HTC Ozone XV6175
Average Ratings
HTC's Blackberry Tour with Wi-Fi
First off, long time reader of this site for the latest industry news and phone reviews.
I bought this phone today, so I haven't had time to fully play with it yet. But the features I wanted were (in order): regular QWERTY keyboard (not a slider or touchscreen), Wi-Fi, GPS, generous on-board memory, large SD card capacity, good call quality, good build quality, ease of use, long battery life and low weight. This phone delivers all in spades! And it is a quarter of the weight of my XV6700 touchscreen workhorse.
Having been accustomed to WM2003-5-6-6.1 on my XV6600 and XV6700, navigation is dead simple. And no more pocket dialing! After having a touchscreen for the past four years, I've gradually lost interest and wanted a simpler, easier to use phone and PDA.
Battery life has always been a big bug-a-boo with power users like myself, and this phone comes with a standard 1500mAh! Hoo-boy - no more daily charging rituals (and keeping a backup fully charged and ready to go)!
Call quality is great, speaker is LOUD, speakerphone is loud, but vibrate is a bit weak (or maybe I just haven't found the right setting yet). Callers have no problem hearing me - they say it sounds like a landline (but it probably helps that I'm on Verizon in an EV area). Speaking of EVDO, it is Rev A - incredibly fast!
I'll write again in 6 months with an update - but for now, HTC finally got it right. And as far as the review title is concerned, by looks alone it is a dead ringer for the new Blackberry Tour (but cheaper and with more features)!
P.S. It also comes with a SIM card pre-installed for use on GSM networks. And it is fully upgradeable to WM6.5 when it's released.
Excellent Device
Pros: Easy to Navigate Web, Contact Lists, eMail,sure touch to keyboard, good phone quality, not too large
Cons: Battery power
This is my first phone that requires a data plan (like Blackberry) so I am not all that familiar with the features, pros and cons of smartphones. Nevertheless, I know a good device and I like this one. Navigating is fairly easy and the Windows-based interface made it easier for me to get familiar with all the features because I have been using Windows for years on my desktop computers. I primarily use this to make and receive phone calls, check eMail, navigate the web when I am away from my desk, and send text messages. It appears that to actually interact with websites, for example to buy something, would be difficult, but just for checking flight status or researching a movie, it is very good. When I bought the phone, I bought an "otterbox" cover at the same time (eBay for $22) and this has converted the phone into a little tank -- it feels like it is unbreakable now. Although Without this, the phone seems to be kind of a lightweight in terms of durability, so I feel it was a good investment. My only issue with the phone is that the battery starts to die at the end of each day -- this may be a fault of a smartphone, I don't know. I need to charge it every day, though.
Move over blackberry!
I haven't given any phone a 5 star rating as the carriers always figure a way to reduce or remove some core functionality in a device to restrict my desired use. That being said this phone is as close as I can get to a freedom of services phone given my desire to stay on CDMA while state side. I use Push Email and Sync of Contacts with Google and Seven and the windows mobile platform performs as expected. The phone occasionally has issues with lag or crashes, but so did my blackberry. I'm not a touch screen man, and this is the perfect solution for me. Go for it if you are on the fence I don't think you will be disappointed.
Superb Phone
After owning this phone for about 3 months now, it has yet to give me any problems. The battery life is beyond excellent, the call quality is excellent, and the speed of the phone is just right. I did wish that it had a touch screen, but you can't ask for everything.
The best part about it, is the fact that it never restarts or needs restarting. It is by far the most stable Windows phone out there on the market. It has never frozen up on me, and never has given me a problem.
The quality of the phone is carefully crafted and the keyboard is ultra heavy duty. Plus you can get a hard case for it to protect it from drops and falls right from the provider or online.
Pros:
Stabile phone (never restarts nor needs restarting!)
Excellent Battery life
WIFI/Bluetooth
Good looking screen in any light
Excellent keyboard
Quite responsive
Syncs with Exchange
Great camera
Excellent size and weight
Cons:
Could use touch screen
Needs WM6.5 upgrade
Flash needed for camera
HTC Ozone XV6175
Though this phone is a 2009 model, it basically does everything it describes and does it well. Unlock the SIM for global traveling and put in any provider. A great plus for those who travel internationally.
Reception, features, battery-life are great. Even though it is not touch screen like more recent models, at least one gets great battery life as a benefit.
One thing, I do not know why on another phone review website all reviews were horrible compared to phonescoop.
Bad software? No update?
Great Value
I purchased this phone with the plan from VW.
