AT&T Quickfire Review

Brad Molen  By on 16 Nov 08

Text and IM addicts on AT&T rejoice! Smack dab in the middle of a large holiday-season overhaul of its phone lineup, AT&T this week released the Quickfire, its version of the Sidekick (or the “Sidekick killer”, if you will). The AT&T Quickfire is sure to be of interest to the younger generation as it features a slide-out keyboard for texting as well as a touchscreen.

The Quickfire is made by UTStarcom, which used to be known as Audiovox; this is the first phone from that brand that AT&T has sold since the 5600 nearly 3 years ago.

AT&T Quickfire Design

Upon first seeing the phone, I discovered it is rather large when compared to other text-centric phones. I believe that it was designed this way on purpose so that those who text a lot can grip onto the device with both hands. While AT&T Quickfire could be used with one hand, it would be quite uncomfortable to text this way. Especially since the screen would be slid out to expose the keyboard. I did notice, however, that it seems to be easy enough to grip with one hand when the screen is slid shut.

AT&T Quickfire keyboard is a good size. The buttons are large enough and there is enough space in between each button to help distinguish what you’re typing as to limit the number of mistakes made while texting. The only buttons available when the keyboard is slid shut are the three at the bottom: one for answering/making the call, one for ending the call, and the button in the middle to access a quick menu with options for calls, messaging, email, and internet.

The Quickfire slides open to reveal a spacious keyboard.

The Quickfire slides open to reveal a spacious keyboard.

The touchscreen on the AT&T  Quickfire is huge. There is no mistaking what you’re trying to push, as the font is large enough for everyone to see. The response time is pretty good for a mid-tier touchscreen phone.

The screen is large, bright and easy to see.

The screen is large, bright and easy to see.

On the top of the Quickfire we find the charger port, microSD slot and power button; the left side offers volume controls and the right side sports a Voice Command button along with camera button. The Quickfire battery and battery cover are fused together so no need for extra parts, and SIM card slot has its usual place underneath the battery.

The Quickfire weighs in at 4.8 oz and has dimensions of 4.3″ x 2.2″ x 0.7″.

AT&T Quikfire Features

Screen/OS:

The Quickfire’s OS is proprietary – AT&T made the interface very simple to figure out. When you slide the keyboard out, you are greeted with 5 options: Email, IM, Messaging, Address Book, and “more”. Pressing “more” will open up the main menu with all the available options. When the Quickfire keyboard is slid shut, the screen changes from landscape mode to portrait, and provides you with the full menu.

Using the AT&T Quickfire touchscreen itself works pretty well, though it took me a little getting used to. There is no haptic feedback that vibrates when something is touched. You can scroll up and down through the menus, but works a little different than the iPhone-style screens in which your finger “grabs” the screen to scroll; to scroll down, simply slide your finger down, and vice versa to slide up as well.

AT&T Quickfire Specs:

Here’s a listing of what else the Quickfire has to offer.

To enhance your Quickfire music experience, stereo bluetooth has been added. Other profiles for bluetooth include A/V Remote Control and DUN, which allows you to tether your AT&T Quickfire as a modem for your computer via Bluetooth.

The Quickfire offers games such as Sudoku and Jewel Quest, and gives you the option to listen to XM radio from your phone for a monthly fee. Mobile banking is also offered.

AT&T Quickfire’s internet feels reliable and hassle-free internet surfing. I pulled up Unwired View on it and the page loaded within seconds; it showed the page as you would see it on your computer’s browser.

AT&T Performance

The AT&T Quickfire has a paltry battery life, rated at 3 hours talk time and 12 days of standby. We didn’t have the chance to test out the battery on our own, but we do hope that the battery will last longer when pumping out the large number of texts the phone’s destined to be used for.

We found the Quickfire speaker plenty loud and ringtones were easily heard from across the room. The ringtones that come on the phone are certainly designed for the younger generation but are still MIDI tones, so be prepared to download a couple custom MP3 tones. There were no issues that we could find with the Quickfire call quality.

