What "lemon" phones did you own in the past?

Run_to_da_hills

In terms of bad value, poor quality what would you rate as the worst phone you ever had? I would put these two in the following order.

Nokia 3310 this phone was utter rubbish and the slightest drop of water would destroy it. I went through three of these in one year, all written off by slight water/coffee damage. Finally when I went to upgrade to the 5210 the shop showed me bag full of these duds!



Nokia 5140 The 3rd generation "Builders Phone" horrible rubbery keyboard that falls apart when you remove the sim or battery. Its supposed to be "waterproof" and is anything but. buttons are tiny, I still have the 2nd generation 5100 "skeleton" builders phone which I still recon is the most durable phone Nokia ever made. (I believe the latest 5500 "builders" phone is also a flop. I.E. fragile and too many gadgets.)

Peyton Manning

Didnt think there was too much wrong with the 3310. Obviously it couldnt hold a candle to the 3210, but no phone could. Worst I ever had was a Motorola, around the same time as the 3310 - was just an awful phone with horrible features and terrible to press buttons. Cant remember what model it was though....think it began with V or something.

Xavi6

The Nokia 3310 was a reliable phone

Lol I also had a 3310 and it was a piece of sh*t alright. Wasn't too upset when it got stroked on me. The 3210 was my first ever phone and I loved it. Still have it at home as well.

My mate had a really old Sagem which was an absolute joke of a thing.

strecker

Sony ericsson p990i... No doubt!
Not a bad phone per se - and I liked its chunkyness, the large screen, the keypad flip etc etc ...but it was sh*te! Best freezer ever - what it really needed was a big bright yellow reset button!
Menus as in all uiq were uninspired and you needed a bunch of 3rd party programmes to multi-task/manage multiple (well, eh, 2 maybe) open apps,... A true lemon relative to what it tried!
Next motorola q9h...what a lovely screen, what a great qwerty keypad, and what a handicapped version of windows mobile!!!
nokia 6680... Ok, probably the vodafone firmware, but the phone was soooo slow...could take 2 minutes to power up/off...a minute to open contacts...
SE w880 - so small and fiddly ...returned it after 1 1/2 days - they should paint any remaining ones pink and sell them as barbie phones...

Tom Dunne

For me, it has to be the Ericsson R380 (Google it, Kids).

Alledgedly the first smartphone, it wasn't so much a brick, more a hiace. It was huge. While it was generally stable, it was slow to respond and had limited memory. Cost me in the region of five hundred pounds in old money. I still have it somewhere.

srdb20

I have to disagree the 3310 was a brilliant phone!!!

Mine would be bounced around on a regular basis, and practically dunked in water on a few occasions (after a couple of days in the hot press, brand new).....

Pure class.... The best bit was when you dropped the phone it just kind off springs apart, and you spend about 10 minutes looking for the front and back cover only to realise the keyboard has been eaten by the dog....

Also i have never had an easier phone to text on

Sam Vimes

atari jaguar

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Nokia 3310 this phone was utter rubbish and the slightest drop of water would destroy it. I went through three of these in one year, all written off by slight water/coffee damage. Finally when I went to upgrade to the 5210 the shop showed me bag full of these duds!

its an electronic device and you're complaining that water damages it? would you use your tv outside in the rain?

Creamy Goodness

Ericsson R380 - lol there's one of them lying around in the office.

the lemony phone i had was the nokia 6600, absolutely pile of ****e, it was big, it was oval-y shaped, has the slowest software known to man - open the main menu and it would take like 10 seconds to load the menu - i'm glad to be rid of it.

Run_to_da_hills

The Nokia 3310 was a reliable phone

Sam Vimes wrote: »

its an electronic device and you're complaining that water damages it? wold you use your tv outside in the rain?

You don't carry a tv around in your pocket and use it in the rain. All mobile phones should have some resistance to wear and tear such as the occasional splash of water or coffee, this particular phone had the minimum resistance and I was told this by several mobile phone retail outlets that moisture passing through the keyboard and into the electronics of these phones was a weak point unlike other models. I have been using the 5110's for several years prior to this and have given it the exact same treatment I.e. a damp pocket in a motorcycle jacket and still have it to this day.

flywheel

nokia 8850 - several display issues due to the elastomer hell, squeeze the phone to read the display, big problem for nokia at the time who had the cheek to try and downplay it!

imate SP3i - white screen of death - again dodgy contacts for the display requiring you to squeeze the handset to have the display appear - seems to have affected several HTC devices over the years

can't really give out about form factor / functionality of handsets as the were specified beforehand so that would have been up to me to check before buying... but firmware / software issues that didn't deliver on the specs is fair to highlight... especially on network supplied (supposedly tested) handsets

mostly had issues with Vodafone supplied handsets where they launch the handset in order to get it out there to go with new services e.g. network rollouts

6310 - initially released with a firmware where the bluetooth was flakey as well as issues maintaining an attachment to GPRS

6630 - 3G attachment issues and problems handing over between 2.5G and 3G cells (made using it on transport pretty impossible)

..

