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Detroit Free Press: Voyager is no iPhone Killer

Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 2:15 PM - by

When Verizon announced the Voyager, there was a lot of media hype calling it an iPhone killer, according to Mike Wendland, a technology columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Instead, it's anything but; it's a disappointment.

In his video review, Mr. Wendland cited these problems with the Voyager:

  1. The screen is smaller than the iPhone's
  2. No native e-mail program
  3. No desk top syncing
  4. It's a dumb phone, not a smartphone
  5. The speakers are on the inside, so to listen to music, the lid must be open


Verizon Voyager

One can get email, but only by jumping through hoops. "To get e-mail, you need to jump through a bunch of hurdles and use proprietary Verizon tools like Mobile EMail and then manually retrieve your mail. Or, worse yet, download a clunky and complicated Verizon program called Wireless Sync. Trust me, e-mail on this phone sucks," Mr. Wendland wrote.

The Voyager is US$300 after a rebate with a two year contract. Mr. Wendland's conclusion: "I'm not impressed."

5 comments from the community.

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Sir Harry Flashman said:

member since 08 Feb 2007 with 792 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Nov 30, 2007 4:12 pm

This phone is probably at least a DynaTAC killer.

$300, after a rebate, plus a 2 year contract. Another $100 gets you an iPhone, though not on Version's network

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JonGl said:

member since 12 Jan 2006 with 113 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Nov 30, 2007 4:49 pm

You know, it blows my mind when I hear people complain about the cost of the iPhone, when others are putting out this tripe! _This_ is a waste of money...

-Jon

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JTHapp said:

member since 08 Sep 2004 with 12 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:11 pm

With a 'Me Too' screen, it's a glorified EnV phone! (the Verizon EnV is an LG model# UX-9900) the buttons may be a wee bit larger, but it's the same damn phone.

I have the EnV and he's correct about the email and the Verizon applications. It's a 'dumb phone' that does what I need. Takes a pretty decent picture. (but don't get me started about getting pictures off the phone without using airtime, thanks Verizon!)

The iPhone wasn't on the scene yet when I got the EnV... (but when the iPhone is opened up. Bam! I'm there!)

JTH

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gslusher said:

member since 13 Nov 2002 with 2088 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Sat Dec 01, 2007 4:39 pm

JTHapp wrote:
With a 'Me Too' screen, it's a glorified EnV phone! (the Verizon EnV is an LG model# UX-9900) the buttons may be a wee bit larger, but it's the same damn phone.

I have the EnV and he's correct about the email and the Verizon applications. It's a 'dumb phone' that does what I need. Takes a pretty decent picture. (but don't get me started about getting pictures off the phone without using airtime, thanks Verizon!)

The iPhone wasn't on the scene yet when I got the EnV... (but when the iPhone is opened up. Bam! I'm there!)

JTH

"Opened up?" Do you mean for developers/third-party software, or unlocked? If you're in the US and using Verizon (as I do), you'll have to switch carriers, regardless. The iPhone is a GSM phone; Verizon (like Sprint) is CDMA. T-Mobile and ATT are the only national GSM carriers in the US, though most of the rest of the world uses GSM.

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MOSiX Man said:

member since 20 Jun 2001 with 558 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Sun Dec 02, 2007 3:55 am

Oddly enough, when I first heard about this 'potential iPhone killer' on the web (a month or so ago), I just happened to be in a position to actually handle and try out one of them. After about 30 seconds, I had to put the phone down before I dropped it from laughing so hard about the idea that this phone was ANYTHING but a poorly implements, far-behind, 'me too' copy of the iPhone. Killer? More like krap.

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