Doro Phoneeasy 410 gsm review
By Micael Samuelsson. Filed in Experience, News, Reviews |Tags: cellphone, Doro, featurephone
When I first got the email from Doro I was kind of curious to see what they would bring with them in a feature phone since they have mainly been making office phones before.
I have been using the Doro Phoneeasy 410gsm. It’s a small phone that is not meant to have features but to just be a phone.
Some of the features that it has includes:
• Speakerphone
• Lighted keypad
• FM Radio
• Calculator
• Games
• Clock
What suprised me when I opened up the phone was the shape of the phone. I expected it to be alot bigger and not so stylish that it is in currently. The white color that Doro shipps with the phone must perhaps be the best one that I have seen so far. As you see on the pictures it is not to big either when you have it closed and stored away in your pocket. When you open it up at first sight you will se a big and bright screen. As a user of alot of different phones and smartphones I have used phones that has both good and bad screens when you view them in the sunlight. This is not one of those. I was in Switzerland for a couple of days and it was those days that you actually had good weather suprisingly. When I was standing on the balcony I could read and write text messages just like if I were standing inside without any trouble. It reminds alot of ten years ago when you got one of the early Sony Ericsson phones that had an amazing screen htat you could view without any trouble in the sunlight. A+ to Doro in this section.
On the front of the phone you two small indicators. One that lights if you get new text messages and another one that if you have low battery.
The keypad is a completly different section. I have not used keys this big before in a couple of years. Although it is really nice when you press a finger on a button and you actually press the whole button. Amazing. Considering the price 230 US Dollar (1800 SEK) it does not feel like if they have cheapened on the quality here either.
It has a builtin FM radio that has suprisingly good reception.The Phoneeasy 410gsm has a 2.5 mm headphone jack. I have tried it with other 2.5 – 3.5 mm headphone adapters and found that it allows me to use my favorite headphones with it.
If you want to switch themes Doro has shipped a couple of them with it. You basically get a couple of different basic themes in different color in red, gren and blue. My favorite is the red them that has the swedish “Dalahästar” which the Dalahorses included in the backgorund stylie.
The back of the phone
You also have a calendar included with the phone. It shows you all the days in a month. You can press a psecific date and enter or view the information that you want to take a look at the.
The phonebook is extremely well built both easy to use and to confiugre. I expected it to be a really simple phone that you could only enter one phone number with it but you can actually enter up to three different phonenumbers; work, home and fax numbers.
Alarm option is extremly easy to use. What I like is that the first thing that you see is do you want it to be either on or off. The next step is that you should enter the time that you want the alarm to sound off.
The screen is great under direct sunlight. I have been using it in Switzerland during the direct sunlight we had there and not had a single issue once with viewing the screen.
The only thing I would like to see is a way of syncing your contacts to your phone there is no proper way to do this today. If a person bought a Doro phone and came from a Sony Ericsson phone they would have no proper way of syncing their contacts.
If we instead look at something important such as stability it has been rock solid. I have been using it as my main device for over a week and a half. I have not had any issue at all when using it as my main device. To be honest it has been rock solid for me.
Conclusion: It simply is an awesome phone. You get a great form factor that allows you to use the phone and you get keys that you want to use and that you can see all the time.
Where to buy: You can find yours in store for 1800 SEK here in Sweden
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About: Micael: Is a student at Gothenburg University during the day time in both Applied Information Technology and Regional Studies. Is a gadget geek and switches gadgets every day. |
Wednesday, August 19th 2009 at 12:22 pm |
I’ve recently bought a black one. Here are my thoughts:
GOOD:
Clear display. Intuitive interface. Easy to handle. Nice size. Light weight. There’s obviously been a lot of thought in the design. For example the outside of the phone (at least on the black one) is “grippy”, a bit like rubber. It is also easy to open the clamshell because the sides are concave. Well suited to people whose hands are losing dexterity. The keys have a positive click and calls are loud and clear.
BAD:
The whole thing feels like a toy. It is “plasticky” and doesn’t feel like (say) a Nokia. The hinge is narrow and weak, allowing the clam sides to swivel against each other. If it was regularly kept in a back pocket I don’t think it would last long. It would be better if it had locating lugs/holes at top and bottom to prevent this swivelling effect.
The keys are almost flat and flush with the case so you have to look at them to find them. Why not raised?
The firmware is slow and the delays for confirmation messages like [Saved] are exasperatingly long and can’t be adjusted.
Perhaps the worst thing – it has really awful jingles that play when the phone is switched on and off. They are so loud and bad that it is an embarassment to use the phone in public. There is no way of turning them off (other than silencing the phone completely).
In general the good points outweigh the bad and I am glad I bought the phone. However I suggest propective purchasers try one out first. Don’t just buy off the Web or you might be disappointed.
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Wednesday, October 21st 2009 at 5:42 pm |
Would you please advise the type of connectors that are used for charging the DORO phone models? For example are they Micro USB?
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Micael Samuelsson Reply:
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:15 am
They use their own standard. Leat me know if you want me to publish a picture.
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Thursday, November 5th 2009 at 8:50 am |
I've got this phone, and i dont see the phonebook very well, is it possible to configure it to see it bigger? thanks!
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Saturday, March 27th 2010 at 4:35 pm |
Purchased the Doro 410 gsm recently and have some bad news for persons with a hearing problem! If you expect the Doro 410 gsm to give you a clear and prolonged vibration when receiving an SMS you will be disappointed. Yes, you can extend the ringtone to 30 seconds but NO, you cannot extend the vibration mode at all other than the factory default. Did the research team at Doro do their homework…don’t think so! My wife used a 5 year old Sharp mobile, the vibration mode could be extended to 90 seconds and she never missed a single sms!With the Doro 410 gsm she misses virtually every sms I send! Will Doro put a firmware update in to this model? NO…because they have had no complaints from other users!!! I wasted €200 on a handset which is not doing what it set out to do being a phone for the older generation as well as persons with a hearing problem. 0 points out of 100!!!
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Friday, April 9th 2010 at 12:03 pm |
I agree with Anton Mazer, it’s a very simple phone not adapted for people with hearing or vision problems at all. The screen is very small, and it’s not possible to configure it to see it bigger. It’s expensive and vulgar.
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Thursday, July 15th 2010 at 11:18 am |
Hi Katu,
Have since puchased for my wife (and myself) the Nokia 6303 Classic and it has solved most of our problems. With the assistance of a sales person we configured a vibration tome of 30 seconds which is sufficient most of the time, writing an sms can be done very fast unlike the Doro so all in all our communication is back to normal.
Anton Mazer
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