Just got my unlock code from t-mobile for my pulse and it works great with my O2 sim! Paid £14.69 for the unlock code but it took less than a week to sort out (pretty quick I thought). FYI I called them up and asked for it instead of waiting for it to arrive in the post.
Now I can use it where ever I go and no crazy int roaming charges
However, it has some negative points:
* only having Android v1.5 onboard
* not a hint of when 1.6 will be available (if at all)
* a stupid, non-standard power port (No, that's NOT a standard miniUSB!)
* lousy documentation
* 2.5mm audio jack
* SIMs registering as USB data modem (ie. £1.96/day until you get CS to fix it)
* no official word on new monthweb and 6monthweb booster availability
(Although it's nothing to do with TMobile or the phone, I'm amazed that Android Market is so terrible - can't believe Google allowed it to go live in this state!)
However, it has some negative points:
* only having Android v1.5 onboard
* not a hint of when 1.6 will be available (if at all)
* a stupid, non-standard power port (No, that's NOT a standard miniUSB!)
* lousy documentation
* 2.5mm audio jack
* SIMs registering as USB data modem (ie. £1.96/day until you get CS to fix it)
* no official word on new monthweb and 6monthweb booster availability
(Although it's nothing to do with TMobile or the phone, I'm amazed that Android Market is so terrible - can't believe Google allowed it to go live in this state!)
Hi - How do i check what version of android im running? Thanks.
Hi - How do i check what version of android im running? Thanks.
It'll almost certainly be v1.5 as Huawei haven't released any information about 1.6 yet.
To check yourself (and find lots of other interesting bits of information) launch "Settings" then scroll to the very bottom and select "About phone" and see what's mentioned under "Firmware version".
Thanks for the reply - yes it is 1.5.
Im new to the Android world - when will I be able to get the latest OS for this?
We're all pretty new to Android -- join the club!
As for updates, well, nobody knows.
I'd guess that when Huawei have adapted Google's version, TMobile will want to 'customise' it a bit and then it'll be 'pushed' out to us over the airwaves - so there should be no need for you to do anything.
However, it has some negative points:
* only having Android v1.5 onboard
* not a hint of when 1.6 will be available (if at all)
* a stupid, non-standard power port (No, that's NOT a standard miniUSB!)
* lousy documentation
* 2.5mm audio jack
* SIMs registering as USB data modem (ie. £1.96/day until you get CS to fix it)
* no official word on new monthweb and 6monthweb booster availability
(Although it's nothing to do with TMobile or the phone, I'm amazed that Android Market is so terrible - can't believe Google allowed it to go live in this state!)
I've just got a pulse, and think it's great - it's certainly not the best phone in the world (I have an HTC Pro2 which might be ), but for the money it's brilliant.
I got it for £101 including £10 topup, and am enjoying playing with it.
I must disagree with some of the negative points above - specially the one about the 'stupid, non-standard power port', as it is the standard that 17 major phone companies have agreed to use - Micro USB. Quite the opposite of stupid I'd say.
I found the Documentation fine... though to be honest didn't use it as the phone is so intuitive to use. A 3.5mm Jack would have been much better, so agree on that one! Monthweb and 6monthweb boosters work fine (I guess this info may not have been available when the first post was written).
Android 1.6 won't be available, but 2.0 will be quite early next year according to various reports from T-mobile in the Netherlands.
Marketplace seems great to me, but then I'm used to the terrible WinMo one
However, the phone has some other problems, e.g. I find it goes really slow after a couple of days without a restart, but then after restarting it's really snappy. This could be due to some program I've installed.
The touch screen is great most of the time, but doesn't work well/at all if you're not holding the phone, and the sensitivity is bad near the edges of the screen.
Other than that, it's such a great phone - very impressed, and enjoying my first foray into Android land!
Also, when I rang up to port my number over the other day, I got put on some reward deal whereby I get free internet and text in the next month if I top up 10 a month. I fully intend to take advantage of that
As for the slowness, it doesn't multi-task well, and I find that whenever I put it down I'm always going into the Task Manager app and making sure everything I can find is turned off. Not sure how much difference that makes, but I never actually turn my phone off.
