Review: Sharp GX30

Sharp GX30 Review

Phone rating:

The Sharp GX30 is Europe's first Mega-pixel digital camera phone. The integrated digital camera has a 1 Mega-pixel CCD with 7 stage digital zoom and 5 picture sizes ranging from 858 x 1144 to 120 x 160 pixels.

To complement the high-resolution camera, the GX30 features an ultra-high resolution QVGA 240x320 pixel 262,000-colour LCD display measuring 2.2 inches. It also has a 65K colour external LCD. This combination puts Sharp leagues ahead of rivals like Nokia in terms of display technology. The new Sharp GX30i is now also available with full Bluetooth support (the GX30 supports Bluetooth headsets and car-kits only).

Features of the Sharp GX30 include:

• 1 Mega-pixel CCD Digital Camera
• Video capture/playback (up to 400kB) - including sound
• Removable SD Memory Card for storing videos, music and pictures (supplied)
• SD Memory Card expandable to 512 Mbytes
• 260k colour QVGA CGS LCD
• MP3 player
• 40 chord polyphonic ring tones
• Bluetooth™ V1.1 (Support for headset and car-kit profiles)
• Downloadable Java™ games & applications
• Wallpaper - create wallpaper from your photos
• Caller ID with photos
• MMS multimedia messaging
• 6MB Internal Memory
• USB/IrDA connectivity
• WAP, GPRS
• Built-in Flash/Mobile Light
• Quad Band (GSM 850, 900, 1800, DCS 1900)
• Weight: 110g
• Size: 26 x 95 x 49mm

Sharp GX30 Consumer Reviews

Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!

Average rating from 100 reviews:

Reviewed by Alex from England on 30th Apr 2005
This phone is the best. The good points outnumber the bad points by far. The only drawbacks are that the bluetooth only works with hedsets and not with the ppc or other phones. the infared only workes with the pc. the screen is exelent resolution and colour quality, and the 1 megapixel camra fills up most of a computer screen. being silver, it tends to look scrached but it still works perfectly after being dropped sevral times. You can spend up to about £80 on upgrading the memory card to 1gb, this will hold thousands of full size pics or about 60cds in mp3 format. the internet works well, and there are many wap sites for downloading free java games, ringtones etc. if you want a phone that is good at almost evrything, and you can afford it, buy this phone.
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Reviewed by Dawn from Switzerland on 29th Apr 2005
I wish I had read many of the reviews before buying this phone. For those who rate this phone anything above average, they must not be using it for business. I am very disappointed with the fact that I cannot get it to communicate with my palm software. I don't have outlook so I can't get them to both communicate on that platform. What this phone is lacking: 1. Bluetooth (it says it has it, but it is only useable with a headset 2. Infrared, may as well not be there 3. The ablility to add words to SMS 4. The ability to use the speaker for a speaker phone, why have that nice big speaker that you can't use for phone calls 5. The ability to record while talking-a nice feature when your driving and need to remember something later What it does have: 1. Great camera 2. MP3 player is okay All in all, good for personal fun use, not so good for business usage.
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Reviewed by luke from England on 28th Apr 2005
this phone is very good it looks nice and has a exellent camra vidio could be a bit longer but other then that a exellent phone!!
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Reviewed by GTS KA from Romania on 19th Apr 2005
It's almoust perfect...I've seen all the other high-tech phones but all of them have something missing. Yes...GX30 has some problems like connecting to other phones, games...you can get them only by wap, like from Zedge, no memmento, no mp3 ringtones, no speaker .... but when you see the "good stuff" ... you have o say... ALMOUST PERFECT !!!
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Reviewed by XxX_bEcKy_XxX from England on 14th Apr 2005
Hiya peeps! Just writin 2 say that i fink the gx30 is the best fone eva!( ther probably is a beta fone but neva mind i want 2 sound enthusiaistic!) lol! I got it 4 xmas last year and haven't rele had n-e problems yet! Part from i overcharged it n had to buy a new battery! But thats not 4 here! lol! It has a gr8 camera BUT i could do with it havinf a longa record time! O, n can ne1 plz tell me if ther gx30 sound goes weird sumtyms wen u use voice recorder?! cos myn does (if u hadnt gessd!) Wud b gr8ful 4 ur help! Luvz ya! Bex xxx P.S If n-e fit boys out ther ave msn tell me ur addy n ill add ya! ;) xxxx
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Reviewed by gareth from uk on 11th Apr 2005
the fone is such a waste considering its amz potential, bluetooth may as well not even be a feature along with that infered, i had the gx3o last april unlocked the phone to O2 because vodafone kept screwing up my bills the camera is great but thats about it and u cannot even have an mp3 as ur ringtone, they mayas well have advertises a brick fone with a polarode camera seleotaped to it, because with the vodafone restriction thats thelevel of technology your getting, let hope they don't masecare the sharp 902
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Reviewed by Hans from belgium on 9th Apr 2005
Have you ever dropped a brick on your toe and screamed in anger and pain? if yes, you now know how i felt when i got this rubish phone.shud av stuck with my nokia 3310.
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Reviewed by Steve from London on 7th Apr 2005
I bought this phone back in october and i thought wow, brilliant phone, until i went to use the bluetooth feature it did not work properly so i took it back to the shop some 3 months later and they told mt that "the GX30 isnt 100% bluetooth so i couldnt share files/pictures with my friends, the battery is a joke, if you play games, listen to MP3's or do anything that involves pushing buttons on the phone the battery for me lasts on average about 3 hours, there are some good points to the phone, its has a whopping 262,000 colour display, and a large screen, but priced at £300-£400 its stupidly over priced,(Vodaphone had actually sent me the wrong phone i did ask for the GX30i and they sent me the GX30, and i was not a happy bunny so to speak :( overall i rated this phone a 2 being generous but i did find that the phone is VERY durable becuase i have dropped it many time and it still works,
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Reviewed by dylan from england on 7th Apr 2005
this phone has an amazing camera it has everything you would wont but the only thing it cant do is connect to other phone via bluetooth
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Reviewed by Mickey Vegas from United Kingdom on 6th Apr 2005
I'm guna tell all you people out there how good this phone REALLY is... it's REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY good! All that technology packed into a great lookin' phone! Sadly i'm an over-spending techno-freak so i'm upgrading, but hey, this phones been a pleasure to own! The phones fantastic, 5 stars any day of the week! Any day, any week, any month, any year! Oh yeah, ROSINA LOCOCO, you sound like one hell of a funny person... whats that phone number you said you got to keep?? Lol! JOKIN! Great mobile. Way-to-go SHARP!
