Motorola Renegade V950
Average Ratings
Very Important To Know About Battery Life !!!
Pros: Has everything I wanted
Cons: Battery Life - But There IS a Reason The Battery Life Sucks and It Can Be Corrected !!!
The two main things that I was looking for was, 1) An excellent speaker-phone and 2) long battery life (advertised at 4-hours of talk-time).
I returned the Renegade to the Sprint store after only two days due to its short battery life (bought before reading the reviews).
Motorola claims 4-Hours of talk time.
I found out from one reviewer that the phone dies out even if you don't talk at all!
The problem is not how much you talk on this phone, the problem is the stand-by time, if you look over the specs from Motorola, they list the talk-time at 240-minutes but they do not publish a stand-by time.
What's up with this ???
Come to find out, the problem is the phone's Direct Connect "Q-Chat" feature. Since the phone is NOT on Nextel's iDEN network, Sprint uses V.O.I.P. (Voice Over IP) to connect the Renegade into the Nextel network.
In order for someone to be able to "Direct Connect" to your phone, your Renegade must be connected to the network at all times.
When the "Direct Connect" feature is enabled on the phone, it uses the Sprint EV-DO Rev A, 3G Data Network.
Your 3G data connection is always on and that will kill the battery in about 14-hours just having the phone on.
You can go into the phone's settings and turn off the Push-To-Talk and the battery life will be excellent!!!
If you want a Push-To-Talk type of phone, get the Motorola i776 from BoostMobile.com, it is part of Sprint-Nextel and uses the iDEN network, DO NOT buy the Renegade if you need this feature, it makes no sense.
As of 1/22/09 Boost will be offering a $50/Month Unlimited Voice/Text/Data Plan over the Nextel network that includes Long Distance and NATIONWIDE ROAMING!!!
Piece of crap phone
I am on my third phone and Sprint and Motorola tell me they will be happy to give me another one! Go figure! The phone freezes and I have asked Motorola to place out a recall. They are so "it is our policy....." Their customer service employees sound like robots and read from a script...
I would not recommend this phone to anyone. I have never been so disappointed
great phone
this phone is a great phone. the sound and software are great it is easy to use and there are no run arounds to get what your looking for. the only problem i have is the battery. it don't last that long. I have to charge my phone twice a week. that isn't to bad. other than the battery I love this phone.
Not impressed at all
My trusty Sanyo MM7500 was beginning to crack at the hinge after 3 years so I decided to "upgrade". So off to the Sprint store in San Antonio I go. I looked at the Sanyo 700 PRO because I have always had great luck with the Sanyos but it did not have a camera and on rare occassions I need a camera. (side note: the MM7500 was the perfect phone if you wanted a phone with some bells and whistles but not an entertainment device. Who at Sanyo thought it was a good idea to delete features from a perfectly GREAT functioning, durable phone. The 7500 was rugged, had a camera, music player, excellent contacts and speed dial set up and it was the perfect size.) So the saleman tells me how durable and wonderful the Renegade is, so I bite. Well after 3 weeks of use I dread everytime I pick this thing up. The screen freezes about 3 or 4 times a day and the battery has to be removed to restart it. Well today it froze on me and even after removing the battery it would not work. I went from 1130am until 240pm using my old 7500 on my second line because this chunk of poo was locked up. All I would get was a dark screen and the sprint logo on the external display. I finally left the battery out for over an hour and then it began working again. The speed dial set up is pitiful. It sounds like whoever I am talking to is talking through a can. The ear piece volume is way to low to be heard in really noisy places like your truck with the window down and driving at 40mph. The alerts/alarms only go off once then you just get a beep. The display is already showing impressions of the keyboard. The interface is so-so and not that intuitive.
The device does take awsome pictures and I found the battery life to be better than reported. It will make and recieve calls and it can send and recieve text but there are FAR better devices out there from just a few years back. As soon as I can decide on a replacement this thing is GONE.
"Hello Moto"? I think not; GOOD BYE is more like it.
v 950 Renegade
I have to say the renegade is good but its not without its few drawbacks. First i had a pair of 902's with the extended fat back batteries which at best lasted three days of stand-bye and maybe a day and a half if moderately used.. The renegade is definetly and upgrade to the 902 with its rubberized durability and overall feel even its ui although similar to the 902 seems to have a better feel to it. The dircet connect i seemed to like better on the 902 but again that phone was a hybrid using both sprint and nextel technologies i sometimes see the rev A even though in great coverage area the direct connect doesnt work, but i have to say for the most it does work. As for overall feel of the phone i have to give it high marks i just like how it looks and feels in my hand unlike the 902 which would slide through your hand. But as we all know the standard battery with the renegade is not to good i cant tell if its the cell calls or the direct connect but man o man you might get 2 hours or a little more talk time and stand-bye well if you have used it at all well forget it lol... If you purchase this phone which i suggest if you can find it dont look in the stores call sprint directly and they will have some, dont forget to buy the extended battery because you will truly need it,, if you have questions or comments im always up for a good debate so let me know...Thanks... Eric..
