Audiovox CDM-9900
Average Ratings
Best Tri-Mode Phone Verizon Ever Offered
After reading all of the reviews here at phonescoop, & owning many different models of tri-mode phones from VZW, V60, T720, VX4400B, VX3200 & VX6100 (for about a month & thoroughly disappointed with its poor RF performance & many bugs that came with the phone with no fix in sight); I started reading reviews & forum on V710, A650, CDM9900 & V265 again in search of a better phone. I finally decided to buy the CDM 9900 & sold my VX6100 on ebay (best decision I've ever made on a phone).
With that said, the CDM9900 has lived up to all the hype that was given to it. I've
owned this phone for over a month now & traveled to many places outside of my home
area including rural area where analog is the only option without any problem with reception or drop calls.
Pros:
- Tri-mode.
- Phone power up & down quickly.
- Excellent RF reception. I travel alot, so this is very important to me.
- Clear call quality. I'm not having as much problems with the single holed earpiece since I don't like to hold my phone with cheek & shoulder (I'm afraid I may drop it since I'm a bit klutzy).
- The overall feel of the phone is solid except it's a little hard to open with one hand since I have small hands.
- Awesome screen, menus & picture quality. I haven't tried the video camera function yet, but the still photos are amazingly clear. I will not say I love the outer LCD, but I haven't had any problems seeing it day or night.
- Speakerphone sound is loud & clear.
- The ringtones are loud & not distorted; however, the factory installed ringtones are hideous.
Cons:
- No ring then vibrate feature
- Speaker phone cannot be used while the phone is closed.
Overall, this is a great phone & I absolutely love it. Now I can travel confidently with this phone without having to worry about being able to make or receive calls when need to. I definitely would recommend this phone & the price is a steal for what you get out of this phone.
Well the verdict is in......
Great phone, I had the Samsung SCH-a670 (see my review of it) went for this before the 15 days were up.
The reception is excellent. I have yet to lose any calls on the phone even when the VW towers were down. You can't beat a tri-mode phone.
It is true that the outside display is hard to see, until you push a button, then it lights up. I like that, I don't want a phone that you can see from a mile away in the dark and it saves the battery.
Pros-
Screen - awesome looks like a TV
Speaker Phone
very customizable
quick charge
good battery life
good camera
Reception
Cons-
case creaks a bit
hard to find a case (VW doesn't sell them anymore)
I am so glad I went with this phone over the A670. Has better reception and sounds better too.
Good phone with Red Flag
I agree with all the comments about this phone being amazing, but there is one major missing feature that no one has mentioned.
You can NOT download (or upload) media from the phone to your computer. I got the USB data connection kit and found that it only supports your phone book.
I called Audiovox and they said that Verizon requested that the phone not support direct connnections so that you would have send your picture to your email to get it off the phone. This is pretty bogus.
When I called Verizon to see if they will have media connectivity software, customer service siad, "Probably not." They told me there maybe third party software available, but could not give me any information to find it.
Google turned up references at bitpim.sourceforge.net. However, reading the comments about previous audiovox phones is discouraging at best. They said the software in the phones is so fragil that one wrong bit will kill the phone so it no longer boots. On the other hand, the older audiovox phones were not made by Toshiba, so maybe there is hope.
Good phone, good value
Got this phone for free with NE2.
I've been using it for a week now.
Pros:
Good reception (know better than to accept anything less than tri-mode..and btw...the free 3200 tht comes with it ((and a second account)) is also tri-mode)...excellent ringer/speaker/earpiece volume.
The interior display is AWESOME...(the external display is pretty much a waste). When reading web-content, this phone has more on-screen text than any I have ever seen. The display is as crisp and bright as my monitor at home.
Camera seems to work fine...and there are enough photography options to make it as workable as a camera phone can be.
Menus are easy to navigate and the extra toys and tools (alarm clock etc) are what you would want and expect.
Cons:
No ring AND vibrate (is this a software issue?)
No side tone. It's disconcerting not to hear your half of the conversation through the ear piece. I KNOW you can hear yourself...it's just something that I'd have expected to be there that isn't.
But these complaints are just nit-picking when compared to the fabulously implemented features of this phone.
Highly recommended...and the price is just unbelievable!
Excellent Phone for $150
This review will somewhat focus on the 9500 vs 9900. The 9500 is very similar to the 9900, only less modern and more bulky.