Sam Vimes

atari jaguar

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

You don't carry a tv around in your pocket and use it in the rain.


All mobile phones should have some resistance to wear and tear such as the occasional splash of water or coffee, this particular phone had the minimum resistance and I was told this by several mobile phone retail outlets that moisture passing through the keyboard and into the electronics of these phones was a weak point unlike other models. I have been using the 5110's for several years prior to this and have given it the exact same treatment I.e. a damp pocket in a motorcycle jacket and still have it to this day.

i don't use my phone in the rain because they're not water proof and rain breaks them. they never claimed the phones were water proof in any way.

unlike other models? the only phones that have a water proof keypad are those that are marketed as water proof.

if you go into a phone shop tomorrow with a water damaged phone and say that "All mobile phones should have some resistance to wear and tear such as the occasional splash of water or coffee", you will be ignored and given back your phone with a piece of paper with "warranty void" written on it, as you should be

Zapho

I have to disagee with the OP on the 3310. What a brilliant piece of work. It has lasted me the longest of any phone! (Besides my current phone) Lasted about 3 years before I changed it for the 6310i.

It took some beating too. It was great when electronics companies made phones they expected to last longer than 1 year.

Run_to_da_hills

The Nokia 3310 was a reliable phone

Sam Vimes wrote: »

i don't use my phone in the rain because they're not water proof and rain breaks them. they never claimed the phones were water proof in any way.

I mentioned water resistant not water proof, two different things. One is receiving the odd splash through normal useage and the other is submerging it into a pool of water.

Sam Vimes wrote: »

if you go into a phone shop tomorrow with a water damaged phone and say that "All mobile phones should have some resistance to wear and tear such as the occasional splash of water or coffee", you will be ignored and given back your phone with a piece of paper with "warranty void" written on it, as you should be

Precicly and that is why I went back three times in one year with these phones, never did I do that to any other phone. That is the difference between a good phone and a cr*p quality phone. Your man in the shop was telling me that people used to stand on these phones to claim the insurance because they would not cover moisture. A good phone will with stand wear and tear, I have ridden courier around dublin prior to any of these "Builders phones" several phones were excellent for the job, ie standing in the pi***ing rain making an emergency call. What would you do keep the phone in a plastic bag and hold off until the rain stops

Sam Vimes

atari jaguar

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I mentioned water resistant not water proof, two different things. One is receiving the odd splash through normal useage and the other is submerging it into a pool of water.

well they're not water resistant either and they never claimed to be. phones have holes in them for the speaker, microphone, external port and keypad at a minimum. they can't possibly be water resistant. If you want a water resistant phone, buy one that’s marketed as water resistant. Don’t buy one that makes absolutely no claim to be able to withstand moisture and then complain when it doesn’t withstand moisture.

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Precicly and that is why I went back three times in one year with these phones, never did I do that to any other phone. That is the difference between a good phone and a cr*p quality phone. Your man in the shop was telling me that people used to stand on these phones to claim the insurance because they would not cover moisture.

you didn't go back with any other phone but from working in several phone shops i can tell you that thousands of other people did. If you used other phones in the rain or got them wet in any way and they kept working, you were lucky. I personally drowned a 3310 in beer and it went on to work for another year before it was stolen, and i was lucky. the other day i spilled coke on my trouser leg and my phone that was in my pocket was destroyed. i didn't complain because i knew it was my fault

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

A good phone will with stand wear and tear,

Yes it will but water damage is not classed as wear and tear and is specifically not covered by the warranty, because the phones aren’t water resistant.

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I have ridden courier around dublin prior to any of these "Builders phones" several phones were excellent for the job, ie standing in the pi***ing rain making an emergency call. What would you do keep the phone in a plastic bag and hold off until the rain stops

Yes, I have done many times because I’ve seen the number of phones that get water damaged

art

Nokia 7650 was the worst phone I had. Fat, slow, clumsy thing that hardly ever had a battery charge. Useless feckin thing (though looked cool at the time I suppose).

Mimikyu

atari jaguar

This post has been deleted.

xanthor

V3X by a long stretch. Slow, clumsy to use, screen kept cutting out.
Awful, awful phone.

foobar

strecker wrote: »

Sony ericsson p990i... No doubt!

+1

foobar

art wrote: »

Nokia 7650 was the worst phone I had. Fat, slow, clumsy thing that hardly ever had a battery charge. Useless feckin thing (though looked cool at the time I suppose).

For a while i really loved that phone but your right ..... it was a dog.

Alanstrainor

atari jaguar

3310 was a tank of a phone, i had it for 2 years, and completely abused the yoke and it never gave any trouble, i went as far a to play football with it, yes that means me + friends kicking it around the class room! Never broke, although the battery didn't hold it's charge very well towards the end, and the case was changed.

foobar

I never actually owned it but the nokia 3650 was one ugly phone. Think nokia were on crack at the time.

chrislad

God, too many!

I really despised the Siemens MC60. It's probably the only phone that I've ever had that I never liked for a second. It was clunky, the memory was constantly low, even though I had everything deleted. I only got it because the Nokia 3100 was out of stock and I needed a phone. Horrible thing.

