Looks great but doesn't work so well (VK Mobile VK530)

Member Name: aylawarner

Product:	VK Mobile VK530
Date:	01/12/08 (142 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: small, great colour, style and design, easy to use

Disadvantages: very basic, camera not good, lots of things go wrong

This is a lovely looking little phone. As soon as I saw it in the shop over 2 years ago I fell in love with it and still love it now - although I have to admit that it does have quite a few problems.

The phone is tiny and can easily fit in bags, pockets, etc. Although it can be too small as sometimes I can't find it in my bag for ages! It comes in a few different colours including baby pink, mauve and baby blue and all look lovely. It is a flip phone and on the front around the screen is a mirror which comes in handy when I'm out and about. Inside, the screen is a good size and the screen colour and brightness is good. When the screen is blank this can also be used a mirror. The keys are small and would only really be able to be used by a female or at least someone with small fingers. The keys are set out nicely and are easy to use. There is a camera on the phone but I wouldn't recommend getting this phone if you wanted to take photos as the camera isn't good at all. The quality of pictures isn't good and you can't zoom in or out much. You are meant to be able to send and receive picture messages on this phone but this doesn't seem to ever work. You can't download ringtones but the ones stored to the phone aren't too bad and there's quite a large choice. The calculator, schedules diary and alarm are easy to use and the schedule is handy for setting reminders although if you're phone is on silent and you don't hear it going off, it won't remind you again and you will have missed it. All of the other applications are fairly basic, however, my sister loves the games on there which include JumpJump, Prince Princess and Space Ball which are all adventure type games. The phone only comes on the Vodafone network. I find that the signal is great everywhere for this phone. Even in the cinema when no one else has a signal (even people on the same network) I am able to get one. It is meant to be able to be used abroad but the first time I took it away, upon my arrival home things started going wrong. The camera wouldn't work at all and a couple of the keys stopped working and I had to press them really hard or a couple of times to make it work. Then the phone completely broke and just wouldn't turn on.

I looked around everywhere for a new one of the same make because I really loved the phone but nowhere seemed to sell it and they told me it was because the phone had had a lot of complaints with things going wrong. I eventually found a new one, exactly the same, on ebay for less than £40 which was a great deal compared to the whopping amount I originally paid for it which was somewhere between £100 and £200 (I can't quite remember but whatever it was it was expensive for this phone!). This one has lasted me quite a while. I've taken it on holiday again and it stayed fine after I came back. Although now the number 4 key doesn't work properly and I have to push it a couple of times usually to get it to work.

Overall I definitely wouldn't recommend this phone if you wanted something flash with a good camera, lots of appliances, able to download things, etc. I only need a basic phone for calling and texting which is all I use it for. I love the design, style and colour and that's basically the only reason I still have it.

Summary: A lovely looking phone if you don't mind all the problems

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