To be honest, part of me expected the phone to feel cheap, as if it would break into two pieces in the first month. But I came out more impressed with the AT&T Quickfire, and am certain it will be an absolute hit for any hearty texters that enjoy AT&T’s network but yearn for a Sidekick. The Quickfire is now available at any AT&T stores as well as online for $99.99 with 2-year contract after rebates.

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  • learjetone

    Bought the quickfire on 11/16/08 from the get go started having problems with the unit. At times when changing to a differant screen it would lock up and particularly when executed a command prompt of a drafted email this would occur. I literally would have to remove the battery to get it to work.The final straw was when taking a picture it would code a error message.Brought the unit back to the att store and asked for a different model the servce agent was sorry for the probleims but asked if i would try another unit ,are you kidding me! I asked if this is an ungoing issue with this new model and he finally fessed up that they aready recieved 10 units back to that store with simular issues . I decided to go with the samsung eternity so far no probliems knock on wood. I should have known better then to buy a product manufactured by the company formerly known as AUDIOVOX!!!!!

  • Dylan

    Thanks for hthe comment learjetone! I was about to get the Quickfire until i saw your comment and realized that the samsung eternity is a lot better. Im getting the eternity tomorrow! Cant wait!!! :)

  • Ali

    I bought my quickfire less than a week ago and have had zero problems. The only problem I have run into is that it can not send media files or picture files via bluetooth. I think I may be able to get a USB chord and connect to my internet that way but I haven't tried it yet. My phone works perfectly fine and I am extremely glad that I go this phone opposed to many of the other phones out there right now. Texting is super easy and the touchscreen is very responsive. I don't know how you seemed to have troubles with your quickfire, because mine works perfectly.

  • Daniela

    I'm with you Ali. My friend has the quickfire and it's really easy to use. I'm getting mine for Christmas! :)

  • http://my.tupperware.com/aprilblanton April Blanton

    Hi,
    Checking to see if you can view pdf files on your Quickfire.
    I am considering getting one, however some of the other Touchscreen phone options have pdf's viewable.
    Thank you and you can reach me on my cell if you choose, 770 377 9427
    April

  • Doc

    I got this phone three days ago seeing how my old razr finally died -though I hated that phone from day one. What a P.O.S. Anyway, the Quickfire is just that quick on the net. I use it all the time to access my Gmail account and do some light surfing of the net when I am in a meeting at work or something as boaring as that. Anyway my only issue is the touch screen is a bit too touchy sometimes and sometimes I have to tap it really had to get it to respond. But all in all it is a great phone no crazy errors or anything. The only thing that sucks is you can't use bluetooth to send files to the phone no biggie there are plenty of free places on the net so send files to your phone.

  • tricia

    I love the quickfire! one thing left out is multitasking on it you can be on the internet and talk and pull up other windows on it……also a good feature is the music ID have you ever listen to the radio and heard a good song but did not know the artist well with this you can hold it up to the radio and it analizes the song and tells you who the artist what cd and the title……my husband says he lost me to the phone since now i never get off it, access my email addresses,IM, texting, check lastest entertainment they also have short clips of episodes on tv……..he has a iphone and now he wants one……….

  • Anthony

    do u need a plan to get verything for it?

  • maria

    omg i love this phone

  • maria

    im getting mine for christmas too danielaa! im so exited xD

  • Charlie Biederman

    hi i was wondering if there is a way possible to text using T9 on the screen instead of using the keyboard. Please let me know, thanks.

  • Erin

    i'm getting the quickfire for christmas and i have seen it online and have been doing some thorough research. i'm a little nervous about this phone– wondering if it's worth the suspense on christmas morning :o )
    i've seen reviews that constantly say “nice look but bad quality” which i'm sure you just see those everywhere. but also– can you put wallpapers on here or is it always that blue screen??
    please respond ASAP– thank you!

    ps- your review was extremely helpful

  • dan

    Definately a decent product that ill be picking up for christmas.
    people always talk about how their phone has problems. there a simple reason. people drop them.
    people get a cover and take care of your phone and it will last forever.

