Verizon’s Blitz mobile phone appears at first glance to be a text messaging power tool. However, some reviewers have suggested the Blitz is more of a teenager’s phone than a serious contender in the modern phone market. How does the Blitz really perform and compare?
I have owned a Verizon Wireless Blitz since August 2008. That is about nine months at the time I am writing this article. As a Blitz owner I have become accustomed to people asking me about my phone. The Blitz has an unusual design that is more reminiscent of an alphanumeric pager than a mobile phone. This unusual design has prompted a lot of conversations with complete strangers!
Verizon markets the Blitz as a text messaging phone – and indeed it is. Text messaging is actually the reason I bought this phone since my teens refuse to talk and only text message. The unusual design provides for a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to make text messaging fun for those of us who learned to type on a computer rather than on a mobile phone. The keyboard is fully functional and usable. The keys are smaller than on some phones (like the LG Voyager, for instance) but are still usable for someone with large hands. I do find it to be more challenging to hit the right keys right after I cut my fingernails though. All in all I was able to adjust to the Blitz keyboard quickly and now hate having to borrow a phone with a regular keyboard.
Talking on the Blitz is somewhat less enjoyable than text messaging, in my opinion. My last phone was a Motorola W385, a slim flip-phone with a rubberized skin on an aluminum case. The W385 was easy to hold on to while talking. The Blitz, with its odd shape and slick surface seems to be hard to hold and easy to drop while talking. However, the Blitz is Bluetooth enabled and works fine with a wireless headset.
The Blitz supports several Bluetooth profiles, including headset, hands-free, and stereo headset. I was initially disappointed that the Blitz did not support the object transfer protocol for transferring pictures to my laptop. However, the Blitz does support support saving pictures to a MicroSD card. This is actually much more convenient for file transfers if you need to move more than a few pictures.
The camera in the Blitz is 1.3 megapixels and produces 1280 x 960 images of reasonably quality. The camera is actually the best I have personally used in a cell phone. Macro shots come out poorly as do pictures with both bright and dark areas. Considering that it is a cell phone camera it does a reasonable job though.
The Blitz also includes a music player with support for WMA and MP3 formats. You must use a MicroSD card (up to 4GB) in order to use the music player. Unfortunately, you must also use Rhapsody to transfer music to your phone. My attempts to use Windows Media Player or direct file transfer were unsuccessful. This is a rather frustrating limitation. I am accustomed to using drag and drop with a Sandisk Fuze. I also find the music player interface to be somewhat “clunky” and unresponsive. The music player works – but if you’re used to a SanDisk or iPod you will hate this music player. Verizon could really use to improve their music player software in these phones if they want to be competitive in the current market. The fact that Verizon passed on the iPhone may tell a lot about their interest in the mobile phone music market though.
Overall controls are adequate on the Blitz though the buttons for the music player and the camera are both located on the side of the phone right next to each other. This arrangement makes it very easy to hit the wrong key and launch the wrong application. The critical control button problem with the Blitz, and the issue that would keep me from buying another right now, is the menu keys on the face of the phone. Pressing any menu keys when the phone is closed will cause a message to pop up prompting the user to press “OK” to use the menu. Unfortunately, the “OK” button is the most prominent button on the face of the phone. I have accessed the Internet many times while this phone was in my pocket without knowing I had done so. I have even tried powering off the phone but the phone still turned back on in my pocket. I have talked to other Verizon Blitz owners who have reported the same problem. No one seems to make phone calls unintentionally – but unintended Internet access seems to be common. This could be an expensive surprise depending on your wireless plan.
The Blitz includes all of the standard features one would expect on an average mobile phone: camera, music player, Bluetooth, and Internet-enabled. The QWERTY keyboard is the distinct advantage the Blitz possesses. The biggest problem with the Blitz is the poor layout of the external control keys (main menu, camera, and music player). The Blitz is a decent phone and I have had no service problems. However, if you plan to carry this phone in your pocket you may have problems with unintended dialing. If you don’t need to carry this phone in a pocket and like to text message then the Blitz may be just the phone for you.
