I recently got this phone as my very first phone although my parents pay for it. I felt like doing a review on it until I noticed it wasn't up for review. So I submitted it as a recommendation and now here we are! To make it easier to go through and explaining the features (with the good and bad points) I will basically go through every menu option available on the phone. I hope this review will e of use to you and I hope it will be easy to understand.
+Introduction+ I will now give you a very quick overview of this device. It is one of the best-sized video phones around. As you may know many companies (like NEC and Motorola in the past) have gone for remote control size or 'bricks'! It was nice to see that Motorola overcame the flaw. It has video calling and messaging capabilities. It can also be used as an mp3/music player, which I will explain about in detail later. It is also a good device to use and very easy to use as well. There is an external camera and an internal one too. This is for use with video calls. There is also a front colour screen as well as the inner one. All dimensions and sizes can be found at the end of this review.
+Features+ I will now explain all the features with its pros and cons. When the phone is flipped open you get a colourful background with and easy to understand interface. When either of the menu buttons are pressed you get the main menu. The main menu is as follows: 1. Messages 2. Contacts 3. Multimedia 4. Games & Apps 5. Tools 6. Recent Calls 7. 3 Services (Network Dependant) 8. Connection 9. Settings I feel it will be easier to explain if I do it like this with any extras later so I hope it helps.
1. Messages By default this is the first option in the main menu of the v975. It is also possible to setup soft keys and shortcuts for quicker access; however, I will explain this in the settings section. When messages are selected you are presented with various options. These include Create Message, Inbox, Outbox, Drafts, E-mail, Voicemail, MMS Templates, Quick Notes, Express Links and Info Services. Many of these are self-explanatory so I will explain only the ones that may cause confusion or have more details. When you select Create Message you get the choice of text (SMS), Multimedia (MMS), E-mail or MMS Templates. When creating a text message you get various input options. These include iTap (predictive text), the normal manual style, symbols and numbers. This can be changed between upper and lower case.
The final two options in the messages menu (Express Links and Info Services) are alerts, which can be setup with the network to allow content alerts that you have purchased.
2. Contacts This is very largely self-explanatory as you can see. When this is selected there isn't really much to do as it is your contact list. Highlighting a contact and pressing the green button simply starts a call, you can also edit any existing contact info. When adding new contacts you can also add various symbols to show the
type of number it is, e.g. Home, Mobile or Work etc. There is also the ability to add things like address, voice tags, individual ringtone and contact entry pictures. Another feature is adding e-mail addresses, which is something I haven't needed but is simply to do.
3. Multimedia This is where you can do everything related to videos, pictures and sounds. The first option you see is videos. Here you can view any videos stored on your phone or organise them. The phone supports .wmv (Windows Media Video), .3GP (Used on all video phones), .MP4 and .MPEG-4. If you are low on memory you can always buy a memory card that I will explain about later. The next option is sounds; here you can listen to all your stored music and sounds. The good thing is that the phone accepts various sound file types that include: .wma (Windows Media Audio), .mp3, .AAC and .AMR recordings. If you have numerous songs you can also organise them into a play list for easier listening. Sound quality for music tracks can be altered before uploading them. However, as the quality increases the size of the track does too. The third option is pictures. You can view or organise you pictures here. It is also possible to sort them in to albums. The accepted file types are .jpg, .gif and .bmp.
You then get an option entitled 'Games & Apps', by default there is only one thing when this is selected and that's the Digital Audio Player that you can use to play music. However, I don't find anything special about this and don't bother to use it much. There is a slight disappointment that is that there are no pre-installed games which would have been nice. If you have a look at the content provided by 3 you soon get put off at the prices.
The next options are something, which give the phone its good features. These are the camera and video camera. The video camera is simple enough to use through the two corner buttons to store, record and stop etc. Before recording there are various things you can alter like using night mode or the flash. There is also a 2x digital zoom included. The camera is also very similar to the video camera in terms of features. It has a flash and various modes for different lighting. It is possible to change the resolution if you want to send the picture in a Multimedia Message. However, unlike the video camera there is a 4x digital zoom included instead of 2x. The quality of the pictures at the highest resolution is 0.3 MegaPixles. When deciding to buy this phone I thought it had a 1.3 MP camera and I was let down to found out it wasn't after my purchase. Nevertheless it is still a good quality and I am satisfied with it.