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Reviewed by Dibble from England on 1st Apr 2005
Had this piece of rubbish for nine months now on contract. The only good thing about this phone is that it was free. Sharp missed out on a glorious opportunity to make an excellent phone. The bluetooth setup is a joke as is the ir. They could haved supplied a bigger mem card. Won't be getting another Sharp phone
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Reviewed by ukmed smith from - on 26th Mar 2005
dis fone is wicked its so coll ppl u av 2 buy it serious 4get all da s700i da screen cn easierlyyy get scratched but dis is a flip fone !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Rosina Lococo from United Kingdom on 8th Mar 2005
Hi omg i didnt no i was guna get dis mob 4 x-mas coz i already had a sagem my x-6 on Vodafone so i was really shocked and pleased coz i got 2 keep my numba. So i got da Sharp GX30 on X-mas day :D on vodafone and i can download free! music videos! or my m8s mostly send dem 2 me anyway! lol :-p and im on pay as u go wich must of cost my mum a fortune 4 it lol. But da lil problem wiv it dat da battery dsnt last 4 long wich is annoyin coz i need 2 take my mob 2 skwl coz i need 2 phone my mum 2 pick me up n stuff and there is no point in takin a mob 2 skwl dat is useless and dsnt work! and my lil bro who is 9 is usin my sagem my x-6 amd if i take it of him he will cry! but he dnt reale nned a gd mob like dat coz he hardenly like eva uses it! i may aswell sell it on ebay and get money 4 it for all i care! c yaz n luv u all u sexy + fit boys out der! lol xXx Rosina xXx
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Reviewed by Eve from Ireland on 6th Mar 2005
This phone is of excellent quality and it will be a long time before it goes out of date.The picture and sound are oustanding.It is a little bit tricky to upload songs from the computer,but when you get the hang of it, it's simple.The sd card included is to small to use for mp3 songs.I recently got a 264mb card and i now have over 80 songs on my phone.This particular model has gone off the market in Ireland and is very hard to get proper headphones to fit.If anybody knows a website to purchase these, pleas post it on this site.The games for this phone are brilliant and very easy to use.Overall this phone is way ahead of its class in all aspects.
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Reviewed by Zubair Qureshi from United Kingdom on 25th Feb 2005
I think the phone is excellent. It has got lots of memory for storing games and ringtones and a clear screen. Shame about the bluetooth but a really good phone. Buy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Helen from UK on 20th Feb 2005
I have had this phone for around 7 months not. When i got it alot of folk said it looked bulky but really if you compare it to other phones its not exactly huge! The only real negative thing i would comment on is the lack of a decent bluetooth however sharp appear to have rectified this with the GX30i so that may be a better model to go for if you are still looking to buy a GX30. All in all though, a truly tip top phone :o)
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Reviewed by Tom from uk on 20th Feb 2005
Have had phone for 6 months, good looks but thats about it. would be great if the features of the phone would work together, ie better bluetooth and ir,calander and alarms. with a big memory card this would have been a winner,missed opertunity to be leading the rest, unlucky Sharp?
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Reviewed by Anthony from Ireland on 16th Feb 2005
i belive that in my personal views this beutifully crafted phone is one of the best on the market i also like to say i love dene.
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Reviewed by BRETT from AUSTRALIA on 9th Feb 2005
OUTSTANDING PHONE IT DOES EVERYTHING CANT WAIT FOR GX30i to come out.
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Reviewed by sharp gx30 from anywhere on 7th Feb 2005
im a great fone. i can do lots of cool stuff. buy me....please :)
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Reviewed by this phone is da bom from timbuktoo on 7th Feb 2005
dis fone is da bom...........u got 2 ave it man
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Reviewed by lee from uk on 4th Feb 2005
install option 3, (handset manager) this will show all the pictures stored on the handset memory but if you want to transfer the pictures from the card you need an sd reader/writer. type this in on google and they are very cheap. tis is the only way to view pictures from you card and to get MP3's on the card. thanks
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Reviewed by Olivier from Belgium on 1st Feb 2005
Thank you very much Lee. I received my gx30 from my mobile company called Proximus which is linked with vodafone. I received indeed a disc with the phone. On it it is writtenGX30 CD-Rom. When I put the disc I have 3 options. 1. install USB pilot 2. Install modem pilot 3. Install phone manager (handset manager). I don't know which I have to install and moreover I cannot install the first one. I bought an usb cable as well and it came with a cd called Data Worl USB Cable which I installed first (I have the icom called Penpower wolrdphone for cable). Maybe it is why It doesn't allow me to install the 1st option on the previous cd. Surely because I already inslalled the second CD. What do you think? I really don't know what to do! Should I buy this thing on Ebay ? Do I have to install a program for MP3? Thanks for your help.
