Not this cheap since September
Original catalogue post thanks to doweyy.
Found thanks to cable99.
Unlock it for $2 - $4. Search ebay
I use it daily as a hotspot. It's great! Battery lasts 14 hours whilst at work. I also use it for the occasional Google Play Store purchase from my Telstra recharge credit.
My son bought the Prepaid L5 Slim Plus instead of the Buzz. He had no problems with that model. We picked it up for the same price ($49). He is even able to play Pokemon Go (although slightly laggy). The L5 Slim is currently not on sale.
I've had no problems with the power button. I've been using it almost daily since Nov 2015 and turn it on and off every day.
Telstra were shit for not replacing yours. Did you get to a Telstra owned store or a franchise?
I'd say bought in same deals, so just over 1 year old😯 Sold included headphones, so effectively free phone.
Bad day - dropped phone & broke the glass just before got to store, so could not get repaired. (Sorry, poor wording above - was referring to others complaining Telstra refused to repair.)
So the phone has had a few knocks, but was misbehaving before that & got worse with time. As it's out of warranty may quickly strip down & hopefully clean & repair.
All contacts (power button, etc) have been faulty. Power button may not respond for up to 20 seconds. Others have complained of this.
Failure to charge (due to loose socket) was refused to be repaired for others under warranty - as wear & tear.
I've got it on charge now & noticed I have thumb against charger cable to make contact with micro-USB socket! It's become a habit with this phone. Otherwise won't charge.
Because headphone jack detects headphone inserted (it's not) - have needed to insert headphones to make calls. Lucky I don't need to receive calls on it - it won't work without headphones inserted.
Never had a phone with any noticeable problems until this one. Others were around same price just built better, but others have lasted.
I bought mine cheaply (around $53) from DSE I think shortly before the Telstra deal.
I've also had no problems with the charging cable. Have you dropped yours a lot? As mine is a hotspot it doesn't get dropped often (I have managed to break the glass though).
The WP thread has comments from many happy users.
@sween64:
Yes, use as hotspot should avoid most misadventures. But still a cracked screen for you😢 That problem is not stopping me use it though.
DS $53 deal - that I found Telstra Buzz + headphone offer in. CashRewards $10 brought price down cents off DS Mates Rates price.
Only had 1 drop flat down on glass on to mat in house (with a tiny pebble on it) - crack. My only screen damage in many years of smart phone use. A couple of soft falls onto carpet, but nothing major. None seemed to affect operation.
Most faults are with electrical contacts - usually a sign of cheap build in my experience in electronics. Battery contacts are easily bent with fingers.
Charging cable has been a bit loose since purchase, but now very loose. Have had phone shut down many times despite on charge, as charging continually stopped & started due to loose connection. Lost downloads etc.
But continual failure to make calls on first try has been very frustrating.
Onscreen keyboard is a pain - needing a lot of corrections. Installed bought keyboards, but it's a problem with digitizer not lining up correctly with screen position😯
I liked this phone a lot - at first.
Often users of phone discuss purchase & early use on WP, rather than faults found much later.
Have read reports from unhappy owners - will try to find again… Googled "telstra buzz faults"
crowdsupport.telstra - few people complaining not charging due to micro-USB loose.
Productreview has complaints like these - mainly about charging / won't turn on:
😢ABSOLUTE JUNK,
😢Phone with a very short life span
😢OK simple little smartphone with a serious recharging problem
😢Stopped working after 2 months - Telstra wanted $359 for repair!
Can't find the other complaints & the WP Buzz forum is long to read again.
Have been comment or 2 about failings in OzBargain deals for this phone.
I have same issue with charging from the micro USB port on my phone. I haven't tried claiming warranty on mine. I've barely used the phone. Only got it because of the deal with included headphones. I've used the headphones a lot. :)
I think at this stage this phone isn't much of a deal. It's fairly old model now and stuck on lollipop.
Best use is as a cheap 4GX hotspot, as pointed out by sween64 in deal. Unlocked on eBay for around $2 to take advantage of past free or $1 SIM deals.
I do all my internet access on it (mainly on its 4.5" screen) - including all OzBargain comments like this😯 It's a cheap phone that won't stand up to much use & abuse.
Use the original charger with it. I had a battery on a Buzz 4GX expand.
Certainly gets hot while charging
Even though I know my phone's faults…
Left it on charge today by itself, untouched (checked charging ok at start).
After 6 hours charging, picked it up to use & found it was almost flat.
Just keeps cycling between notifying it needs to be charged, then starts charging again all by itself. So was flatter than before charging started.
Telstra‘s response to others was you have to pay for repair.
So frustrating. Common fault with these phones.
Checked good cables & chargers with a USB Voltage / Current meter.
Some cables showed no charge - no longer used with phone.
Other cables showed a healthy charge.
But plugging in a good cable sometimes showed charging on phone screen, but no current on meter!
So, although charge is available & shows charging through good charger & cable, sometimes phone does not accept charge😠That results in flat battery despite being on charge overnight.
Phone has now stopped chargingðŸ˜
Had bent cable across screen while charging, which made contact with micro-USB… for a while.
Checked charging with handy Ampere app.
Opened phone up, soldered new small (round plug) socket across power input on circuit board, closed it up & charging again. Just have to mount socket as is on end of wires out side of case.
Again - crap contacts on this phone😠ðŸ˜
Noticed no comments for this phone in catalog deal.
Using Buzz now - wouldn't recommend😯
A few complaints about this in few deals.
Slow - takes several presses to turn on, contacts are problematic (micro-USB is loose & often fails to charge, battery contacts bent installing battery, headphone jack reports headphone constantly inserted), almost always fails to dial number - averaging 3 attempts before conecting (a phone that won't make phone calls…), slow to change apps etc,…
So many issues. Searching others problems on Whirlpool showed some are common, but Telstra refused to repair under warranty. Put off returning phone & cracked screen day I was to do that😢
Bought over a year ago from Telstra for $54 after CashRewards, came with more expensive Monster headphones. Am mainly using as cheap 4GX modemx but the frustration has built over a year of use. First phone I will be glad to stop using. Waiting for a better deal & ditch this barely usable phone.