I've also struggled pressing the space bar for the first few days I had it, but after a bit of readjusting of where I press I've found it fine ever since. Give it a couple of days and you get used to the idiosyncrasies of the phone.
I've just got a pulse, and think it's great - it's certainly not the best phone in the world (I have an HTC Pro2 which might be ), but for the money it's brilliant.
I got it for £101 including £10 topup, and am enjoying playing with it.
I must disagree with some of the negative points above - specially the one about the 'stupid, non-standard power port', as it is the standard that 17 major phone companies have agreed to use - Micro USB. Quite the opposite of stupid I'd say.
If you'd received two incorrect cables from different Ebay suppliers who'd read the phone manual (where it's listed as a MiniUSB), maybe you'd think otherwise.
Quote:
I found the Documentation fine... though to be honest didn't use it as the phone is so intuitive to use. A 3.5mm Jack would have been much better, so agree on that one! Monthweb and 6monthweb boosters work fine (I guess this info may not have been available when the first post was written).
Maybe T-Mobile have better docs with the phone but back then it was poor quality and inadequate.
And no, the new boosters didn't work then despite being detailed in an accompanying leaflet...
Quote:
Android 1.6 won't be available, but 2.0 will be quite early next year according to various reports from T-mobile in the Netherlands.
Marketplace seems great to me, but then I'm used to the terrible WinMo one
If Google served up their web search results as stupidly as those in the Market, they'd have never survived!
For instance, I'm seeking an app to play various streaming radio shows but I'm only interested in the most highly-rated apps and want to see them in order of downloads.
Tried that?
Or how about listing all the new apps (not updates) posted over the last two days?
Why doesn't search at least let you know that the app you're searching for does exist but not for your version of Android?
For these and countless other reasons, I say Marketplace is a disgrace to Google.
Quote:
However, the phone has some other problems, e.g. I find it goes really slow after a couple of days without a restart, but then after restarting it's really snappy. This could be due to some program I've installed.
The touch screen is great most of the time, but doesn't work well/at all if you're not holding the phone, and the sensitivity is bad near the edges of the screen.
Other than that, it's such a great phone - very impressed, and enjoying my first foray into Android land!
Also, when I rang up to port my number over the other day, I got put on some reward deal whereby I get free internet and text in the next month if I top up 10 a month. I fully intend to take advantage of that
When I ported my number over, I got no text message to confirm the port was active, just calls started arriving.
The next day I realised I couldn't access any 3G data connection whatsoever. Somewhere my port had partially failed and needed a kick.
Customer Support tried to tell me to wait a further 24 hours for it "to settle down"!
It took well over an hour on the phone and three different tech support bods to fix it. And they charged me for reporting their fault...
Quote:
As for the slowness, it doesn't multi-task well, and I find that whenever I put it down I'm always going into the Task Manager app and making sure everything I can find is turned off. Not sure how much difference that makes, but I never actually turn my phone off.
I too found I needed to reboot every evening and recently I've discovered that multiple instances of many apps are running (2xAndroid keyboard; 3xContacts; 4xbrowser; 2xGoogleTalk; 2xPhone) which doesn't sound efficient.
Quote:
I've also struggled pressing the space bar for the first few days I had it, but after a bit of readjusting of where I press I've found it fine ever since. Give it a couple of days and you get used to the idiosyncrasies of the phone
I gave up on the default keyboard and found other versions much easier to use.
I'm not saying the Pulse isn't worth the money, more that I'm shocked that something less than wonderful can get chucked at the market with Google's name on it.
Im going back to blacknerry bold. (allready did, befrore 2 weeks) Why?
1.When I synhronize my google acc, I cant save any more new contacts (saz no memory but there is).
2. week batery, not for all day using..
I thik there was more reasons, now I cant remember, Im on black(berry bold)
it is on my desk, waiting to, update or give to somebody for Christmas (is allready gone..)
As far as I can see its a phone not without issues:
Sync: does it or does it not seamlessly sync with outlook?
Ditto Mac?
