I am looking at getting this phone bc my T616 is terrible (drops lots of calls). Any feedback on it?

 

I recently switched from S56 to SE T616. S56 worked fine w/TL, but it was no way near SE T616. S56's software or keypads are not nice as SE T616 not to mention the battery life of S56 is less than 50% of SE T616. You may want to look into upgrading yoru firmware adn see if it works better.

 

I get really bad echos and lots of lost calls. I read the firmware fix list and not sure that would do the trick. Did you get any echos on S56?

 

No echos with either phone (AT&T in DC area). If you are used to using SE T616, trust me, you will be disappointed with Siemens S56.

 

Where can I download the S56 Flex ?

 

I updated the firmware on my T616. Hope that helps. Will let u know.

 

Your problem has more to do with the fact that you have AT&T than anything else. Switching from AT&T to Verizon two Decembers ago turned out to be amongst one of the happiest days of my life. I'd rather have a phone that allows me to make & receive calls everywhere I need to rather than having one that works with the TL's conveniences.

The Feb 2004 issue of Consumer Reports with the glowing TL rating was also their annual cell phones & plans issue. AT&T and Sprint were rated the poorest service nationwide. Verizon was rated tops EVERYWHERE.

It's true, a cell phone IS only as good as the network it's on.

 

I have the S56 (cingular) and have no problems with the hfl. HOWEVER, this phone has the worst user interface IMO and is not that intuitive at all. For instance, for the ringer volume, if you want to switch to vibrate, your choices are "Normal environment", "Quiet environ.", and "Noisy environ". I mean c'mon. Can't you just call them high medium and vibrate? Also, it seems as though you have to change at least 2 settings to get the phone from vibrate to ringer and vice versa. The phonebook is also a PITA. The V600 is coming real soon to cingular and I'm pretty sure I'll be getting that.

 

I absolutely agree with what jzinckgra said about the S56 phone. I have AT&T and have been happy with the quality of calls (except last summer when their customer service) went nuts.

 

Verizon does have the best quality and they will have a bluetooth phone (motorola v710) out on May 21.

 

Where in Texas are you? This is the first T616 incident I have heard of having bad reception. Firmware upgrade usually does the trick for phones purchased around the end of last year. The Siemens phone is a very nice one as well.

 

I also considered the Seimens S56, but the clerk at the AT&T Wireless store talked
me out of it. He said that the user interface was just horrible and the phone was
difficult to use for other reasons. So I bought the SE T616 which is working very
well.

Rachel

 

Siemens phones do take some getting used to. I have never stuck with a Siemens phone for more than a month but we'll see. The S65 is supposed to be out soon. This is what it looks like