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Reviewed by lee from uk on 31st Jan 2005
The GX30 is fantastic, great camera, fab video and an outstanding mp3 player, i have heard there isnt much difference in the GX30i except for bluetooth quality otherwise, great phone
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Reviewed by lee from uk on 31st Jan 2005
Hi olivier, to get MP3's on the phone, you need an sd reader/writer which you can get from ebay! i got mine for £2.50, then you place your memory card into the slot and basically drag MP3's with a bit rate of 128kbit or less onto the phone through the computer and yes you can get pictures onto the computer via the cable but i bought mine from a vodafone shop and it came with a disk, you need to install the disk then transfer pics through the cable. thanks
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Reviewed by Olivier from Belgium on 30th Jan 2005
Does anyone know how to download mp3 via an usb cable I just bought it and cannot make it worked! I received a cd rom to install something but I don't know what to do with it. I'm stucked because there is no written procedure to follow. To be honnest, I don't know anything about computers. Is it true that you can't listen to mp3 if you memory sd card capacity is more than 128MB? Also I heard that you can't export your photos onto the computer via asb cable? I would really appreciate if someone could help me? My email: oliviervs@yahoo.fr
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Reviewed by karsten Kaempf from Belgium on 29th Jan 2005
I am just getting started, having experienced Nokia mobile phones. I am amazed about the many features of the GX 30; however, I am not making progress in using them, as one term not explained in the User Guide bogs me down: What is a handset code? I have tried my access code, it has not worked. Is it the code one can find when typing *#06#?
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Reviewed by ronan from Mayo, Ireland on 25th Jan 2005
To Anyone Who cant get the mp3 playrr working: Make sure the song is in mp3 format make sure the song is at 128kbps make sure the song is in your sounds file on your memory card and not in the"others" file if they are not in the sounds file just click in them and drag them into it.
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Reviewed by Paul from England, Great Britain on 23rd Jan 2005
its a brillant phone, but the one thing that i would say against it, is that the mp3 player on it holds very few songs! apart from that great phone
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Reviewed by GUY!!!! from england on 20th Jan 2005
sharp gx 30i iz betta
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Reviewed by Phil from London,UK on 19th Jan 2005
I recently upgraded from the gx10i and absolutely love this phone. The camera is great with a decent zoom function if taking average sized photos. The movies I have captured are fairly good quality what you would expect from a mobile trying to do a camcorders job. I have used my card reader to whip out the SD card and easily copied across an mp3 file using explorer. It played a 22kHz 32Kbps mp3 rock song straight away with no problems and I was blown away by the quality and volume from the speaker. I was expecting a quiet tinny sound. I'm going to buy a 1Gig SD card (which they do support)and download my whole mp3 collection and photos. Not bothered about bluetooth so no probs there. I heartedly recommend this phone.
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Reviewed by jack from new zealand on 16th Jan 2005
This phone is the best ever. It has a mp3 player for listening to your favourite songs wherever you go. I got a new 256mb sd memory card for this phnoe i liked it so much. I just put the memory card in the computer and put anything i want on it. And all you retards who complain about the screen taking 1 SECOND to come on, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM???? thats only 1 second. do you get angry at your car becasue it doesnt take you where you want in 1 second??? And the keypad is too low????? All you have to do is move your hand down, even if that is uncomfortable you will get used to it. And the camera is the best thing ive ever seen. The disco light is awesome. I admit the bluetooth is a bit of a rip off. but with all the other awesome features who cares. Ive seen heeps of phones with mp3 players but whats the poitn of getting them if they only got about 10mb internal memory and no sd card slot. the sd card slot is awesome. GET THIS PHONE ITS AWESOME!!!!!!!1
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Reviewed by Stacy from United Kingdom on 13th Jan 2005
I rencently got this phone as a christmas present, and believe me I am very picky with phones i have, but this is the best phone I have ever had. But I would really like sone help downloading music to my phone, if they is anyone who had help please email me on stbarker@fsmail.net. Buy thisphone you won't regret it.
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Reviewed by Pete from UK on 11th Jan 2005
the camera and screen on the gx30 are undeniably amazing, the photos transfer to my pc looking stunning every time. however, the small annoyances I've had with this phone over the last four months have made me desperate to upgrade. I bought it as an upgrade over the phone from Singlepoint, and they told me that it was fully bluetooth enanbled. The fact that it is headsets really annoyed me. Also, the MP3 player was far below quality; you cannot use MP3s as ringtones as you can on the otherwise lower-specificationed Nokia equivalent 6230. But the thing that has been honestly driving me crazy is the SMS composer. The predictive dictionary is far too slow, it can never keep up with my typing, losing letters, missing out spaces, it's actually quicker to multi-tap. The phone doesn't even learn words properly; you can teach it new ones, but if you do not use it again within 72 hours it forgets them. On purpose! It's to save memory apparently but it's just stupid, SonyEricsson's edi table word list is a far better way of doing things. In fact, SonyEricssons are far better, fullstop. I want the s700i, i'm actually going to have to pay off my current contract to escape the gx30!!! If you're a regular text messager, DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE!
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Reviewed by Nick Spaven from England on 6th Jan 2005
The GX30 is the best phone I have ever bought. The picture quality is outstanding, the tones are brilliant and the amount of features the phone has to offer is just unbelievable. BUY IT!!! I have a question to anyone who knows. I cant work the mp3? i have the data cable and the software and tones of files on my pc to send to the phone but i just dont know how to do it. If anyone knows please email me at ravenspaves@yahoo.co.uk. Please someone help. I want music.
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Reviewed by Tom Malarko from America on 5th Jan 2005
I got the new sharp gx30 for christmas and it is fantastic. The camara is outstanding, the video and ringtones also don't disapoint. Even better you can now download mp3 files onto your phone. I was pondering the decision to get the samsung d500 but I am glad i opted for this one. My friend got the samsung but it doesn't compare to this quality. Cheers sharp!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Andy from UK on 4th Jan 2005
Alex's review on 11 July 2004 is pretty a accurate description of this phone, but I'd like to add a few comments of my own. The battery life is dreadful, and I reported this as soon as I got the phone, but Vodafone have failed to supply me with a new battery to see if the problem is due to a faulty battery or is typical of this phone. I've also experienced other problems such as... sometimes I answer/make calls and the other person can't hear me at all, occassionally I'm unable to send texts despite having a good signal, the person on the other end of the line reports a lot of noise and squealing noises when talking to me, and more recently, on opening the phone the main display is all white with no picture at all!!! The phone is ok, nothing more, but the problems I've had, along with what Alex wrote in his review are all reasons why I wouldn't reccommend this phone to anyone. Picture quality can be pretty good on the camera, but more often than not end up blurry (probably as u have to give the button a good click to take a pic which causes movement). As for mp3 playback, it's not really practical as the battery life is already poor, and u'll be left with a dead phone in ur pocket, unable to use it for calls.
