Backflip Review

Now that I’ve had the phone for a couple weeks and a couple trips I figure it’s time to give it a full review.  This is my second smart phone and my first Android phone.

Display: very nice.  The touchscreen is responsive and the display is nice.  I had it at the lowest brightness and didn’t even realize it until I looked at the setting.  It can be difficult to read is bright sunlight, but every phone I’ve had is.

Keyboard: maybe it’s my little hands, but I feel that this keyboard is too big.  I could type on my Fuze quite a bit and never feel much strain (I wondered what “Blackberry Thumb” was really all about), but on this after a simple text message or twitter update my thumbs are sore.   It is also difficult to type numbers since I’m used to them arranged like a 10-key and now they are arranged across the top row.  I also keep pressing the Menu button instead of Function or Shift.  Seems like a long learning curve for me coming from another physical keyboard.

Operating System: Android 1.5 is fine.  It is locked down tighter than Fort Knox.  No one has managed to root it yet to allow us to install android 2.1.  It is also difficult to load apps not in the market place, but is possible with simple online instructions.

Traveling: This device is much more convenient to travel with than the fuze.  It is responsive so I don’t have to wait forever to check my flights.  If I click on Browser then the Browser comes up.  The battery life sucks.  I do like having a normal 3.5mm headphone jack again so I don’t have to mess with the stupid dongle anymore.

Battery: the battery doesn’t last long with my usage and it uses micro USB instead of mini USB so I have to purchase new adapters.  I did just learn that it is the same as the Droid so maybe I’ll be able to pick up a charger from a front desk.  I had a couple phones when I first started traveling that weren’t popular and used non-standard chargers so I’d always have to go to Verizon to buy chargers (I’m talking to you Nokia with your crazy flat charger to replace your long standard round charger!)