Verizon Wireless Razzle Phone (Verizon Wireless)

i love this phone! December 17, 2009

Reviewer:  Rebecca Ford 

I just got this phone yesterday. i havent had it for very long but i love it already. i love the swivel keypad on the bottom that can either be a slanted keypad (easy for typing) or flip it around and you got music at the tip of your fingers! the phone came with a 1GB micro chip, which was a very good feature, and you can put up to a 16GB chip in if you have one, for even more space for music, pics, etc. the sound quality is very very good, and the volume goes up pretty loud (for a phone). another great feature was that the phone came with a USB cord to hook up to your computer so you can transfer music to your phone. all you gotta do is download the free version of rhapsody and if you have itunes, it will transfer all your music from itunes to rhapsody (or music from Cds, downloads, amazon, etc). texting is very easy with the slanted keypad. another feature i liked is that you can play your music and then brows threw your songs by clicking forward, back, pause buttons on the speaker side of the bottom flip speaker. you can text or do anything else while listening to music as well :) all in all... this is a great phone, and it fits my life very well. i dont have to carry around a phone and ipod everywhere i go now.

Great phone! January 5, 2010

Reviewer:  Veroniqua Lee "ninja7"  (Orlando, FL) -

I got this phone to replace a malfunctioning Verizon Blitz. I absolutely love it! The swivel function is pretty nifty. I am a big fan of the tilted keyboard, it makes typing easy and comfortable. While the buttons are small, they are raised for convenient texting. The music player is fantastic and easy to use. I'm too cheap to pay for a data plan, so I am so happy to have a Verizon phone that I can play music on without having VCAST. It has a slick, modern look and is about the same size as an iPhone. I cannot speak highly enough about this phone. Best value ever!!! The only con for the phone is the 2.5mm headphone jack. You need to have an adapter (2.5-3.5mm) to be able to listen to music with your normal headphones. Other than that, if you don't care about apps and checking your email, this is the phone for you!

Find something else. February 25, 2010

Reviewer:  kiwanissandy "Go Bucks!"  (Heart of Ohio) -

I've had this phone for months now, I actually got four of them on our plan. One has broken and one has quit working already. They would only replace with the same phone.

I've had numerous web browsing charges although I've never knowingly got on the internet. After you end a call and put the phone in your pocket...if you even remotely hit the wrong key it will connect to the internet. I don't know how to make the phone not do this. I called verizon and they told me to hold onto the phone until it automatically locks. What?! Tell that to a young kid that they have to wait for a minute or two until the phone decides it wants to lock the keypad before putting it in your pocket?! Unbelieveable. I've since had them block all internet usage because of this problem.

The phone drops at least 3 calls a day. The internal antenna is just not functioning properly. It also doesn't lay flat, there is a slight angle so I'm just waiting for it to break in half. I got a case but it only covers the back of the phone not the front so the screen is completely scratched. Go with something else. There's a reason it was the free phone.

For music the sound is just not that good. Stick with your ipod. The phone is not compatible with mac systems either so you can't even load songs to it.

***Update***after 4 months of use the third Razzle's screen only works intermittently. Out of four phones ordered in December of 2009, 3 have been a bust after 4 months of use! I reactivated my old Nokia phone and got rid of this piece of junk.

***Update***after 7 months of use one phone that was the replacement for the phone that quit working has also quit working. Second phone screen is now completely cracked and not working. The third phone drops the majority of calls, the internal antenna that did work intermittently now appears to not work at all. Verizon told me I could purchase new phones but would not do anything else. AT&T is looking better.

i could not find a better "free" phone February 23, 2010

Reviewer:  D. Kelly 

I was not sure what to expect with this phone. Up until now I have always owned Nokia phones and been very happy. I have owned this phone for about two weeks now and have gotten a good feel for it and its functions. This phone is fine for my purposes which is primarily standard uses. I tried a few of the apps for downloading music and ringtones and was not impressed. The ringtone I dowloaded is inaudible and the music is overpriced and limited. Your better off dowloading from Itunes or Amazon. I was suprised at the inovative rotating keyboard which is very usable despite the small button size.

