Motorola W385
Average Ratings
I love this phone!!!!!
Let me just start off by saying, this is the 6th cell phone I've ever owned. And every cell phone prior to the Motorola w385 I've hated more than the last.
In the time I've had this phone, I have fallen completely in love with it. I LOVE THIS PHONE!!!!
The battery life on this phone is excellent. I don't have a land phone, and I have friends that like to call me up with a lot of problems and keep me on the phone for upwards of two hours @ a time. Most phones I've had I had to charge daily. I went three and ahalf days without having to charge this phone. I was amazed.
Secondly, the reception is excellent. I hear people clear as a bell even on speaker phone- even if we're both on speaker phone. And I get signal almost everywhere-- like tonight, I was in the bathroom, located in the far corner of the underground basement of my gym, having a 45 minute conversation with my boyfriend... I was amazed!!!
Thirdly, the design is so sturdy and sleek at the same time--- it's perfect for people like me who aren't exactly easy on cell phones. The phone also comes with awesome ringtones, and a nice selection of wallpapers!
My ONLY CON with the phone-- is that it's a little masculine looking-- I'd like to buy a cute pink case for it-- that will also help safeguard me from jerks trying to steal it.
Also I would complain that the camera quality isn't excellent, but I really could care less-- that's why I have a digital camera.
all in all-- love this phone!!! love motorola!
Great Phone!
I just got this phone from USCC and I like it very much. I am writing to correct some misinformation posted about this phone.
I was concerned when I read others say that there was no way to change the sound from loud to vibrate without opening it and going into the menus. NOT TRUE! You can easily change to vibrate or loud by just holding in the volume key for a second and then pressing the smart key repeatedly for the change you want.. You can also hold the smart key in for more than one second and the keys will lock. A nice feature is that opening the phone will automatically unlock the keys. Overall there are a lot of improvements. The call quality is better as is the speaker phone which I believe is full duplex now. The voice dial now works by just saying "call" xxx not the old and rather dorky "name dial" xxx.
The USCC version has a gray rubberized surface that looks blue gray in the sun and keeps the phone from sliding out of your shirt pocket. This is a good solid phone for everyday use and it still does look good in the gray and silver colors. I give it a solid 3.5
Best phone I've owned so far
Prior to ordering two Motorola 385, I had spent about a week researching various Verizon offerings and comparing features. I have always preferred long battery life, small factor, usability, call quality and loud ring volume to things like high-resolution camera and screen, Wi-Fi, 3G network, etc., which I consider secondary to any phone.
My wife's previous phone was Motorola E815, and I had a Verizon (UTStarcom) XV-6700. For what we use our phones, the Motorola 385 is a much better choice.
The set of features may appear to be limited, but everything this phone can do it does very well. Our Plantronics 655 Bluetooth headsets sound much better with the Motorola 385 than with both E815 and XV-6700, probably due to the fact that this phone has Bluetooth Class 2 vs Class 1 in both E815 and XV-6700.
We both love the way this phone feels in your hand, and all in all, the impression I get is that this is a very high-quality product. The reception and the sound quality are exceptional -- much better than any phone we have owned before. I doubt that the battery life will be as good as advertised (440 hours standby, 4.5 hours talk, but if we can get five days of standby with moderate (2-3 hours) of talk time, I will be more than happy. So far, it seems that achieving this kind of battery life is not out of the question with this phone.
Voice dialing seems to have been drastically improved from the days of the Motorola E815. We can actually use this feature now and not hate it.
So far, I have only found one issue with this phone. Every time I would receive a call while my phone was in my holster, the call would drop as I was lifting the phone from the holster. Finally, I realized that the incoming call would drop as I was moving the phone across the powerful magnetic field that my holster's magnets were generating. So, when looking for a holster for this phone, please be mindful of this problem.
AWESOME!!!!!!
WOW LOVE THIS PHONE. This is the greatest phone. This is way better then my LG 8100.
Pro's.. awsome signal, ringtones, pictures, texting is very easy to use,
Con's Batter life could have been longer.
I love with phone. I have it since October and yet I have had zero prob's where as my LOG 8100 had problems by the 2nd month I had.
LOVE THIS PHONE. Worth all the dollar signs.
A very good phone
I needed a secondary line and picked up the W385 for free last week. Overall I really like this phone. It feels great in terms of usuage and pocket-ability and fit and finish is fantastic.
Pros:
Call quality
BT quality
Fast charging
Mini-USB charging connector (bout time)
Long battery life with BT on (3 days with 2 hours of total talk time)
Fast menus
new version of iTap which is very easy to use
Excellent build quality
Rubber skin
Great speakerphone
External ID screen doesn't washout in the sun
Cons:
Inside screen... also cannot change themes
Cannot select iTap English as the default texting input option
Directional Pad is difficult to use with big fingers
Pet Peeves:
Why is CLR to the right of the D-Pad and not under???
