Reviews icon Casio G'zOne Boulder Review

Casio G'zOne Boulder Review

Published on: 22 August, 2008 by PhoneArena Team

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Performance:

Calls sounded good on the Boulder, but not great. Both on our end and for callers audio was a bit hollow and lacked depth, and was choppy from time to time. Reception was decent, but the phone did drop out of EVDO easier than phones we’ve seen in the past. We never had trouble placing voice calls, though as mentioned earlier there were PTT call issues. The battery is rated for a fairly weak 3.5 hours of talk time, but we just barely managed to get 3 hours in multiple tests.


Conclusion:

The Boulder is an excellent rugged phone, but unfortunately it’s not very good at anything else. We submerged it, dropped it out of a second story window and even ran over it with our car and it still worked just fine, but the call quality was iffy and battery life terrible. If you’re simply in need of an average device that can take an above average beating the Boulder won’t disappoint. If you’re in need of an excellent PTT service, however, you should probably stick with Nextel.

Pros

  • As rugged as it gets
  • Improved form factor

Cons

  • Mediocre call quality
  • Poor battery life
  • Inconsistent PTT performance
  • Boring Verizon UI

PA rating

  • Design 8
  • Display 8
  • Camera 5
  • Sound Quality 6.5
  • Battery 2
  • Connectivity 5.5
  • Multimedia 5.5
  • Organizer 5
Average
5.5
out of 10

How do we rate?

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User comments

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0
1.
thanks! although it doesnt look as a good phone being so rugged is so coool!
0
19.
yeah rugged is cool your right..but would you rather have a phone you need to charge everyday maybe even several times during that same day or one that isnt water proof but holds batterylife more than 2.5 hours talk time.and if you want to use the compass or stop watch forget about making calls for the rest of the day.like everyone else i was attracted to all the features of this phone.which actually suck and make me doubt the claims...i took this thing out in driving rain..just because i could...three days later i was at verizon getting a replacement because the previous one had gone awry..similar to other phones not water proof i had dropped in some sort of moisture. non speaker phone calls are bascially unreadable and speaker phone is rather ineffective unless you cup your hand around the speaker to help reverberate the sound. PTT is comparable to nextell even tho ive never had the service myself i know many people who have, and from what i can hear it is similar.in conclusion i give this phone a 3 out of 10, if youd rather sacrafice every aspect of a phone being considered good for the lame fact its water proof, if not find yourself a different phone..i know i am
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0
2.
exept vzw's evdo/rev A service is many times larger than nextels total coverage, where even in flat florida (where revA is 100% of coverage), nextell still has major dead spots/zones/citys.

There is a software update availible (OTA Download) for the boulder that fixes the voice issues and some of the PTT drop issues. If you dont need the waterproof, the moto Adventure seems to be a better overal phone for voice/battery/ and PTT. Its still ruggedized, just not waterproof.

Companies are leaving in droves and getting off of Nextels shabby service and grabbing the PTT on verizon. Most companies only talk to their own emp's on PTT. And in the end, PTT may still be slightly better on nextel, but the overall quality is horrible, especially if you just want to make a call.
0
7.
as a former sprint nee nextel employee and a current vzw one, i can tell you that companies are not leaving nextel, in droves or otherwise. they most definitely do not just talk to their own employees, ptt is like a blue collar business subculture.

also, the service is terrible. i dont know why we keep putting out ptt solutions, as the review said as long as nextel is in business no one else will ever be successful with ptt
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0
8.
i work here in FL, and companies are jumping the nextell ship as fast as they can. Heck, they were trying to do it long before the new VZPTT, but couldnt get rid of the service. its sad that in a major city like jacksonville, that they cant even keep service in large parts of the city. No, its not as solid as nextell's ptt, as its their only service of value. The software update on the boulder fixes some of the sound/ptt issues. Its not the service, its the phone. Again, the moto750 has much better call quality and less issues, but lacks the waterproofing.
Reply to this comment This comment is posted in response to #7 ( Show )
0
12.
im glad youre drinking the kool aid, but the service is terrible. i was there when ptt launched, i was then with nextel, and now im back when its relaunched on vzw and its just as awful as ever. ive used the adventure much more than the boulder, and its still unacceptable. that fact that were charging people an extra five bucks for this is laughable. we should be paying them to use it.
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0
16.
You don't gave a full grasp of what you are attempting to comment on. I am feeling your loyal to vz but you need an unbiased opinion. Check out the bottom of this article from this website http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/Casio-GzOne-Boulder-Review-review-r_1999-p_3.html
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0
17.
Actually my father still maintains his contract with Nextel and I still retain one of their phones along with my Alltel and AT&T. I live in Jacksonville and I used to live in St.Augustine. Jacksonville was never much of an issue with me. St.Augustine though had NO service in so many parts. I couldnt even use my phone within 5 miles of my house. It was horid. Westside I never had a problem, neither did I in the South and Northside. Where are these major gasps in Jacksonville you are talking about?
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0
3.
is it really that bad? this phone looked very attractive to me.
0
11.
I feel like the reviewer has a vzw chip in his shoulder to be honest...
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0
4.
I wish they'd release a GSM version of this handset, the only couple of rugged handsets available don't look as nice as this one!
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0
5.
It sounds much worse than they're admitting here. It is the worst-sounding phone I've ever used -- and I've had cellphone with Verizon for nine years.
0
21.
Agreed. I have always had Motorolas and been very happy. Even washed my startac and it kept working. Left it in the rain and it kept working. The Casio sound (receiving only) is so bad I couldn't understand any of my voice mail or home messages and half the words from friends. I tried it in two very different states and in extremely varying conditions (mountain, ocean, city, etc) and it was consistently bad. The update (OTA) was not available but I am curious whether it worked or not. I would recommend this phone 100% if only the receiving sound was understandable. For active people, it is PERFECT ~ except they don't take into account the large growing number of females who would like a phone like this that doesn't look like they borrowed it from their boyfriend.

Waiting patiently for the 4th generation.
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0
6.
How many ptt subs does v have, reading this review doesn't put thier service in a good light seems rather dim if you ask me
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0
9.
To post 8, do you really think companies that leave will stay if the ptt works like the review says with only 2 1/2 phones, only vzw to communicate with and sub par service. When Sprint finalizes group and international there will be nothing else to be said
0
10.
All that is meaningless when the company is on its deathbead. They will leave because they do not want to sign another 2 years with a bloated corpse.
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0
15.
"company on its deathbed"??? Sprint generates billions in revenue! You vz buttboys are incredible. Sprint will be around for a long time, probably longer than vz's push-to-wait service.
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0
13.
VZWGuy22, I never thought I would see a post that wasn't opinionated or biased towards the red in some way, very refreshing I must say
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0
14.
Clarifying the last statement, post by red subs or employees
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0
18.
don't buy this phone if you enjoying hearing the people youre talking to. call quality is horrible
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  Total: 24 post(s)
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