I have just purchased a B&O Serene phone used/secondhand but still under guarantee. I wouldn't have paid the full retail price, but could afford it at 60% off retail!
It's a fantastic phone and I would recommend most people to ignore the early (prelaunch?) negative reviews.
Ignoring the full price issue, consider that you get a SIM free phone and are not tied to an expensive package. The phone has a real quality feel to it and the sound quality is extremely good. I found that the upside down screen is actually an advantage as you naturally cradle the phone in your palm using your thumb  on the dial/ wheel whilst getting a clear view of the screen. You can turn the phone over for desk use with the screen at the top and reverse the screen. When you plug the phone into the base docking station the screen is at the top and the display turns over automatically.
The camera is a discrete device in the hinge area. You appear not to be looking at the subject when you use the camera: actually a great advantage with many subjects where you want to get informal shots. The pictures are more than adequate for phone or computer viewing. (Want better quality: buy a camera!) Incidentally, the phone does display pictures in full colour: the black blue and white colours are the pre-sets for the menus.
I would say that the only real disadvantage that the phone has is the lack of a speaker for complete hands-free use. What is the point of having a terrific docking station with automatic opening of the phone when a call is received (when in the dock) only to have to take the phone from the dock to listen to the call! It seems that the use in the dock is really confined to web browsing or text messaging. True to B&O tradition (I have audio equipment from 40 years back) the phone will link to other B&O equipment/ phones for contacts exchange etc but wont readily link to any other manufacturers equipment (although there is  Bluetooth in this case).
Once you get used to the wheel (and avoid touching it when dialing (as brushing it accidentally will jump the curser and jumble up your typed number!)) it makes for very fast access to you phonebook and the phone menus.
The case for the phone by Louis Vuitton looks like a useless (and almost as expensive as the phone) handbag. There is an alternative by Piel Frama of Spain for about 65euros, but it relies on a plastic belt clip. I'm still looking for a sensible protective pouch for mine. Any recommendations?

Thanks for the info about the Piel Frama case. I bought one of these today.

Thanks Richard. How robust is the belt clip? Does it locate so as to prevent the case from turning over whilst attached to your belt?

Graham

I'll let you know when it arrives.

www.pielframa.net (click smart phone cases) 

The case arrived and only took two days delivery from Spain to the UK. I am happy to report that I am very impressed with it. It is very well made and fits the Serene perfectly. It offers a perfect alternative to the overpriced Louis Vuitton case and I would not hesitate in recommending it to fellow Beoworlders. I wont be using the belt clip so I cant comment on it to much, however there is nice attention to detail by providing a tool to remove the fastening screw and spare plugs to hide the hole.

 

 

Thanks for the case information.

Just a follow-up re my 'Review' of the Serene as a good used buy, I quickly found that the battery seemed to need charging within 24 hours of a full charge. I initially put this down to my playing with the phone/ using the motorised opening etc, but when the problem continued even when the phone was virtually only on standby all day, I visited my local B&O dealer and had a new B&O/Samsung battery put in. Unfortunately, I now find that the same rapid battery run-down continues, even after taking the phone on and off the charger a few times to ensure that the initial new battery charge was complete. Has anyone else had a similar experience? (Incidentally, B&O dealer has indicated that any faults with these phones under guarantee involve the phone being returned to Denmark).

Florence Wilson can supply a leather belt pouch that's very strong and will suit the Serene phone. Obviously not a tailored fit!

http://www.madeincumbria.co.uk/gallery/fh_wilson.html

The key/coin pouch is large enough and sells for £10 inc post.

 

I have had no battery problems. I have actually been somewhat impressed with the battery life, even with the motor on.

I'm beginning to wonder whether my short time between charges may be linked to the fact that my home is not in the best reception location for my network: signals are frequently lost. Does a poor network signal mean that the phone return signal is much higher than in an area of good reception, and hence the battery charge is lost more quickly (even on standby)? Having said that, my previous Sony Ericsson seemed to keep its charge much longer with the same reception problems.

When there is poor signal the phone, keep trying to get better signal, it do this in intervals every 1 or 2 min. on your old Sony it's possible to select have often it should try, don't think thats possible on Serene. But see if you can find a Menu about energy save.

Also, if you have the bluetooth function activated, this will also draw down power more, because that feature is also using energy to try and locate any bluetooth device.

Bluetooth has been turned off but with no discernible effect. I've noticed that my Serene gets noticably warm if it's left anywhere in the house where there is poor reception, or if I leave it on when driving (with phone at waist level). The battery drain continues to go from maximum charge to no charge within about 24 hours (with no talk time). Maybe I need to return it to B&O for investigation/ repair. (Maybe I've discovered why the previous owner was selling after only 6 months! (He said he'd got a company Blackberry)).