I had a Mitsubishi Trium that had a godawful City Bird ring tone that did my head in but the phone itself was alright.

Edit: Oh, the Nokia 3200. Two buttons per key? No! Bad Nokia! Bad!

Steak

atari jaguar

I thought the Nokia 3310 was a great bit of kit back in the day. mine never caused any trouble.

BuffyBot

Siemens SL45/SL55 - two complete and utter crap piles.

One or two motorolas and an Ericsson T68 that were loans/work phones really sucked ass too.

Saint_Mel

atari jaguar

I've gone through a few phones in my time, all have had their uses, for the time, but off the top of my head i've had: (order might be incorrect, but not far off)

Ericsson GA628
Siemens C25
Nokia 5110
Siemens S35
Nokia 3310
Sony Ericsson T650
Nokia 6230i

Currently use ...
Nokia N65 & Sony Ericsson K800i

I had some Motorolla piece of cr@p while one of the above phone was being fixed and it was honestly the worst lump ever. Had a flip out panel with the microphone and the ariel had to be pulled up to make a call.

cgarvey

Easy .. Moto v3

311

Nokia N70 ,slow as a snail and as reliable as bertie ahern.

ShaneU

atari jaguar

Almost everyone I know had a 3310

It was great for texting, I actually broke the texting world record that was in the paper using it

The Real B-man

atari jaguar

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

In terms of bad value, poor quality what would you rate as the worst phone you ever had? I would put these two in the following order.

Nokia 3310 this phone was utter rubbish and the slightest drop of water would destroy it. I went through three of these in one year, all written off by slight water/coffee damage.

Thats a 3310i Had one of those and a 3310,,, 3310i was great first phone i had with WAP downloading tones and Black & White Crappy Pictures for £3

Kintarō Hattori

I've only really had one awful phone and that was the Sony CMD-J7 (pre-Sony Ericsson). It would randomly turn itself off, it woud loose signal, often only let you make emergency calls, display any text messages longer than 160 characters as garble. There was more but this is what I can remember. It's a shame as when it did work it was great and for the time it looked fantastic.

Soundman

Other than the Nokia 6680 I have never had a "lemon" phone as I tend to research what I buy first by checking countless reviews and so on online. The 6630 was a spur of the moment buy. Big mistake. The Symbian OS was atrocious. Kept crashing mid call or during the night when you were relying on the alarm clock function to go off but wouldn't as the thing had crashed and frozen. It didn't last long before I upgraded it. Haven't used a Nokia since actually. Went to Sony Ericsson after choosing the K800i, after much research. Hehe...

Sam Vimes

atari jaguar

The Real B-man wrote: »

Thats a 3310i Had one of those and a 3310,,, 3310i was great first phone i had with WAP downloading tones and Black & White Crappy Pictures for £3

its not its the 3330

http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_3330-239.php

Run_to_da_hills

The Nokia 3310 was a reliable phone

Sam Vimes wrote: »

its not its the 3330

http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_3330-239.php

When I come to think of it it could have been the 3330I The 3330I was a light grey phone while the 3330 was a darker grey/blue. I believe the circuitry was intirely different between these phones, anyone working in a phone shop should know.

Sam Vimes

atari jaguar

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

When I come to think of it it could have been the 3330I The 3330I was a light grey phone while the 3330 was a darker grey/blue. I believe the circuitry was intirely different between these phones, anyone working in a phone shop should know.

if you had the blue one it was the 3310. if it was the grey one it was the 3330. there is no 3310i or 3330i

slegs

Every Motorola I've ever used has been a piece of cr@p. The user interface for Moto phones was so obviously designed by computer engineers. It is the most ugly, frustrating and un-user friendly UI ever constructed

kirving

Nokia 3210: Class phone, until the screen smashed in my bag

Sharp GX10i: Good phone, first phone I had with a camera. Vodafone screwed with it big time though = crap. Lemon.

Nokia N-Gage: Tank. Looked like a sandwich. Amazing phone for only 110 euro and 100 credit!

Nokia 6630: Still using it 3 years(almost) on, amazing phone! Cant really fault it except its a tank, battery is getting weak now. (Has a much better processer then the 6680 and it therefore faster)

Nokia 1600: Amazing battery! Great simple phone, nice big texting buttons. 49with 80 credit!!!!

Nokia N92: Got it for 100, would never pay the full 700! Tank, but theres basically nothing it wouldnt do! Digital TV, WiFi, 3G, Big texting buttons, huge screen! It broke in half though.......I was upset....

Samsung F700v: Hmmmm....Good features, sh1te OS! Little bulky. Bot a good phone. Lemon.

HorseRadish

I remember having the first Motorola 088 ready to go phone back in the day *shudder*:eek:

rogue-entity

Ive gone through a fair few phones, some great, some awful.
3210
3510
3200 - Terrible sound quality on calls, horrible keypad, an impulse buy.. and a mistake.
SE T630
6680
N73
O2 XDA Orbit
Apple iPhone