Why can't they put in a standard phone ringtone?
Things to consider:
Camera is awful
Interior screen is low res and very blocky so games sorta look bleh from GIN.
No EVDO, No MP3, No Video recorder
Overall I really like this phone. My other phone is an Env (LG VX9900) which is a great gadget but only a so-so phone. This is a great phone with no gadgets outside BT and speakerphone. I think as it is, its an excellent phone and will recommend it to anybody. Also whats nice is that the colors are black, silver, and chrome and the inside looks very good as well. Its a very well styled phone that doesn't look like a toy or something marketed to 15 year old girls.
Radiation levels high (warning to parents) but Reception good ...
I've noticed quite a few parents here saying that they are getting this phone for their young children, but I would like to point out to folks that with any cell phone, they should look up the "SAR" rating, which rates how much radiation a phone outputs into your body as you use it. The MotoW385 has a very high output. The maximum allowed by the Government is at a level of 1.6, and the W385 outputs up to 1.54 according to charts. The jury is out as to just how much exposure like this may or may not harm you with heavy use, but I would certainly opt for a much lower SAR rated phone for a child. Using a bluetooth earpiece will also minimize exposure - it's when the phone is up to your ear or against your body when you receive the maximum exposure.
Ok, with that gloom out of the way, the W385 is othewise an excellent basic cell phone, with above average reception ability, and for a cheap phone, excellent ear speaker quality. If you're not an "i-addict" who has to have a phone that communicates with mother ship apps and just actually makes phone calls well, then this should work fine for you. With very decent battery life and good reception ability, it does well for the price.
I had one, family members have also had them
I had this phone, but I needed more to a phone then what I had gotten. I had originally suspected it would be the same as the krazr and ordered it. I got mine and only had it for like 3 months. It was easy to text on but I had several issues with the keypad. The final straw was the drop on the pavement that wiped out the keyboard. No damage from dropping it, I just couldn't enter anything and the phone acted as if it was completely locked. i would have to enter a code, but it would not let me input.
I think the camera was a 1.3 and it was good, but at night since it has no backlight i couldnt get good pictures with it.
Shortly after I had mine, aunt and grandma got theirs.My aunt got a broken one, and it constantly echoes when she dcalls people and she has also tried the 228 programming to make static go away, and get better reception. My grandma has had little clouds in her screen.
Soon I am getting a moto 276 and I will post a review then.
Good basic phone, excellent reception device
I can get reception where a lot of other devices can't with this phone. If all you need is voice/text ability and being able to be reached all the time (like being on a transplant waiting list like me), then this is a great phone.
Music, camera, data - don't bother. It's just not designed to do those things well, if at all.
Excellent basic phone
For a free phone on a 1 year contract, this phone can't be beat. Excellent RF (reception), I get 2 bars where LGs and Samsungs can't make a call. Voice quality on both ends is excellent. Bluetooth works well. Nice size, solid, the rubberized materiel makes it easy to hold. Inside display is ok but functional. Ringtones sound very good.
Pros:
- Solid, good feel, good size and shape
- Good voice recognition
- Good speakerphone
- Excellent (for CDMA) battery life
- Excellent RF
- Excellent voice quality
- Outside display easy to read in the sun
Cons:
- Not the best camera
Excellent Reception!
In shopping for my next phone to replace an aging yet beloved LG VX-4500, my search ended up at this phone. I wasn't looking for any fancy features, just a good phone with the best reception. I have what I think is a very good area to test the phone. There were two areas along my commute where the VX-4500 would always drop the call so the real test would be if the W385 would loose reception or not. I'm happy to say it has been about 1 month and has yet to drop a call in those two areas.
Pros:
1. The size - it fits in my pocket well and the lack of an external antenna make it much more comfortable.
2. The finish on the outside of the phone if very nice and gives the phone a good grip.
3. Bluetooth works very well - no issues connecting with my H3 headset.
4. Speakerphone also works very well - loud and people on the other end can hear me.
5. Excellent reception.
Cons:
1. Battery life over all is very good but sometimes it seems to discharge very quickly. This may be a problem with the way it determines remaining life of the battery or maybe the battery itself.
2. The screen is low resolution. It's completely usable but I think a high resolution screen would make the phone feel a lot more upscale. This is the only reason I didn't give it a full 5.
So if your like me and looking for a simple phone that does one thing very well - make calls, I would say you found it!
