Review: 80's Brick Phone

Bring back the 80's with your very own brick phone!

Who can forget the eighties! Crimped hair, acid wash jeans, Jelly bracelets. Most of those fads have come and gone..thankfully. Yet a few seem to come back into style. But who saw this one coming! Those big bulky cell phones…theeeey’rrrre baaaaack!

Analog Hero, a company based out of Minnesota, has brought the 80′s Brick Phone back to life. This unlocked cell phone will work on any North American GSM network. All you have to do is pop your SIM card into it and turn it on. Now you’re ready to turn some heads!

Design

The phone is basically a replica of a Motorola phone. The case is brand new and re-branded as a “Motelona” phone, but the software itself is by Motorola (can you smell a lawsuit coming?). It’s not new software by any means. It’s about 5 years old…maybe even older. If you’ve had a Motorola phone within the last 10 years you will instantly recognize the user interface. It’s okay…not stellar, but does the job.

The handset is fairly light, surprising since those old phones were real clunkers! Most of the weight comes from the battery itself. Yes, it’s still the old bar design. In fact to recharge it you have to use an old school cradle. As for buttons, they are all back lit so you can use this phone in poorly lit areas.

Keypad is back lit so you can make calls while at the drive-in

Functions

There are a few things you can do on this phone that you couldn’t do back when “Charles” was in charge. A texting feature has been added. This is no Blackberry folks! Texting takes time and patience. Yes predictive texting is there but it doesn’t compare to today’s smartphones.  After playing around with it for awhile you kind of get the hang of it. While I personally prefer a QWERTY keyboard this is usable…just time consuming.

You can also listen to MP3′s, and watch videos. Video quality is far from great. But hey, what can you expect on a 1 inch by 1 inch screen. As for basic functions, they are all there. Phonebook, calendar, ring tones, calculator, alarm clock. A web browser is built-in but it’s practically useless.

I have to say one of the best features is the ring tones. Since the phone is built overseas, you get some crazy songs! Some of them are laugh out loud, others a bit creepy. I had a number of friends record these tones through software on their iPhone so they could use them too. Priceless!

Bottom line

I will admit it is kind of fun to carry this brick of a phone around. You get a lot of funny looks. But the novelty does wear off after a while. It is big and bulky, and does not fit into your pocket. The features on the phone are also dated. Texting is cumbersome and video quality is poor. But at the same time you have to remember, this phone isn’t meant to be top of the line. It is a retro phone, made to turn heads. And it does a great job at that. If you’re a child of the 80′s but just can’t bring yourself to break out the spandex, feather your hair or grow a mullet…you might want to grab this!

The Good:

A real head turner!
Unlocked to work on GSM networks
New features added to an old phone
Awesome foreign ring tones
Cheap – $99

The Bad:

Software is dated
Texting is cumbersome
Video Quality Poor
Big and Bulky (But that’s the point!)