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Reviewed by WilkoUK from UK on 3rd Jan 2005
When I first got this phone the camera and screen impressed me. However as I began trying to utilise the features problems started to arise. For a start one of the main features I wanted was Bluetooth - something which the details I read said this phone had, it does have but only to connect to a headset or PC not to anyone elses phone. I still cannot find out how on earth to get the MP3 player to work or even get an MP3 on to the phone. Overall the phone frustrated me, as I felt I had been conned. But the camera and screen are superb so if that's your bag go for this.
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Reviewed by Charlie from Rogan on 3rd Jan 2005
It is A quality phone with state of the art Technology and has a wide variety of gadjets .It only has one bad side it does not look like a phone you would want if you were trying to attract attention but it covers up for this withits outstanding camera quality .If I where you get the phone .
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Reviewed by Alan from England on 19th Dec 2004
Just picked this up brand new on ebay for £145. Chose to save the extra £50 or more which it would have cost me to go for the GX30i. So far I am really pleased with the phone and the screen quality is simply superb. Just wondering though if anyone has had the firmware upgrade, which I have heard about, which supposedly upgrades the GX30 to the Gx30i with its improved bluetooth connectivity?
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Reviewed by Elizabeth from England on 17th Dec 2004
This phone is excellent, I really love it, but can anyone let me know what bluetooth car kit works with it. Vodafone sent their installers to put a kit in, £200 and 2 visits later I am informed by Hyde Park Corner and Vodafone that this phone is not comptible with any car kits.....email me on packwoo@hotmail.com if you have any ideas. thanks.
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Reviewed by Sam from United Kingdom on 15th Dec 2004
How long can this fone record for and does it have installed games, Can you go on vodafone live if u are on pay as yo go. If you know the answer to any of these questions email me at samakinwunmi955@yahoo.co.uk
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Reviewed by Tony from UK on 15th Dec 2004
Great phone and the only reason that i have gave it 4 stars is due to the bluetooth and infrared limitations but hey if you want full support for the above get your hands on the GX30i. The screen and camera are the best i have ever seen in a mobile, previous mobile was the Nokia 6230 and while that was a great feature phone the display was poor and screen was really small but the GX30 blows it away. All in all a superb phone!!
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Reviewed by Luke from England on 13th Dec 2004
I don't understand the fuss - the picture quality is no better than the GX20 - if anything, it's slightly worse in lower-light conditions. I wasn't a huge fan of the GX20, but I got it because of the picture quality. I agree, these Sharp phones take better pics than any others, but the software design on them is awful - Nokia seem to have gone one way (poor visuals, but high on practicality) and sharp/vodafone seem to have gone for a lovely-looking interface, but with poor 'usability' I wouldn't get another one and I certainly wouldn't get another vodafone contract!
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Reviewed by Rafy Azman from Australia/Malaysia on 11th Dec 2004
Well, I like it as much as ppl do... but now, my GX30 cant even detect my new motorola wireless headset HS820. What's wrong with this? Can I send it for upgrade or something? pls email me at rajamohdrafy@yahoo.com. Thanks ;)
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Reviewed by Lora from England on 7th Dec 2004
Are you people all talking about the same fone? I have this fone and im the worst person ever for dropping them and mine is still going strong. The picture quality is fantastic the best ever! this is the fone to have!
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Reviewed by Craig from England on 6th Dec 2004
The GX30 is a quality phone, The MP3 player is easy to use and the camera is excellent quality for a cam phone. I however have one problem with the phone, I cannot use it. When the phone is in use I hear a high pitched ringing sound and I am unable to hear the caller.... any Ideas? E-mail me on www.shinx007@hotmail.com
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Reviewed by Paul Smith from England on 6th Dec 2004
I am getting the new samsung d500 this week. But I have a feeling the camera wont compare to the sharp gx30. I had the gx30 but returned it due to finacial reasons. But the gx30 is AMAZING!!! Stunning camera. Excellent ringtones and mp3 player. Bit disapointed with external screen but nothing to worry about really. I love the intense bright colours on the flashing LED on the outer shell. A great phone and - to date - NOTHING beats it XXX
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Reviewed by wazi kahn from england on 2nd Dec 2004
i have bought a sharp gx30 and dont know how 2 use da mp3 player can sum1 help me e-mail wasikhan14atyahoo.co.uk oh and by da way da fone iz outstanding i would recomend it 2 any1 dont be put off by people who have rated it 1 star it is truly worth minium 5 stars
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Reviewed by alex from on 29th Nov 2004
Is the best phone ever
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Reviewed by Philip from Northern Ireland on 23rd Nov 2004
An absolutly stonking phone, it works, which is a novelty! This is my 8th mobile phone, and ive finally found one i am completely happy with!
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Reviewed by Chris from Hong Kong on 17th Nov 2004
This phone is good on features, mp3, SD card slot, and a one mega pixel camerera. BUT, look at the price
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Reviewed by ronan from mayo, Ireland on 17th Nov 2004
thanks a lot,but how do you change your media player to mp3 format. ive got windows xp and i use windows media player. the songs are in wma format. is it easy/possible to change them to mp3? please reply.
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Reviewed by terry from england on 17th Nov 2004
if anyone is looking for a bigger sd card then check out www.themph.co.uk ,should be round about £37 pounds and thats for the 512 sd card dont forget that for the mp3 player to work you need to convert your media player to mp3. the phone is good also.