  • hi

    can you record music and set it as your ringtone?

  • vcoen

    I bought mine a little over a month ago and the only problems I've had are: the screen will lock up and sometimes the touch screen is unresponsive, but both problems go away within a few seconds. this phone is also VERY durable. I dropped it face down in a rocky, muddy puddle while it was raining and i picked it up and dried it off and it worked perfectly. It's amazing to text on, and you can't text using T9, sorry.

  • fred arline

    got mine 12/23/08 it freezes or somethin its un explainable??

  • Heather

    I have a question. I txt alot and one of my concers with buying the phone is that the battery will not last long. About how long does it last when you txt during the day?

  • Liz

    im unsure if it's just my phone or if all are like this.. I got my quickfire X-mas eve and charged it fully before i used it and the charged it all night. X-mas day i had to charge at least twice in order to be able to use it with out it going dead. So x-mas night i charged it fully and ive come to the conclusion that after i send and receive about 200 mesages and have maybe two less than ten min phone converations its dead. its something wrong with my battery or are the rest like this? I talked to a friend who got her's on x-mas and she says shes not having the same problem and that she geting more use out of hers.

  • kanYe East

    I love my phone! I got it for Christmas and I am completely satisfied with it. I can easily view web pages and text with ease. The ONLY problem I have was that there are NO earphones! I have seen a couple of 3.5 mm headphone jacks and some USB cables, but the websites I found them on didn't look quite legit…. haha. The only way I could get my music onto my phone was to use a microSD adapter connected to my laptop and then click-and-drag. For those who think that this phone looks cheap, you are wrong. The phone has a heavy, sturdy build to it. Nothing that I can feel or see is or will become loose. I just might end up keeping this phone for a few years!
    NOTE: This phone DOES NOT play songs bought from iTunes (m4a files). Great music player though.
    BOTTOM LINE- for you texters who want a high-quality phone with a full keyboard and 3G web speeds, but cant quite afford an iPhone and are on the AT&T network, get this phone! It is better (in my opinion) than any other touch screen phones AT&T has to offer (except for the almighty iPhone) lol. Hope this review was helpful! Happy New Year! ^_^

  • princess

    i got the phone for christmas. i nicknamed it my iKick and i must say that i love the phone. i've gotten alot of completments. but the screen does tend to freeze up for a couple seconds (its NO iPhone). The most extreme problem was just that i couldnt trnasfer old pictures to my new phone via bluetooth. So i had to go out and get an sd card….which doesnt show my files either on my new phone. Also the other night my parents got into a car wreck so i had 3 or 4 people calling my phone. (not good) after the 4th call my phone completely freezed up and i ended up havin to turn it off and back on. but other than that, nothing major. I love the way i can send and recieve text messages quickly. It is many of the comforts of a sidekick with the convinience of a touch screen.

  • princess

    ALSO!!! the battery is crap. I take my charger everywhere just in case. but i used my phone christmas morning and it was almost dead by noon. At first i thought it was me, but even on my other phone i could text all day before my battery ran out. a car adapter is a GREAT investment.

  • Reina003

    the very first models of a phone, are basically prototypes, and to expect it to work perfectly is ridiculous. Even the Iphone had this problem when it came out several years ago. Nonetheless, trying the quick-fire is a risk I'm willing to take. Based on my review research, I've found good enough opinions to try it.

    Note: I'm going from an Iphone to a Quick-fire.

  • —-

    This is the best phone ever! Coming from an LG Shine this is very nice. Its QWERTY keyboard is well spaced out and very easy to use. It's touch screen is a nice addition. Every so often it lags a bit or hits the wrong one but no where near as bad as other people have commented on it. But, overall its a 9.5/10!!! I'm so glad I didn't listen to many of the comments others have made about the phone.

