Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The big question that I had with this phone is if the simplicity of this device is worth the extra expense over just getting a Samsung Galaxy Ace phone, and getting a monthly plan with Verizon. This phone uses the Verizon network, and GreatCall's plan has a markup of about twice what you would get directly from Verizon, if you use Verizon's prepaid service. GreatCall's is a lot more granular and easy to understand than Verizon's, so it might be worth it for the simplicty. My conclusion is definitely get this if you're getting a phone for a parent who is in another state, and they've never used a smartphone before. Or, if you've never used a smartphone before and you just want a simple device. I really liked the simple interface with this. With my previous phone, it took me a few weeks to figure out how to just dial a number. With this phone, all you have to do is press the phone button, and you're immediately in the dialing screen. It saves all of the numbers, and syncs with your Google contacts, and has an easy way to star your favorite contacts. So, for a phone that just makes phone calls, it does this well. The call quality is great, too. The menu is extremely scaled down, but I really liked the way they scaled it down. Calling and voicemail are very prominent. They're the top two buttons. It's very easy to start taking pictures on this phone, and to view your pictures. With my evaluation copy, I wasn't able to utilize the GreatCall 5Star features, but I'll update my review if I figure it out. These are basically some additional apps that do things like get help from GreatCall agents, ask real doctors questions, and a quick connect to 911. I talked to customer service once, and I was pleasantly surprised that they seem to have 24/7 customer service. The customer service person was very nice and helpful. Pros: +Friendly customer service +Excellent, simple interface +Has the full power of Android, it's Android 4.3 +Comes pre-loaded with all of Google's apps +Automatically adds apps from the Play store to the All Apps menu +Has restart as part of the Power menu +Still works well, even if you take a while to log in with Google +Pretty easy to switch between the simple interface and the regular Android interface Cons: -No simple way to uninstall applications on the simplified interface -Phone is useless once you stop using GreatCall, which you probably will eventually -There are better options out there if you're not clueless about smart phones -Will probably never upgrade past Android 4.3 -Battery life isn't very good -To figure out how to get the battery to stop rapidly draining, you'll need advanced cell phone knowledge