Motorola i605 / i615
Average Ratings
Perfect
They finally got it right with this one, feels reliable & strong on the cellualr side and the performance side.
Pros:
Rugged Design A++++++
Battery Life
Access Of Direct Connect Button
Backlight
Speaker
Buttons ( Little Too Small Though) A-
Position Of Mic & Speaker
Bluetooth
Nav Directions on Screen A+++++
Charge Port
Sleep Mode In Holster
Cons:
Could Use a Second outer shell like my old i355 but it's current outer shell is good enough.
I AGREE WITH PlatMan's Findings
I spoke with PlatMan and he mentioned to me that he meant to give this phone a rating of 5 but forgot to rate it before submitting so a default rating was submitted in his review. So, I gave it 5 stars for him. My actual rating would be 4.5 stars only because I like the i325IS mostly and I feel the i605 is Nextel's second best phone ever made. The only reason I like the i325IS most of all is because the RF with the i325IS is unmatched and unbeatable by any. RF is the most important feature I want in a phone. Other than that, the i605 is by far the nicest cell phone with all it's features and the quality construction it supports.
The i605 is a near perfect phone for what it has to offer and I have one too, because of this.
Overall the i605 is Nextel's finest monolith cell phone!
All the features Nextel lists about the i605 cell phone holds true.
My Pro's:
Other than all the specs Nextel / Motorola iDEN say about this phone my
personal likings of this unit are and not necessarily in this order:
Screen is perfect! Large, 262k color (176x220 pix) and can be seen clearly
in the sunlight.
Direct Connect speaker is LOUD. Excellent!
Speaker all and all is loud, louder than any other Motorola Nextel phone
that is out there.
Ear piece speaker is also loud and clear. I usually only need to set it to
5 out of 7. Same goes with the external speaker.
Ringers can be heard loud and clearly. Music, Voice, Sound, or Polyphonic,
all have excellent loud tones.
BlueTooth is excellent and very clear sounding using the Motorola #HS850
headset and the Motorola #HF820 car kit.
Keys backlight up a very nice blue. Pleasing to the eyes.
The indicator status light is also nice to have and rarely seen on monolith
phones.
Dropped calls very rarely happen. Other than the i325/i325IS being best
for RF, the i605 runs a very tight 2nd.
Memory is large and can store much.
Battery life is excellent, couldn't be better!
Built like a tank. It will be hard to bust this phone up!
Not too large or bulky to handle.... just the way I like my cell phones to be, built tough!
My Con's:
I don't really have anything bad here or major, but:
Keys are a little close together and is sometimes hard to use with LARGE
fingers, but is tolerable and not as bad as some cell phones key
arrangements I have experienced. Tis is just a minor thing but worth
mentioning.
The charging port / accessory door cover is sometimes hard to keep closed
and pops open on occasion. Could have been a tighter fitting door. Again,
just another minor thing I notice.
Overall, fantastic cell phone and worth the money.
I CAN SEE THE SCREEN
I CAN ACTUALLY SEE THIS SCREEN EVEN IN THE SUNLIGHT...VERY NICE SPEAKER SYSTEM...SURE ITS LARGE BUT THATS WHAT I GOT IT FOR. THE RUBBER EDGES MAKE IT VERY DURABLE TOO. I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED LARGER BUTTONS.
Good First Bluetooh from Moto for IDEN
Overall the phone performs well. One of the biggest things I noticed is less dropped calls (Dallas, TX market). My previous phones were the i730, i830, i860 and now i605. Of all the phones so far, I have had far less dropped calls with this one. The earpiece seems to be very loud on this particular unit, with general volume at level 5 of 7, and rarely having to turn it all the way up. Bluetooth seems to work well with the unit and at this point I have not noticed a significant drop in battery power while its active. Bluetooth was tested with a Motorola HS850 and Jabra 250v.
Pros -
Very loud earpiece
Improved battery life for an Iden unit
Better system reception - Less dropped calls.
Bluetooth seems to work well
Nice large screen
Cons -
Small keys - to close together
Bulky Phone - no option for smaller battery or battery door at this time.
Built Like a Brick Backhouse
Solid well built phone for Nextel & Boost Mobile.
Very rugged construction.
Loud and clear audio on speaker and speakerphone.
Good bluetooth connectivity.
Nice large color display.
Very solid performer.
Weather, dust, shock resistant.
Drop it, abuse it, no problem.
I use this phone on Boost Mobile and love. You will too.
Great Performer
Pros:
1. Large clear screen
2. Loud speaker
3. Very durable
4. Good reception
5. Good battery life
Cons:
1. No off-network two way
Overall a great phone by Motorola.
Excellent Nextel Offering...
Some words from a general contractor in the field of residental construction. Experience with both the i530 and the i355 has left me longing for something that the i605 has finally satisfied.
i530 had great monochrome screen with excellent visibility under both sunlit and dark conditions. Sound and speaker quality rated as excellent. Paired with extended battery and battery door.
Limited feature set moved me to the i355. Solid phone. Adequate feature set. Somewhat heavy and thick for regular pocket carry. Found difficulty finding a suitable pouch for combination pant/belt/toolbelt carry. Meant to prevent inadvertant key presses, rounded keys difficult to press. Often confused Power Off and End Call keys. Difficult to screen calls under sunlit conditions because of screen washout. Compared to the i530, earpiece quality rated as poor, speaker as average. That was my primary gripe with the i355: Poor earpiece sound quality. Distant and tinny. If you examine the earpice of the i530 or i605 versus the i355 you will see why.
i605 is lighter in weight than either the i530 or i355. Can use Zoom sized text and still have enough Contacts in view to avoid excessive scrolling. Button are smallish, yet a breeze to depress. Power Off and End Call have enough separation to distinguish the two clearly. Minor gripe is the charging door which can be difficult to pry open. Sound quality is on par with the i530 if not better. True to the i58sr legacy which is ubiquitous on our projects.
WHAT WAS NEXTEL THINKING?
First of all a bluetooth bar phone? it's big
bulky.When is the last time you see a construction worker using bluetooth? thats what this phone is all is rough service.Meets milatary requirments.
Pros: nice large screen, good battery life, bluetooth
Cons: button's are very small to close together, end button is very close to power button very easy to shut phone off instead hitting end button.Smart button looks like all it does is takes the phone to the home screen ?
over all this phone was a waste of money .
Best Nextel Phone Ever
Firstly, the hardware is exactly as advertised so I will not repeat any of the features that Nextel advertises so well. The only reason I did not give this phone a five star rating is that it was not fully supported by Nextel upon release. The new Enhanced Mobile Email app cannot be downloaded onto the phone (or any of the other new models via the Download Apps program). If you won't miss doing without this great new Nextel Java Application for a while (as for now indefinitely because they have no anticipated correction date) go ahead and enjoy the hardware features of this hi-tech phone without the benefit of the most powerful Java Application ever released by Nextel.
