Deadly Sins of YES 4G - especially Buzz Phone

DON'T READ if you already BOUGHT from YES !!

Should you really say YES to YTL's 4G ? Well, may be you should consider these deadly sins that I have observed . . .

First of all, they said, "pay only what you use". But there is a minimum charge of RM 30 every month if you engage one of their packages. As far as I know, this 4G network is a closed network. Meaning the only way you can engage their services is by buying one of their devices. And once you DO NOT use their services anymore, your device is ABSOLUTELY USELESS !! Hence the only way to engage them is by buying one of their packages. So how is that "charge only what you use" with this RM30 monthly ?

Note: You still can BUY their device separately and then TOP UP with credits. In that case, I suppose you will NOT be charge the minimum RM 30 a month. But the question remains . . . You HAVE TO buy their devices ! How is this a fair trade ?

FYI : RM 30 = 1GB usage or 333 SMS or 5 hours 33 minutes.

The next big hu ha is you pay only 9 cents. BUT there is NO WAY you can find out how much you have used so far from your phone. How many calls have you made ? How many minutes have you called ? How many SMS have you sent ? How many MB have you used ?

The only way to find out your usage is by login to their web site. And once you login, all you can view is your usage up to yesterday.

The good thing is, they said login to their web site to check usage does not incur cost. But there is really NO WAY you can tell whether charge does incur or not when you browse to 'their web sites. Simply because there is NO details of your browsing bandwidth.

The phone . . . is basically not a phone. It is just a device for you to log in and log out to their 4G network. Below screen shows where you do just that. At the moment you sign in, you basically leave your fate to them. There is NO WAY you can track or measure your usage. There is NO WAY you can find out if there is a background application using bandwidth without asking for your prior approval.

As a matter of fact, in order for 4G phone to work, your phone WILL check the connection and other info 'from time to time' and it will DEFINITELY use some bandwidth. They may say those do not incur charges, but then again there is NO WAY you can be sure either way.

OK, even if we assume YTL is your god and you trust them fully. But once you install some of your own application ie. facebook !? Then how do you tell if that application is continuously using bandwidth even when you are NOT using it !? You DON'T !!

The only way you can CONTROL your usage is by log out of the network. But once you log out, you will not be able to receive call or sms. So you HAVE TO keep yourself login.

You HAVE TO keep yourself login

Once login, you have NO CONTROL of the usage

When you buy the package, you get nothing else but a receipt. So basically you are just buying a 'thing' like any other trade transaction. They DID NOT promise their up time, NOT their coverage and NOTHING about provide you a fair services like a proper way for you to track your usage.

As long as the 'thing' / device you get is still working and their 4G network is still up, you basically have NO LEGAL RIGHTs whatsoever against them. It doesn't matter at all if you can't make call, your sms didn't get delivered and your usage has been abused etc. You just DON'T have any legal rights against all those situations.

You PAID and you GET the 'THING'.

There were NO other service warranty / guarantee at all.

Since when is the voice and internet NOT together ? It has always been internet on top of voice even during those dial up era. Now with their so called 4G, its voice on top of internet. Which really is no different than Skype, which has been existed for ages. Either way, voice and internet has ALWAYS been 'together' !

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There is a "Auto Sign In" check box on the phone, even if you don't check that, the device will still sign me in without me asking it to do so.

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Once you login to their web site, your usage up to yesterday will be reported. However, the account details seems NOT changing even after 3 days of usage. Says I have used 9MB so far for example but my total credits in my account remains the same RM XXX. So even if I know my usage, I have no ideas how they are going to charge me in future. We will see but I am quite sure "PREPAID" is suppose to mean deduct immediately after each call/sms/bandwidth usage.

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The general perspective of YES Buzz 4G Phone

yes Buzz 4G Phone Samsung SWD-V100

This is the advs published on Yes web site. After delaying for more than 3 months, this phone is finally launched on 4 March 2011. The phone itself is RM 488. If you get the package RM 1,199 then you get the phone for FREE.

The phone comes in RED and GOLD color. Mine is the RED one. The GOLD one seems a bit yellowish and 'not apparent'.

This side is the Camera button and the interface port. The same port is used for USB data sync and charging. When connected to USB, it will automatically be charged too.

Volume up down buttons and micro SD card slot. It comes with NO extra memory.

. . . when you slide out the keyboard. The keys layout is not that good. You can really type like the way you type on a keyboard. I suspect the spacing between the keys are too wide.

The 'shift' keys are also not that convenient. They called it the Alt key. And the layout for all the Alt keys are not the same as the keyboard. They are actually one row down. If you don't know typing, then the QWERTY layout wouldn't help you neither.

You get a CD to install PC Studio. This piece of software take ages to install and I highly suspect this is a piece of badly written software. My whole system slows down big time after installing this.

The phone's main screen.

This phone main menu screen.

the interface cable, the same goes to USB cable and Power Charge cable.

The back side of the phone. 2MP camera is just alright.

These are the stuff you get in the whole package.

You can go to Lot 10 or KL Sentral to try out the device. Don't bother asking too much technical stuff. Most of the staffs working there have no clue what 4G or Wimax is really about. Nor will they tell you ALL the right stuff. They will give you tons of misleading information anyway.

If you are serious, do all your research online before you go. While on side, just try out the device you want to buy. Then make a decision right there.

When you are buying, just pay and give your IC. Then you will need to pick a number. 30 mins to 2 hours later, your line will be active !

outdated side : yesbuzz4g

Want to know the deadly sins of YES ? Read HERE !!