Casio G'zOne Commando
Phone Scoop Review
May 7, 2011 by Eric M. Zeman
Phone Scoop puts Casio's rugged Android smartphone through its paces. Can this mil-spec handset take a beating? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Drug Store Truck Driving Phone
This is my third casio "rugged" phone. I had a Boulder and a Ravine. I thought this pedigree would carry over into the smart phone field, well sort of...Part of being rugged is having a rugged battery. In this respect this phone falls flat on its gorilla glass. Due to software glitches, dropped calls, hinky performance and general nuisances, i have had this phone replaced three times and each replacement is worse than the glitchy phone it replaces! This is the worst, WORST phone I have ever owned, run away and consider anything else, almost anything else, two tin cans connected by string would be less of a hastle. I have spend better than 40 hours with verizon trying to the them to understand the issues, yet they want me to purchase another phone and forget that they sold me a lemon. There has got to be a better way.
cool
built well, ringer loud, ear speaker loud, battery kinda sucks, but i hear thats normal for android phones. may not be the smartest phone out there, but the ruggedness makes up for it. phone is waterproof. ( have taken pictures underwater )
Meh...
All in all I would say that this is a pretty descent device, although I returned it after having it for a week.
Most of the decision to buy this phone was based on a desire to have an all-in-wonder device. However, the camera left a little to be desired, dropping music on here was a little janky, and I never did figure out exactly how finagle video on there in a repetitive manor. I expect that the latter two would be pinned down fairly easy with a little more tinkering, but there were too many obvious flaws in the design/configuration of this phone that I could not look past.
Pros:
Light sensor for screen brightness
Appears bullet proof although I know nothing that I didn't learn from Youtube.
Good call quality. I was able to drive 75 with all the windows down without screaming and hear the other person clearly.
Touch screen is a little less sensitive than most phones, which I enjoyed.
Front facing stereo speakers sound great
Meh:
I never got more than 2 bars of signal strength in Kansas City on Verizon, while my phones in the past get full or almost full signal. However, I never dropped a call.
The camera is alright but it leaves a little to be desired. Even the best pictures taken were a little fuzzy.
800MHz processor. Nothing fancy, but does the trick just fine.
Cons:
Bloatware
Shorter battery life than spec'd, although typical for an Android. Basing my math on previous phone battery degradation, I expect this battery to last around 6-10 hours max in a year and a half.
Any button pushed wakes up the screen, not Configurable
When on a call, you cannot lock the phone. The proximity sensor will override turning the screen off, and I ended up in speaker phone mode several times.
No notepad app
Ringer/alert volume not that loud
no custom ROMs built yet
I would strongly encourage anyone that does buy this phone to buy the cradle. Scientifically speaking every time you open the cover on the USB, you weaken the seal.
semi-tough phone
I've had this for a week and a half, and absolutely hate typing on it. It needs a real keyboard like the brigade, to speed up typing,and protect the screen. It also needs an extended battery,because it's real power hog. This phone has a lot of featured that should have been included on the brigade,including working calendar reminders (something that the brigade sorely lacked ). Typing on this glass is maddening , and I dread using this phone on a real construction site or outdoors with wet hands. Ill probably ship this back to Verizon until they get it right. And why not give us bright colors? Does it have to be the depressing black and red? Wake up Verizon and give us a real working man's phone
average specs, but tough
I've used this phone for about a week and I'm happy with it. True to it's claim, it survived an intentional beer dunk. Battery life is standard for a smartphone.
pros:
-nice display
-rugged as hell
-loud speaker
-proprietary adventurer apps
-grippable
-can install google maps & navigation to replace built in bing & vznav
-customizable button
cons:
-power/unlock button hard to feel out
-screen less responsive
-average battery life (need Juice Defender)
-no 4g, dual core, front camera
-800mhz (slower)
-limited accessories (casio makes android phones?)
-headphone port not on top
-don't like keyboard (replaced w/swiftkey)
Gzone Commando
After driving a long way to find one of these in stock, I finnaly got mine. I installed all my apps yesterday and have been using it. I was using the droid x (which is an awesome phone) and decided to get this one. so far so good. it is not quite as fast as the x, and the screen is not quite as large, but for the ability to be waterproof i will take it. i am waiting to see how the battery life is. it also only has 5 screens instead of 7 like the x. i am the type person that likes the most recent gadget and the fact that i can stand in the shower and listen to pandora while the phone is being pummeled by water is just awesome. I will try to submit a more indepth review later when i have used it more.