It looks like you have to spend ££ to get it sorted (as it seems to work only via Google)
And then try sort the problems and omissions
Or wait for markSpace to update stuff to allow notes to sync
And so forth
In summary, am I correct in saying that this phone is better suited to yoof rather than business quality use needing excellent sync?
Last edited by lesage; January 1st, 2010 at 01:08 PM.
It syncs seamlessly with my mac. Or rather, my mac syncs with Google, as does the phone. Transferring files across is painless.
As for the rest, not being a business user I'm not qualified to answer the others. It does connect easily to pop3 servers through the email application (not gmail) so I can't see it having any problems connecting to a MS Exchange server.
Then again, as a business user I would point to a HTC or Motorola phone, for the greater support that they are giving their phones. If you're going to make an investment, you're going to want the phone to definitely be supported in future years. That's not something I'd guarantee with the Pulse.
I think the summary should be that this is an excellent cheap PAYG Android phone, with all that entails.
It syncs seamlessly with my mac. Or rather, my mac syncs with Google, as does the phone. Transferring files across is painless.
Then again, as a business user I would point to a HTC or Motorola phone, for the greater support that they are giving their phones. If you're going to make an investment, you're going to want the phone to definitely be supported in future years. That's not something I'd guarantee with the Pulse.
I think the summary should be that this is an excellent cheap PAYG Android phone, with all that entails.
Thanks for your reply. I am considering a complete shift to Mac so that the 'seamless' sync you mention is v helpful. Perhaps Pulse and Mac should be though of a a package. Can you confirm it syncs the 'Notes' bit of Mac address Book/Calendar? This leaves me with the issue of transfer of Outlook data to Mac but I see that there are some apps that enable this by preparation of CSV exports
Your comments re future support are v appropriate.
Last edited by lesage; January 3rd, 2010 at 06:50 AM.
2 points I think you should consider if you're going Android. Number 1, you are putting all your information in 'The Cloud'. In other words, your computer and your phone become an extension of your contact information / emails that are stored on Google's servers. So when you are saying transfer of information from Outlook to a Mac, you should instead be transferring it now to a Google account. If the amount of information Google allows you to store per contact is adequate then you can then sync with any PC (Mac or Windows or Linux). And that can definitely be done via Outlook CSV with no need for any app, paid or otherwise. Export an Outlook contacts CSV, then import into the Contacts area of your googlemail account.
The second point is that the Pulse doesn't differentiate between your Google contacts. As you've probably seen from earlier threads, this means that every person you ever email from a gmail (googlemail if you're in the UK) account will end up as a contact in your phone, and once you get over 1200 you run out of space. There's a limit. On other phones (definitely the HTC Hero) you can specify that you only want the 'My Contacts' area of your Google contacts migrated to your phone.
As for the Notes section, that works fine, in all directions that I could think of testing.
I hope you enjoy the Mac, I've been loving mine since I first got it 2 years ago, still as good as ever. The Mac to Google sync, btw, is built-in to Snow Leopard (10.6).
If you have any more questions, it'd probably be best to open a separate thread about Mac's, business stuff, etc, but I'll do my best to reply to any you have.
I've just got a pulse, and think it's great - it's certainly not the best phone in the world (I have an HTC Pro2 which might be ), but for the money it's brilliant.
I got it for £101 including £10 topup, and am enjoying playing with it.
I wonder how you got it for 101 inc topup? I can undertsand some cash back but you seem to have obtained a 35% reduction which quite interests me
2 points I think you should consider if you're going Android. Number 1, you are putting all your information in 'The Cloud'. In other words, your computer and your phone become an extension of your contact information / emails that are stored on Google's servers. So when you are saying transfer of information from Outlook to a Mac, you should instead be transferring it now to a Google account. If the amount of information Google allows you to store per contact is adequate then you can then sync with any PC (Mac or Windows or Linux). And that can definitely be done via Outlook CSV with no need for any app, paid or otherwise. Export an Outlook contacts CSV, then import into the Contacts area of your googlemail account.
