AT&T U2800A User Reviews

minerva posted on 18 Nov 2011, 02:09

4

Basic functionality broken. Poor usability.

minerva has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

I got the U2800A to replace my Nokia 2610 which had died recently. My standards for a cellphone are generally not high. I don't text, browse the web or take pictures - I only carry a cell because a gophone plan is less expensive than a landline. Unfortunately the U2800A cannot even meet my lowly standards as it has some major issues in basic functionality.

My biggest problem with this phone is that the keypad lock does not guard against pressing the 1 or 9 keys. I assume the intention here was for making emergency calls. However it is an unnecessary feature since the phone has an emergency dialer which can be accessed from the lock screen by pressing the right soft key. During keypad lock, the send key is disabled EXCEPT for emergency numbers which means when "9"-"1"-"1"-"Send" are randomly pressed in that order while the phone is in my pocket, I will be hit with a fine for calling 911 without a good reason. Yes, a slim chance but you never know. I'd feel a lot better carrying my phone around knowing that would never happen.

Another big issue with this model is that it does not allow the user to customize center key shortcuts. It also does not have a display settings menu. This means users cannot adjust screen brightness or screen timeout. While I normally am a minimalist when it comes to phones, it's overkill when basic features like these are being left out.

On the over hand, call quality has been surprisingly good. However the digit entry screen is a complete joke. Enter...  

I got the U2800A to replace my Nokia 2610 which had died recently. My standards for a cellphone are generally not high. I don't text, browse the web or take pictures - I only carry a cell because a gophone plan is less expensive than a landline. Unfortunately the U2800A cannot even meet my lowly standards as it has some major issues in basic functionality.

My biggest problem with this phone is that the keypad lock does not guard against pressing the 1 or 9 keys. I assume the intention here was for making emergency calls. However it is an unnecessary feature since the phone has an emergency dialer which can be accessed from the lock screen by pressing the right soft key. During keypad lock, the send key is disabled EXCEPT for emergency numbers which means when "9"-"1"-"1"-"Send" are randomly pressed in that order while the phone is in my pocket, I will be hit with a fine for calling 911 without a good reason. Yes, a slim chance but you never know. I'd feel a lot better carrying my phone around knowing that would never happen.

Another big issue with this model is that it does not allow the user to customize center key shortcuts. It also does not have a display settings menu. This means users cannot adjust screen brightness or screen timeout. While I normally am a minimalist when it comes to phones, it's overkill when basic features like these are being left out.

On the over hand, call quality has been surprisingly good. However the digit entry screen is a complete joke. Enter a standard 10 digit phone number, and the display wraps the numbers in the middle of a set of digits instead of at the hyphens. In other words, if you enter 555-666-7777 that becomes
------------------
555-6
66-77
77
------------------
instead of
------------------
555-
666-
7777
------------------
on the screen. This is something anyone would notice on first use, yet the fact that nobody at AT&T (carrier) or Huawei (manufacturer) saw it as an issue reflects on the poor overall quality of this phone.

I would return this phone, but the alternatives don't seem that much better either.

Build quality 5/10 Nice design,cool keypad backlight, but buttons are cheap and flimsy.

Reception 4/10 Lose bars frequently underground

Call quality 6/10 Surprisingly crisp

Internet 1/10 Don't use

Multimedia 1/10 Don't use

Camera 5/10 Having no camera is better than having a useless one.

UI speed 4/10 Average

Everyday usage 2/10 Keypad lock issue, broken digit entry display, lack of shortcut customization make phone impractical.

Text input 4/10

Display 3/10 Screen is average but phone has no display settings.