One quite big down point with the phone is that Sound Recorder doesn't come into the multimedia menu. Furthermore, it doesn't come anywhere in the phone. I found this fairly shocking as it is a basic concept to a phone and many basic phones even have that feature. I have also seen a sound recorder on previous Motorola phone which was surprising. However, I personally, don't have a need for it so I don't need to complain much. The final available option is Themes which you can set for your phone. However, there aren't any preinstalled which is a slight let down as I don't know where to get any from!
4. Games & Apps This is the exact same thing which is described in the Multimedia section so for more information see above.
5. Tools Here you can find various basic tools every phone has. Although you won't find a sound recorder there. With this you get Calculator, Calendar, Shortcuts, Alarm Clock, Quick Menu and Dialling Services. The calculator is your basic phone calculator and is very easy to use. It is also possible to work out percentages and convert currencies. To do this you need to input and exchange rate first. Like the calculator the calendar is also basic and easy to use. A useful feature is that you can add Events and To Do lists for any day. This can turn out to be very helpful if you happen to be fairly forgetful. Next up is the Alarm Clock which again is simple enough to use. When creating the alarm you can choose any sound stored on the phone to use as the actual alarm sound.
The other options are Shortcuts and Quick Menu. With shortcuts there are a few predefined ones which lead you to content provided by your network. You can also add your own shortcut by following the described procedure. It is possible to store around 90 shortcuts which are helpful but you may not use. Shortcuts are accessed by pressing the main middle button and then the number assigned to it.
With dialling services all you really get is some shortcuts to call things like 3 customer services and 3 Finance if this is needed. This depends on what network your phone is on so it may be different on other networks.
6. Recent Calls Here you will find many options related to your calls. Received Calls and Dialled Calls simply show you last received and dialled calls respectively. There is also something called notepad which simply temporarily stores the last pressed numbers on the keypad until something else is. Finally you get call times and call cost. When you select Call Times, you can see the length of your last call, all calls and the calls made in the lifetime of the phone. Call cost only works with pay as you go so I can't really explain how it works as I am on contract. However, it is fairly self explanatory.
7. 3 Services This is highly dependant on what network you have the phone on. As I have it on 3 it is hence labelled '3 Services'. Here you can access the browser from 3 or go to your stored pages. On 3 services you can download various content like comedy, sport and news etc. However, I have never purchased anything as I find the content too expensive.
8. Connection This is easy enough to understand but also one of the down points to this phone. Within this menu you have to select the type of connection for your phone. A menu like this would normally incorporate things like Bluetooth and Infrared. However, all you find it Sync! The full name is SyncML and what it basically is synchronisation. I have never found out how to use this but I think you need to know the details of a server you would like to link up to. It then makes the time and date exactly to what it is on the server (or wherever you link up to). It is also possible to connect your phone to you computer via the data cable and software which is usually provided with the phone.
The down point is that there is no Bluetooth or Infrared!! This type of connectivity is becoming a very basic standard in many phones nowadays. I was very shocked to see that these were non-existent with the v975. Anyone of these (or both) features would have made it REALLY good. However it is possible to get a Bluetooth adaptor to attach to your phone if need be.
9. Settings Now we come to the final menu option on the phone. Here you will find various stuff to setup and personalise your phone. You can set screen savers and skins for your phone if you want a more personal feel to it. You can also change the ring styles from things like Silent, Vibrate, Vibrate & Ring, Loud and Soft. It is also possible to setup call diverts for all types of calls like voice and video calls. From the settings menu you also alter things like the time and date and settings for when using the headset.
+Miscellaneous Features+ There are some other features which in some ways do not come in to what precedes this. Therefore I shall explain them here. With the v975 if you want to use it to store quite a lot of videos, pictures or music tracks then I advise buying a memory card. It takes one called TransFlash (or T-Flash) and is slightly smaller than a SIM card. It is available in up to about 512 Mb capacity. However, the Motorola v975 can only take up to a 256 MB card. You can pick a 128 MB card up from the Internet for about £15 delivered and 256 MB for about £20 delivered.
There are many little shortcuts of which some that aren't listed in the instruction manual. Although the phone has an internal and external camera you can use the camera with the phone closed. If you simply press the soft key on the right with it flipped closed the camera starts with the picture coming up on the front screen. I don't find much use for this but it's a fun and nifty feature none the less. You can set up one touch button shortcuts which are used on the main screen. For example, if you pressed the middle circular button down it takes you to contacts. This can be changed through the settings to what you want. There are many more little and in-depth features but explaining every single one would take an age!!!
