in the area concerned, but the Nokia coped fine and that speaks volumes. i didn't like not having the ability to lock my phone to either GSM or UMTS.
Data is handled well by the Z1010. Even when it has lost signal while I've had a data connection open, it seems to have managed to ensure I'm reconnected again. Moving between well covered areas, even across 3G to 2G (sometimes in quick succession) has been flawless. I have had one blatently dropped voice call when in medium 3G signal (not sure why), but that's it - and data, with the exception of certain orange dead-spots (or are they - Nokia here I come...) around Canterbury, hasn't let me down.
Oh, and Erix is a good game. :)
Basically, good 3G phone. I didn't even successfully use my e606 as a main phone (I'm rather fussy - but you don't need to be to know an e606 is a no-go), so the Z1010's 6 month stint is a testament to its quality. If Three UK had managed to get this phone when it initially started to be produced then they would have had a much happier launch. Some markets did have it, of course, but just not the UK.
As it's outdated now, I wouldn't recommend it anymore - unless you want a very easy to use 3G phone that's robust and has nice easy to press buttons and plenty to hold on to. It really should have been so much more successful than it was, and I'll definitely be holding on to it.