Customer Reviews

Casio G'zOne Brigade C741 Phone (Verizon Wireless)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I bought this phone as a replacement upgrade to a LG Voyager, with the touch screen. It was 2 and a half years old, wasn't working as well as it used to. It was my 3rd LG phone. As durable as they were, I had been looking for a more durable replacement, or addition I could use while working. Two years I considered other Casio Gz'One phones as a secondary phone. Their reputations weren't bad. Some minor reliability issues. The biggest turnoff was the added expense. Until I saw this in the Verizon store, and I had an epiphany. It did everything my LG Voyager did, but was armored against everything I would throw against it while working(or playing). The two biggest negatives people say about it is it is too bulky, and it is ugly. The people who said this are obviously shallow, and conceited and are afraid of someone seeing them with it in public. Its lighter then most Nextel phones. And the coverage is way better. No other phone shares the features this does. As for the price, this phone has to be built to a higher standard then most phones. You are paying for water tight O rings. Design, and durability. It isnt as pretty as a Droid, or quick as a Nokia N900. It is a tool, for working class people. You can rely on it in the worst scenarios to call for help, your Mom and your significant other to buy milk on their way home. It just works. Even if it falls in the puddle next to your car on a cold winter morning. Lets see a Droid, or ANY other phone do that.

My wife and I should be hired by a phone manufacturer to test out the durability of their phones. I've never seen anyone as hard on a phone (not in the construction business or something) as we are, so it has been a challenge to find a phone that was durable enough to handle us...until now!!! My wife and I both got a Brigade so we are quickly putting it to the test in every area imaginable. I don't think that the phone is ugly, and it is heavy if you are comparing it to a sheet of paper! I've read a review where someone said it was like carrying around an anchor...what have you been talking on...a flash drive!? This phone is actually lighter than my AT&T Smartphone that it's replacing. We've dropped the phone a ton already and it still looks like it just came out of the box! I've had it in the rain, wore it on my hip while cutting grass, dropped it in the soccer field while playing, and it was trampled a few times, kicked across my hardwood floor by my 5 year old, and just for grins, I've even had entire conversations on the phone while I was taking a shower! This thing seems to be indestructible! The buttons are easy to use, the phone is easy to navigate, the qwerty keyboard buttons are easy to push without hitting multiple keys, the camera and video camera are sweet (great quality on both), and I've used the flashlight to find everything from items I dropped under my seat, to my keys in the yard! The speaker phone isn't just for show! You can actually hear (clearly) the people you are talking to, and they can hear you! I really like the key lock feature (it's on a timer) because I've done a lot less butt dialing than I did on my touch screen during the times when I forgot my case. The display screen looks great, and music sounds really good on the speaker. I can't comment on the Push-to-talk feature because I haven't used it, but it is clearly marked with a big red button on the side of the phone. The only thing that I've had to adjust to is the data plan. You are required to get at least the $9.99 data plan, and I'm not a phone internet user so I've had to try to find a way to "get my money's worth" through features like Mobile E-Mail. Bottom line, if you want a TOUGH phone that still looks good, is functional, and DOES NOT weigh 100lbs, this IS your phone!!! If you are someone who wants to be able to surf the net while driving, you will be greatly disappointed because the phone only has a mobile web browser and not a "true" HTML browser like an iphone or Droid...but you could put the Droid in one hand, the Brigade in the other, use the Brigade to Smash the Droid, and then call someone with the Brigade to tell them what you just did...[..]!!!!

Got this because my LG Envy Touch was dying. NEVER BUY LG PHONES!
I could not be more happy. Phone is built to last, already dropped it on a hard floor, not a scratch.
I have read other complaints about poor voice quality with this phone, but for me, callers sound crystal clear, and my callers have no complaints.
One thing I noticed is my bluetooth reception has improved with the Casio Brigade, on my other device I would always hear static, no static now!
Also has very loud ringers, and a loud and clear speakerphone as well.
So as a phone it works great!
I haven't used the web browser, I don't have the data plan, so I can't comment on it.
It takes great pictures and video for such a rugged looking phone, better than my LG Envy Touch.
Also has a great qwerty keyboard. I have large fingers, so I need a big keyboard, keys feel great, very responsive.
Also has a flashlight, comes in handy at times.
Voice recognition works great, I only need say a command one time, and it will understand me, my other stupid phone I would have to repeat the command several times, and it still wouldn't understand what I said.
And it is not heavy, I have read reviews where people complain, maybe if you weigh 90 lbs it might seem heavy, but it's about the same weight as my Envy Touch.
Great cellphone overall, this is my first Casio, I'm very pleased so far.

