I purchased this cell phone via GTE as a replacement for an old Nokia 2120. The Nokia's battery was shot (after 4 years, not bad!) and GTE had a special purchase price of $49 with a one year service contract.
The phone's design takes a little getting used to. The flip down wand eliminates some of that "talking into your watch band" feeling that I get from some phones that don't have a physical microphone to talk directly into. The wand has fairly good clarity and noise reduction.
The phone gets warm, as do most smaller phones, but not as bad as the Ericsson phones which double as a curling iron. It's definitely not comfortable enough to use for extended conversation. The lack of an external mic/earpiece option drives this fact home.
Battery life is heavily dependent on your service area. If you are in digital signal range 100% of the time, you can get almost 40 hours of standby time or 2 hours of heavy talk time. Fall into the analog net, however, and battery time will plummet drastically. Expect about 4 hours standby maximum in an all analog scenario.
The jog dial is handy once you get used to the feel. Reminds me of the first time I tried using a trackball with the sensitivity set too high.
Accessories, as usual, are overpriced but not as bad as the Nokia accessories when they first came out. Expect to pay about $15.00 for a carrying case, $20 for a case with a swivel clip at a GTE/Sprint retail store. I would suggest searching eBay for "+sony +zuma" and trying your there first.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 49.00