My son was given one as a birthday present from his aunt.
It "does what it says on the tin", but it can be difficult / impossible to customise, eg cannot get new facias, downloading ringtone/wallpapers etc. is very hit and miss .
But we have had no problems with it on VIRGIN network.
My son is ten years old and was able to take it out of the box,set it up and use all facilities without needing to read the manual or ask for my help, so , YES , very simple to operate