Pros:
- Great battery life for a smartphone (1/2 left after a day of heavy usage, mostly browsing, emailing and texting)
- Elegant, but sturdy design
- Great reception (better than the LG phones that I owned, which is HARD to beat)
- GPS functionality not modified by Verizon (Google Maps application works like a charm)
- Only two side buttons (it's a PRO for me)
Cons:
- inconvenient placement of numeric keys
- scrolling and pointing not as smooth as with a touchscreen or a ball
- the weather forecast feature integrated with the system does not work (at least with Verizon).
Overall, an awesome phone, especially considering the fundamental characteristics. The cons are really the matters of usage context and preference. Not a problem for me.
HTC Ozone-2 months in
To save time, I concur more or less with what's been said about this phone. Here are some random observations and tips from a former Q9c user's perspective:
1. This thing is pretty small and even with the almost rubbery feel of the back, it's a little slippery. I'm using the black silicone skin sold @ Verizon which makes the phone about the same size as my Moto Q9c.
2. It works well with a 16GB Micro-SD , but DON'T try to move your email storage to the card. Trust me on this one.
3. Get a screen cover-if you use a skin, the edges are hardly noticeable. The Ozone seems to have a 'softer' screen surface than a Q9c.
4. WiFi is nice to have but I gave up trying to associate with WPA-2. Seems to be a certificate issue. Had an old 802.11g access point laying around and use that with moderate security just with the Ozone.
5. Keyboard seems a notch under the Q9c in usability. Mine has a problem with the 'A' key unless I'm careful to push it a certain way-could be the skin, but I've adapted.
6. Speed is way faster than a Q9c.
7. Memory and task management. You can bring up Task manager with a long push on the Home key, but I prefer program called SmartToolKit from e-natives. It changes the right soft-key to a pop-up task manager and adds lots of usability tweaks like a start menu - BUT with several large programs open at once it seems to cause problems. Faster to close running programs tho than the built-in Task manager. Waiting on an updated version.
Last: Even with larger internal storage, it's easy to wind up with only 30MB or so of internal storage-even when installing programs to Card. Anyone know of a program like DiskPie or WinDirStat to show where storage is being used? I've used several for PPC but can't find any for Smartphone.
Thanks
Very good.
The Short Version:
Very good phone, good user interface, all functions work very well so far.
The Long version:
Always had a smart phone. And always dreaded making a change. I bought this phone after reading reviews here and there. Had the phone setup inside of 24 hours with everything except my old notes. I think I need to upgrade to outlook 2007 to do that. I'll most likely clean out my old notes and copy paste them into a word file. That to me seems easier in the long run and cheaper.
I love this phone. Gotta pay for the data plan, but worth it for this reason: I'm always in touch and I never open my email client on my PC and have to filter 120 messages.
Browsing is fine as long as you have decent signal. All email and web links have worked without error.
One little thing I haven't found yet is how long an event keeps reminding me after the event occurs, like a missed call or an appointment. But, I'm not even sure I miss that because the front page of the phone shows missed calls, voice mail, text and email alerts, and appointment book, all at a glance.
I read a couple reviews that mention battery life. That's been fine so far. I think cell batteries are a hit or miss for any phone. My battery life is at least a day with email checks every 15 minutes, some browsing, and phone calls as needed. I don't see a problem here with my phone/battery yet.
As far as OS, I'm getting used to the MS software after a few years, and I think on this phone, the GUI has gotten way better than the last phone I had. I think it was an XVG6700 or something like that.
All in all, great phone so far after 2 weeks.
Finally all in one!
I have been waiting quite a while for a device like this to come out.
pros:
-has wifi
-decent camera (2.0mp)
-rev-A speeds
-gsm ready (sim preinstalled)
-VZ Navigator
-Windows mobile 6,1
-sd removable memory
-great battery life
-reception\ clarity is fantastic
cons:
-opening certain files like .jar
-downloading different apps or browsers is found to be difficult because the device is fairly new.
- after removing certain apps the shortcut icon will not go away.
-only way to fully escape a menu or program is by the task
manager.
overall i would say the htc ozone is a really good reliable device and i do recommend it.
Something to rave about
I have had the phone for aproximately 2 months and I just can't believe that it packs this much utility/function for the price it was.
Pros:
- Good display
- Unfettered GPS capability (Thx Verizon!)
- Great internet access and browser through EVDO
- Descent camera
- Half way descent battery life
- Full keyboard, but not to bulky
- !!!Good Reception!!!
Cons:
- The keyboard is a little awkward when just punching in a number. easy to get used too though.
