I am going to apologise now about the length of this post.
Now i don't usually bother with filling out these reviews, but i thought i could add some useful info to help other people when buying a product, i bought an Orange San Fran a few weeks ago and have unlocked and upgraded it to Android 2.2 FroYo SS RLS5, i have also encountered a few issues along the way which i thought might help others.
GOOD POINTS -
"Great little phone for the money, most reviews will say the battery life is not very good and you will have to put it on charge every night, i know guys with iphones who have to charge them every night, so don't let that put you off.
A couple of websites where i got a lot of info and help from was http://androidforums.com/ and Android @ MoDaCo
If you leave the phone as standard android 2.1, when you unlock it and use a different networks sim card you will need to manually input new APN's for that networks mobile internet and MMS, you can get the settings from most networks websites or search on the android forums, here is the settings i used for the 3 network - http://androidforums.com/orange-san-francisco-zte-blade/188497-zte-blade-orange-san-fran.html#post2725712
If you do decide to upgrade to 2.2 FroYo, then there are a load of APN's that come with the upgraded software and will become active when you put in that networks sim card.
As with most of these types of smart phones, when holding it to make a call you need to grip the sides of it with the tips of your fingers, if you hold it so the bottom of the phone is against the palm of your hand, then the signal bars drop off slightly, this is because the aerial is located in the bottom of the phone.
It is nothing to be worried about, remember when the iphone 4 came out and people were having signal issues, Steve Jobs from Apple held a seminar for the media and his solution for this problem was to tell everyone just to hold the phone differently, so don't worry.
Have fun."
BAD POINTS -
"The only bad points i can think of, and it is not a fault of the phone is that if you unlock the phone and use an alternate sim card, i used a GiffGaff sim which runs on the O2 network, the 3G reception in the area where i live is not that good, so it was only showing 2 bars of signal(out of 4 bars) and sometimes it dropped off to 0 bars on its own or if i held the phone wrongly, strangely though the phone still dialled out when showing no bars.
One solution to this issue is if you are in a poor reception area for your chosen networks 3G coverage is to set the phone to 'use only 2G networks' when i did that i got 4 bars of signal, but the mobile internet will be slower, so what i was doing was switching to 2G at home and connecting internet through my router, then switching to 3G when i left the house, a bit of a pain i know, which is why i went with solution number 2.
The phone is meant to switch itself automatically to the slower 2G network when it can't receive a 3G signal, but what happens is it it gets a sniff of a 3G signal so does not switch to the 2G network, so you end up with no bars showing and so this cycle keeps repeating itself, this is not an issue i have found in solution 2, only in networks with poor 3G coverage.
Second solution is to use a mobile phone provider with a better 3G coverage, i went with the 3 network, now i don't work for these people but in the last 2 years i have been using them, their 3G coverage has been excellent, my phone now shows 3 bars of signal at home, so no need to keep switching between 2G/3G, and the One plan on a sim only 1 month rolling contract seems good value to me."
ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THE SHOP YOU BOUGHT IT FROM -
"I found the buying experience from Tesco very good, ordered the phone from the Tesco website on a Sunday afternoon and it was ready to pick up from my local Tesco store on the Tuesday when it was convenient for me, so not having to wait at home, you get 14 days to collect your goods, after that they send them back to the Warehouse and refund you your money.
I bought this phone from Tesco because it was cheaper than buying it online or instore from Orange."
Sorry for the long post, but i thought this is the sort of info review sites would like, an honest, unbiased, factual review of this phone and any problems you may face as a standard phone or modded, but it seems they do not want you to mention any other product or service apart from the item you bought.
Now i don't usually bother with filling out these reviews, but i thought i could add some useful info to help other people when buying a product, i bought an Orange San Fran a few weeks ago and have unlocked and upgraded it to Android 2.2 FroYo SS RLS5, i have also encountered a few issues along the way which i thought might help others.
GOOD POINTS -
"Great little phone for the money, most reviews will say the battery life is not very good and you will have to put it on charge every night, i know guys with iphones who have to charge them every night, so don't let that put you off.
A couple of websites where i got a lot of info and help from was http://androidforums.com/ and Android @ MoDaCo
If you leave the phone as standard android 2.1, when you unlock it and use a different networks sim card you will need to manually input new APN's for that networks mobile internet and MMS, you can get the settings from most networks websites or search on the android forums, here is the settings i used for the 3 network - http://androidforums.com/orange-san-francisco-zte-blade/188497-zte-blade-orange-san-fran.html#post2725712
If you do decide to upgrade to 2.2 FroYo, then there are a load of APN's that come with the upgraded software and will become active when you put in that networks sim card.
As with most of these types of smart phones, when holding it to make a call you need to grip the sides of it with the tips of your fingers, if you hold it so the bottom of the phone is against the palm of your hand, then the signal bars drop off slightly, this is because the aerial is located in the bottom of the phone.
It is nothing to be worried about, remember when the iphone 4 came out and people were having signal issues, Steve Jobs from Apple held a seminar for the media and his solution for this problem was to tell everyone just to hold the phone differently, so don't worry.
Have fun."
BAD POINTS -
"The only bad points i can think of, and it is not a fault of the phone is that if you unlock the phone and use an alternate sim card, i used a GiffGaff sim which runs on the O2 network, the 3G reception in the area where i live is not that good, so it was only showing 2 bars of signal(out of 4 bars) and sometimes it dropped off to 0 bars on its own or if i held the phone wrongly, strangely though the phone still dialled out when showing no bars.
One solution to this issue is if you are in a poor reception area for your chosen networks 3G coverage is to set the phone to 'use only 2G networks' when i did that i got 4 bars of signal, but the mobile internet will be slower, so what i was doing was switching to 2G at home and connecting internet through my router, then switching to 3G when i left the house, a bit of a pain i know, which is why i went with solution number 2.
The phone is meant to switch itself automatically to the slower 2G network when it can't receive a 3G signal, but what happens is it it gets a sniff of a 3G signal so does not switch to the 2G network, so you end up with no bars showing and so this cycle keeps repeating itself, this is not an issue i have found in solution 2, only in networks with poor 3G coverage.
Second solution is to use a mobile phone provider with a better 3G coverage, i went with the 3 network, now i don't work for these people but in the last 2 years i have been using them, their 3G coverage has been excellent, my phone now shows 3 bars of signal at home, so no need to keep switching between 2G/3G, and the One plan on a sim only 1 month rolling contract seems good value to me."
ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THE SHOP YOU BOUGHT IT FROM -
"I found the buying experience from Tesco very good, ordered the phone from the Tesco website on a Sunday afternoon and it was ready to pick up from my local Tesco store on the Tuesday when it was convenient for me, so not having to wait at home, you get 14 days to collect your goods, after that they send them back to the Warehouse and refund you your money.
I bought this phone from Tesco because it was cheaper than buying it online or instore from Orange."
Sorry for the long post, but i thought this is the sort of info review sites would like, an honest, unbiased, factual review of this phone and any problems you may face as a standard phone or modded, but it seems they do not want you to mention any other product or service apart from the item you bought.
