Motorola V300

...and keep me amused!' The Motorola v300 is what I got.

I don't know about you, but I hate phone reviews that are just a list of specifications with no opinion, so I'm leaving the specs till the end. This is my review on my phone, and I'm telling you what I think!

The most important function of a phone is to make calls, so let’s start there. Making a call is easy. You can either just type in the number or click the green ...
...activate in the same way. Sound clarity in most cases is excellent, although reception, sometimes, is not. This doesn't seem to be a network issue, as my boyfriend’s phone on the same network generally works in places mine doesn't. However, this problem is only occasional, and in the main, reception is satisfactory.

I like the fact that if your call is not connected, the phone offers an auto redial function, which is great for Saturday ... more

I have a very poor record with mobile phones. One has been put in the washing machine, one flushed down the toilet, one stolen from my bag, and one I thought I'd lost but hadn't really.

After 'Losing' my phone (for 'losing' read dropping down the back of the sofa, and it running out of battery so I couldn't call it) I decided it was time to get a new one. I went in with two rules. I wanted it insured, as my poor track record had shown me that this would be a worthwhile investment in my case, and I wanted it on a contract.

I trotted off to my local phone shop and after a lot of listening to the assistant blathering on about wap this and polyphonic that, I stopped him and said 'I want a phone that will make calls and keep me amused!' The Motorola v300 is what I got.

I don't know about you, but I hate phone reviews that are just a list of specifications with no opinion, so I'm leaving the specs till the end. This is my review on my phone, and I'm telling you what I think!

The most important function of a phone is to make calls, so let’s start there. Making a call is easy. You can either just type in the number or click the green button, or access a stored number in your memory and activate in the same way. Sound clarity in most cases is excellent, although reception, sometimes, is not. This doesn't seem to be a network issue, as my boyfriend’s phone on the same network generally works in places mine doesn't. However, this problem is only occasional, and in the main, reception is satisfactory.

I like the fact that if your call is not connected, the phone offers an auto redial function, which is great for Saturday nights when I need to get a taxi at bust times. My phone keeps trying and trying, and as soon as it manages to connect successfully it will ring to alert me. Quite handy that!

The display is a nice size, measuring 1 1/2” in length and a little less than 1 1/4” in width, which is about twice the size of the screen on my old Nokia, and is full colour. I find this more useful when trying to read messages, as you can set the colour of the backlight to make it easier on your eyes. It also means that the icons stand out more, and that visibility of the screen is not lost in sunlight.

The main screen when the phone is activated shows you most of the details you need to know, including reception and battery status, the time (You can set it for analogue or digital.) and date, and of course the icons leading you to where you want to go. You can also see from here whether you have any missed calls, voicemails, or new text messages.

Navigation of the area within the phone took me a while to get used to, and I did most of it without the manual, which I'm sure is useful if you're a techy, but for me personally fails on not explaining things simply enough. Once you've played with it it's very simple though, and you can rearrange he menu into any order you like, useful if like me you're not bothered about your call register but you want your games on hand.

This phone has voice calling, which I find harder to set up than on other phones, as you have to make sure the voice tags are stored onto your phone rather than the sim card, which would be fine apart from the fact that the phone insists on saving them to sim first, so that you then have to go back and transfer them.

The integrated digital camera is very simple to use. It's easily accessed from the first loading screen, and it’s a simple matter to take a photo. Simply use the buttons to adjust zoom and brightness, and click. You can then view your picture, and choose whether to save, discard, or send in a message. There’s even a tiny mirror on the front of the phone so you can take a photo of yourself! I do use this a lot, although I tend to send my pictures on and then delete them, in case someone else got hold of my phone. I think this phone could really benefit from having a separate password setting for stored photos, so those curious friends couldn't nosy at them.

It's easy to customise your phone. Things you can fiddle with include ringtones, themes, bacgrounds, screensavers and security settings. You can also adjust screen brightness and ring settings to vibrate etc. You can even set a different ringtone for each caller (my workplace is set on the funeral march, so I KNOW not to pick up and be suckered into overtime!) although I would recommend not to do this for every single name in your phonebook, as it all gets confusing. If you want to personalise everyone, use the picture caller id function, which is great fun and easy to set up.

The selection of ringtones that come on the phone is large, with something for all tastes, including a few popular tunes, some classical, and some that are frankly just hideous noise. It's easy to download more (at cost) as this option shows up when you view your tones. There are also composer and mixer functions on the phone for anyone musically minded enough to make their own. The 22KHz polyphonic speaker with 24 chord support means that the ringtones sound pretty beefy, like real music!

One thing I dislike about the phone is the charger. You have to squeeze in the prongs to stick it in your phone, and more often than not I find it hasn't gone in properly and needs wiggling about. Why not a simple plug in charger like Nokia has? However, charging is fast, with a full charge taking little more than an hour.

The phone has 5mb of memory, more than enough space even for someone like me who saves every text message they receive. I like the fact that I don't have to go through it deleting stuff every week.

You get a respectable amount of talk and standby 180-400 minutes of talk time, and about to 120-200 hours of standby time on a full charge.

And of course you’ll want to know about the looks. It's a cute flip phone with a rubbery feel to it. It's stylish and the ergonomic design means it fits nicely into your hand. It has an antenna, which I'm not quite used to after the Nokia. It's attractive, and the layout of the buttons is good, with them being neither too small nor too large. The phone is quite tough, having survived numerous drops and infant chewing sessions

This phone costs around 300 sim free, or is free on most contracts.

To sum up A great phone that is feature rich without compromising call quality (although reception could be improved upon) easy to personalise, and a lot of fun to use. Minus one star for the annoying charger.

Thanks for reading. Specifications are below for anyone interested, although I've removed some, as the list was too long. For a full list, check out www.motorola.com

Incidentally, I am informed that Moto means fat bum in indian!Whether it's ture or not, I couldn't say, but if it is it gives new meaning to the adverts!

Specifications:

· Integrated digital camera (VGA quality) with zoom and brightness adjustment
· Integrated speakerphone
· 5MB of memory - can be used to store pictures, wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones, games
· 22KHz polyphonic speaker with 24 chord support
· 2 pre-loaded games
· Picture Caller ID
· Multi-Media Messaging (MMS)
· Short Message Service - send and receive messages with emoticon, include sounds, pictures and animation
· Email pictures to any e-mail address
· Preloaded and Downloadable - Wallpapers and Screensavers, Themes, MP3 Ringtones and Games
· Wap enabled
· Speech Recognition
-Predictive text·

Display
· 176 x 220 pixel internal Vivid 65,000 Color TFT
· 96 x 32 pixel two line external display shows Caller ID, date & time, plus Status Icons
· Blue backlight on external display

Calling Features
· Auto Redial
· Call Forwarding
· Call Waiting
· Call Hold
. Quick Access Menu
· Ringer/Vibrate Suppress
· Multiple Call Timers
· Multiple Key Answer
· VibraCall® alert

Memory
· Last Numbers Dialed
· Last calls received
· Phone Book - up to 1000 entries

Indicators/ Alert Features
· Battery Meter (always shown in display)
· Roaming
· Text Message Waiting
· Voice Message Waiting
· Signal Strength Indicator
· Voice and Message Mail
· Alert Setting Indicator

Security
· Call Restrictions
· Keypad Lock
· Phone Lock
· Application Lock
· Passwords

 

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