Very basic but works as a first phone (Alcatel One Touch Easy db)

Member Name: bloodmist88

Product:	Alcatel One Touch Easy db
Date:	31/10/06 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: nice grip, nice signal sensitivity, also works with AAA batteries

Disadvantages: pretty big and heavy for one's pocket, inefficient power usage, very very basic, small display

I first layed my hands on this phone about a week ago, but this was enough time to observe all of it's features, some pleasing but unfortunately shaded by the inconvenients. I was happy to find a rather easy-to-use phone but profoundly bitter when i discovered that even with a fully charged battery, the backlight and display text would start to blink severely when initiating a call or sending an ordinary sms.

Positives:
- it can also use regular AAA size batteries in case you're not at home and expressly need to use the phone
- it employs a docking type charger, which is a more elegant and easy to use solution
- it has several power saving features: backlight on/dimmer/off(you don't need backlight in the daytime), led on/off , auto shutdown after a user-definable period.
- good receiving sensitivity and broadcast power; much to my surprise, from this point of view it's comparable to a Motorola C250, as i was unable to get it to show less than 4 signal markings out of the total 5 unless i removed the antenna. This performance is probably due to it's rigurous construction, circuitry design, screening, etc (i did peek through it a bit)
- good audio quality, comparable to more expensive phones
- nice grip and nice feel as well, due to it's shape and it's rubber strip
- the keypad unlock sequence is well thought
- the keys with multiple functions (such as message/phonebook or #/keypad lock ) are properly marked so that you can't get confused
- replacement batteries of larger capacity than the original, covers , and other accesories still readily available on the market

Now for the negatives:
- basic features only, and doesn't excel at those either; the sms feature is not very intuitive to use, and nor is the phonebook
- it's original battery is of only 650mAh, which allows only about 2 days of normal use; by normal use i mean an average of 30 minutes of call time a day.
- it's power efficiency is rather low because while it's standby consumption is average, it's consumption during calls shoots up quite high and too fast, so that if the battery is a few months old you may find that the phone shuts down when trying to call, even though the indicator shows the battery to be at 2/3 power. If using AAA batteries, anything short of alkalines will only give you 10 minutes of talk time.
- the battery compartment locking mechanism is fragile and very prone to breaking if frequently used
- the SIM holding system is fragile and does not always ensure proper connection of the SIM, so random errors appear sometimes, especially in case of mechanical shock(doesn't have to be too much of a shock)
- the scroll keys are located on the left side of the phone and are not backlit, so that they are rather uncomfortable to use for right-handed people
- the other keys are not transparent, and thus in the night time they are lit mostly on the edges and the markings on them are hard to see with normal backlight and impossible to see if using dim backlight(to save power)
- the microphone isn't too sensitive and doesn't receive the voice too clear

Summary: Basic phone, cheap, but you should consider also getting a larger capacity battery

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