The second point is that the Pulse doesn't differentiate between your Google contacts. As you've probably seen from earlier threads, this means that every person you ever email from a gmail (googlemail if you're in the UK) account will end up as a contact in your phone, and once you get over 1200 you run out of space. There's a limit. On other phones (definitely the HTC Hero) you can specify that you only want the 'My Contacts' area of your Google contacts migrated to your phone.
As for the Notes section, that works fine, in all directions that I could think of testing.
I hope you enjoy the Mac, I've been loving mine since I first got it 2 years ago, still as good as ever. The Mac to Google sync, btw, is built-in to Snow Leopard (10.6).
If you have any more questions, it'd probably be best to open a separate thread about Mac's, business stuff, etc, but I'll do my best to reply to any you have.
Thanks for the comments. I recognise the cloud-centricity and am a little wary. The comments re syncing all google addresses you ever sent mail to give a feeling that youre not really in charge and that gets my back up...The limit on google contacts doesnt help. I will follow up on your suggestion of centering things on Google but might still prefer to have things Phone to PC or mac and keep google at a little distance. I no doubt have some learning to do but start from a position of a diehard sceptic
Cant understand everyones comments about not Syncing to Outlook, i used 2 or 3 apps including the road warrior that was free, and i dont have any trouble. i do however sync with my exchange server at work, might make a difference, but all in all its a great phone.
Only annoying thing is when you are writing, there is no way to go backwards without using the delete key, ie there is no up/down, left/right cursor. (and dont say use the down and left arrow, that just sends the text!)
Only annoying thing is when you are writing, there is no way to go backwards without using the delete key, ie there is no up/down, left/right cursor. (and dont say use the down and left arrow, that just sends the text!)
Not sure what you mean here - have you tried using the trackball? Or just touching the place where you want the cursor to be?
I return to this original question. I learn in a separate thread that batteries arent available; and T-M has pulled the phone from its website. Huawei have similarly withdrawn it from their website which is more ominous
Oh, and theres a megaspat between Google and China
Im left with the thought that you may not see an update from 1.5 -- ever (Huawei website talks of updates on future 'models'); and T-M reportedly replaces faulty batteries with a new phone. But once stocks are exhausted....? I have just bought a pulse, in fact, at a lower price than that previously advertised. But with the likely lack of support I might send this back as soon as it arrives. Best in the world or not
I return to this original question. I learn in a separate thread that batteries arent available; and T-M has pulled the phone from its website. Huawei have similarly withdrawn it from their website which is more ominous
Oh, and theres a megaspat between Google and China
Im left with the thought that you may not see an update from 1.5 -- ever (Huawei website talks of updates on future 'models'); and T-M reportedly replaces faulty batteries with a new phone. But once stocks are exhausted....? I have just bought a pulse, in fact, at a lower price than that previously advertised. But with the likely lack of support I might send this back as soon as it arrives. Best in the world or not
Sounds like you should return it as soon as it arrives mate as you don't sound very sure of your purchase and I'm not going to bother convincing you otherwise.
Personally, I absolutely love mine.
.
Last edited by lutin; January 19th, 2010 at 04:19 PM.
Sounds like you should return it as soon as it arrives mate as you don't sound very sure of your purchase and I'm not going to bother convincing you otherwise.
Personally, I absolutely love mine.
.
I think that on the basis that this phone's life is as long as that of its battery, then its too costly for me to keep. I'm going to return it and maybe get an iPhone as its likely to be far cheaper (and seems to have fewer issues)
well i wouldn't recommend it, i gad to quote the consumer act to give t-mobile to replace my phone. By luck i obtained mine free through an upgrade, so if you thinking about buying one get the htc model.
I think that on the basis that this phone's life is as long as that of its battery, then its too costly for me to keep. I'm going to return it and maybe get an iPhone as its likely to be far cheaper (and seems to have fewer issues)
funny that you mention the iphone as apple's products (ipods, iphone and now macbook, too) are famous of their non-replacable batteries. DDD
The new macbooks do not have a user-replacable battery, but it can be taken into a store to have it replaced. This is an advantage as they can make the body of the laptop one shell, making it harder to break through wear and tear and harder for dust and stuff to get in. Plus a larger battery resulting in longer use time. And there are plenty of how-to's on how to replace ipod and iphone batteries.
