Handheld Reviews - Expert and user reviews

Casio G’zOne Rock Review

Style and substance - a few layers of protective substance - is this Casio G’zOne handset Rock ($ 150 with a Verizon contract for two years; Award 12/14/09) is everything. This cell phone is designed for wet outdoor enthusiasts who appreciate features like an electronic compass, a simulated tide and push-to-talk services, but want their robust handset does not look the part.

External and internal shocks and a textured rubber that will restore the 4.4 ounce solid phone, be sure: great, live presentations give the impression of a handset that can take erratically and machine life. Older users will appreciate the Rock’s roomy, responsive keypad buttons, and the big numbers that appear on the screen when dialing. The left side of the phone has a standard headphone jack, a red push-to-TALK button (requires compatible service plan), a toggle switch and a volume button programmable defaults Utilities menu of the rock. The right side offers charging contacts and a mini-USB port.

While the sculpted matte-black-style clamshell phone is long on features for hikers and fishermen, it is also a competent working with more basic functions. The Rock is built to military specifications (MIL-STD-810F) in terms of its ability to withstand drops and extreme temperatures, and its resistance to dust and moisture.

In my casual tests, call quality was very good, with a volume large enough and local effect (a few of your own voice that sends the listener back to discourage you from crying) to make the sound more rock, like a a wired home phone mobile phone. The loudspeaker is particularly powerful - volume has not been a problem. That is to be expected from a device designed for outdoor use frequently.

The Rock has some useful features to help you get up and run like a slide show with a vocal track that shows you the phone features e-mail and turn Navigator Verizon VZ-by-turn navigation utility. A wizard helps you set up short default tone, layout of menus and other basic items.

Browsing the Web 2.1-The Rock’s inches, 240 x 320 pixels, 65,000 colors on the screen using the button to toggle the unit key and middle mouse is sufficient, but this does not compare to navigation Web smooth, say, an iPhone or an Android handset. The browser offers preloaded links to sites optimized for mobile phones.

The rock has a practical and bright 0.9-inch monochrome external screen that displays the time when the phone is in standby or data identifying the caller when a call comes in. Even if it supports instant messaging, The Rock does not have a QWERTY keyboard and n ‘T, if not optimized for text-user satisfaction.

According to Casio, the Rock of the lithium-ion battery provides up to 5 hours of talk time and 630 hours (26.25 days) of standby time. The phone supports stereo Bluetooth devices wirelessly with a GPS receiver and runs on Verizon Wireless’s 3G high-speed data network, but does not offer Wi-fi.

A button on the lower left side opens the G’zGear Utilities menu, which includes an electronic compass, pedometer, thermometer, an ocean tide calculator, a sunrise and sunset, guide, and a timetable Astro. These utilities continue to work via the external screen when the phone is closed.

The pictures I took with the 2 megapixel camera are acceptable for a cell phone, but the flash tended to create points of light. The phone includes 64MB of internal memory, but you can expand that by adding a MicroSD memory card.

As a phone that can go from a fishing trip to the boardroom to the hip pocket of a klutz desperate, the Casio G’zOne Rock holds its own, but it will not be people who need ‘better wow or text on the Web.

Pros
Ruggedized exterior
Excellent call quality

Cons
Camera flash may cause bright spots
Subpar Web browser

Conclusion
The sturdy Casio G’zOne Rock phone will appeal to outdoors types, but anyone looking for advanced multimedia capabilities might be disappointed.