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Reviewed by ronan from Mayo, Ireland on 16th Nov 2004
HELP!! i got my sharp gx 30 yesterday and i cannot listen to my mp3's!! there on the phone but they are grey and i cannot play them!please help! e-mail with your suggestions to ronanmulchrone@vodafone.ie
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Reviewed by my god, are u people dumb or what? from UK on 14th Nov 2004
I have a gx30, not the (i) version... just the standard gx30. It's great, the screen doesn't take a second to display when u open the fone! it doesn't at all! what the hell is wrong with people. There seems to be some serious lack of IQ here. The keypad has the best navi-key I've ever seen, you don't accidentally hit the direction buttons when u wanna select stuff. It's very comfortable to use. The screen is 320x240! that's very high res for a phone! the nokia 7610 has a 208x176 screen. What's the point of that when u have a 1-megapixel camera? anyway, the screen is the highest quality in any phone at the moment. That includes the 3g beasts. The bluetooth is locked out for using with other phones. There's a good point to this drawback tho. Did u know that your number can be hacked through bluetooth? yes... hmmm. But that's not really the point. Nobody here who says the phone is rubbish has any valid points to make. They're all children who want a gadget to play with. This is a phone that works as a phone. Call quality is great, the screen doesn't hurt your eyes, the keypad is solid and comfortable, and memory card can be expanded to 512mb. Oh, and I got this for free on vodafone. It's a vodafone phone. Only get it if your on Vodafone. It's the fastest vodafone live handset out there. It really is quick! I've got emailviewer from reqwireless.com, and I can check my hotmail and pop accounts on the move!... I will upgrade the firmware to the (i) version if it becomes available, but not too bothered. It's a phone, you can make calls, you can send texts and mms's. That's all I need.
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Reviewed by SharpMaNiAc from Greece on 7th Nov 2004
Hey, guys the best phone in the world now for its price is the Sharp GX30i not the gx30...THe improved one, ( gx30i ), has full bluetooth and IRda for transering data..Woow!!!!! And its much better than the old gx30..I Highly recommend the best mobile ever , the Sharp GX30i...And of course your GX30 can come close to gx30i , if you send it somewhere for firmware\software upgrade!!!!
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Reviewed by Lyndsey from UK on 7th Nov 2004
Picture quality is brilliant, videos aren't so good! they look kinda blurry on the playback! First GX30 i got started to go funny making high pitched noises on calls then the second one i got done the same AND wouldnt let me recieve msgs til the next day so a bit of a disapointment really!
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Reviewed by Basharat Hussain from England on 6th Nov 2004
just got this phone and i think its absloute fabulous, well better than my last phone LG U8120 but somehow the lg had a beter camera, wither because it had or my settings are wrong because my camera on the gx30 moves really slowlya about 1sec after i move in the picture, why is this does any1 elses phone do that please someone tell me. thankyou my email addy is bhussain27@msn.com so plkease some one email me and tell me cause i really wanna know because i`m thinking obut giving the phone back. but don`t wanna because the phone features are absloutley grat like the menu, the voice recorder mp3 player, but the camera is no good, i thoink its the features so osmeone please tell me how to configure the camera so it moves when i move on the pic....
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Reviewed by Noodles from UK on 5th Nov 2004
OMG This fone is the best fone in the whole world!!! The picture quality is seriously amazin! Its fantastic! the camcorder is brilliant too!!! The disco lite is mint n the ringtones r out of this world!! Jus a shame av gota windows 95 comp so i cnt download mp3s onto it but im gettin one soon! There are totally no complaints abou this fone! its the best in the world! DOnt even fionk abou gettin anuva 1! they dont even come close to this lil beauty!! o yer n the melody editer on it is brill! av made loadsa mi own poly tunes!! laterz
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Reviewed by AD from - on 3rd Nov 2004
Dont put ur GX30 in the washing machine like i did! it wont work afterwards!!! will miss it as its the best fone i have ever had! No insurance means no new fone-gutted!
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Reviewed by Chris Pinder from UK on 2nd Nov 2004
I see lots of ppl saying that the bluetooth on the gx30 doesn't work... I'd like to point out that the bluetooth does work but it is locked to only be compatible with the bluetooth headsets, they don't want you to transfer data. B ut fear not as the gx30i is the exact same phone as the gx30, but has this bluetooth device lock disabled, so you can transfer to your heart's content.
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Reviewed by becky from England on 1st Nov 2004
I am a 13 year old girl and have had so much fun using this fone. It is easy to use, and looks FAB! the disco light is bright enuf 2 light up a room and the camera quality is AMAZING! The video feature is great but after watching the videos a few times the quality begins to fade. The camera works perfectly as long as you take care of it! And the menu is simple and EASY 2 use unlike every one else is saying. The only i dislike about this fone is the addiction i have 2 wards it and the small problem with billing.... not reccomended for teens!
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Reviewed by Stu from UK on 1st Nov 2004
hi could someone pls tell me how to work the mp3 player on my gx30?,,email me at stumanutdfc@aol.com pls thanks
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Reviewed by Phillip from Pembrokeshire on 28th Oct 2004
I am deciding whether to get this phone or not, can someone please tell me how long it can video record for as my local carphone warehouse wont have it in till next month and havent got any info on it. I know that everything else on it is great beacause you have told me. Thanks!
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Reviewed by 'G' from too far on 27th Oct 2004
reading everyones review indicates to me the people moaning bout this phone dont actually know how to use it properly, an all the people giving grace to this phone have bin reading the manual.
