AT&T Radiant – No Contract Go Phone (AT&T)

I purchased the AT&T Radiant phone a few weeks ago and could not be happier.
I did a lot of reading reviews on smart phones looking for one that had good voice quality; all the reviews were negative in this area. Even the experts said that the manufacturers are not focused on voice quality. I ended up purchasing the Radiant. Price was good and reviews on the most part were good. Voice quality is good. Everyone I talked to I asked how the quality of the voice on my new cell phone is. Everyone stated could not tell if I was on a cell or not it was that good. As far as the smart phone features I compared to my wife’s Samsung Galaxy S3. Pictures just as good, Video just as good, voice quality is better. Hers is tinny to the receiving caller; hers has better sound for music. The Radiant screen is smaller but I like that. I was able to use this on my normal AT&T account and did not have to use this as a go phone. Best of all is not upgrading to the more expensive smart phones leaving my bill at a lower rate.

Worst phone ever. I have had Sony Erickson, LG, Motorola, Samsung, and Nokia phones. This is by far the least reliable. The audio quality is so poor that even with the volume turned up as far as it will go, and the speaker on, I can hardly hear callers. That forces me to press the phone to my ear, which usually results in a dropped call since the antennae is in the face of the phone. It works ok as a texting phone, but usually cannot sustain a call for more than a few minutes. Every single day since I have had it, my calls have been interrupted by random beeping and clicking, and one party cannot hear the other. It turns WiFi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, and other functions on and off by itself. In addition, it has direct access to 911 through a link on the face, which means that when carried in a pocket or purse it is prone to calling 911 by itself. I have no idea who manufactures the phone, which just comes with an ATT logo, but I know why they don’t want their name on it. The phone is so bad, it has actually damaged ATT’s reputation in my eyes.

This is my emergency replacement smartphone. My beloved Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket died suddenly. Being 4 months shy of my contract renewal date, AT&T offered me the option of purchasing a newer Samsung Galaxy phone at full price ($600, amortized over 24 months at $25 per month). No thank you, I’ll “limp along” with a replacement phone for a few months until I can buy a contemporary smartphone (Galaxy S IV or V) for $100-$200 by signing a new contract. For a few days I used an ancient iphone just so that I would have voice contact with the outside world. But clearly, I needed something more modern to tide me over. This phone fits the bill. It has the same processor and Android OS version as my beloved Galaxy S II, meaning that this is circa 2011-2012 technology. Not exactly state-of-the-art, but not too antiquated. It isn’t quite a Samsung Galaxy clone–but not a bad attempt. You need to know that it has 4G capability–NOT 4G LTE. Also, it does not have visual voicemail. I’ve paired it with 2 sets of bluetooth headphones but it doesn’t exactly pair with my car’s bluetooth. Meaning that I can answer incoming calls on my car’s bluetooth but not dial by voice. However, if I manually dial on the phone, it automatically cuts the radio off and switches to the car’s bluetooth. Not perfect, but better than not pairing at all. NOTE: This ZTE Go Phone is not carried in all AT&T stores. AT&T stores stock a less expensive ZTE built phone (the AT&T Avail). While it would be convenient to pick up the Avail as your replacement phone while in the AT&T store, please read reviews first. Reviewers allege Avail has performance issues and a delicate screen prone to easily break. I suggest that it’s better to take the time to track down this Radiant as your replacement smartphone for perhaps $10 to $15 more. Order here on Amazon, AT&T website or stocked in most walmarts.

Review Update 7 30 2014

Here are some thoughts after another month of use. I now understand why other reviewers claim this phone is prone to calling Emergency 911. Turning this phone on requires two separate entries of your PIN after you push the on/off button. It’s quirky until you get used to it–it probably takes a good 30 seconds for the first “Enter PIN” screen to show up. When it does, you are presented with a screen with a keyboard and active E-911 capability. It seems to me that this screen is particularly sensitive–the only screen I’ve encountered so far that is prone to pocket dialing. So a word to the wise: do NOT put the phone in your pocket immediately after turning it on; be patient and let it run through its 30 second booting process, enter your PIN, and then wait perhaps another 30 seconds or longer for the full AT&T booting process. A bit slow and cumbersome, but something you can adjust to. I now also understand why other reviewers complain about inability to use as a tether. I had a 3rd party tether APP on my Samsung S II in order to use my unlimited data plan as an occasional tether. The functionality of this app is blocked on this phone. I will have to explore rooting it in order to active no-cost tethering; the phone gives me the option of contacting AT&T to activate their tethering option at additional cost. Battery life has been so-so to good; I’ve since turned off GPS in the hopes of prolonging battery life. BTW, google maps works well on this phone. I just need to remember to turn GPS off when I don’t need it or else google constantly calculates distance to my home or office (whether walking, driving or using public transit). I’d also rate camera as good but not great.

Overall I maintain it is a very good smartphone. It serves my purposes (temporarily filling in as a replacement for a Samsung Galaxy S II) despite the compromises it requires. Not sure that I’ll use this as my everyday phone once my upgrade date arrives in a few months but I’ll certainly keep it as a “just in case” spare. Seriously, it is perfectly adequate as a temporary iphone or Galaxy replacement and I imagine it would be more than adequate as one’s first smartphone. Not quite comparable as a permanent alternative to an iphone or a Samsung Galaxy, but it wasn’t designed to be.

Review Update 12 25 14

My Contract renewal date came and went almost 3 months ago but I’m so enamored with this phone that I’ve decided to keep it as my daily lifeline. Rooting this phone is easy and safe. I was then able to add an uninstaller app which allowed me to delete most of the AT&T and ZTE bloat ware. I now have significant breathing room in the 2 GB of onboard memory. The first free tethering app I tried did not work; I am now exploring an alternate app. Since my last review I’ve confirmed that this phone comes with voice dialing and it works fine, as does speed dialing. In recent months I’ve taken this phone on 2 week-long vacations and shot hundreds of pics. You’d think a dinky 5 MP camera would result in horrible pics but I’ve been impressed with the pic quality. Hardly any major issues with original battery although at the age of 6 months it has started to run down near end of day. No problem finding replacement battery and charger here or on famous auction site. Had little trouble finding inexpensive case and screen protector in June 2014 but not sure of continued availability. My only disappointment remains that it is 4G and not 4G LTE but I’ll survive. And I admit the idea of having a snapdragon quad core processor (as opposed to this phone’s dual core) is intriguing. Newer phones (from ZTE and other manufacturers) may have 4G LTE and/or a quad core, but don’t have a removable/replaceable battery (a deal breaker for me), or don’t have option of taking an SD card (another deal breaker), or have newer Android OS (Kit Kat) which seems to prevent loading apps to an SD card and, in some instances, is resistant to rooting). So I’m happy to stay the course with this phone despite minor compromises. I love it so much I’m actually considering buying another one of these before they go out of production so that I can keep it as a spare.