I was forced to go back to Verizon after 5 years due to bad service from At&t and than BOOST Mobile and than Sprint(Did not get signal from the latter two in my house or a few areas in my community) I had a smart phone from Sprint for the 5 days I had their service.(they lied and said the sprint service would be better than their boost signal, it was exactly the same.lol) The smartphone was nice to have but I needed good call qality first and foremost so I went back to Verizon after a 5 year hiatus. I decided I wanted a durable phone and since I didnt care to pay the higher Data fees for a full fledged smartphone I went for the Casio Brigade.

When I purchased the phone it had the required $9.99 data fee.(ITS NO LONGER REQUIRED ON THIS PHONE) I decided to give it a try. Of course as mentioned in all the other reviews the browsing experience is horrible on this phone. It uses Verizons standard browser and any other is blocked from all of Verizons phones. BUT it doesnt make it a bad phone. I didnt get it for web browsing and its NOT a smartphone. So if your intention is to get a good browser phone go somewhere else. (THOUGH I hear Verizon is considering finally letting many of their phones accept OPERA MINI. If this is the case it could make this phones browsing experience very enjoyable.)

So far the phone has been a joy to use. Great call quality, easy to use, durable build and a great qwerty keyboard.(The period is placed in a weird spot but you quickly get used to it) The battery also lasts me about 2 or 3 days of regular phone use. Longest battery I have ever had on a cell phone.

The size of the phone isnt nearly as big as people make it out to be. Its actually smaller in length and width of an iphone 3 and about 30% thicker. It is a little heavier than many thin smartphones but I dont see it as a problem. Unless you are a girl or male emo who like to shove their phone in tight skinny jeans, this phone is not a problem to carry. I suggest giving it a try at a verizon store before you purchase. I usually carry it in my front pants pocket or shirt or jacket breast pocket.

I also love the retro look of the phone. I love having physical buttons on the outside of my phone again. The lock feature is great and there is little chance of making an accidental call in your pocket.

There was a recent update for this phone and it resolves a few issues. I havent encountered any issues using the phone so far.(after a month)

As for durability this phone is very rugged BUT one has to realize its NOT indestructable. I have read many reviews where people had issues with the phone breaking or getting water logged. The phone can only be submerged in 3 feet of water for about a half hour. After that you are taking a chance on ruining the phone. ALSO all hatchs have to be securely closed as well as the battery cover. It they are not closed properly the phone WILL get damaged. Its very easy to mistake the battery cover for closed. If its not pressed completely flush its NOT watertight. I can only suspect that many people had either of these two things not completely shut OR they had the phone submerged too long.

AGAIN this is a DURABLE RUGGED phone, NOT INDESTRUCTABLE. It will take a rather hard fall from several feet that would break most smartphones but may not survive a gargantuan fall a couple of stories off a building. It will survive being driven over by a car closed but WILL take some damage if its open.

Overall great phone. Very easy to use. Im very pleased.

EDIT 12-09-10

I ended up returning the first phone because of a loose hinge. I was ok with getting a replacement. I got the second one and the hinge was perfect but unfortunatley the end and clr buttons were mushy. They did not have the same feeling as my first phone.(I compared them) So I returned that one also.(AMAZON WIRELESS was really cool about it I got the third phone in 20 hours. Once I got the third phone sadly it had the button issue, as well as a software issue with the keys, the beeping on the keys would go completely out at random. Im convinced I just got bad luck and got three bad ones in row.

I went to three diffrent Verizons to check out their floor model brigade just in case I was hallucinating. I was not. The floor models worked perfect and had been played with for months by customers. One of the sales ladies checked out my phone and agreed with me something was wrong with the keys. I reluctantly called back Amazon wireless and decided it was best just to change phones. I didnt want to chance another one. If I had been dealing with a store I would have but I didnt want to keep sending phones out.LOL Plus Amazon wireless said the 4th time would be the last and I would have to use warranty. So I decided to bite the bullet and get the HTC Incredible. Yes a smartphone but it was a penny and I can use the cash back from the Brigade for 6 months worth of the data plan.

The Brigade is still a really good phone and I really liked it. Just be aware that their can be some construction quality issues. So make sure yours is solid before you commit to it for two years.

I did change my stars from 5 to 4 because of the issues. I will say that AMAZONWIRELESS treated me great and had no problem exchanging phones. Their service was great and I plan on using them in the future.