Good Phone
I love what Sprint has done. I love the RAZR phones, but always wished they could be a little more rugged, well its here. This phone feels very nice and has great travel with the keys. Sounds great and clear. I do have a few complaints, one is the battery life is really bad, I only get 1.5 hours talk, and thats without using the net. I think I will give it a few weeks, then return the phone under Sprints 30 exchange for a brand new one, thinking that the first batch of these may have had a glitch, because 1.5 hours is even below their advertised talk time. Also I'm not so sure about the QCHAT. It seems like it takes a second longer to key up VS IDEN, but I have only had this phone a week, so Ill see in time. Also it bounces from EVDO to non EVDO areas frequently...meaning, in areas that i get good EVDO with my computer card, the phone may not be getting the EVDO and such you cant use the DC. I think these bugs will be worked out in time. That stuff said, I think this is the best phone to happen to Nextel, I absolutely love it.
Review of Sprint Moto V950 Renegade
Coming off an ic902, right out of the box, I was pleased with the look and feel in hand of the V950, that is until I started getting to know the phone.
This phone is a facade to what should be a better device than ic902.
I sent back my two V950's:
Over TEN floral images on the phone are locked and HIDEOUS! Not ONE image that would appeal to a male, motorcycle or even a lighthouse for crying out loud. One image is called "ColdSteel.jpg" looks a whole lot like Naugahyde to me-disgusting! Can't delete these images. External screen is not centered on both V950's I have. The center/home key, the number "5" with the little nub...made a permanent impression before I even opened the boxes, on the main screen of both phones. The rubber from the keypad leaves 'rubber smudges' on the screen when you close the flip. When you set an animated image for the external screen AND have KeyGuard enabled, the animated image is no longer animated, it becomes static!
Speakerphone button hard to push when the flip is open.
Standard battery conks out late afternoon, I use bluetooth, make about 4-6 calls, on average 5-10 minutes each, no internet, no music - POOR battery life!
The panel below the battery door looks very cheesy-but looks can be deceiving.
The texture of the silver colored area when the flip is open leaves little to be desired-catching small dirt particles-nasty.
Those are the phone issues, now the carrier issues...
I like Sprint/Nextel service, plans, customer service...the CDMA Direct connect is NOTHING compared to the iDen, some functions are not cross-compatible.
The Mobile Synch doesn't work, the DC coverage/technology itself is about half of the iDen.
The audio is LOUD if needed with the handset or bluetooth, the internet IS faster than rev0 but for casual users rev0 is fine.
If you like floral images, don't really use DC or Mobile Synch, screen anomalies and scratches are ok and like to throw your phone around, BUY THIS PHONE!
v950 is a Sorry excuse for a nextel
pros
good camera
nice fell
works well in metro areas
Cons
reception doesn't compare one bit to the ic502.
It took 9 hours on the phone to get it working
You have to switch to these insane plans
evdo is weaker than the phone signal when traveling away from a tower
dc only works on evdo reva
DOES NOT SWITCH TO ROAMING WELL
DOES NOT HAVE THE OPTION FOR ROAMING ONLY LIKE MOST SPRINT PHONES
This phone is not a good replacement for rural areas. Stick with a 502 are iden-only. stay away from the ic602 also.
Renegade v950
Already on my second v950 in less than 2 weeks.
Problems:
1.) Direct connect was blocked half of the time. Tech support suggested to do a Data Services upgrade. This did nothing and led to the second problem.
2.) Data Services screen froze up and would never change.
3.) Battery strength was great the first week at 9 hours, but the day the swapped the phone out it was only working 4 hours. Charged the old battery in the new phone and it worked for 8 hours. Unsure if it was the phone or charger.
4.) Phone seemed to have lots of operating problems once the battery gets low. Meaning low battery sound.
Unsure of overall performance and satisfaction of v950.
Before this phone I had Samsung Z400 for 2 weeks. Worst phone ever.
Prior Motorola IC902 which was one of the better phones that I had used in a long time.