  • Devon

    I've had my Quickfire for about 3 weeks, and my only complaint is about the battery life…but if you charge it every night, there's no problem…definitely get a car charger. The phone is very easy to use and sending texts and e-mails is a pleasure. I also like the Voice Recognition feature, and my Bluetooth works very well with the phone.

  • jessica bentley

    buy a battery from a non att company and it will work fine i ordered mine from wirelessground.com and have had no problems

  • jessica bentley

    buy a battery from a non att company and it will work fine i ordered mine from wirelessground.com and have had no problems

  • jessica bentley

    buy a battery from a non att company and it will work fine i ordered mine from wirelessground.com and have had no problems

  • fallenhero

    yea im doing the same thing im taking my iphone and turning it into an ipod and getting the quickfire

  • yaya

    I got the quckfire phone for christmas and now it is january 14th and i am having major promblems with mine the touchscreen sucks and it shuts it self off and turns it self right back on ALL the time i could be in the middle of a call and it will jus shut off and trun right back on and it will not let me send a text message with out shutting off and on about 5 times so i gave up! i hate the qickfire i would not recomend it to NO BODY

  • vale

    I'm getting this phone tomorow, even though i was sopoused to get it on december 5 for my bday. I'm in love with it, and my cousins have it and most of my friends do too. Don't listen to the crap people are saying about this, because I know its not true. I mean, I dont have the phone but I use my cousin's all the time and it works pefectly. The only thing I would say is a little bad is that sometimes the battery will say needs to charge when its in the middle, and when at times the screen freezes, but then it comes back to life. It's really how you treat your phone, because if drop it all the time either in solid, water, mudd, rocks, then your clumsyness will obviously damage it. You really need to take care of it like if it was your baby, don't let any one touch it!

  • LouLou

    The Quickfire sounds awsome. In May 2009 i will have enough money saved up to get it! I am a fast txter and with this i will be able to txt in 5 seconds! I love the lime green one but there should be more colors. I am not complaining cause ive been saving for a while but in May I'm gonna be cruising with my Quickfire

  • Kelsey

    a couple quick questions.. i'm thinking about getting a quickfire. i have a shine now and i hate it. i've seen a couple of comments that said people can't transfer pictures or files with their bluetooth.. but, what about ringtones? also, another thing that i hate about the shine.. i can't set any of my ringtones for text messages. i have to choose from ten, obnoxious message tones that are already on my phone. can i set my own ringtones as message alerts on the quickfire?

  • abcyesn

    My first-impressions of this Sidekick-styled handset. Formerly known as the UTStarcom Knick, the QuickFire is a quadband GSM, triband UMTS slider with a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen display; slide that up, and there’s a full QWERTY keyboard.

    There's a Quickfire fans site http://www.AllQuickFire.com Share your opinions there.

  • Wouldn't u like to know?

    I am buying one of these, because at first glance(on the web) it looked beautiful. Orange and silver? Wonderous. Though I wanted to be sure the texting keyboard and the touch screen was up to par before I went about spending all of that money.
    I was going to get a Pantech Duo, though I heard bad things about the qwerty keyboard. I would like to thank you for your review on the phone, it was very helpful and I intend on buying one ASAP.

  • Taina

    I own the Pantech duo, good phone generally, but i am completely tired of it.
    In order to text and talk, you must push home, and navigate without pushing end, or else you hang up on the person. It locks up, when doing little things. And it's broken stuck closed, stuck open, stuck both ways. (which its not supposed to do) But in the end it is partially my fault because im bad with phone, and it had been thrown

  • celtic97

    ok i am getting the quik fire today my mom keeps saying its a waset of my mony but i know its not and that is is a great phone for kids to have

  • Bon Qui Qui

    I Looovvveeeddd the quickfire!! I think it is WAAAAYYYY better than the ugly azz Sidekick!!! My Cuz says that the quickfire is a piece of junk but i know she just hating cuz she waste her money on dat piece of SHYT!!! I love it and i advise everybody to throw thier sidekicks away and get them the new quickfire cuz it iz so worth the money and the phone colors are Hooottt!!!! So basically get it love it and help prove my cuz dat she iz a jealous person!!!!
    – Luv Quickfire Luver

  • Eli

    this phone stinks, i've had two and they already stop selling this phone because there have been so many problems with it.