While I do love this phone, it's does have a few small qwerks.

Battery Life:
I have been using this phone for 5 months, and I have found the battery life to be terrific. I can charge it for a few hours and it will hold a charge for days! I spend a few hours on the phone each day and text around 15-30 texts a day, and my phone will typically not need charged for about 4 days. Even when there are no bars left and it's blinking "low battery", I have left it on overnight to finish draining the battery, and 8 hours later when I get up, the phone still hasn't died.

Buttons:
This phone it great for texting. I have no problems at all hitting other keys when I'm dialing.

Durability:
Takes hits and keeps on going. I have answered the phone and texted in shower many times. I drop my phone all the time. It just doesn't phase it at all.

Design/Looks:
It's not a touch screen. It's not going to win some fancy glossy style award. It does not look like anything made from Apple or Sony. But somehow, it seems to constantly turn heads. I constantly have both women and men (complete strangers) ask me about my phone and think it looks awesome. Everyone has a shiny, tiny, touchscreen phone. This one people always stop and say..."wow what is that?". They always want to know what provider carries the phone.

Now for the qwerks. These things are not all necessarily bad things. Just different.

When your text messaging, they save in a stackable design. If your familiar at all with Gmail, and how email conversations stack there, this is the same. Basically, all texts from one person go in the same file. While your texting, you need to be wary of incoming texts. For some reason, you can be texting person "A" and if person "B" sends you a text and you get it while typing, the phone number of the text you are sending to person "A" gets switched to person "B".

The key guard is set to too many clicks when you first get the phone. You need to go into the phones settings and lower it to 1 button click or else it will drive you mad. Even set to 1 button click, it still takes 2 to unlock it. The first click brings up the prompt to press the unlock key, the second click unlocks it. There is a setting for no keyguard if you chose.

Little bit of lag:
When switching to different screens, there can sometimes be a subtle lag. Not when texting, but after I unlock the phone to dial a number, there is a half second lag before I can start dialing. I love the phone too much to care about it. But it takes a few days of using the phone constantly to not notice it every time.

Keyguard doesn't work for number 9 and # key. I have no idea why, but even with the keyguard on, you can still press the 9 or the # keys. This may have been done on purpose for some kind of feature, but it can sometimes be annoying to always have to hit clear to clear out the screen before making a call.

So there it is. I love this phone myself. It feels like a real phone in my hand instead of a tiny piece of touch-screen glass. I can lose it in a Minnesota snow drift for a week and it will still work when I find it. I can drop on the ground when I'm running in from the rain and it will still work when I go back out to get it. It has a super BRIGHT LED flashlight feature on it that I have used so many times. It has push-to-talk for those who use that feature. The camera take AMAZING pictures for a rugged cell phone! And it has a great large keyboard for texting. Even with it's few qwerks, I still love this phone and want no other.

(Edited to add)
The sound from the call quality is awesome. I hear people perfectly. Much better than on my husbands Casio Boulder. I am a stickler for how well I can hear people and how well they can hear me. All the bells and whistles on a phone don't matter if the basic call quality is bad. I upgraded to this from an LG Chocolate and everyone immediately asked if I got a new phone when I called them. I asked why and they said they could hear me MUCH better.

I can't say anything about the internet browser and such. I don't think this phone was really meant to be a BlackBerry or a Driod. It's pretty much the opposite of that, so if that's what your looking for, your not going to find it in this. This is a rugged cell phone, an awesome one at that. Not a PDA, Smart Phone, mini-computer. Looking for the anti-iPhone? This would be it.

Purchased this phone for active 20 y.o. son. Works near water, likes boating and scuba diving, and has lost a phone (actually two) phones to light water damage. Has held up to outdoor work and severe humidity, but the phone hasn't gone swimming yet. He likes the added flashlight, etc. Best price from Amazon, as we did not want to commit to yet another service plan.

I purchased this phone from Amazon before you had to commit to a phone plan. I absolutely love the phone. It does what I need it to and that is text and talk. From the reviews I've read, using it for anything else would be frustrating. The phone occasionally resets itself and when receiving texts or pics, I have to turn the power off then back on to reset the reminder for the same. I don't mind having to do that but it is a little annoying. I went to this phone from a Blackberry 9630. I just didn't like being stuck in a contract with Verizon for Internet service. Even with the little quirks this phone has, I still love it.