Battery 4/10 Need to be charged once every 4 days despite minimal use

Pros

• Nice simple design
• No camera
• Call quality

Cons

• Keypad lock broken
• Cannot customize shortcuts
• USB mass storage does not work out of box (if at all)
• Phone numbers not formatted correctly on digit entry screen

scion04 posted on 06 Nov 2011, 10:48

5

Misleading Specs

scion04 has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

Bought based on the specs at the AT&T site. Made the assumption that it would be like the Nokia 2320 it was replacing only better because it has 3G. Boy was i wrong. The first major issue for me was that you can not connect it to a computer to transfer wallpapers and ring tones even though that is one of the things it lists in the specs. There are no games on the phone and you can not install any from Mobile Rated or anywhere else. The specs say games are available at the AT&T app store but there are none listed. Apparently this phone will not run any Java apps. I could not install Opera mini or Google maps like i could on my 2320. The phone comes with one wallpaper and one ringtone and no settings for individual or group ring tones. Also no way to change the phone navigation settings. I visited two AT&T stores in my area and got no help what so ever. Both places said well it is a cheap phone. I replied that i paid the same price 18 months ago for my Nokia and overall i can do more with it than the U2800A. Since i did not have my receipt they would not take it back. When i go to return something to Target or Walmart and it is a store branded product they never give me a hard time about returning it if it is all there in the original package. I have had to deal with AT&T four times in the past year or so with poor results. Since there are sales quotas to meet by the employees each month they really do not want to be bothered with service issues especially if you are a Go-Phone...  

Bought based on the specs at the AT&T site. Made the assumption that it would be like the Nokia 2320 it was replacing only better because it has 3G. Boy was i wrong. The first major issue for me was that you can not connect it to a computer to transfer wallpapers and ring tones even though that is one of the things it lists in the specs. There are no games on the phone and you can not install any from Mobile Rated or anywhere else. The specs say games are available at the AT&T app store but there are none listed. Apparently this phone will not run any Java apps. I could not install Opera mini or Google maps like i could on my 2320. The phone comes with one wallpaper and one ringtone and no settings for individual or group ring tones. Also no way to change the phone navigation settings. I visited two AT&T stores in my area and got no help what so ever. Both places said well it is a cheap phone. I replied that i paid the same price 18 months ago for my Nokia and overall i can do more with it than the U2800A. Since i did not have my receipt they would not take it back. When i go to return something to Target or Walmart and it is a store branded product they never give me a hard time about returning it if it is all there in the original package. I have had to deal with AT&T four times in the past year or so with poor results. Since there are sales quotas to meet by the employees each month they really do not want to be bothered with service issues especially if you are a Go-Phone user. I do not recommend AT&T or the Go-Phone service. I will keeping my Nokia 2320 and smashing the U2800A with a hammer.

Build quality 7/10

Reception 7/10 Calls did not sound as good as my Nokia.

Call quality 7/10

Internet 3/10

Multimedia 1/10 There is no multimedia anything on this phone.

Camera 1/10 No camera

UI speed 2/10 Phone froze up numerous times.

Everyday usage 3/10 It just a phone nothing more.

Text input 8/10

Display 6/10

Battery 6/10 Average.

Pros

• Quad band 3G

Cons

• Numerous

berto posted on 05 Oct 2011, 18:22

4

bert

berto has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

got the phone about a wk ago. went to the att store due to my samsung rugby broke in half and my upgrade is in nov of this year. Went to the Att store in my town told the rep what happen he stated he has a phone for me . He said the only thing it does not have a camara. I said k. Put my sims card ready to go . Next thing you know i was unable to receive pic text. called the help support they said its true. I try to return the phone back but they wanted a 35 dollar re packing fee . I got the phone for 27 dollars. its a good phone but thats the only problem i have with it

Build quality 4/10

Reception 7/10

Call quality 7/10

Internet 3/10

Multimedia 2/10 i have the phone right now its a good phone but like i said it does not have a camera unable to recieve picture text

Camera 1/10

UI speed 2/10 its ok

Everyday usage 7/10

Text input 7/10

Display 4/10

Battery 5/10

Pros

• its like having a nokia 2610 classic
• 3g

Cons

• no camera and picture text