Motorola A630
Average Ratings
More Fun than Great
The Motorolla A630 is a fun gadget and it has some rather nice and impressive features, but in the end, it's not a great PHONE.
Pros: POP Email
Internal keypad
Bright internal screen
Good speakerphone
Good camera
Bluetooth
Cons: Phone locks up
Missed calls not linked to original
entries for redial of alt. numbers
You must buy syncing software from Moto
Menus are sluggish
No auto keylock after a certain amount
of time
External keypad was loose
Non-intuitive software
No firmware upgrades offered
Score for phone flipped open: 8
Score for phone flipped shut: 5
I spent the first three days playing with this phone as a little PDA. I had fun. The screen is clear and bright. The keyboard is nice. It has a great crossword game and the camera is cool. I didn't get to try the bluetooth functionality, because I didn't want to buy the software from Motorolla. When I tried to add some entries to the phonebook and use it as a phone while flipped shut, it failed. The functionality was quite limited and there are quite a few bugs in it. For example, you may not see a phone number on the external display, if you didn't store it in the right memory: SIM vs. phone. This also limited the ability to store multiple number in the same entry (can't use the SIM for mutiples). I ended up returning the phone because I remembered that I wanted a good phone first and the gadgets appeal was second. This phone isn't enough of both.
Loving it
Have this phone less than a month now, I was originally waiting for cingular to come out with it, but alas, that wait could be forever, or never.
I love the phone, grabs a ton of attention, I can't not take the phone out, and not have some one ask me what it is(not the reason I bought it for :).
I came off a 2 year unlimited talk plan with att, I loved the plan, but was getting a bit expensive for me at this time.
The service with tmobile is as good as att or better. Just came back from Fl. to NY. (driving), and any where I was great reception. At home it also works fantastic.
I find the keyboard excellent, ppl can hardly believe that I am using a phone to instant message them, and do it quickly.
Having email access on the road is awesome, so is messaging a plus. I used mapquest on the way up from FL., left with no maps, just my phone, worked flawlessly.
I actually won an ebay auction for a vehicle while i was in a park, with this phone. I would never have believed I would have been doing something like that on a phone.
The one little gripe I have is with ending a call, sometimes the software or something seems to freeze up. When pressing the end button, the call doesn't end.
All in all excellent, best phone I have ever had.
Reception could be better
I have owned an unlocked version of the A630 for a little over three weeks now. I like the phone because it is easy to send text messages.
The major drawback though is the reception. Reception is only average at best. My V505 would get and make calls without any problem at my work, the A630 won't do that (often misses them). Also in my garage the A630 would not find a signal, my V505 would find a signal and I could have a decent conversation even.
Love the phone but reception is the MAJOR downfall for it.
I have switched back to my V505 for now.
my opion
I just got this phone 2wks ago. good reception, nice stylish, battery last long, nice clear voice. Well...for my score for this phone I think is very nice phone .
Thing I wish if this A630 the size could be little slim & less weight. also the way to set-up for alarm clock need to improve.
Camera for this phone taking is clear,the only thing I don't like when you save picture as wall paper, it's not clear. My score for this phone 85%.
Everything I was looking for!
I have been working in the cellular industry for over 5 years. For the last 4 years, I have had Nextel. Nuff said. I switched to T-Mobile. I now had access to virtually any GSM phone you could think of through my companies suppliers. Of everything available (even the V3, MPx, and the Nokia 7710) I went with this small feature packed phone. It fits well in your hand (it's really smooth so don't let it drop!) and fits in most of the universal carrying pouches on the market. The outside display lets you access your phonebook, messages, call info, and ring tones. Also, you don't have to open the phone to use the camera, just use the camera click button on the side above the volume control. If you are on a call when the phone is closed and you open it, the call will automatically swith to speakerphone and vice versa. The inside is where it gets really good. The screen will fip open to a 45 or (approx.)70 degree angle. From there, you get an awesome landscape view screen that is easy to see even in the sun. Standard customizable hotkeys as well as menu buttons are a plus, especially for people migrating from an older Motorola phone who are used to the preset hot keys. The menu is easy to use and navigate. The qwerty keyboard makes for way easy texting and e-mailing. The e-mail works great with my pop e-mail and using the internet service through the phone on my laptop works perfect with T-mobile's free software. The ringtones are plenty loud as is the speakerphone and as I am told by the people I call, the mic is very loud and people have no problem hearing me. The Bluetooth works with no problem. I sync'd it to a Nokia CK-7W, a Motorola HS850, and a built in Bluetooth car kit in a Lexus RX330 and not 1 time did it take over 30 seconds to complete. What can I say, I love this phone. OK, I know I have to give the shortcomings too. The java has locked up on a game or application twice. That's it! The battery lasts me 2 days between charging and I use it 70-90 min/day.
Good phone but need improvement
I usually purchase the phones that is not available in the US market. However, I lost my SE Z600 during new year eve party and need to buy a new phone quick. I have tried couple phones that T-Mobile has to offer and decided to go with this A630 at the end.
Pro:
- Design...just like the forgotten two-way pager I used to have. Easy to type on its keyboard.
- Screen is easy to read even under direct sunlight!
- SAR level is lower than average. Because I talk on the phone a lot, any phone with SAR higher than 0.8 will give me headache after 10 min or so.
- Web access works well. E-Mail works flawlessly with popular G Mail.
- Speaker phones works well.
Cons:
- OS crashes from time to time. Windows eh?
- No MSN messenger
- Phone book & datebook needs lots improvements. For example, it's difficult to deal with contacts with multiple phone numbers and e-mail address. Date book can't handle appts the repeat every two weeks? Don't people at Motorola get paid?
- No iSync support
- PC software is not free like Nokia
This phone works well for me so far. I enjoy the ability to e-mail/IM/SMS others without draging my pocketpc or palm pilot with me. Being able to get on some websites to check for METAR, TAF, even radar images before I fly is a big plus. Hopefully they will have some firmware update to fix those minor OS issues.
