These rough and tumble handsets were designed to take a licking and keep on calling. Will the eye-catching G'zOne proclaim victory, or will the tough-as-nails i580 come out on top?
Review summary of the Verizon Wireless G'zOne Type-V:
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Full review of the Verizon Wireless G'zOne Type-V:
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Round 1: Ruggedness and design
The Verizon Wireless G'zOne Type-V definitely sports a striking look with a cool round external display and its football-helmet like plastic bumper, but the Motorola i580 trims down on the bulk and heft (the i580 is 0.2 ounces lighter than the G'zOne) and still manages to feel sturdy and durable thanks to its head-to-toe rubber casing. Both clamshells survived our water-resistance tests; we held both handsets under running shower heads and they continued to function normally. In the end, however, the i580 bested the G’zOne in our shock and drop trials -- in fact, the i580 is probably the toughest phone we've ever tested. We dropped both handsets on tile, hardwood and concrete, and the i580 didn't have a scratch on it, whereas the G'zOne suffered a few battle scars when it came to the concrete.
Winner: Motorola i580
Round 2: Calling
Neither phone wowed us when it came to call quality; both suffered from weak reception and calls that picked up a bit of static. However, the reception on the i580 was very shifty and would lose or gain bars while we stayed in place. Talk time was also an area where neither handset excelled, with both phones producing about three hours of talk time, but the G'zOne did perform slightly better and got about 15 minutes more than the i580. The real deciding factor in this category was calling features. The G'zOne comes up well short, lacking Bluetooth and conference calling. While it does offer speaker-independent voice dialing (a big plus in our book), it's still not enough to recover the ground it lost.
Winner: Motorola i580
Round 3: Messaging
This is clearly the area where the G'zOne overshadows the i580. Typing on the i580's keypad was uncomfortable due to the hard-to-press buttons and the lack of a dedicated back key. The Motorola handset also couldn't fit as many characters on the screen (120 compared to 143), and messages were difficult to read since the phone's wallpaper remained distractingly in the background. On the other hand, the G'zOne's keypad was convenient, with large, distinguishable buttons that made typing a breeze, though we would like to see it updated with auto-capitalization.
Winner: Verizon Wireless G'zOne Type-V
Round 4: Multimedia
While entertainment isn't something one usually associates with a Nextel phone, the Motorola i580 includes an MP3 player, but without access to the Sprint Music store, all your songs must be side-loaded via the microSD expansion slot. Even though the G'zOne surprisingly doesn't include microSD memory expansion or an MP3 player, the flip-phone takes advantage of its 3G capabilities and Verizon Wireless' V Cast video service. Both handsets also boast cameras, but once again G'zOne comes out on top by serving up a 2-megapixel camera compared to the 1.3-megapixel camera on the i580. Though it's not a huge difference, picture quality on the G'zOne was noticeably better.
Winner: Verizon Wireless G'zOne Type-V
Round 5: Network capabilities
The G'zOne runs on Verizon Wireless' EV-DO high-speed network and you might think that this gives it the upper-hand. However, the Motorola i580 runs on the iDEN network and supports all the push-to-talk features that Nextel fans love. While deciding between the 3G network and the aging, but still capable iDen network was a tough call, we ultimately felt that most customers interested in a rugged phone would be drawn to the many calling features that push-to-talk has to offer, over the multimedia capabilities that come along with EV-DO.
Winner: Motorola i580
And the winner is…
Even though the Gz’One blows the out of the water Motorola i580 when it came to messaging and outclasses the Nextel phone in the multimedia department, the key categories in this duel were ruggedness and network capabilities. The i580, with its walkie-talkie usefulness, trumps the EV-DO network, of which the G'zOne hardly takes advantage. The G'zOne can definitely take a beating, and a drowning for that matter, but it's no match for the near indestructible i580 that, when flung across a room just seems to smile and ask: "Is that all you got?"
Champion: Motorola i580
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Motorola i580
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Score: 55% When: July 2006 Worth: $230 - $250 Carrier: Sprint Nextel
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This military-grade clamshell promises to withstand drops, dust and even rain, and it packs in a 1.3-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and a music player. Did it pass our punishing boot camp?
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Verizon Wireless G'zOne Type-V
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Score: 56% When: October 2006 Worth: $100 Carrier: Verizon Wireless
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This water-resistant, rough-and-tumble clamshell packs in EV-DO support, a 2-megapixel camera and mobile video. Does it sink or swim? Jennifer Hooker puts the G'zOne Type-V to the test.
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