Anyway, back on topic. My pulse lasts for 2+ days. By turning off all non-essential stuff and using it as just a phone on the 2G networks it can last a long time. If I'm at home I'll switch on Wi-Fi only when I want to access the internet, and only go on 3G when I'm using the internet out and about.
As for a new battery, you may not be able to get a manufacturer approved battery, but that doesn't mean there aren't other batteries out there that are compatible. I'm no expert by any means on the subject, but if you can match the form-factor and input/output capacity it should just work. If you have the tools and time and experience, of course.
@Lesage: The iphone will not be cheaper in the long run, as you can get 2 or 3 pulse's for 1 iphone. But I did recommend not getting the pulse: so in a tongue-in-cheek manner, I told you so
The new macbooks do not have a user-replacable battery, but it can be taken into a store to have it replaced. .....
As for a new battery, you may not be able to get a manufacturer approved battery, but that doesn't mean there aren't other batteries out there that are compatible. I'm no expert by any means on the subject, but if you can match the form-factor and input/output capacity it should just work. If you have the tools and time and experience, of course.
@Lesage: The iphone will not be cheaper in the long run, as you can get 2 or 3 pulse's for 1 iphone. But I did recommend not getting the pulse: so in a tongue-in-cheek manner, I told you so
Yes I recognise your points which are well made but the finances of it DO depend on a decent replacement pulse battery being available. (I have a v recent macbook pro, and have also opened up a previous version macbook using iFixit guides, so I understand your mac related comments).
One of the more curious things is that in France (where I am at present) Bouygues offered the Huawei U8320 officially only from 16 Dec last and priced it on a PAYG contract for........wait for it........ 279 euros (£240) !! I suspect its unlikely they would bother to market the phone if it were already off the scene I think. I wonder now if the issue with the Pulse isnt a T-M v Huawei problem ... or, as T-M UK is up for sale, with certain French operators as possible buyers, that it (and no doubt other products) arent complicating matters regarding the future...? All specualtion of course....
I wish i could agree. Had mine 3 weeks and on the verge of returning to my N95.
No voice dialing.
No onboard voicemail inbox.
No spare batteries available, or silicone cases.
Poor battery life.
Cant install protected apps from market, (which is a complete jumble anyway) (shame on you Google)
A calendar that can't delete a single entry from a repeat event. Only the whole event string.
No password protection available for sms, lock screen or any other app on the device.
Cant save sms to sd card/device or create folders to store them in by default which is such a basic requirement.
Limited profiles without 3rd party apps.
Low storage space on phone for apps.
Cannot run apps from sd card unless you root or flash a custom rom.
Probably never going to get an upgrade to 2 or 2.1 as only 60 meg storage in total to play with so not sure how that would work.
Long text messaging, anything above 3, is converted to mms which you pay more for. Unless you use Handcent which can disable that feature.
Sync works when it feels like it.
Poor quality camera with no flash.
No 3g video calling which makes the front/secondary camera a complete waste of time.
Its been pulled by t-mobile.
etc etc etc
On the plus side it has an excellent screen, feels good in your hand, copilot runs a treat on it and Googlemail is flawless.
So no... not the best phone in the world but each to their own
I wish i could agree. Had mine 3 weeks and on the verge of returning to my N95.
No voice dialing.
No onboard voicemail inbox.
No spare batteries available, or silicone cases.
Poor battery life.
Cant install protected apps from market, (which is a complete jumble anyway) (shame on you Google)
A calendar that can't delete a single entry from a repeat event. Only the whole event string.
No password protection available for sms, lock screen or any other app on the device.
Cant save sms to sd card/device or create folders to store them in by default which is such a basic requirement.
Limited profiles without 3rd party apps.
Low storage space on phone for apps.
Cannot run apps from sd card unless you root or flash a custom rom.
Probably never going to get an upgrade to 2 or 2.1 as only 60 meg storage in total to play with so not sure how that would work.
Long text messaging, anything above 3, is converted to mms which you pay more for. Unless you use Handcent which can disable that feature.
Sync works when it feels like it.