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Reviewed by Marc from England on 27th Oct 2004
Ok so i bought my GX30 as i have as i have had a sharp gx10i. sharp should have taken over nokia as the best phone manufacturer. i have had nokia phones, motorolas, NEC, sony, sagem and nothing even comes close to either the sharp GX10i, GX20 or GX30 these are the most amazing phones anybody could own. battery life is outstanding (compared to my old nec which i had to recharge every DAY) the picture quality is always outstanding. and they still look amazing. i had my sharp GX10i for 18 months never a single problem and ive had my GX30 for 3 months and not a problem again. these phones are simple to use, the manuals go into detail about everything and its easy to find something specific. if you are looking for a phone i would recommend any of sharps flip phones. especially the GX30
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Reviewed by Jacqui from England on 27th Oct 2004
Wicked phone....picture quaility is fab, everything about it is just the best, cant understand why i didnt get one sooner. I love my Sharp GX30
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Reviewed by Jack from England on 27th Oct 2004
What a fantastic phone. Im still finding new things that it can do. I havent seen a better camera and video phone anywhere, the quality is brilliant.
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Reviewed by jack from pembroke on 26th Oct 2004
I have had this phone now for about 2 weeks and i find that all the features on it are excellent. The camera is the BEST i have ever seen on a mobile in my life, an the video is amazing!!It records for upto 60 minutes!!! Even though you can't connect it to another phone via bluetooth it still works brilliantly to a handsfree.The ring tones are great accept that you can't put an mp3 as your ringtone.And by the way what the hell are you talking about "the key pads too far down" it's not at all!! so SHUT UP!
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Reviewed by Gary from UK on 25th Oct 2004
Not so much a review (since I'm considering purchase at this point, but a comment to Darko from Croatia. Your phone will be a Vodafone customized phone because Vodafone is likely to have subsidised the cost of it for you. I think that is still the case anyway. It certainly used to be. Unsure of the legal position in different countries, but it isn't difficult to find someone who will unlock the phone for a price for use on any network, but unless you've used the phone for a reasonable Time on Vodafone, then you've robbed them of them of any subsidy they paid. Do check that next time you get a handset.
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Reviewed by cotter from ireland on 25th Oct 2004
What is wrong with these people,!!THE KEYPAD IS TO LOW.U HAVE TO CLICK 4 TIMES TO DELETE SOMETHING.IT TAKES 1 SEC 4 THE SCREEN TO COME ON PLEASE!!U LAZY LAZY PEOPLE IF U WANT A PHONE THAT DOES EVERYTHING 4 U !!!INVENT 1.This phone is great."only thing is the blue thooth the fone is not compataible with it but really who cares u buy the fone to use it and a fone of this stature needs to b seen most people would like to have it so if u diss this fone u are mad.great camera mp3 cool light flash(does disco)all and all this fone "kicks ass" no fone at the moment with features and style compares.i cant prase it enough.buy it if u want an all round great fone packed full of goodies.
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Reviewed by Mc scat from england on 20th Oct 2004
if ur readin thses reviews den u probabli avent got the fone yet but r waiting 2. du not get it the blurtooth does not transfer mp3s or ani form of data and u wud probabli it doesnt matter coz u can transfer it by infared but tht doesnt work either!!so ur burgered get the SONY ERRICSON K700i insted much betta fone even though the camera aint quite as gud as the GX30 it stil beats the fone by miles. BOTTOM LINE IS - DU NOT GET IT GET THE SONY ERICCSON K700I
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Reviewed by Adrian from Ireland on 20th Oct 2004
Does the phone have bluetooth or not.proper bluetooth now not one that only works with some things. some one write in please.i dont know weather to get the nokia 6230 or the sharp gx30 help!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Justin from England on 15th Oct 2004
Always had Nokia in the past & I think the nokia is easier to use, but this is a minor thing and you very quickly get used to the GX30. Great camera & dispay + Bluetooth works perfectly if you only want it for hands free. Overall EXELENT phone, one you get used to how it works.
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Reviewed by ami from england on 12th Oct 2004
its is FANTASTIC
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Reviewed by Ryan from England on 11th Oct 2004
AM A 14 YR OLD BOY SO THIS PHONE is a the best thing ever too me the picture is great i can have videos,and my fav tunes on it,all the ppl who h8 it must be retards not knowing how to use it.
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Reviewed by Mr from UK on 10th Oct 2004
Really really great phone! I dunno how people could say some of the comments they have... makes them look bad for not even finding out what features the phone has. i use everything it has and wouldn't use anything else anyway... it's perfect for me. also, the camera takes incredible pictures and the disco light's pretty cool ;)
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Reviewed by riccardo from uk on 5th Oct 2004
i really like this phone. picture quality is great and so is the screen resolution however the vodafone live software is junk. i cant connect to anything bluetooth other than a headset....since they blocked its full userbility....annoying since thats the reason i bought it you cant text fast, it misses letters all the time. cant remove operator logo cant assign mp3's as ringtones movie quality is very poor apart from that its great ;)
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Reviewed by Kukov from on 1st Oct 2004
The Sharp GX30 is a great video phone. Picture quality is good in the day, although i found that the GX20 takes better nightime shots (yeah i did turn the light on). The phone comes with an 8meg SD card which doesn't give you much storage, shop around get a bigger card especially if you want to store alot of mp3's! The only bad point i can think of is reception.
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Reviewed by Ste from Ireland on 24th Sep 2004
I changed from a P800 to this, and while I did give up a lot of features I knew I was giving them up and was happy to. If you want a PDA don't get this phone, but if you want the best camera phone on the market then this is the one. It's very easy to use, very comfortable to hold, the buttons are the best I've ever used, the reception and battery are good enough for me not to notice anything about them, the screen is wonderful which is not just a gimmick, I find txt messages so much easier on the eyes now, and the screen is good enough to do the camera justice too. I'm not a photographer and I've never used a real digital camera, but this phone is more than good enough for me to never bother with a normal camera and film again. Add to that an mp3 player and a memory card slot that allows for enough memory for a couple of hundred songs and you have a fantastic little device. It doesnt have a supper processor for playing 3d games and it most certainly isnt for the business user, but for a normal phone you couldn't ask for more.