+Network(s)+ With this phone being a video phone you might assume that it will only be available on 3. However, recently I discovered that it is also available on o2 which was a bit of a surprise. The WAP on the phone is restricted to what 3 provide. It is all free to browse and it will only cost when it says. But the thing is the cost. The prices are sky high compared to other networks. For example a normal game price is £5 and one on sale is £3!!! Other networks have normal games for £3 anyway. Also the network from 3 is not always what you might want. Nevertheless it is improving rapidly and is a lot better than a few months ago. It is possible to get this phone on pay as you go or monthly contracts. I have never purchased any content as I feel it is nowhere near good value for money and also because my parents pay the bill!
+Durability+ Durability is also good as I have had my phone dropped (and thrown on one occasion) with still no problems. The standby battery time is up to 150 hrs but when listening to music and doing other stuff it decreases rapidly even with better save mode enabled. The talk time is up to 2 hrs but the phone does heat up quite a bit after a call. Sometimes the battery time can be very disappointing indeed. I feel it could be alot better as after about listening to about 3 music tracks and about 10 mins of calls, the battery is almost dead! The metal on the front can get scratched sometimes which can look slightly bad if you spot it. This is one of the slightly bad points as sometimes it can easily get scratched.
+Value For Money+ I think this phone would give better value for money if purchased on a monthly contract. Unless you buy with o2. With three your airtime credit is wiped out within 30 days of top up BUT the contracts are much better value than other networks. For example, I pay £4.99 (through cashback) a month for 500 minutes and 100 text messages. This is very good value as I also got the phone free. If brought on pay as you go the phone will cost you around £200 sim-free. It is fairly feature packed which gives it better value but the addition of more connectivity would have ensure great value for money.
+Specs+ Dimensions: 94 x 49 x 27 mm, 105 cc Weight: 137 g Display: TFT, 65K colours Size: 176 x 220 pixels 4096 colours display (96 x 80 pixels) Ringtone Type: Polyphonic (24 channels), MP3 Customization: Download or Data Cable Phonebook: 1000 entries Card slot: T-Flash 16 MB internal memory Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email Clock: Yes Alarm: Yes Games: Yes + downloadable Camera: VGA, 640x480 pixels, 0.3 MegaPixels, Video Camera - Java MIDP 2.0 - WAP 2.0 - MPEG-4, WMV video player - MP3, AAC, AMR audio player - T9 (or iTap) - Organizer - SyncML - Video calling - USB port Battery: Standard battery, Li-Ion 930 mAh Stand-by: Up to 150 h Talk time: Up to 2 h
+Conclusion+ The Motorola v975 is a very good phone for value of money, especially if brought on contract with 3. The only down point is that there is no Bluetooth or infrared included with it. However is made up by the expandable memory and other features. Battery life isn't that good at all especially after calls.
(Note: When Ciao put this up for review they made a mistake with the preset options and put it as a shaver!!! lol!) I will select any relevant options and will edit it once the problem has been sorted)
Thanks for taking your time to read this and I hope you found it useful
Loads of effort in that review, with lots of information. Thank you! :)
adzemaster 17.09.2005 13:04
Thanks for the comment on my review. The speakerphone volume is good although i dont have much experience of it. It is not a brick, although slightly larger than other phones it is still not a brick. I think you may be thinking of the motorola c975 which is a different phone as i submitted the photo. Futhermore, although you can get 512 cards the highest the phone can take is 256.
FallScrape 16.09.2005 12:13
lots of info - but I'd like to know more about the speakerphone volume!
Presumably the images Ciao have uploaded isn't of this phone either - as the one I've been looking at today was a brick not a clam.
As far as I am aware, you can have 512MB not just 256MB transflash cards for the phone, and the bluetooth adapter is for headsets only!
Dear Ciao User, We are sorry we can't show you any offers on this page for the product you have selected. You can find offers here: 1 - out of offers for Motorola V975
Advantages: light, large screen, easy to access functions, efficient backward key, web 2.0 features Disadvantages: may feel confused by so many functions
rosycn1979 21.02.2007 (21.02.2007)
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