Pros: QWERTY Keyboard, Easy to Use, Attractive, Durable and Great Sound Quality
Cons: No Video, Small Memory (but can be increased with micoSD)
The Bottom Line: If you only need your phone for making calls, taking pictures and text messages, the Blitz is the phone for you! It's the easiest phone I've ever used.
jessica1121's Full Review: UTStarcom Blitz Cell Phone
In May while I was on vacation, my cell phone was close to dying. I could still receive calls, but the screen stopped working! Having a screen that works is very important to me, so it was finally time for me to get a new phone.
I have never and probably will never need a really complicated phone, mainly because I don't want to pay the extra fees to use the internet. All I need is a phone that allows me to take and receive calls and send and receive text messages. As a Verizon Wireless customer, I am part of the new every two program. I sign a two year contract and every two years I have a large choice of free phones to choose form. One of those choices was the UTStarcom Blitz Cell Phone. I didn't know anyone that had the phone, but it looked like it was easy to use and was compact so I ordered it from the website.
I've had the UTStarcom Blitz Cell Phone for about five months now and it has worked out very nicely.
Size, Design and Look The Blitz Cell Phone is very small and compact. That's exactly why my husband always tells me that I don't need any make-up when I pull out my phone, implying that the phone looks like a make-up compact. The phone is 3.5" in length (when closed), 2.6" wide and 0.7" thick. Plus, it only weighs 5.1 ounces. The cell phone is rectangular in size with rounded edges, so it fits nicely in your hand. All around, the Blitz cell phone is very small and cute.
The screen is 2.2" and according to the manual, the screen fits 220x176 pixels and supports up to 262,000 colors. Everything on the phone looks great on the screen.
The phone is a slider phone and is 5" in length when it is open. The slider opens and closes with ease. When open, the phone has a full QWERTY keyboard that is greatly designed. Although the keys are close together, they are big enough to be able to type with your thumbs without making many mistakes at all. All numbers, letters, and symbols are available through the QWERTY keyboard that is only available after sliding the phone open.
The phone is NOT a touch screen like many of the phones that are coming out today. Under the screen are the navigation keys. There are two select keys, four directional keys (up, down, left, right) with an OK button in the middle, a speakerphone button, clear button (that can also be use to activate voice commands), and the Talk and End/Power keys. On the right side of the phone is a music player key, camera key, a microSD card slot and the charger jack. On the left side of the phone is the volume controls and a place to plug in a headset. Something that I really love about this phone is the charger plug, headset plug and the microSD card slot all have covers that connect to the phone. These covers insure that the plugs are not damaged and the covers are not lost because they're connected to the phone.
And lastly, the phone is very sturdy. I will admit that I am very clumsy and I am known for dropping my phone a lot. This has not changed since getting this Blitz cell phone. This phone has taken some nasty falls and still works perfectly.
The Phone I have had an excellent signal with the Blitz. Everywhere I have gone, the phone gets great reception. Even when family and friends are getting a bad signal, they always ask for my phone because it always is working.
The volume of the phone is great. No matter if I am using the handset or the speakerphone, I can always hear the person on the other end clearly. In addition, the phone is compatible with Bluetooth and is very easy to setup.
The Blitz has a very large capacity for the phonebook. The phonebook can hold up to 1,000 entries, each having enough space to store four phone numbers, two email addresses, one fax number, and a picture. The user can also assign a specific ringtone for each person in the phonebook. The thing I love best about the phonebook on the Blitz is the "In Case of Emergency" function. When the phonebook is opened, the first thing listed is "In Case of Emergency." This allows the user to program up to three people from the phone book as people that should be contacted in case of emergency. This is a great feature so that if anything ever happens to the user, anyone that finds the phone can call their "In Case of Emergency" people.
The Blitz does not come with many ringtones. There are only 27 ringtones available, and in my opinion, none of them are very attractive sounds. I have had multiple friends tell me that I should change my ringtone and when I tell them that ringtone is the best one, they always tell me to put it on vibrate. However, the user can purchase ringtones from "Get It Now." Something that I dislike about this phone is that it does not offer continual notification alerts when the user receives a missed call, voice message or text message. If I don't hear a missed call or voicemail coming in, I will never know I have a message waiting for me until I pick up the phone. Other phones I have had in the past will have an alert every few minutes until I get the message.
The phone works great for text messaging. The QWERTY keyboard is easy to use and the messages that are sent to me arrive quickly. However, the phone cannot hold unlimited numbers of messages. The phone can only hold 100 messages in the inbox and 50 messages in the outbox. You will still be able to receive and send messages when your boxes are full, but the phone will not save the messages.
Other Features The Blitz features a 1.3 megapixel still camera. The camera takes decent still pictures. However, if you do not have a steady hand, pictures will come out looking blurry. Other features the camera offers is a self-timer, capture mode (portrait and landscape) and color effects (normal, black/white, negative and antique). Unfortunately the Blitz does not offer the ability to film video.
Voice Commands allows the user to make calls and get information stored in the phone with ease. As long as the user speaks clearly, it will find the information and/or make a call right away.
The Blitz offers a music player. You can download music from VCAST Music with Rhapsody's library, or you can upload your own music by connecting the Blitz to your PC. Just like phone calls, the sound quality is great.
Other simple features are the calculator, calendar (only holds 60 entries), 3 alarm clocks, world clock, notepad (each note can only have 80 characters) and a stopwatch. One feature that many other phones have that the Blitz does not offer is a tip calculator.
Other features: I have used all of these features, but not in abundance because it costs more. You can get plans that allow for the extra usage, but I would not use them very much, so I have not spent the extra money.
Email - This allows you to check and send email from your personal email address, such as AOL, Hotmail and Gmail. This is very convenient, but can cost some money if you don't subscribe to the web services as I learned accidentally when I first got the phone. However, the email feature does work great and if absolutely necessary to check my email, I use the feature.
VZ Navigator - this is Verizon Wireless' GPS system. When the VZ Navigator is turned on, it will tell you where you're located at the time, as well as tell you what's near you and provides turn-by-turn directions to destination.
Mobile IM - You can sign into any of your instant messaging services (AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft). This works just like your Instant Messaging on your computer, but it's on your phone. It works great, but for each message you send or receive, you are charged one text message. One IM conversation will definitely run up your bill if you do not have an unlimited plan.
Battery Life The Blitz comes with a lithium-ion battery. It is said that the battery has enough power to allow up to 4.6 hours of talk time and/or up to 280 hours of standby time. Although I have not measured the amount of time I've used the phone before recharging, I will tell you that I don't have to charge the Blitz as much as all of my previous phones. I am always amazed to see that I have so many battery bars after being on the phone for a hour.
Overall, the Blitz cell phone is a great phone for those of us that don't need a complicated phone. So, if you're looking for a phone just to make and receive calls, and send and receive text messages, the Blitz is perfect for you. The phone is very cute and has been good to me.
Recommended:
Yes
Recommended for: Stylish Trendsetters - Hip and Trendy
This UTStarcom TXT8010 Blitz uniquely-shaped, affordable messaging phone sports a landscape display and slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Other key features ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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