I came from Verizon solely for this phone. I thought, "A high end phone with an amazingly priced plan, I'm in!" However, my journey wasn't that smooth..
I'll start off the review with the things i dislike because it does have redeeming factors, but the dislikes definitely need to be considered.
Service:
On my droid2 and droidx i consistently got 3 bars in my house as normal, with this phone i go from one to none sporadically. which i wouldn't mind except that those intervals without service cause delays in receiving emails, text messages, and updates for social networking sites.
Screen:
-This phone has gorilla glass. It come with 2 screen protectors. one to protect it while shipping, and one that if removed drastically improves the response time but MAY void your warranty (rumor but hey better safe than sorry)
-After the first two days, my screen started leaking light. The bottom sides of the screen are back-lit when the screen is off. so the screen is black but theres light pouring through the sides.
-After waking phone up, background looks like a sepia picture for awhile before it loads.
OS:
This phone is running froyo (android 2.2), which is weird because phones coming out at this time are updated to gingerbread. Virgin mobile has relatively NO history with updating its handsets, so if you keep the stock Rom, just know your pretty much using an older version of android.
Keyboard:
The android keyboard doesn't have a built in dictionary. I know, i couldn't believe it either. There is no index for it, trust me. There is an easy fix, you can download swype or another keyboard but the fact that you have to is annoying.
Virgin mobile:
When you turn on a competitors phone it doesnt scream the name of their company so why virgin mobile does it i don't know. you have a great phone but maybe you don't want everyone to know its a prepaid virgin mobile. Thats true of the startup shutdown, default ringtone and notification tone
Porting your existing number
they say it may take up to 72 hours usually its instantly or an hour.
with me, it appeared to be instantly, but then i noticed i wasn't receiving text messages from anyone on another network. this happened for 5 days. i exchanged the phone for a new one, but now its been 20 and i still cant receive text messages from anyone outside virgin mobiles circle.
sound
speakerphone is pretty quiet, hard to hear the person on the other line even when is up to your ear. so if your getting this for the unlimited talk, you are going to be disappointed with call quality.
notification led,
the led blinks red when theres no message and green for all notifications. this is not true when your phone is plugged in though, it doesn't alert you at all, so you have to watch it.
the good...
-even with its flaws its better than any other phone available through virgin mobile or boost mobile. I still like the phone, maybe its a love hate thing. I've swapped out my phone and lost a few of the problems but it still has defects.
so far i have replaced the stock keyboard, launcher, messaging app, contacts app, rooted my phone and got rid of bloatware and start up shutdown sounds... so right out the box it needs work.
but after the updates i did, it is usually
-fast and responsive.
-netflix works fast, and graphics on games are nice.
-youtube runs flawlessly.
-its not nearly as locked down as previous phones on virgin mobile
-screen size is great
-overall look is polished
-great battery life
-light
-dual cameras
to learn how to optimize your phone right out the box, visit myphonesucksreviews on youtube.
also buy your phone from target or radio shack.
target has it for $299 but they give you a $50 gift certificate
radioshack has it for $279
but both places have a 90day return policy.