Customer Reviews

Nokia N-Gage QD Gaming Phone (AT&T)

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

 

 

Having purchased a new N-Gage QD about a month ago, I have to say that so far I am very impressed and pleased. The phone contains most of the features available on other high-end mobile phones, plus special features that are pretty astonishing. The most obvious advantage of the system is its gaming capabilities. The screen, though smaller than that of a Gameboy Advance, is still large enough to allow a window into the gaming world; you don't feel as if you have to hold it right up to your eyes to see what's going on. The graphic clarity is awesome, and the game sound is excellent and adjustable. You can easily change games on the fly (my phone case even includes a special pocket in which to store games). Outside the gaming environment, the phone is a fully functioning PDA with Internet access, built-in wireless Bluetooth communications and more. With minor adjustments, it can display full-length movies and play MP3s. The device supports music tones as well as polyphonic tones, and the Internet interface is made better by the size of the screen. It's more intuitive than on phones with smaller screens. Unlike its predecessor, the QD's phone is also intuitive; you hold the flat end up against your ear. (On the previous version, the phone had to be held sideways.) If there is a problem with the phone, though, it is the phone itself. It's difficult to hear what people on the other end of the ether are saying. Actually, the phone works best as a speaker phone. In short, I recommend this phone to pretty much everyone. My wife bought a Motorola V400 the same day I got my QD; she already regrets it.

I was a bit hesitant after reading about the crash and burn of the original N-Gage. It sounded like a complete flop. However, it seems as though Nokia may have redeemed themselves by releasing a new and improved N-Gage-the N-Gage QD.

After wrangling with Cingular to get the internet working, I was finally on my way to exploring the full capabilities of this phone. Obviously the main draw is the gaming function so I'll cover that first. I was very impressed with the clarity and sharpness of the picture. Games load and run very fast and the keys allow for quite a bit of versatility. You get used to the controls pretty quick and in my opinion, it just as easy as say, the Gameboy Advance. So far I have played Ashen, Tony Hawk & Tomb Raider, all of which have been quite fun. You forget you are gaming on a PHONE after awhile! I even purchased a Nintendo Emulator and have had a blast playing all the games from my childhood, including all the Super Mario Brothers and Castlevanias. The sound is pretty loud for such small speaker, which really surprised me.

Now for what the phone really is-a phone. I thought I would be compromising the functionality of an actual cell phone for the game features. But fortunately I was wrong. I have very little criticisms. I originally owned the Sanyo 4700 and then 4900 and I wanted a phone that had similar offerings (speaker phone, voice dial, speed dial, ergonomic, etc). First thing-thank God you do not have to talk sideways on *this* N-Gage! You actually hold it like a normal phone! And although it has a lot to do with the carrier, the reception is very clear and crisp. The speaker phone works much better than my 4900 and since I use the headset most of the time, I appreciate the easy access to the jack. Battery life is awesome, especially with the rapid charger which takes about 1½ to 2 hours & gives me anywhere from 24 hours of heavy usage to several days with light usage before needing another charge.

Other cool functions are the MMC card slot for expandable memory and games (again easy access - no removing the battery to insert your card like the old N-Gage), Bluetooth (which is awesome especially if you have a PDA or a dongle for your PC/laptop), a notepad, voice recorder, image viewer, to do list, ring tone composer, video player (software includes Real Player) and image viewer. You can even play MP3's and watch movies if you look in the right place!

All in all this is a great phone. The only gripes that come to mind are: you aren't able to play MP3 and QCP ringtones, you can't display a picture for an incoming call, and a decent case is very difficult to find (hint - the Nokia 3300 fits almost perfect).

To sum it up I would definitely recommend this phone if a) you like games and b) you want your phone to do a lot of cool stuff.

This Nokia phone didnt sell too well but it is still one of the best cell phones out there. I purchased this phone about a week ago and im lovin it. it has all the things you'd expect in a phone and then some. you can play games on it, watch full length films (if you have a big enough memory card) and surf the web. it has a sleek design and will fit in your pocket. this is a great buy for anyone who is looking for a multimedia center in the palm of your hands

With the United States falling to number 5 in technology across the world. It doesn't surprise me to see Nokia forced to take a step backward with the Ngage. It's hard to get games to catch on with Mobile gaming because so many people demand games with multi format options; to take games with them when they upgrade phones. I own the first Ngage which has a built in Radio along with MP3 player and all the other functions the QD has. I use Cingular and I love my phone. Even though I have to load games and memory cards via removing the back cover. I think it's much safer. If anything, I would have made the back cover capable of packing away one or two more memory cards or games on the plate instead of redesign into the QD, which removed the radio by the way. The Ngage is still lacking in earbuds. If you have the money to purchase a bluetooth headset, those rock and look very stylish. Otherwise, the best option you have is the earbuds that come with the phone. Doom doesn't play on the Ngage....that majorly SUCKS. Overall, I would recommend this phone over the new Walkman. The Walkman is just ludicrous in price when the QD is available to you.

Ok, first things first. I used this phone for nearly a year before it was stolen last week. While the phone definitely has its advantages and disadvantages, I was on the lookout for a new phone almost immediately.