  • Kate

    Pan tech duo's stink!!!!!!! i have one and it froze up on the screen while turning on and we had to pay for shipping and everything to ship it back to the main company then they sent me a new one, and it was working for a little while but now its not deleting anything(like txt's and pics)…i would delete somthing completly and then shut off my phone and turn it on and it would be back! so i took it back and i had to master clear it twice so i lost everything (contacts,pics,notes ect…)

  • Casey

    I need help with that to have you gotten the reply can you have different wallpapers or just the blue screen please get bck to me!

  • brtt

    i have had problems since day one it freezes up constantly and theres an error when i try to take a picture.

  • lyndsay

    i got my phone in the beginning of january and i LOVE it. its so easy to use and is so much fun. i love my quickfire and i dont know about any of you guys, but i have had no problems. all my friends ask to use it and they all love it. so, like i said, i didnt have any problems, and i dont know about you guys, but you may have just gotten a bad phone, but you are satisfied like i am with my quickfire.

  • http://unwiredview.com aj

    yes you can mostly every phone you can do that

  • ladybug

    I got mine for Christmas and i loved this phone. It was freezing up from the start but it was so minor that i could live with it. It became worst over time and then it would not hold a charge and was extremly hot most of the time. I called AT&T to replace the battery because i thought tis was the problem and they started to send me a replace battery. A week later and no battery but i did get a phone call asking me to pick out another phone because they are no longer going to stock this phone because of so many issues with it.

  • jenny

    im thinking about getting a quickfire(i know they dont sell it at at&t anymore, but im thinking about buying one off of ebay). Im wondering how th battery life is and would you recomend this phone to someone who texts a lottt!?

  • xDaltonx

    the quickfire sucks.
    Touchscreen is horribe.
    Slower than dirt.
    Sounds quality sucks.
    Sliders on it suck.
    Battery life is also horribe.
    if you txt alot its be dead within an hour and a half.
    just plain out the biggest waste of money.
    ive had it for about four months and it barely runs.
    when i get a new one this is getting smashed and thrown away.

  • Kathryn

    Since so many people are saying this phone is bad, what at&t phone would you consider buying?

  • Ray

    I Was Wondering If Anyone Here Is Looking For A Quickfire Phone I Just Got It A Week Ago And I Wanted To get A Phone And I Thought I Would Like It But It Was Alright…I Kinda Want A LG Incite So Yeah…Its In Great Condition No Scratches, Pretty Much Brand New….I Will Either Trade For A LG Incite Or Sell It For $ 120.00

    Just E-mail Me If Interested =)

    beannerboi@yahoo.com

  • http://bradpitt.com/ Brad Pitt

    i got this phone and since i have had it i have had to beat the ladies away from me. they love this phone!!!!!!!!!! i got a date with brittany spears tonight!!!! yea (im not gay) (no homo)

  • brie

    a good phone is the palm..i dropped it soo many times. the touch screen is pressure sensitive. but to be honest my mom called att today about the quickfire which the dont even sell anymore and they gave her the biggest problem. she said it would be easier to pay the 200$ termination fee and go somewhere else then to pay to get a new phone. the quickfire is terrible and i went through 2 of them already and att still gives us problems. they say they will replace it with the propel, matrix, or vu.. all in which are way less expensive then what my mother paid for mine. spread the word.. att is going downhill. and the quickfire is not worth all the money and time.

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