Poor quality camera with no flash.
No 3g video calling which makes the front/secondary camera a complete waste of time.
Its been pulled by t-mobile.
etc etc etc
On the plus side it has an excellent screen, feels good in your hand, copilot runs a treat on it and Googlemail is flawless.
So no... not the best phone in the world but each to their own
Yes; that's a fair summary. I didnt return mine when, yesterday, T-M assured me that spare batteries are available at T-M retail stores. One needs an additional or spare phone if you get the Pulse. As CoPilot works with it, its like a rather interesting TomTom equivalent. Perhaps the spare phone should be an iPhone :-). Or maybe a £100 Nokia E63 if you wish to keep costs down...
Let me know if you manage to get one from T-Mob shop. Called into mine today and they have none and are not aware of any arriving. The guy said as far as he was aware t-mob do not have any and is not aware of any plans to stock any.
Having said that i phoned tech help over something simple and the guy on the other end of the phone said 'there is no such phone as a t-mobile pulse' so ..... who knows regarding batteries :-)
Let me know if you manage to get one from T-Mob shop. Called into mine today and they have none and are not aware of any arriving. The guy said as far as he was aware t-mob do not have any and is not aware of any plans to stock any.
Having said that i phoned tech help over something simple and the guy on the other end of the phone said 'there is no such phone as a t-mobile pulse' so ..... who knows regarding batteries :-)
Its interesting: A TM person in the Ealing retail shop had never heard of the pulse too. I finally accepted the Pulse on the strength of the statement of the TM woman (who had an american or similar accent) that batts were available. I tried to type an sms with a few complex words tonight. It was a v difficult experience. I fear this phone isnt for me (and yes I have taken the protective film off the face of the screen).
[Post script: using the keyboards is individual to point of idiosyncratic: after the bad experience mentioned above I experimented at length & found that if I held the phone in left hand, landscape, used android keyboard, typed with right index, it was OK. I suspect that one should wash ones hands before, ideally, so that they're grease free but slightly humid from the traces of the water left on/in skin. This possibly assists conductivity of the capacitive kb,and keeps screen clean(er) when holding phone in left hand and typing with right. Somehow such hygiene instruction doesnt fit in easily with phone marketing and T-M quick start guides but it strikes me as being curiously important :-). Cleanliness, godliness, capacitveness.
Last edited by lesage; January 28th, 2010 at 06:56 AM.
I wish i could agree. Had mine 3 weeks and on the verge of returning to my N95.
...................
Its been pulled by t-mobile.
etc etc etc
On the plus side it has an excellent screen, feels good in your hand, copilot runs a treat on it and Googlemail is flawless.
So no... not the best phone in the world but each to their own
A few other things which Pulse (or Android) will not do:
Copilot running on Andoid wont access the Contacts (as it requires Outlook format) - inconvenient; however the speed and tenacity with which Pulse links to satellites is nothing short of remarkable (and this, probably, with the Copilot software, is the phone's saving grace)
Pulse wont 'reverse tether' - take an internet connection via USB from a PC: also very inconvenient
It wont sync via bluetooth (not sure it does anything useful via bluetooth)
It very badly needs Android 2 (or 3 when it comes)
Last edited by lesage; February 6th, 2010 at 06:06 AM.
Let me know if you manage to get one from T-Mob shop. Called into mine today and they have none and are not aware of any arriving. The guy said as far as he was aware t-mob do not have any and is not aware of any plans to stock any.
Having said that i phoned tech help over something simple and the guy on the other end of the phone said 'there is no such phone as a t-mobile pulse' so ..... who knows regarding batteries :-)
The T-M person at local shop said he didnt stock the batteries but after phoning around he said he could get one in about 3 days if I ordered one. I wasnt certain that he wasnt giving me a slightly quick answer despite the phone call. He thought it would be around £20
The T-Mobile Pulse AKA Huawei U8220 branded for use on T-Mobile, was announced on the 3rd September 09 and officially launched on Pay-as-you-go in October of 2009 in the UK. The T-mobile Pulse is an entry level phone with entry level specs . But th... Read More
Best phone in the world
