Audiovox CDM-9900
Average Ratings
Had my doubts
I was very skeptical about buying an Audiovox product, but after reading so many positive reviews from this forum, I went to the Verizon store and checked it out. I was so impressed I bought it that night.
Pros-
-Super crisp screen
-Nice navigation screens and easy navigation
-Great reception
-Battery life great so far
-Default ringers and wallpapers are decent
Cons-
-Wish it had LG stub style antenna
-Get-It-Now is stupid
I was dead set on buying the LG 6100 but after hearing so many complaints about the sound messing up on incoming calls I decided it was a no-go. Since my last phone was a Nokia 3650 from t-mobile and the sound would always...ALWAYS crap out and I'd have to restart the phone to fix it, I was not about to chance a nice phone that still sucked on sound.
Outstanding perfomance, good features
Coming form the LG 4500, this phonse is a significant improvement. Ergonomics and ease of use are maybe not quite to the level of the LG, but are more different than inferior. But this phone can make calls, clearly, where the 4500 would fail repeatedly.
The speakerphone is maybe not quite to the level of the excellent one in the 4500 but it is very good, sufficiently loud and clear.
Personally, I prefer the voice dialing training method used here over that of the LG. Fewer steps when making calls and it never mis-hears. Battery life, in my experience, has been very good. 15 days standby, as specified, is not realistic, but with moderate use, I only recharge every 3 or 4 days. Being careful with the amount of time the beautiful inside screen is backlit will affect battery life greatly.
The camera seems OK. I have no experience with camera phones to compare it to. I do like the "flashlight" feature of the phone. Its not as bright as a real flashlight but very nice in an emergency.
Build quality is very good. The plastic of which the phone is made seems much less prone to scratches than the LG.
The only negative is the outside LCD, requiring a button push to light up, otherwise it is almsot unusable.
Pros:
1. Oustanding reception
2. Good speakerphone
3. Voice dialing works well
4. Good battery life
5. Excellent voice quality
6. Good buid quality
7. Nice large inside screen
8, Flashlight which is actually usable.
Cons:
1. Poor oustide LCD
good multimedia/average phone
I purchased this phone and had it for 15 days before I took it back. I had every intention of keeping it until on the 15th day, the battery mysteriously drained to low with minimal usage two times within a few hours (after being fully charged each time). This is probably just a fluke, so it has not influenced my review and is merely the reason I returned it for an LG VX-6100.
This phone, as already state numerous times has a beautiful screen and takes excellent pictures, so I won't dwell on that aspect.
The main reason that I wanted to get this phone was to have a speakerphone that works well to use when driving. The speakerphone on the 9900 works great in a quiet room. When driving with the windows up and no radio on at freeway speed, I struggled to make out what the other party was saying. I had the phone clipped to my visor, which puts the speaker against my visor. I feel tat putting the speaker on the back of the phone is not a good choice.
Although I loved the screen/photos, the speakerphone just did not cut it for me, so I got rid of the phone.
General pros/cons:
pros:
great screen
great camera
good reception
nice menu system
cons:
speakerphone sub-par
a little bulky because it is not tapered
tricky to open single handed
SHAZAM A NEW WIRELESS WONDER
An amazing 1XRTT digital handset! Supporting 1x technology to provide access to high speed connectivity for web browsing, email and e-commerce. A truly modern day road warrior operating on 800MHz Amps/CDMA and 1900 MHz PCS frequencies a wizardized wireless piece. The more you play with it the more you learn about the functions it has, a true diamond in the rough.
Pros: it's a great business conductor for me, now I use it instead of my v710. Better reception & longer battery life, besides all I need is voice, voicemail and email.
Cons: I now need 14 more for my employees, they like it better than the v710's I got them.
Audiovox CDM-9900.THIS IS HOW BUSINESS IS DONE.
A slight disappointment
Have had this phone for 3 weeks. Earlier I had a 720 and then a LG 4500 .. (returned that one).
I wish I had returned this too !! However for about $100 I paid for it, it's a good value. I understand VZ was going to jack up the price after 10/15 .. don't know if they did.
Pros:
Excellent screen (internal)
Reasonably complete set of features
very good form factor
Can't really tell the reception, I have had some spotty reception, but LG was much worst.
Cons:
Major bitch is battery life, it's no where near the 330+ hours of standby and 3.5 hrs talk time specified.
I have only gotten about 70 standby (no calls) and about 1 hours of talk time.
Voice calling is archaic, you can't train the phone, you have to record for very entry thus limiting the # of voice entries.
User interface is a bit stupid, it doesn't really handle simple things right. e.g. the soft-buttons are rarely use to select "the default" entry. you have to move over to the "select" button to select the item after first selection .. bad thing to do for a mobile phone.
External display really turns "DARK" The choice of the contract is awful making it practically dead for those without laser eyes. you have to push the side buttons (camera/volume) to light it up.
Selection of the side switches is poor. Camera is such a useless thing to have and wasting a valuable external switch on it is brain dead.
