Customer Reviews

Motorola i836 Nextel iDen PTT rugged Gray cell phone

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I like the design features and everything in this phone but the battery life. As the previous reviewer said battery drops dead by the end of the day even if use it for just few minuts only. But the specifications says 80 hrs stand by time. It is not even lasting 40 hours as standby(No calls at all) let alone 80 hours. Don't buy this unless you want to charge it daily. If the battery life is like this in new phone I wonder how it would be after 1 year use. I strongly recommend aganist buying this phone.

I had 3 different i836's and all had the same problems. The phone looks great but it ends there. The battery life is short & the signal sucks - I went from an i205 that I had for 5 years - to the 836 which cut off 36% of my calls (according to Nextel's own records) - this phone is the worst phone I ever used - it goes from full signal (5 bars) to no service all day long - just back and forth. I use about 6000 minutes a month and I need a dependable phone and service provider. I wasted hours and hours arguing with Nextel and got nowhere. After 2 months of torture I cancelled my service with Sprint / Nextel they charged me $200 temination fee and refused to allow me to return the $100 i836. I went into Verizon, got a Kyocera phone and it works great. I'm paying more for my monthly service, but it just works - with no hassles. The i836 is now a $300 paperweight. I would rather stick needles in my eyes then deal with Sprint / Nextel again. What a way to treat a 9 year loyal customer Nextel. Way to go.......

I have owned the i836 for about two weeks now. The good features of this phone are of course its size and weight. The software is basically identical to the i730 or i830. The aesthetics are the only apparent difference. The buttons for the DC, speaker toggle, and volume control are closer together than on the previous models due to the small size, so you may occasionally hit the wrong ones. My biggest complaint with this phone is the duration of the battery. I consider myself a moderate user (1 hour phone usage and DC combined per day) and my battery is always close to dead at the end of the day. A larger size battery may be available, but then the leather case supplied with the phone won't fit.
I am a former T-Mobile user and have had several of their phones, the last being the Motorola V600. I don't know if it is fair to compare the two, but the interface on the V600 is substantially easier to use. It seems to me that the interfaces on most Nextel phones are very basic and not particularly user friendly, including the i836. Also, there are no connectivity options, (bluetooth, etc) which is a minus for me. Altogether not bad, but don't build yourself up. This is just an i730 in a nicer case.

Ok, let's face it...you are a Nextel user, love the DC/GC, and use the phone for business or pleasure, but your phone is

1) Humongous Brick (I355, i315, i530, i325), but durable

2) Small (i830), but susceptible to scratches and tinny sound, and either not resistant to heavy use or just too dang odd looking to be a Nextel phone....

This is the answer! I have been using my i836 for a week-it is great! As a previous user of all the above phones, this is the best....feels lighter than the i830, sounds better, and the casing holds up better.

Comes with all the features...not only DC/GC, but web and message capable, bright color display, and a NICE case from Motorola for your belt, leather case, nice and easy access.

All the usuals....datebook, GPS, call listing, java apps, etc.

Hey, I can never go back to the bricks......this is a great phone! Five stars !

This phone is awful, I upgraded because my i80 (?) an old nextel brick was just too big and it snapped in half. this phone is the smalles they make right now. It has horrible battery l;ife, I am on my second battery because it will just cut out without warning when I am on the phone and have barely used it after a full charge. the signal is terrible, I don't have reception in places that I did with my older phone. the case scratches and chips easily and it just doesn't work!! If I paid for the phone I would have given it up long ago, but I use it for work heavily, dc and phone - when the battery is charged it does work fine. Another annoying thing is the volume buttons on the outside of the phone are easily pressed if the phone is in your pocket and will take itself off of vibrate without you knowing.

All nextel phones have horrible battery life, but some of them don't drop calls as much!

For looks it is a nice phone, for everyday use... Dont waste your money. Not good signal, terrible sound on the speaker and very delicate to most regular use. I used for a long time the i90c... I miss it even though it was a bigger phone. I would not recomend it.

I am on i836 number 2. My sister and I got these phones at the same time. The little metal cover and then the screen fell off the faceplate after a couple of months of usage. Then the buttons started failing (I'd have to press the end button 3-4 times before a call would actually disconnect). I could almost deal with the phone if the service worked consistently. Nextel service has become the biggest joke on the planet. And the products have got to pot as well. I had the insurance so I was (after much aruging, kicking and screaming) able to get a (new) replacement. Now, only a couple of months later, the SAME EXACT thing is happening again. My sister is experiencing weirdness where the display takes forever to get the foreground banner. I suspect its a circuit issue. If it wouldn't cost $200, Nextel would be eating my dust! Don't waste your time with this 'pretty' phone that is unless you don't plan to use it.

Do yourself a HUGE favor and DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY on this phone~! Trust me and you will be glad you did! I am looking for my 3rd phone and it will not be another i836 as the first 2 were!
I have been a next el owner for 5 years and this is the WORST phone I HAVE EVER OWNED! It looks pretty YES it is sharp looking that made me want it! As a business woman I wanted something professional looking I slapped the flip down and the whole screen went blank, I though ok WELL maybe will take the battery out and try it, I took the battery door off and it broke! What did nextel do they made me buy another saying it could not be repaired! I thought ok well maybe I shut it to hard and gave it another shot, bought another and this battery door CAME broken. Ugggh a nightmare! After 4 months I DROPPED THE PHONE 1 TIME and the screen went out again. DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE! I have had phones that lasted a long time this one is a pretty piece of junk

I had been very happy with my Motorola phone until the battery started losing its charge within a day, even when the phone was turned off. The friendly but incompetent customer support kept me on the phone for an average of 40 minutes for the repeated calls trying to figure out the problem. After the phone had finally been sent to their technical service center, they returned it to me that the phone was irreperable "due to customer abuse." I have done nothing to that phone that could have caused any damage (unless using it to make phone calls counts as "customer abuse"), but got the same comment, without explanation after I had sent the phone in for a second time for reevaluation. It seems that Motorola is just trying to get out of fixing or replacing the phone free of charge under warranty. You'll be fine with a Motorola phone as long as it works. After that, you're on your own.

You might be thinking to yourself "Those people that are complaining about lack of service or crappy speakers are doing just that...complaining. They probably just live farther away from the towers and that must be the reason they didn't have service. I'll be fine. Right?" Wrong.
Ok. Well, let me give you a little proof. We've had Nextel for a very long time. Most of the phones we bought from Nextel worked awesome. We had a full signal with every phone. Never had a dropped call, never had a problem with speakers. Not to mention, we live right down the road from a tower so we figured we wouldn't have to worry about the signal thing. Then my mother wanted a more compact phone. This is a slightly skinnier phone than most. We got this one before reading any reviews. Now, I have a big family so naturally we take the easy way when it comes to calling someone in for dinner. A lot of the time we would just call them on a cell phone. Ok Well, in a family of 8, guess who's phone was the only phone with no bars. Correct, my mom's. Every other phone in the house had every single bar, and my mom's phone had no service what-so-ever. Out of 8 phones that isn't very good odds. So obviously signs point to the phone as the problem. It was like the phone picked and chose when to get a signal or not. It is not a very reliable phone. Truthfully, I'm shocked anyones ever gotten a signal at all with this phone because we live right down the road from a tower, and still, we barely even got a signal with that phone when every other nextel phone in the house had a full signal, even in the basement!
Truthfully, my recommendation would be, if you are even considering buying this phone, just because of any good reviews you've read, I'd say don't take your chances and buy a phone that has at least a little more good reviews than this one.