Over the past week or so, I’ve been putting the E-TEN X800 through its paces. Having owned or used the M500, G500, and M700, I thought I knew what to expect with the X800.  The GSM radios in all three of those quad-band GSM phones left a great deal to be desired. Honestly, I was poised for yet another disappointment…boy was I ever wrong!

The M500 was small, and stylish for about 2 years ago; and it felt SOOOOO good in my hand. It would have been a huge winner if the radio wouldn’t have dropped calls left and right. It was a rotten phone. The I-24 East corridor south of Nashville isn’t THAT devoid of towers.  The G500 had the whole TRON thing going on, and looked like a really cool phone. It had the same basic form factor as the M500; but was a little bit bigger.  The radio on it was somewhat better, but not much instead of dropping calls 3 times between Murfreesboro and Nashville, it only dropped calls twice. Again, not good. My other GSM phones, with the same carrier and SIM didn’t drop calls like that.

I got the M700 after moving back to Chicago, but along the I-88 corridor, it dropped calls twice, and always in the same place. Again, my other GSM phones didn’t do that. The WM6 Professional upgrade that came out for it, did improve radio reception somewhat, but not enough to make the M700 my daily driver.

Now, the X800…and all it’s 3G goodness..? Oh yeah, baby!  This thing’s radio is the shizzle!

I’m carrying at least 3 bars no matter where I am at the house, at least 3 bars no matter where I am at the office, and at least 3 bars everywhere in between during the commute. I’ve almost always got an HSDPA signal icon. Its never dropped to EDGE or GPRS coverage. The 3G radio is awesome! So, yeah… data is good.  Call quality is top notch as well. I can’t say that it’s as good as land-line call quality; but it is certainly giving my Comcast Digital Voice service a run for its money. Calls are clear, and have rivaled that of my land line. I’m very impressed!  This is one of the best phones I’ve used in a while!