General Forum

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

Dave — Mon, 14 May 2007 02:59:42 GMT

My friends always say, don't knock it 'til you try it.

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

beodude — Sun, 13 May 2007 13:11:35 GMT

jandyt:
Brian Waddell:

Hi, I think the serene in its present form will be around for years. It isn't meant to date, unlike other more 'modern' designs. It will be like bs9000 or bl8000 etc, which although ten years old are still 'special'
Brian
I agree, Brian.
I paid £745 for mine as it had been on a rotating shop display for two months.
However, as a O2 contract customer, I was due an upgrade.
I went in to O2 and got a Smasung slidey 'phone (think it was a D900). I never opened the box but put it straight on eBay and got £210 for it. I am allowed an upgrade every eleven months, so if I do this three or four times, I've got a "free" Serene!
I'm quite sure my Serene will last over three years.
Sorry we've been naughty boys, Peter! Ya know, When the cat's away......
Andy T.

Omg, nice idea Andy, this makes the idea of buying a Serene quite tempting, yes even for me, having made fun of of it throughout most the post.

Also, apology to philipsmz, things did get a little out of control , however not to profanity level thx to Kevin (just kidding I don't think either of us would have gotten anywhere near that low).

Having looked in more detail, I have to admit the Serene does have some features worthy of B&O, like the motor assisted opening, perfect quality sound reproduction and obviously the quality of materials.

Also sorry to Peter, but hopefully we made life a little more interesting for you today lol. You thought once the site was up and running, you wouldn't have to do much work anymore didn't you hehe ?

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

Peter — Sun, 13 May 2007 12:07:13 GMT

I have done a bit of judicious editing hopefully without taking away what has been a good debate. Clearly the Serene stirs emotion in people - and I am sure David Lewis would be delighted to see this! I think he is keen for a reaction - both positive and negative!

I apologise to those whose posts I have edited. I have done so simply so that the site does not cause offense to either party.

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

Jandyt — Sun, 13 May 2007 11:57:23 GMT

Brian Waddell:

Hi, I think the serene in its present form will be around for years. It isn't meant to date, unlike other more 'modern' designs. It will be like bs9000 or bl8000 etc, which although ten years old are still 'special'
Brian

I agree, Brian.
I paid £745 for mine as it had been on a rotating shop display for two months.
However, as a O2 contract customer, I was due an upgrade.
I went in to O2 and got a Smasung slidey 'phone (think it was a D900). I never opened the box but put it straight on eBay and got £210 for it. I am allowed an upgrade every eleven months, so if I do this three or four times, I've got a "free" Serene!
I'm quite sure my Serene will last over three years.
Sorry we've been naughty boys, Peter! Ya know, When the cat's away......

Andy T.

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

Stars — Sun, 13 May 2007 11:44:14 GMT

I have to say that I really like the Serene and just because it is £800 I don't think we should expect it to be pimped out with a 5 Megapixel camera, 4GB internal memory, voice recognition, GPS, MP3, web browser etc etc

I agree with Philip. The Serene is certainly the best looking cell phone there is, no question in my opinion, whether it says Bang & Olufsen on it or not. However, a lot of its beauty is also in its simplicity. I don't really want a whizz camera on my cell phone - I have a Nikon Coolpix P1 that would kill any cell phone camera and I don't need an MP3 because I've got my BS2, etc.

Beodude, I think you've got some reasoning too. £800 is b***** expensive for a cell phone period, no matter how great it is. But B&O know that some of us lovers (like Philip and I think) or suckers (as you might think lol) are happy to buy a Serene for that price and will.

We all value things differently, but I can't agree with you that B&O just wanted to make a quick buck out of the Serene. Instead! I think they want to make a BIG buck out of the BV8.

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

Peter — Sun, 13 May 2007 11:28:17 GMT

I don't know! I have an afternoon playing tennis and you lot start throwing food around! This is a forum! Of course people have different opinions and everyone is entitled to their own. I do think the Serene looks a bit like a compact but I don't have a problem with that - so do most clam shell phones. I really like the upside down design and the wheel makes it wonderful to use. Soundproof sums it up as a dress phone very nicely. I think it is great but not something I would use for work as it doesn't have the features of my Blackberry. For evenings though, I could easily be tempted - and indeed did buy one when they first came out.

This forum is renowned as being friendly and easy going. We do not moderate officiously simply because we don't have to because the members are a good bunch. I do think some of the things said here are needlessly unpleasant and, quite frankly, it disappoints me. I would be grateful therefore if we could revert to a more reasonable standard of behaviour, and I apologise for an offense taken by any member.

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

Dave — Sun, 13 May 2007 07:24:38 GMT

Do you own the Serene? Have you used it? I tried it out in store before buying it. Before falling in love with how nice it is to use.

It is designed by B&O and sold by B&O, you have to accept that. You hate it, you don't understand it or what B&O was thinking, this has been stated repeatedly. Now does anybody have anything new to add to the discussion?

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

Kevin — Sun, 13 May 2007 07:12:25 GMT

come on folks lets have less of the personal stuff please!

We all have strong opinions but we can discuss those calmly and without personal jibes

Kevin

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

beodude — Sun, 13 May 2007 06:50:53 GMT

Philipsmz, this is all relevant to the discussion. In summary, I think the Serene is a badly thought out product and that it's design cannot compensate for the lack of features and the hefty price tag it commands. I also think that B&O have "sold out" and tried to make a "quick buck" on this particular product. With it's limited features, I don't think the Serene deserves to be given the same stature as other products in the B&O range. As somebody else invovlved in this discussion has already stated:

"Is this really the same company that gave us tape decks that automatically set the tape eq/bias, automatically turned them over AND automatically selected the right Dolby version with which they were recorded?"