If it is getting warm, then it is drawing more than the average amount of power from the battery.

I would take it to a B&O dealer for investigation..

After another test leaving the phone stood in a good reception area I have confirmed that the battery run-down from full charge to discharge within 24 hours  continues to take place regardless of all the other possible variables. It will be going back to a B&O dealer (then Denmark) for checking. I'll report back on the eventual outcome.

Almost exactly one month on, my phone has been returned to me from Denmark via the local dealer. It's too soon to say whether the battery problem has been resolved. No meaningful paperwork came back with the phone, but the dealer thought that it was one of a few phones with a circuit problem making the display part of the phone noticeably warm/hot.Despite having been bought by me secondhand, B&O did the work under warranty without any argument. Everything had been wiped from the phone so I was surprised and relieved that everything reappeared as soon as the phone had been re-registered back to its docking station. As is so often with B&O, it's little under-reported details that make their equipment stand-out from the competition!Thanks to everyone who offered advice in this thread.

Are you saying that the phone's docking station remembers numbers even when they are cleared from the phone?? 

Yes. I don't have any other B&O phone system linked to my mobile, just the docking station which I use for recharging the phone. When I got the phone back from B&O everything had been wiped from the phone:- reinserting the SIM card did not bring-up anny addresses or numbers. However, as soon as I had put the phone back onto the dock I got a message on the display asking whether I wished to register the phone to the dock (so it was behaving like a completely new phone). After I had re-registered the phone to the dock, all the numbers addresses etc in the phone's directory reappeared so the dock appears to memorise what is in the phone and then acts as a back-up.

Just to add to the last comment, when I bought my phone (second hand) all the previous owner's directory/ message details came up. These were cleared from the phone (using the default password 0000......) after which only my own newly added phone numbers were stored. So I guess that the docking station only saves the numbers/ details you last save on the phone.....  if my phone had somehow remained registered to the docking station after being wiped by B&O, then would the docking station have restored anything????????

Fascinating!
I thought that the numbers etc were sent via DECT to a Beoline and stored there. Amazed to find there is storage in the Serene dock.
Thanks for the info, and I hope your battery lasts a bit longer now.

Andy T.

Update on battery holding charge etc. The phone has now been on standby for three days (with just  three calls and a dozen motorized openings) and the display has just started to show that the battery is starting to run down: so a great improvement (but not likely to approach the claimed ten day standby time).With regard to docking station memory etc I would like to hear from someone at B&O or Samsung as to whether the docking station does have a memory (thus explaining what has happened with my phone) or, alternatively, is it possible that registering of the phone to the dock activates an additional memory function that is based in the phone itself?

This FAQ from the B&O website confirms that when a second phone is registered to a docking station all the addresses from the first phone are transferred to the second i.e. the dock has memory whether connected to a Beoline etc or not. If you don't register a phone to the dock then it just works as a charger.http://bogo.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/bogo.cfg/php/enduser/popup_adp.php?p_faqid=584&p_created=1193735872As a follow-up comment re my phone repair, the phone came back with lots of scrapes and scratches on the hinge area which I didn't immediately notice. (Probably metal to metal clamping during the repair). I am currently waiting to hear from B&O what they can or can't do in this situation. If nothing else they need to be aware that their repairers or repair section in Denmark may not be taking the care that they should with the phone's external case when repairing the inner electronics.

Hi:

 

How much did your Serene cost? Was it an Ebay purchase. I have always fancied one but would not pay full retail price for it.

 

Thanks

 

Graham 

£350 with Earset 2. Expect to pay £260-£350 without the Earset. I deliberately avoided dealers selling several 'New' Serenes as I couldn't see how they would get them legitimately outside of B&O. (Some could be clones???) Check the seller's motives for selling and that he can give you his original B&O purchase receipt. When I went to the dealer for repairs they needed the original receipt. They told me that the phone still retails at £800 and I think that the Earset 2 was around £200.

I wonder if your phone had the same fault as mine did originally - the motor kept working when the phone was closed and ran the battery down.

All I can say is that there were no motor sounds, but that the phone case (screen section) got very warm/ hot. Interestingly, when I phoned the dealer about the repair scratches, he said that this was the first complaint of this nature that he'd had, and that he'd sent 5 or 6 Serene phones back to Denmark for repair in the past year without any subsequent issues. That sounds like an awful lot of phones to me (from a dealership that never seems to be overflowing with customers).