Motorola V195 / V197
Average Ratings
Great Phone
I just got this phone about 3 weeks ago and I love it. I bought it because it doesnt have a camera. It very functional in every way. Text messaging is faster then most of the phones Ive owned. The battery life is phenomanal. I have charged it once since I got it. I leave it on 24/7. The reception will depend on what area you are in but I can tell you that the clarity of the calls are great but the speaker part isnt 100% its more like 80%. There is a place to plug in a regular head set instead of bluetooth. Im not 100% fond of the keypad because as you run your fingers across the keys it looks like the keys are going to come off the phone. It was well worth the price I paid or didnt pay because I had a mail in rebate so I didnt have to pay anything in the end.
STRONG UNIT!
Actually have the euro/canaian version of this [v-191] It has 'kick butt' signal capability and battery life to die for. It appears the only flaw is no auto hyphenation on contact #'s makes then hard to distinguish
(checked a v195 and it is 'same same'). Drives me nuts cause I wear glasses "fit to fry ants with".
pros: good signal, overall voice, spkrphone, size, battery life,
cons: looks like the cheapskates at Moto've done it again - tried to give us a good phone but save that last two cents by skimping on software capabilities. If you can live with that IT Izzz A GREAT PHONE - for simply using as a phone { it is heavy enough that if you threw it and hit someone, it'd knock them for a loop)
good over all phone
very good phone overall. BUT............
the one thing that REALLY drives me nuts
is how dust finds its way into the lcd display on the front of the phone.
other than that it's a good phone.
Excellent no-frills GSM quad-bander
Motorola did this one right. If you're looking for a good basic phone with Bluetooth, look no further. I've had mine since September when I got it for free from T-Mobile as an upgrade and it has proven to be one of the best GSM phones I've even owned. The build quality is excellent, the RF performance is up there with Nokia "classics" like the 6010/3595. Battery life is where this one excels, even with 2 hour a day talking, it only needs a charge every 3 to 5 days before the low battery tone sounds. Bluetooth headset support is excellent, and while it can't do voice dialing, the Bluetooth radio is long range and doesn't seem to put a damper on battery life at all.
If you talk alot, this phone is for you, a fully charged battery will literally last almost 10 hours of talking (yes I've verified this myself).
It has a USB charger and standard wired (2.5mm) headset jack on the bottom, T-Mobile even includes a basic OEM wired headset in the box. I use the Motorola HS700 with the phone and audio quality is superb. Speakerphone could be a little louder, but it works. Ring volume is LOUD on this phone, excellent if you're in high noise enviornments. In almost 4 months I've had no problems with any bugs.
I also own the v190 on my Cingular line and while it lacks Bluetooth, performance, design and features to this phone are similar.
Fiancee hates the sound quality, though I love the phone.
I bought two of these phones via T-Mobil on a family plan.
I haven't managed to drain even one bar from the battery meter! I like everything about the phone, except my fiancee's reaction.
The problems I've encountered are:
1. My fiancee gets cranky when we talk on these phones; she says the signal-to-noise ratio is much worse than her last cell phone.
To verify this, we performed an experiment in which we tested the two new v195 phones versus my land-line and her old cell phone. As a control, we tested my v195 to her old cell phone versus my land-line to her new cell phone. We also repeated the experiment after I had her switch ears. The results conclusively proved to her (a research scientist) that the cell phone static *IS WORSE* on the v195. and/or T-Mobil. I plan to repeat the test using someone else's non-v195 T-Mobil cell phone in order to determine whether the network or the phone is to blame.
2. Inexplicably, I am getting an out-of-memory error when trying to store more than 5 voice-dial entries.
3. One-touch speed dial is not working properly for me. Three-touch speed dial works, but what's the point of that?
4. There are a few minor software bugs. Depending on the way in which you navigate to a phone book entry, you may or may not be able to edit it; the prompt says "Edit", but pushing the button does nothing.
5. SIM card doesn't store anything but a name and number. I don't know if that is standard for all SIM cards or not, but it's annoying.
6. Bluetooth transfer from phone to phone transmits only one phone book entry at a time, which is a problem when attempting to back-up one phone to the other.
7. I have transferred 200 numbers from my old phone (BY HAND!), only to find that my future wife finds this phone intolerable due to sound quality. I'm kind of upset that there's no way for a consumer to test a phone without buying and returning it.
Motorola V 195 Lemon
pros
can't think of any
cons
purchased this phone one month ago
daily sessions with customer care
speakerphone cuts out continously
over half of calls dropped
sound too low
voice mail symbol works sometimes
cannot use voicemail overseas
I recommed this "phone' to nobody
Great non-camera phone!
As one of those people who is not allowed to bring a camera phone to work, this phone is just about perfect.
Unfortunately, my carrier has relatively weak coverage inside building where I am (T-Mobile in northern NJ). However, it does appear to get about the same reception as my Nokia 6030, so the people who talk about the great signal are not lying.
At my desk at work, it picks up a Cingular signal, so it stays on that (for emergency calls if needed) and searches for a T-Mobile signal, which it can occasionally find for a minute or so. Because of this, leaving it on at work causes the battery life to drop to just under two days. Instead I turn it off at work itself, and the battery usually lasts about a week (and that's with bluetooth on all the time).
The slightly rubberized exterior impresses almost everyone who holds it. (It is similar to the PEBL, but a little more plasticy.)
The built-in mini-USB port is wonderful, since there's a lot of software already out there to interface with the phone, and you likely already have the cable from a digital camera or MP3 player. The cover over the battery and mini-USB ports feels really solid and shows no signs of coming loose after owning the phone for almost 4 months. The cover does a great job of keeping dust and such out of those ports. It can be a little tricky to open right after cutting my fingernails, though.
My only complaints are with the software, which is mostly great but has a few annoyances. Nothing specific to the phone, really - the same Motorola OS issues people like to complain about. (What I don't get is why the outside LCD lights up when closing the flip?!?)
The outside LCD is very bright and readable. The inside screen is adequate, except in direct sunlight. Setting it to the default setting will help, but I keep it somewhat dimmer in the hopes of squeezing out as much battery life as I can.
The speaker-phone is not as loud as I'd hoped, though the microphone is pretty sensitive.
Fantastic plan Jane
I love my V195! Yes it is a plan Jane and I do miss having a cam but the phone itself is LOUD and clear. The speaker-phone does ok for itself. And then the battery life... still trying to get a good reading on that and the signal reception it fantastic. This phone does every thing it should and pretty good. The keys are good (better than the v360 imo) and light up well when needed. It can charge on the computer on a USB cord as well (some mini USB phones don't want to charge this way). The screen is a little less sharp being an STN and not a TFT but it still does what it is suppose to do. Txting is standard Motorola. I give this phone a 5. It does everything it should the right way with no issues, and when you look at the price... you cant go wrong with this phone.
This phone is awesome
The only con i could find for this phone is that it has no camera.
Its bluetooth compatible, my palm pilot and my mobile phone are "conversing" at the moment and transfering my 103 homework.
I've recommended this phone to a great deal of my customers because of my wonderful experience and havent seen one back yet.
Most people dont want this phone because it doesnt have a camera, but its still a great phone.
I love it.