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Reviewed by Jez from UK on 16th Sep 2004
Had mine one week and I'm taking it back, very disapointed with the phone just because of one simple let down, the bluetooth will not interact with other bluetooth phones, so you can't save your dosh and have to buy everything of vodafone, the whole point of blue tooth is to interact between phones, so them taking away this use sucks!. As far as I'm concerned it's a con to get you to buy more stuff of vodafone, apart from this I do like the phone, excellent camera
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Reviewed by - from - on 2nd Sep 2004
This phone is so poor in terms of pic quality, the menus are to defficuilt to manage, after changing my easy to use nokia 6600 to the heap of junk I was very dissapointed, I returned the gx30 to the shop and bought the Nokia 7610.
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Reviewed by nam_eip_238 from England on 29th Aug 2004
WHATS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?! SO DAMN LAZY!!! 'OH I HAVE TO OPEN IT MYSELF!' 'THE KEYPADS TOO FAR DOWN!' - Heres a sugestion - MOVE YOUR HAND!!! This phone is great! It is by far the best phone within its price tag. If you are too lazy to move ur hand, by a worse phone with a higher keypad for more money!!!
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Reviewed by Alex from UK on 23rd Aug 2004
When people say how the Bluetooth doesn't work that well, all I can say to that is that maybe you shouldn't have bought a phone which has such high quality aspects else ware...You can't have everything and for someone to say that the keypad is too far down the phone.... well you should of held the dummy phone in the shop. Generally that's what they're there for. I do agree that the phone isn't business orientated but there are other phones, which don't, have the incredible phone but do have the good Bluetooth, voice activation, calendars which link up to alarms. Blackberry phones, I know are really expensive but they do what most people I think are looking for. To conclude the phone is brilliant if you like good pictures, music/ringtones, games and video so basically media. SO DON'T GET IT IF YOU ARE A BUSINESS MAN/WOMEN AND NEED A PHONE WHICH HAS THE PROPERTIES OF A PDA!
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Reviewed by ange from uk on 22nd Aug 2004
this phone my look the mutts nutts but the bluetooth and infra red does not like to work, this phone has amazing cababillities on picture and sound,but i think this phone has been rushed out to soon, only buy if you want the visual effects.......
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Reviewed by LEE MOANER from UK on 17th Aug 2004
GREAT PHONE BUT VODAFONE ARE A RIP OFF COMPANY. A PAY FOR LINE RENTAL B PAY FOR WAP SERVICE KB DOWLOADED 3 PAY FOR USE OF SITE EG ITN. VODAPHONE GREEDY PRICING.
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Reviewed by Greg from UK on 17th Aug 2004
this is the best phone i have used so far top marks. unfortunatly it has taken all my money but it is worth it. a first class phone all round A Star for it
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Reviewed by M from UK on 17th Aug 2004
I was looking forward to upgrading to this phone but now I have had t a couple of days I am going to return it as there are basic features missing from a "high tech" phone ... I bought a Bluetooth headset and that would have been good to use with "voice activation" unfortunately there isn't this feature on the GX30. This should be standard and a safetly feature if people are driving without having to buy a carkit whereby you have to stop the car to dial. The Bluetooth is only for connecting a headset and you need to buy a cable to transfer data. I had a Sony T610 which I wasn't happy with because of the rubbish photograph quality and the earpiece wasn't loud, but it had many basic features expected of a phone!! Also there are no emoticons when writing texts. The Sony T610 has both static and animated emoticons. I think I will go back to my Sony and keep the headset!! After all it's a phone not a camera - the videos clips are only up to 44secs ... there is a Nokia which record s much longer....
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Reviewed by Mike from UK on 12th Aug 2004
Oh my god! You have to press an extra 2 buttons?! The screen takes a second to come up when you open it?! The keypad is too far down?! You poor thing! What's wrong with you people? The phone is great. So what if it has little annoying bugs or ticks, all phones do. The camera is just perfect! No other camera takes better shots. And because of the size, when you upload the pic to your PC, it's a decent size on there too, not some little square thing that you can't resize. Great phone. Can't plug the charger in cause it's fiddly?... Go on a diet you fat-fingered fool!!
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Reviewed by David from Ireland on 11th Aug 2004
This is the best phone ever it has it all. Only thing is the price tag.
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Reviewed by James from uk on 9th Aug 2004
when i first got this phone i though it would be the best phone i ever had but i was wrong. The phone has an exellent camera and the picture quallity is brilliant but the phone lacks some of the features of other phones, you would think for £400 i'ed get all the features i want and more probably plus the meneu is hard to use. Dont buy this phone(GX30) GET THE cheaper ONE THE (GX20)!!!!!!!!!! IT'S MUCH BETTER AND GOOD FOR THE MONEY.
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Reviewed by dan from england on 7th Aug 2004
this is a great phone, the camera beats anything ive seen on other phones by miles. if you're looking for bluetooth connectivity this phone aint for you, but i read up on it before i got it and so i knew it was limited in bluetooth capability. usability is good and once you have expanded the memory (bit of extra cash needed) then its mp3 player and camera really come into a world of their own!
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Reviewed by jakey from UK on 2nd Aug 2004
This is a poo phone, but has an amazing camera/video feature. If you are use to a Nokia or Ericcson phone you will be dissappointed with this phone, due to it's non-logical menu and the options available in the menu. If you are not bothered how the phone works itself and only interested about having a quality camera, then this is probably the phone for you. I would advise to buy a good phone, then a camera seperately.