I just got this phone today so take note I've only experimented with it for only ~10 hours or so, but I can already say this phone is one awesome phone. You REALLY have to nitpick to find flaws. I used to use the cdm 9500 and the 9900 is better in EVERY way. The screen is incredible and I love the look. It is also slightly slimmer than the 9500 but some still find it a pinch large. I think the new look is better than the old one and it has virtually all the cool features of any modern phone. Most important of all is EXCELLENT RECEPTION! My 9500 which is considered to have decent reception got about 50% of any calls in my room, which has a weak verizon signal. With the 9900 the phone rings everytime and voices are crystal clear in both incoming and outgoing. My friend said it soulds like a landline, in my room! The 9500 was choppy at best even when it actually rang in my room. It also has buttons on the side, one of the major flaws of the 9500. Buttons are raised and have more texture than the 9500, a couple of them feel rubbery and really easy to push, such as the ok button. Antenna length has shrunk from the REDICULOUSLY LONG antenna on the 9500, if some consider that a pro. Even the charger is superior to that of the 9500! The ends bend all the way so it takes only one plug up on the wall.
The main reason I upgraded was that I found out it was much cheaper than I anticipated. I was expecting $300 with no contract, but was pleasantly suprised to hear reports of ppl saying it was 150. Sure enough, it was 150 for about 10 days according to the verizon worker at the kiosk I went to. Battery is improved from 650mah to 1100mah on the 9900 as well.
The 9900 has pretty much everything I wanted the 9500 to be, which I was still decently happy with. If you still have a chance to get it for 150, I say DON'T HESITATE! This phone is worth ~250 IMO.
IT JUST KEEPS ON GIVING!!
This is the best phone that verizon is offering right now. You can get this phone for 50 dollars plus a free vx 3200. This phone exceeded my expectations. It has everything and more the vx7000 has. Plus it has speakerphone (the Vx7000 does not have that) and it is tri-mode (vx700 doesn't have that either). I want to make a note that it is very important to have tri-mode. I live near detroit and in my house I have seen my phone switch over into analog. For those that don't know what I am talking about, analog and digital are the types of service area coverage you get on your phone. Tri-mode says you have both analog and digital. So for example if you are in an analog area if you have tri-mode your phone will still work but if you only have digital then your phone will not work. In addition, you might as well get the audiovox because it is cheaper (the vx7000 is 179 dollars, no free phone) and you have everthing on it (video camera, regular camera w. zoom and flash, pciture id) that the vx7000 has on it. So I must say that this phone is best. Now it is not to say that the vx7000 doesn't have good features, there both top quality, the audiovox is just better. And for those who have had problems hearing on the speakerphone and ringers, and the flashing verizon logo from the audiovox 8900 and 8600, that does not exist on the 9900, hearing is clear, loud and crisp. Audiovox really got to work on upgrading their phones.
A decent piece of technical material
Quite a decent piece of material. 'Twasn't available anywhere, so I got it off eBay for $215. I'd say it was worth it, aside from the fact that there's no warranty with mine.
Pros:
-Reliable, Good reception
-Excellent pictures, provided your hand is steady
-Ability to shut off cheesy camera sound effects/flash
-Large Main LCD
-Lots of room in phonebook, speed dial #'s
-Get It Now capabilities (Very easy to use)
Cons:
-Outside screen completely worthless (invisible), you have to flip it open to do/see anything.
-No rapid-fire photography, you must restart camera mode after each picture is manually saved.
-Cannot assign specific ringtones to contacts
-Too many bad-graphic Japanese images (a dog blowing a puff of wind, etc.) taking up memory
-Pretty huge for a newer phone
I give it a four, ho.
Excellent phone with few flaws
The Audiovox CDM-9900 is truly an amazing phone. The display is beautiful, and the sound quality is good. As others have also reported on here, the phone seems to not be built very sturdy. It becomes frustrating to have the phone begin to creak when placed against your ear, but I can live with it.
Pros:
Awesome quality of main screen
Fairly good camera (better than LG VX6000)
Menus
External view finder
Speaker phone (must be open to use)
Tri-mode
Cons:
Case creaks after couple weeks usage
Mediocre battery life
Limited Get It Now programs
Other than the case creaking, the other two Cons could be fixed by buying an extended battery, and waiting for more programs. I hope this helps for those thinking of investing in one.
Very happy with my 9900
I was comming up on a time where I would be able to get a NE2 phone on my primary line and was looking seriously hard at the VX6000. When I saw this phone had all the features that the 7000 had and was 1/4 the price I jumped all over it! I have had the phone for 3 weeks now and can't say enough about all the things that I like about this phone.
Things I like:
1) The QVGA 240x320 screen is awesome!
2) It's built very well. I don't for see any problems with the hinge breaking or anything.
3) The standby time may not be 15 days but it is considerably better than I thought it would be for a phone with all these options. Your standby time will vary depending upon how strong of a signal you have and how much you play with the camera/mobile web.
4) The phone has a great ability to hold a call even if your not in the best of areas.
All in all this phone is the best in VZW's lineup under $250!
