Just5 Brick Presentation: How I Met Thomofon + Answers to Habroid Questions

Prehistory

On July 17, Just5 presented its new designer phone, Just5 Brick, in Moscow. The model was developed with the participation of Artemy Lebedev Studio. I previously wrote a review of the extraordinary Just5 CP10S, so I decided not to miss the opportunity to get acquainted with the novelty. The event took place in the cafe of Artemy Lebedev - in an informal atmosphere, so to speak, without microphones :) How was the presentation - you can read under the cut.

How did everything go

The press conference was organized, to put it mildly, not very - a small, slightly darkened hall, a crowd of journalists that did not fit in it (some were standing right at the entrance to the hall). I did not have time to take a free place and stood in a crowd of highly senior representatives of IT journalism and did not see anything. Then, however, she pushed everyone and was able to squeeze closer to the speakers.

And the speakers were three - idiologist Philip Petrenko - no less creative person, in BestInSpace he is a trend director and a generator of interesting ideas - he grew up hipster, actually, having seen him, I realized WHO can blame (or praise) for that Just5 phones are as they are; Mikhail Nikolaev - the head of Just5, is also the soul of the brand and Marina Rozhkova, who is well-known in the IT community (whose distribution is famous all over the Internet :)). Actually, the presentation as such was not. Simply, each of the speakers spoke about how happy to see everyone and which phones are good. And then answered the questions of journalists. Yes, but where is the topic of Lebedev? And he stood in the same crowd of journalists (right next to me, by the way) and silently kept silent, which somewhat upset the gathered audience (I'm sure many people came just to listen to Tatyanych, but he didn’t say a word!)


Mikhail Nikolaev
')

Philip Petrenko and Marina Rozhkova

I also asked questions (those that were left to my previous post about Just5). Answers to questions will be below. In the meantime, about the presentation continue.

Well, after the question-answer section, the buffet table and free communication of journalists with representatives of Just5 began, some even talked to the Topic, and one comrade received an autograph: D That's all. Here is such a presentation presentation. In cramped and not mad, as they say. But all the same, it would be better if they organized this action in a more spacious room and used microphones, otherwise I could not hear anything :(


Lebedev gives aftograf

As for the impressions of the phone as such, I still have mixed feelings. To begin, let's be honest with ourselves - crowds of users on IT forums are constantly crushing, they say, the times of simple and reliable Nokia, Motorola and their ilk have sunk into oblivion. Wanted? Get a weighty "brick" without frills, clumsy rectangle with a viable battery. Just call and “sms”, wasn’t it about the adherents of “zadolbannye smartphones”?


That's actually it - Just5 Brick.

Abstracting from the category above, I will set out some personal "thoughts out loud." So, after Just5 Brick, the previous model Just5 CP10S seems to me to be just the pinnacle of the design thought of “ordinary” phones. It even seems to me that the guys from Just5 did so on purpose - so that against the background of too “out of the ordinary” Just5 Brick, sales could be improved by a little, a little, controversial CP10S. A whole day after the presentation, I had a word in my head that I could not remember at all. Remembered - kitsch. This word has different shades of meaning, but I think you understand what I mean. With this phone, once and a half, it is easier to “show off” than with Just5 CP10S. And it was for such purposes that the model was created - as even the defiantly plain name of Brick says.




Ergonomics? Do not tell, it was not delivered. Advanced functionality? Compared to Just5, the CP10S, on the contrary, removed a couple of functions - the SOS button is now replaced with the lock key. But there is a retractable antenna. No, it is not needed to improve the quality of the cellular signal :) This is an element for the radio, although even without raising the antenna, the phone is able to please FM music. Yes, returning to ergonomics - because of the “squareness”, Just5 Brick stands perfectly on the table. It is debatable, but I liked it, at least there is no extra reason to scratch or erase the cover. Another nice little thing - slightly concave keys, they are pressed more conveniently in comparison with the convex.

What else to say? They left a flashlight and a switch for it, a separate button is still responsible for the radio. It is very good that the same battery from Just5 CP10S remains. Charging is still bright orange. Box - gift, silver with a tint. Program with us is actually the same Just5 CP10S.

Summarizing what I saw, I repeat - the device turned out to be inconsistent. It is probably appropriate to say - like so much that the studio of Artemy Lebedev does.

Answers on questions

Finally, I remind you that in a separate post I collected your questions for Just5. I managed to talk with the head of the brand - Mikhail Nikolaev. So, I remember the questions, I give the answers.

1. Why are phones 2-3 times more expensive than similar devices from competitors?
This question was even answered by someone in the same thread. But once again I repeat the words of Nikolaev: “the original design, image and guarantee for 5 years is the reason for this price.”

2. What is the main feature of this phone? Full blocking of paid services is?
Just5 Brick is a real classic phone that many fans of “old school” models from Nokia and Siemens have long dreamed of. You must admit that it is difficult to remember manufacturers who now give us the opportunity to nostalgicize by calling the first half of the 2000s. As for the blocking of services, it is the task of the operators, not the manufacturers of mobile phones.

3. Who made you such a bad site? Here I went to look at phone models. I'm interested in technical specifications. And here I go to the model page, and there - FIG. And the two scroll bars on the question and answer page are why? Phones are just as "comfortable" as the site?
Very soon, our site will be updated and significantly improved, both in terms of usability and design.

4. Why does the wiki say that “in Russia and the United States, Just5 products were introduced in the third quarter of 2009,” and the press conference just now?
Because at the press conference, we present you the Just5 Brick - a model released in 2013. As you understand, we could not physically show this phone in 2009 :)

5. How can you comment on the situation with the return of money for the purchased device to a certain citizen - this situation was described by the bloner t-itanium.livejournal.com?
I will say one thing - I really wanted to talk with blogger Titanium in an open dialogue in the presence of respected Russian journalists, whom we invited to our event. I was ready to personally explain our policy regarding the return of goods and the solution of such difficult situations (the client - a citizen of the Netherlands - purchased a phone in the Riga online store, and about returning a broken phone, she turned to the Moscow office).
We very much asked the blogger Titanium to come to our event and talk face to face, but, unfortunately, the blogger refused to cite the fact that he "does not participate in this circus." I do not consider it possible to conduct any correspondence dispute with the use of intermediaries in the form of journalists, bloggers or company representatives. Either an open public dialogue in the presence of witnesses, or no comments.

Instead of conclusion

Someone reading this post will not find anything new for themselves. Someone will not like the answers of Michael, but I cannot vouch for him. Someone infuriates Lebedev's Theme ... Everyone, as they say, will not please.

I just wanted to share with you my impressions of the presentation - that is why this post is located in the Presentation Habré, which is quite logical :)

Read more about the phone here wrote comrade irubtsov - habrahabr.ru/post/187120