Pros
Innovative design for music player and texting
relatively thin and light with large display
included memory card for storage
good sounding speakers for their size
intuitive menues and controls that can be customized
solid construction
replacement batteries are cheap-seven bucks at Amazon
good recording mic
it's free



Cons
downloadable apps are not very good
no standard headphone jack you will need an adapter
instruction manual not all inclusive it took me quite a while to figure out how to deactivate the welcoming vocal message that accompanies every incoming call.
no flash for camera
no car charger included
no full size dialing keypad you have to use the texting pad
not for someone that wants a full internet phone this is limited to verizon apps

Overall I could not find a better phone for free. With a few changes to the design and content of this phone and it could easily be comperable to the Iphone or blackberry. Of course there is no touch screen which I think is overated. I give it four stars it's not perfect but functions well for standard calls and texting. If you need a ton of apps go with the Iphone or droid. If you need a good business phone for internet and email go with a blackberry.

Been a great phone for me! May 3, 2010

Reviewer:  Charles Mausolf "Kip Drordy"  (Grand Rapids, MI) -

Five reasons why I initially bought this phone:

1. No extra fees from Verizon. (No $30 data plan or $10 multimedia fees like other keyboard phones)
2. I hate slider keypads on phones, and this one didn't have one.
3. The flip thing looked cool.
4. Outside speaker concept seemed pretty cool.
5. It is FREE!

Well had this phone for a few months. Ive dropped this phone on cement/hard floor at least 10x already. Both with the phone flipped flat and with it flipped for texting. I dropped it in a cup of water on accident where the phone speakers where completely soaked with water. That took a few weeks to get the keypad and speakerphone/speakers to dry out. But I have it back to working 100%. (I didn't get insurance on this phone). Durability shouldn't be anyone's concern with this phone.

Speakers are quite loud in a quite environment (library), but too quiet if you have background noise (ie. while driving in a car). The battery life on this phone is Amazing. I have no cell phone towers close by to my house and only get about 2 bars of reception max in this area and the phone can last easily 3 days with minimal use. Other phones I have had needed to be charged every day with no use even if I was in a area with great coverage.

I went to a Verizon store and the guy didn't want to sell me this phone at all. I don't think it has that high of markup on it. He kept on trying to sell me phones with sliding keyboards (which I hate). Just like all salespeople, pretend they aren't human beings (because they aren't) and get what you want. I didn't buy their scam insurance either just to piss him off.

Anyways great phone, unless u need Fahckbook whoops I mean Facebook on your cellphone so you can post every move u make throughout the day to annoy people. People dont care what time ur work-shift is or what you ate for dinner. If you think people actually do I would recommend getting the Droid so u can pay $80 a month to post 1000 pictures of yourself in the bathroom mirror. Otherwise get the Razzle, cheap and gets the job done.

This phone is essentially worthless May 26, 2010

Reviewer:  B. Heiden  (Fort Worth, TX) -

This phone is really cool looking, and it works great if all you're going to do is text. But for phone calls, this phone is a piece of junk. If dropped, the entire thing falls apart, and the reception is terrible. My Razzle got to the point that it was worthless. I had to use my home phone all the time because calls from the Razzle either cut in and out or dropped completely. The reception was okay at first, but gradually got worse over the few months I had it. I sent it back and got another Razzle (certified like-new), only to have the same problem right away. (My husband has a phone on Verizon that we have no problems with, and I was on Verizon and never had problems before I got my Razzle, so I know it's the phone, not the reception in our area.) We finally got Verizon to agree to send a Samsung phone instead. If you make a lot of phone calls, go with something else.

not compatible with Macs? Really!!? January 20, 2010

Reviewer:  Andrew Meier 

I just got the Razzle, and it's cool-looking and it works fine as a phone, but I didn't know that it's impossible to play music on it if you don't have a PC. As a Mac user I am apparently out of luck, wish I had known that before I bought the phone. Sigh.

