Orange Vs. O2

From previous experience with Orange with an N73, the Orange firmware definitely seemed to be a killer. It seemed to slow down the phone, which is why I updated it with generic firmware.

I have now gone with 02 with an N95 8GB, and there was a lot less firmware updates with O2, although I did update this phone with generic firmware as well.

i would think that you should debrand and put the generic firmware on the phone regardless of which carrier you are with. this ensures that you always have the latest and greatest firmware and dont have to depend on the slow carrier adaptation of implementing the new firmware. and also you run a nice clean firmware without all the bloatware and crippled features of carrier firmware, i.e. VOIP function removed.

Isn't debranding potentially bad, especially with regards to voiding warranties etc!?

Monkey48 wrote:Isn't debranding potentially bad, especially with regards to voiding warranties etc!?

That's the risk you take unfortunately.

It *may* void the warranty but its either that or live with bastardised firmware that's usually pre v20 and as slow as hell.

Unplugged wrote:That's the risk you take unfortunately.

It *may* void the warranty but its either that or live with bastardised firmware that's usually pre v20 and as slow as hell.

^^^What he said^^^ 😉

i second that, debrand and it makes it SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH better

I didn't realize debranding made such a difference. Would there be hardware problems with it being new to orange or not necessarily?

I got mine a few weeks back from phones 4u on Orange upgrade. It is a generic phone so is unlocked and has no Orange software on it.

I got it replaced yesterday as it had a minor fault and the new one is still a generic phone even though Orange have now "officially" released the phone.

Hope that helps.

it's mainly the crap that the phone company either installs or takes away.

VoIP is one that has been taken out by many networks (loses them money, and is understandable for them to remove it).

they also add apps for you that you don't want or need and this can sometimes slow the system down by running all the time.

when i got mine on o2 last year it would crash once a day sometimes more. since debranding i think it has crashed twice while using the phone. (although i thought i bricked it using NSS because i put it into TEST mode freaked me out)

Well I rang Orange today to sound out an upgrade and they want �150 to upgrade (ok it's a high-end phone but it's now free on O2) and the guy on the phone really tried to dissuade (is that a word? lol) from getting it. I know it can be prone to faults but is the N95 8GB all that bad?? All other phones at the moment seem poop in comparison to the N95. I'm one confused puppy 😞

My wife has just got the N82 on orange and there isn't much orange branding on there. I left orange because I hated their branding big time. I've compared it to my Generic N95 8GB and it seems just as fast. Seems maybe Orange have at last sorted out their major software problems on the N Series at last.
It does have the standard Orange homescreen on but this can be turned off and you can have the default nokia screen. VOIP is disabled as usual, has the nokia music store on as well as the orange one.

P.S. More than happy with my N95 8GB, had no problems with it so far and had it since december.

Monkey48 wrote:Well I rang Orange today to sound out an upgrade and they want �150 to upgrade (ok it's a high-end phone but it's now free on O2) and the guy on the phone really tried to dissuade (is that a word? lol) from getting it. I know it can be prone to faults but is the N95 8GB all that bad?? All other phones at the moment seem poop in comparison to the N95. I'm one confused puppy 😞

you should beable to get a much better deal, i rang orange yesterday as my contract had just expired and was about to leave, they put me through to retentions and asked why i was wanting to leave.

i gave the usual excuse and said i was going to go to another network to get a free N95 8GB, they offered me the N95 8GB free at only 20 p/m with 400 mins and 100 texts, i was originally paying �30 mon the same tarrif.

phone arrived today looking good, thinking if i should debrand but its already on V20.

Cheers gallous_boy, I guess that's good that it's already on V20 firmware. I thought I'd have to wait a decade (lol) for updates with orange only just releasing it. I'll maybe wait till the actual end of my contract as I'll have more of a bargaining tool with the words 'i wish to leave for 02'. Out of interest, what is the sliding mechanism like on yours? Cheers

Monkey48 wrote:Cheers gallous_boy, I guess that's good that it's already on V20 firmware. I thought I'd have to wait a decade (lol) for updates with orange only just releasing it. I'll maybe wait till the actual end of my contract as I'll have more of a bargaining tool with the words 'i wish to leave for 02'. Out of interest, what is the sliding mechanism like on yours? Cheers

The sliding mechanism is alot more stable and firmer compared to the original.
the buttons have a fantastic feel, the screen seems to be alot sharper and clearer.

Im wandering if its worth while debranding there does'nt seem to be too much orange branding on it.

Theres alot more ram, i get 89.5 ram at start up compared to 28.00 to the original N95.