Overall fantastic phone
I have had ALOT of different cell phones with this company. LG has always stood out and had the LG6000 for almost the whole year. After breaking my screen on the Samsung a670, i upgraded to the Audio 9900.
PROS:
The camera is the best out of any of Verizon's phones. I've had the 6000, the a670, the Audio 8910, the Audio 8900, the a690, and the Treo.
The menu is super easy to use and the even better short cut menu is perfect for day to day operations.
The video is a cool feature though I haven't sent any out yet. Flash works great.
The display is, hands down, the most clear, largest, and easiest to see in sunlight than any of the other phones i've tested. The pictures look like pictures, not pixelated distortions.
Signal strength is top of class. Only the LG 6000 compares and that was all digital. It's lil brother, the Audio 8910, had the worst signal out of any of their phones.
Loud ringer, easy to use text'ing, fantastic speaker phone, and cool extra features like scheduler, calculator, and voice recorder.
CONS:
Not much but I wouldn't mind getting real song tones. They don't seem to have caught on to that yet. Only the 6000 had them and only a few.
Wish you could make the video full screen.
Not positive, but the battery could use some adjustment. Still lasts the day after using text msg's all day.
All in all, A+++. especially with the low price, it's no wonder they are all backordered now. Definitely pick up this phone.
Go for it!
AWESOME PRODUCT BUY IT!
This is one sweet phone, so nice I do not even know where to start.
The reception is awesome even without pulling up the antenna. Of course, most Audiovox phones can get out with no signal lines, but I have had at least 2 on this model at all times.
Voice clarity is good! Voice volume is more than adequate even in noisy situations.
Ringtones plenty loud to hear and not miss calls. They are so clear the music ones sound like a stereo. I am very impressed.
Many ring tone choices to chose from.
Inside screen large and beautiful! Awesome colors and awesome photos! Cute wallpaper (I chose the frog) and Large numbers for time of day.
Only draw back is I wish outside screen could stay lit up all the time to see but I can live with it. Thats the only area I can see they missed on.
Phone registers missed calls on outside display and when you flip the phone open you have a choice to call back or delete or save. No looking for lost numbers, so simple.
Easy to use, not complicated.
A real winner!
Conversion from Motorla T720 to 9900
Very good phone - I studied this and the LG 7000 in detail for 2 weeks. Only thing the LG has over this is the rotating camera lens and a bit better external disply - but seriously, how many times are you taking pictures of yourself?
The screen is simply AMAZING compared to any other.
Re: Finally... VZW releases an awesome tri-mode phone
Now, before I get flamed b/c the CDM9950 was released on Sprint 9 month's ago... "Yes. I know." But even a great phone on a subpar network leaves much to be desired.
There have been a lot of people waiting for Verizon to release a decent tri-mode phone with lots of great features. I like having analog back-up... just in case.
I've had this phone since the week it came out, and to date, no bugs/glitches... not a single one. I've used free WAP, sent pic/vid/text messages, used the speakerphone, mp3 ringers, and played with pretty much every setting. The RF on this phone is amazing. I can make and hold calls where none of my others phones even came close to a usable signal. Let me say this right now, "The number of bars that the signal meter displays in NO WAY relates to the signal strength." Since each phone's signal meter is configured by the manufacturer, each phone is different. Just because one phone shows full bars and another shows 1-2, doesn't mean the former gets a "better signal." This phone holds calls with no quality loss with no bars or 1 bar. I've dropped calls with other phones showing 3 bars.
The camera on this phone has great quality, and I use many of my pics as wallpapers... oh yeah, awesome friggin' internal LCD. QVGA rocks! I wish TVs and computer monitors were this crisp. The outside LCD takes some getting used to, but after using it for a while, I have no trouble with it in direct sunlight. The vid's are good, as expected for 15fps, and it records good sound for them. Call quality is amazing... landline-like on both ends. Battery life is so much better than the CDM9500... I charge every 3-4 days or so with ~30 min usage each day and regular camera/messaging/web use.
Build quality, IMHO, is very good. Feels like a tank. I'm not afraid that the hinge is going to snap or something is going to break if it gets banged (I keep it in the leather case, too).
In Conclusion, IMHO, this is the best VZW phone on the market.
unbeatable
this phone is unbeatable for the price. it took me three tries to find a suitable upgrade from my long-term partner the Kyocera 2235. the phone book interface of that phone, by the way, is still unmatched (ask anyone who owned one for details). but, it was old so i wanted a new one.
My first choice was the LG4500. it had good features and battery life and an excellent speakerphone. reception on the other hand is another story. in weak service areas, reception was abysmal. it would drop calls so bad that it seemed like it was some kind of high-tech torture device. and this was compared to my old kyocera.
my next choice was a samsung 650. this phone is pretty good actually. it has the best reception of any phone i have encountered. and indeed i did use it for some time. but the lack of an external caller ID forced me to keep my eyes open for something else.
Which brings me to the audiovox 9900 (made by toshiba). It's not perfect, but it is one of the best phones Verizon has ever sold.