Bad replacement for an MP3 player July 14, 2010

Reviewer:  Syc  (M) -

PROS
[+] Free with 2-year contract
[+] Does not require a data plan
[+] Supports microSD (up to 16GB) for music

NEUTRAL
[*] Comes with a 1GB microSD card
[*] Decent sound quality through speakers
[*] Tolerable sound quality through headphones/earphones (not as good as speakers)

CONS
[-] 2.5mm headphone jack (requires adapter)
[-] Limited volume selection in music player (9 volume levels, plus mute)
[-] Annoying background static when listening through headphones/earphones

I selected this phone because it was free (and did not require a data plan) with a 2-year contract from Verizon Wireless. I expected this phone to be a decent MP3 player replacement, since the twisting design gave me the impression that the Razzle is designed for music. It also had a nice keyboard, but a low-resolution and low-quality screen. I'm focusing on the music aspect in this review, since that is what I intended to use the phone for.

I had to buy a microSD card to store my music library on the phone. I also had to buy an adapter ([[ASIN:B001078FV8 2.5mm (Male) To 3.5mm (Female) Stereo Audio Jack Adapter]]) to make the phone work with normal headphone jacks. Syncing works through Windows Media Player, but took a ridiculously long amount of time. The media player's options on the phone are limited, but include shuffle and repeat modes. The shuffle system was awkward, since the phone will always play the first song (in alphabetical order) when you decide to play, and you'll need to skip the song in order to actually listen to a random song.

The phone's sound range is quite limited, and focuses on mid-level sounds. Bass is extremely choppy, and the phone is unable to produce high sounds. There's a basic equalizer, but it does not make much of a difference with the phone's mediocre sound quality.

The annoyance that kills this phone for me is the fuzzy background noise I hear when playing songs through headphones/earphones. It's distracting and gives me a slight headache after extended period of listening to music. I need to set the volume to at least medium level in order to block out the noise, and the static returns in the silence between songs and in breaks in the song. It's intolerable.

I would not recommend this phone as a media player, despite that it seems to be created for that purpose. Unfortunately for me, the adapter and microSD card I ordered arrived too slowly, so I'm stuck with this phone for the entire 2-year contract since I don't want to shell out the money to buy a Verizon Wireless compatible phone at full price. I will probably buy a Sansa, iPod, or Zune to replace my old broken MP3 player.

OK Wish It Had Better Reception May 21, 2010

Reviewer:  Phone User  (Boston) -

Had this phone for about two weeks and liked it a great deal. Phone and text reception started to fail indoors at work and then at home and on road. Verizon response seemed weak stating that the reception may have been limited due to data tower range/location and ability to work in certain buildings. Verizon also mentioned that phone/calling capability was a secondary feature of this model and that data service/ text/ music were primary funtions. If it will not work in the Boston area where will it work? Returned it.

Liked the features and style, phone case was cheap light plastic, worse than any I have seen and doubted it would last long. Did not have it long enough to use music feature or data service.

Good Quality Phone April 14, 2010

Reviewer:  Robert. 

I received the Verizon Razzle (Made by Pantech) after renewing my contract with Verizon. The phone quality is very good. It feels very sturdy. The twisting keyboard is pretty cool. It only turns in a certain direction. However, the twisting feature is inconvenient when using it with one hand (but possible). The keyboard buttons are small, but I am able to press them accurately. The Razzle comes with only 1 speaker, despite the fact that it looks like there are two. The speaker volume is sufficient unless you are in a noisy environment. The build in camera is 1.3MP, but the quality is quite bad. The MP3 feature is average at best. There is no directory view of your music. You can browse by artist, etc. The phone has a 2.5mm headphone jack which requires a 2.5mm male to 3.5mm female converter for standard headphones to work. The backlight duration can be adjusted, however, its brightness cannot. The interface/menus are very similar to my previous Motorola W385 which made navigating the Razzle very easy. No text messaging or data plan was required. I recommend this phone.