Pros:

As I'm sure you aware, the phone was designed to function as a gaming system as well as a cell phone. I thoroughly enjoyed playing Tony Hawk, NCAA 2K4 football, Red Faction and Tomb Raider. All of the games were fun and often had more functionality than the GB Advance equivilent.

On that note, I carried the phone in the same pocket with my keys, loose change, etc. The screen does a great job of resisting scratches.

The layout of the phone makes it easy to navigate menus, although the menus themselves are somewhat counterintuitive.

Battery life was surprisingly long, even when playing games for several hours.

Texting was a breeze, and it seamlessly connected my messages to callers in my phonebook.

I also found the metric/US converter program very useful on more than one occasion.

Cons:

In a year, I never met another person who either owned or knew someone that owned an N-Gage. So much for mobile-to-mobile gaming.

Although this phone is much smaller than the original N-Gage, I still felt like I was carrying around a brick.

No camera?!?

Forget about putting the phone in your pocket without the keys locked! I'm not sure how many times I connected to the internet, called friends, etc because I forgot to lock the keys.

Towards the end of the year, it seemed that the battery needed to be charged more frequently, even though I was playing the games less often.

Games can be pricey! I paid 50 for the phone, and some of the games retail for 35 or more (assuming you can find them). For this I suggest looking online, you can find some great deals.

The rubber protection around the outside of the phone fell off after about 9 months.

System overload? On countless occasions the phone would lock up, freeze or just quit responding, and I had to turn it off and restart it. This gets old quickly.

Summary:

As a phone, I think that the N-Gage is mediocre at best. It has a lot of the functions that most newer phones have, but lacks an appropriate interface to access them. It took me nearly a year to truly develop a proficient knowledge of the phone, and I consider myself to be fairly tech-savvy.
As a portable gaming system, I think that the N-Gage is quite remarkable. There is quite a variety of games available, although you will have to look online to find them. The games are full-length and have most of the features (including secrets) of their PS2 counterpart.

If you're looking for a great cell phone, I would look elsewhere. If you're looking for a decent cellphone with a portable gaming system to kill time, the N-Gage is definitely better than Snake or Minesweep!

Pros: Speakerphone, built-in gaming/data storage capability through standard sd memory cards, easy navigation with joypad, flashy features like bluetooth.

Cons: Speakerphone requires connection before you can turn it on, nobody else i know has it so I have to play with strangers over the internet to play the games, User interface is not intuitive - it is strangely complicated for a nokia phone, No EDGE?!?

Pros -
1) Wide screen but still a compact phone.
2) Sleek looks & Amazing gaming experience.
3) Smart phone with loads of options, I personaly like bluetooth & Notes
Cons -
1) The screen brightens from suspend mode instantaneously. I would love if it brightens slowly. thats the way my old ericson used to work, very easy on sleepy eyes. It used to lit up gradually and wade off gradually too.
2) Carrying this when I am wearing a tight jeans is a pain.
3) The processor is sometimes very slow. Browsing to Contacts will take seconds (2-3) sometimes and gets annoying.

In my opinion, Its a best buy for the money.

I've owned a N-Gage Qd since Christmas of 2004 and I must say I am very impressed as this phone clearly has unlimited potential. With a service known as the N-Gage arena you can compete against other gamers all around the world similar to the XBOX 360's XBOX live! Create a buddy list, get their phone numbers, text them call them make friends.I would highly sugest buying Glimmerati, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, Crash Nitro Kart, Ashen, Rayman 3, Sonic N, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Lara Craft's Tomb Raider....all excelent games that are only $7 at your local EB games and GameStop. With the purchase of a memory card you can download music, full length movies (with a big enough memory card) and best of all you can download a NES,emulator on your N-Gage and enjoy unlimited fun all for a price of $100 for a pre-paid cingular phone.

Dis is da' N-Gage.
*P.S.: 50 Cent Bulletproof is gonna be the best game ever.*

My favorite game ever is Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. whoever says it is a bad game, screw you.

The Ngage is my favorite system yet, it has games like Tomb Raider, which sucks, and Pocket Kingdom, which cusses. And I like the cell phone. The cell phone made my girlfriend, which I had to first get "n-gaged" to in a dream ran away with a man who owns a PSP AND DS. And PS2. And Gamecube. And X-Box. And GBASP. And N64. And Sega Dreamcast. Which all suck.
The suckiest game of all is Halo, where da' bunnies?
Metroid Prime has no bunnies either.
I like bunnies.
Bunnies cewl.
Ngage is delicious, I ate one in one bite, I thought it was a taco. Everybody asks me why I talk to a taco when I'm using the Ngage, people have a good sense of humor nowadays. They kick me in the groin, laugh with me, and either run or drive away. Today the mayor kicked me in my shin, it's bleeding, but I think he has the best sense of humor of all.
Well, actually my mom does. She kicked me in the eye, and I can't feel my toe because she kicked me in the eye.
Everybody calls me this new word for cool called "Demented" and sometimes they even call me "N00bs!"
I call them words like "Buddy" and "Yommama."
Everytime I call somebody a "Yommama" they mamma come and make me some Apple Fist. It tastes like blood, funny mammas!
Butt the N-Gage TODAY! Or you shall be a "Cool Person". Yeah.

Now, everything in this review was a lie. If you beleive what I have just written, you should eat some Apple Fist. It hurts. And 50 Cent: Bulletproof is gonna blow.