Recently, I had a bit of a disagreement with my 10 year-old over her being the ONLY kid, in her 5th grade class, who does NOT own a cell phone.
The fact that a few of them own iPads was more than just a little disconcerting.
Because, the cost alone would feed my family for 1 month (conservatively speaking and if I don't buy meat) not to mention, yet ANOTHER $$ per month for data plan AND I don't even have a smartphone, DAGNABIT!!!
Yes, she really DOES exist. I ran into the AT&T phone fairy at BlogHer in San Diego, this summer (literally, she's just a tiny little thing!) she was passing out phones to people who needed them, including friends of mine with broken, lost and/or stolen cell phones.
How awesome is that, right?!?
Last week, I received an Impulse 4G by Huawei, launched in September 2011, as AT&T's budget-friendly alternative for smartphone shoppers (like me!)
Seeing as this is my first (smartphone, I mean) the prospect of actually being able to use my phone for home, work AND play, was very exciting, indeed.
So, the BIG question(s): is it functional, what does it cost and how smart is it?
SCREEN SIZE: on the Impulse 4G is 3.8" and here I've compared it side-by-side to my old cell phone (in smartphone years, anyway) the Samsung Eternity. Hard to tell from a picture, but it is a lot bigger and, more importantly, much, much easier on these 40-something-or-another-year-old eyes of mine.
OPERATING SYSTEM: on the Impulse 4G is Android OS 2.2.2. which runs many of the same apps as iPhone and Blackberry (seriously, Angry Birds IS my new favorite time suck) along with my favorite Google programs, like gmail (which was a MUST!) not to mention, Google maps and search app already loaded onto my phone.
SOUND QUALITY: is awesome. I could hear everyone clearly, even the AT&T guy, when I switched over to the Impulse 4G, this weekend, explaining that, "Since, you are not answering, I'm going to go ahead and assume that we are done, here," thinking I had, you know, hung up, while doing the happy dance and hollering, "I HAVE A SMARTPHONE!"
Sorry, Mike, once a dork, always a dork.
TOUCHSCREEN AND NAVIGATION: to be honest, I am pretty rough on stuff (hence, this blog's tagline) and was a little leary about ANOTHER touchscreen.
However, the Impulse 4G's touchscreen does make navigation a lot easier.
Thank goodness for the "back button" and I love, Love, LOve, LOVe, LOVE how the "menu button" (funky little lines, second from the left) allows me to list options available on any of the screens or apps I am viewing at the time (i.e. quicker results with less maneuvering!)
SOCIAL NETWORKING: a big part of my work life is spent sharing stuff online, which, these days, is THE MOST frustrating aspect of my job, not being able to do so, easily, unless you own a smartphone.
With 4G speed and a simple touch of a button, I can access AND manage my social media profiles, as well as share pictures, updates and important information with friends, family and co-workers, alike.
Or, keep online friends entertained, by making faces, while they're stuck at the office, on a weekend, or something (heh!)
MULTI-TASKING: With the Impulse 4G, I can run multiple tasks, simultaneously, even when I'm on a call.
For example: after answering a call, I press the home button (symbol of a small house, YAY!) it returns me to the home screen and allows me to view my calendar, get a phone number from my contact list and view latest email messages, WITHOUT ENDING OR HOLDING THE CALL!
CUSTOMIZING HOME SCREEN: is as easy as holding my finger on the home screen. THAT'S IT! I can change or add shortcuts and widgets to my home screen, at any time.
CAMERA AND VIDEO: The Impulse 4G has a 5.0 megapixel camera and camcorder. The quality of the photos I've taken, so far, are okay. Can't seem to get rid of this blue-ish tone and DANG it looks like I need a haircut, BADLY.
Still playing with it, though. The phone, too :)
My Eternity took really great outdoor shots at 3.0 megapixels, however, I'm still working on figuring out the camera settings and do find it A LOT easier to share multimedia, using the Impulse 4G.
Most especially, to my Flickr account, which also allows me to share to Facebook AND Twitter at that time, as well.
I apologize for ALL the shaking, twisting, turning and annoying voice over (done on purpose) just testing out the quality of the Impulse 4G HD video camera when under less than optimal circumstances ;)
I took this sample video easy enough, however, never could upload it to Flickr (my preferred platform to upload videos.)
The file was too large to send to YouTube or my email account, without having to connect my phone to WiFi, which STILL makes me a little nervous.
DOWNSIDE: the battery lasted about 4 hours, when using it to make phone calls (hello Mike at AT&T!) flipping through apps and learning how to use the phone.
Once I began using multiple multimedia apps, like Twitter, Facebook and reading my favorite blogs (via Feedly App) I found myself charging the phone more frequently.
I can, however, charge it from my laptop and use it while working, so there's that.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY: The Impulse 4G is available from AT&T for $30.00 and requires a new 2-year contract and a data plan which starts at $15 per month.
FAVORITE APPS FOR ANDROID: I'll save that for another post for another time (you're welcome!) so, stay tuned!!!
FINAL VERDICT: The Impulse 4G by AT&T is an AWESOME upgrade for me and, more importantly, it's a budget-friendly alternative for folks suffering from smartphone envy, yet multi-funcitonal and super easy to use -- even for a dork, like me!!!
For more information about this and other smartphones offered by AT&T, feel free to visit ATT.com!
Thank you, AT&T phone fairy.
© 2003 - 2011 This Full House
Disclosure: No payment, other consideration or expectation, besides a sample of the product for review purposes, was received for this blog post. As always, the words and opinions shared here are my own.