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Reviewed by Paul from UK on 26th Jul 2004
This phone is a toy not a phone for making calls on,no voice actavation bluetooth when it feels like it,slow screen start up,poor batt,never again
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Reviewed by Alex from UK on 11th Jul 2004
This phone does have lots of features. However, it has what I think are major useability problems..... 1) You cannot link a calendar entry to an alarm - you must do these two things separately. 2) You cannot customise the menus. This means that you can't put your most used functions on the start screen, for example. 3) As another review said already, bluetooth does not work for data transfer, only hands-free. 4) For nearly every task, you have to press more buttons than my previous phone (Siemens MT 50), e.g. after you have read a text message, it takes 4 clicks with 2 different buttons to delete it. 5) When you open the phone, it takes around a second for the inside display to work - doesn't sound like much, but is in practice rather annoying. 6) Plugging it in for recharging is very fiddly. 7) The camera lense is placed permanently on the outside of the phone and is hardly recessed at all, thus leaving it vulnerable to scratches. In addition, a standard Vodafone case does not protect the lense much, and you can't use the camera with the case still on. 8) The keypad is set much too far down, so that you have to curl your thumb right into your palm to press the lowest row of buttons (which includes the "space" key when texting). Some positive things - 1) The main display and outside display are large and good quality. 2) The camera and video are very high quality for a mobile. 3) The phone looks sleek and nice. It seems to me that the GX30 hasn't really been user-tested much, just rushed out onto the market as the first UK 1-megapixel camera phone. It's not bad, but it's not good either. Without the excellent camera and video capability, this phone wouldn't stand out at all. I can't recommend it, I wish I'd paid less and got a phone I could be happy with.
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Reviewed by Loki from UK on 10th Jul 2004
this is a great phone. it has nearly everything that a modern phone should. the picture quality of the camera is great and the screens are very clear. had a gx20 before this and that was quite good too. but this is even better. phone is slightly bigger now with the extra features. i have upgraded to a 128mb card. can store about 10 mp3s quite easily. keypad and menu are easy to navigate. the whole phone is quite intuitive. have tried other phones before e.g. nokia, panasonic, samsung. but this one tops them all feature and picture quality wise. the speaker on the phone is quite loud. can play mp3s or other sounds clips through it. phone has got a multicolour flashlight. you can take self portraits using the screen on the front of the phone. u can store 500 names in the phone memory. plus u have 6mb of phone memory for applications/pictures/videos etc. u can record videos of up to about 43secs. quality is good and includes sound. u can download some great games for this phone. battery lasts about 1day with constant use, 3days standby. i unlocked my gx30 from voda using a code so ive been using it on orange, reception is great. bought a scuba case for it aswell coz its quite expensive and u dont wana take a risk really. what else can i say. basically its a great phone and i would recommend it to anyone. the only competitor for this phone at the mo maybe the nokia7610. but if ur after a good quality phone to last u for the next year or so, this is the one. it beats all the phones on the market at the moment. plus it looks stylish with chrome finish etc. i wouldnt swap this phone for any other at the moment.
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Reviewed by Daban from UK on 4th Jul 2004
Nice phone, very nice camera but my god have they got it wrong. Its advertised as a Bluetooth phone, which is why I bought that model. However, for some amazing reasoning on the part of Sharp the phone cannot do data transfer via blue tooth, just hands free!! There is no way to link your phone to a PDA, other than by the IR port, which does not seem compatible with ANY of the handhelds I have tried. A real pitty.
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Reviewed by sam from uk on 3rd Jul 2004
I have alway been a fan of Nokia, but after seeing my brother\'s GX30 i have been swayed to change! Very smart phone, easy to use and lots of cool features.
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Reviewed by Darko from Croatia on 1st Jul 2004
i bought this phone home last week and brought it to USA....hoping that i will have a top phone in my university....unfortunately non of the features are working (cause its a Vodafone customized phone)...DOnt buy it unless u will be using Vodafone network!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Sharp GX30 "handy hints"

Submitted by Paul Simpson from UK on 4th Jan 2005
ANY OF YOU OUT THERE THAT HAS "PROBLEMS WITH TRANSFERRING PICTURES AND RING TONES TO YOUR PHONE (ANY THAT TAKE AN MMC OR SD CARD ie SHARP GX30/i NOKIA 6600 & 7230) TAKE NOTE!!!! Y O U D O N T N E E D THE PHONE MANUFACTURERS' PHONE "DATA MANAGEMENT SUITE". THE EEEESIEST WAY OF DOING IT IS GO TO A PC COMPONENTS SUPPLIER (PC-WORLD ETC) AND PAY, O N L Y £15 (ish) TO GET A MEMORY CARD "READER" (THERE IS ONE THAT READS SD & MMC ALL IN ONE). THEN PLUG INTO YOUR PC (USE THE MEM CARD DRIVERS IF NEEDED, BUT MILLENIUM/2000 & XP USERS DONT NEED THEM), AND HEY PRESTO! USE IT LIKE A FLOPPY DRIVE/ADDITIONAL DRIVE!! JUST COPY/CUT AND PASTE FILES BACK AND FORTH USING EXPLORE MY COMPUTER ETC.. *** NOTE-if the phone FORMATS the memory card with folders then DONT delete them as the phone WONT recognise whats gone on (if you do, you'll need to let the phone re-format it to its way of formating and then start again) *** THIS IS GREAT TO RECORD (USING WINDOWS "SOUND RECORDER") UPTO 30 SECOND SAMPLES (IN WAV FORMAT) OFF A N Y OF YOUR FAVOURITE MUSIC CD TO BE USED AS A RING TONE!!! (AHEM, COPYRIGHT ERM, APPLIES);-).. NOTE - WAV format sounds are quite big in data size, so anything more than 30 seconds in length can be hazardous to your mem cards' space!! ;-) THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE PHONES THAT CAN USE MP3 TRACKS AS RINGTONES (SUCH AS NOKIA 6230) USE THIS FORMAT AS THEY SAVE A LOT OF SPACE... THIS IS A GREAT WAY TO TRANSFER FILES TO YOUR BUILT IN MP3 PLAYER TOO!! IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS, OR HAS BOUGHT A MEMORY CARD READER AND FINDS SOME DIFFICULTY IN TRANSFERRING THEIR PICS/SOUNDS TO AND FROM THEIR PHONE THEN I'LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO HELP OUT IF I CAN... MY E-MAIL ADDRESS IS paulgrahamsimpson@hotmail.com HAVE FUN, ENJOY! ;-)

Sharp GX30 Links