You would not think such a great company as B&O would produce something as limited in functionality as the Serene; the integration of different features in one single device is something that B&O is renowned for. It is because of products like this that people associate B&O as being "All style and no substance"

Also you have to remember that for a company with as a good a reputation as B&O is going receive the harshest criticisms if new products don't live up that reputation. We love the B&O brand so much that we don't want to see it getting dragged through the mud so to speak, so to see Samsung walk all over B&O and for B&O to let them, it is truly a sad thing for a fan to witness.

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

EOB — Sun, 13 May 2007 03:41:55 GMT

if im corect following up on that iphone link the iphone is a lightyears ahead the serene and only 500 euro or so ?

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

Dave — Sat, 12 May 2007 23:28:02 GMT

I agree with Simon, that sometimes it is too much money to ask for.

I think it is possible that the Serene is over priced. It is priced accordingly, in my opinion, as the latest mobiles on the market cost around the same amount once you have finished paying it off on a plan.

The reason i coughed up 750 pounds for one is because i love it so much, i don't use a mobile all that much and sending sms's is a challenge that i enjoy doing when i am bored. If i need to call someone, i open the serene (it always makes me smile) and i make the call. Simple, and elegant. That IS good value, when i own a product that makes me smile.

I plan on keeping this clamshell / compact for as long as it lasts. I would like to think that it will last much longer than other phones!

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

Tom — Sat, 12 May 2007 19:34:12 GMT

I really like the serene, but for me, it will always stay one of the B&O products where I find it hard to justify the price. Most of the B&O products are really outstanding, but the serene is just a mobile phone IMO. It has everything a good mobile needs, but nothing more. IMO, the high price is not really justified.

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

The Beonic Man — Sat, 12 May 2007 17:19:55 GMT

beodude:

Does anybody else see the resemblance ?

Lmao can't wait for Serene 2 to come out :

LOL beodude! Thanks so much for this post! I am sat at home in a very relaxed and chilled out mood slowly going through a couple of bottles of red and looking through the forum. Your post has really made me giggle and brightened up my evening a lot! Thanks! You have gone to such a lot of effort to scan and put these pictures of makeup mirrors in the post and you are right, the Serene does look just like them! I have always been in two minds with this product. Like you, I have never really liked it much and have tried to persuade myself that it is B&O so I have to find a way to like it! LOL. Nope, I do agree with you. In my opinion, it just has a 'fancy' opening mechanism and that's about it. I am not going to pay £800 for that. I have heard there is a Serene 2 (although it will be a completly different product so I can't really refer to it as a replacement for the Serene) and I am wondering what that is going to look like! B&O are great at suprises aren't they? I do agree with another post saying that its a love or hate thing, I really think it is with B&O. I would pay £300 tops for the Serene and thats it.

On a slightly different tangent but still relevent, companies are getting silly these days and I can only hope B&O doesn't follow suit. Silly in terms of putting ridiculously high markup prices on their products thinking that people will pay for it because they love the brand and, because increasingly, we are living in a society where people are paying more and more for products, thinking they are getting quality just because the asking price is high. That certainly works for some, but I won't ever put myself in that category of 'person', whether I can afford it or not. Its the prinicple of being taken for a fool, like my friend who recently walked into a Porsche garage and bought a Carera 4 for £58,000 second-hand! They must have been laughing from the moment he walked in. The mind boggles, it really does. The Porsche isn't worth anywhere near that amount of money but they charge it because people pay it. I hate being taken for a fool, and so many companies out there these days are adopting this philosophy. On a different note, but while I am on a roll (!!) ... I was almost sold a table stand for a BV 7-40 at a cost of £1,6000, then a further £650 for a few inch motorised stand to go with it! What a pathetic joke, and I almost went for it. Thankfully my common sense kicked in and I managed to get back to reality. Greed is a terrible thing, and yes, I am talking about greed from the companies viewpoint, not necessarily pointing the finger at B&O because many of their products do have justified price tags and live up to their expectations, but a table stand that holds a sky box and not much else at that cost? FORGET IT.

Simon. (A little tipsy but still clued up!)

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

GuyHui — Sat, 12 May 2007 05:42:13 GMT

Henry:
Correction to my previous post:

Hello Henry,
I though that too. IMHO, this mobile phone is more women oriented.

One feature I like in the Serene, is the automatic opening and closing function.

Guy

Re: What is it that people like about the Serene?

beodude — Sat, 12 May 2007 04:55:00 GMT

beobeo:
Very nice Nokia, however to me the message is "look, I have a nokia Aston Martin, I'll never afford the car but I have the logo in my phone". Most owners of Serene also own B&O stuff, although not every B&O lover will like serene. That's clear.
I have a Serene and an earset 2 and what I like of it is that I have never seen anybody else with that phone. As opposed to it, my neeze got the Nokia8080 on her 15th birthday..
You are right, it looks like a makeup case, that's probably the reason of the effect it causes in the ladies when they see it, specially at bars. Let's face it, in one year time we will still be writing about Serene and will be comparing it with nokia 99999999 and no one will remember current nokias. Ther are just different products, for different people.

I wasn't really swayed by the fact that it had Aston Martin logo on it lol. I agree it just make you think they can't afford the car but they can have a phone with the logo on it. I was just looking at the general design of it ie much better looking than the Serene.

BTW soundproof even if they called it axe, when opened it would still look like a cosmetics case. It's the kind of phone I think would be perfect for my wife, but not for me :-)

When they make Serene 2, I think they should definitely butch it up a little more !!