This isn't just a phone that rejects the giant 6 inch screens of the Iphone and Droid generation, this phone is really built with functionality in mind. The seals are amazingly more than most could ask for (youtube a video where a guy freezes this phone in water then thaws it and calls with it), the camera is really decent (you can turn the flash on permanently for a really bright flashlight function, which is very useful to me),the speaker is loud (good and bad), it flips open with a giant QWERTY keyboard which is functional and durable (big keys), its got a cool design (for those who like the durable brick style; okay, a little too bulky but I'd rather have that than a frail P.O.S. touchscreen phone. Not much to add at this time, I like this thing and am glad I bought it. I made a few sacrifices from my Blackberry (internet is pointless on it), but I'd rather have this phone for 2+ years than a Blackberry for 8 months that falls apart when it falls out of your pocket (among other things I hate about Blackberrys).

Pros: "Water Proof. Nice display & menus, Charging Cradle"

Cons: "Lots of bugs, Power cycles. Price. Beeping keypad"

First off, This phone has the same menu system as the Verizon Cosmos.

This phone with the current initial firmware powers off and back on when sending a reply text message.

The battery is HUGE but the batter life is just on par with other new phones? beats me too...

Love the charging cradle.

The lock button on outer dialing pad is annoying. The first hit just wakes up the phone then you have to unlock it then do your business. Theres more to it you will just have to see when you get it.

The buttons on the outer dial pad beep all the time when in my pocket because they stick out. Don't let anyone tell you that you can turn off key-pad volume and stop it from BEEPING, IT DON'T WORK. I turned off key-pad volume and still beeped .....

Has a great speaker phone sound and is very loud. Better than most.

Calls sound good when listening and talking per the other listener tells me.

PHONE AUTOMATICALLY REBOOTS ITS SELF
I sent my three Brigades back to Verizon after I had to replace one of them and all three were still Power-Cycling when I hit SEND when sending a "reply" message.
You wont notice the rebooting of the phone if you hit send and fold it up and put it in your pocket. UNLESS, you have the phone security set to lock when it powers off. In this case the next time you use the phone you will notice that it is wanting the unlock code. This is because of a power cycle. I had three of them and every one would power cycle when sending text messages. I suspect this will be fixed with a firmware update but could take months.

If they fix this and drop price I would like to have again.

Oh, the reception is not impressive. My old black voyager did better on reception.

I've had a Casio Brigade for about a year now. I had an earlier Casio GzOne phone without internet or the qwerty keyboard. I really liked that phone and it held up to a ton of abuse but I wanted internet and easier texting so I tried out an LG Envy Touch. What a mistake that was, after six months and three exchanges I finally got a phone that worked but by then I was already considering giving up internet and just getting a GzOne Boulder. Then I saw that Verizon was getting the Brigade and that was the perfect answer for me. A tough phone that had internet and a qwerty keyboard for texting. I pestered Verizon until they worked out a way for me to get out of my contract way early and get the Brigade (I am a very good customer and also pretty persistent). I sold the Envy to a friend for cheap, and a full warning of my problems with it (luckily they haven't had a single problem with it and love it).

I got the Brigade and it was exactly what I was looking for. Easy texting, great camera, SD card, internet, and tough. It isn't perfect, but it gets the job done pretty good. My complaints are minor and nothing I can't live with, unlike the LG Envy Touch. Here are my demerits:

I carry the phone in my pocket and the keys make noise if they are pressed, even when the keyboard is locked, unless you turn off the sounds for the keys.

The internet browser is slow and clunky. Internet access is not this phone's claim to fame like an Iphone, and it lives down to that claim. My daughter now has a Droid X and that phone is lightening quick on the internet while my Brigade is like driving in the slow lane. The browser doesn't do a very good job of displaying web pages no matter what settings I choose. It may be the phone screen hardware, the browser, or something else but web pages don't look like they do on other phones or a home pc. You also can't click on some boxes or key in data like a name/address on some web pages. That seems hit or miss depending on the web page. Overall, it has internet access but it's not something you want to do for very long or you might end up testing the shock absorbing capabilities of this phone as you throw it against the wall.

I carry the phone in my pocket and when I pull it out to answer it I usually hit some button that kills the call and I have to call the person back. I have the keyboard lock turned to on and I have asked Verizon what other setting I can use to prevent this but I have had no luck so far. My friends just know to either call right back or wait for met to call them right back. In fact, one friend liked my phone so much he went out and got a Brigade too.

As I said, I love the phone overall but it has a few areas that could be improved in the next model.