Motorola V180 / V186 / V188
Average Ratings
V188 - headset horrible, took it back
if you don't ever need to use the headset, then rate it a 3.5.
cons:
- headset port poor quality sound with two different headsets
- occasional weird drop in level of received call
- reception OK, but not great. not as good as my Nokia 3360 (T-Mobile - midtown Atlanta and Decatur, GA)
- volume buttons on side located a bit too low
- couldn't find a case without big, fat swivel clip. would rather have thin, straight clip.
pros:
- nice and light
- thin and sleek
- decent battery life
The included hands-free headset sounded horrible, both the earphone and the microphone. to me it sounds like there is no treble on the earpiece. people i called said it sounded like i was either talking too loud or eating the mic. I then went and purchased a Jabra headset which I've used sucessfully with other phones and found pretty much the same issue with poor headset sound quality, so it seems to be the phone's headset circuitry.
i took it back after one week and have switched back to my old, crusty Nokia 3360.
another issue was an occasional drop in the level of another caller. i thought maybe it was the other person's phone or the service, but this occured with different callers and in locations where i hadn't had the same problem. I've read other V188 reviews with this same issue.
Also, the reception perhaps wasn't as good as the Nokia (Atlanta T-Mobile).
otherwise, V188 wasn't bad. nice and light, small and sleek. was my first flip phone. i didn't like the location of the volume buttons on the side... they seemed to be too low; my fingers usually only hit the up and i'd have to contort my hand to get to the down.
i couldn't find a case with just a regular clip. they all had the big, fat swivel clip.
v188
I upgraded from the v180 t0 the v188 because the v188 got rid of all the flaws of the v180. It has anew much more durable case,a new kew pad and recessed buttons. It has the same great call quality nad battery life of the v180 and it is a quad band phone
Fantastic Phone
We returned our 3 LG C1300's because they honestly stunk as far as keeping a connection no matter where we seemed to call from in the Chicago western suburbian area and we only had them for five days. I traded them in for 3 V180's and couldn't be happier, after three weeks with the phone we have yet to drop a call.
The two bad things about it is the owners manual, it could have been written to be much more user friendly, and the outside case itself could have been made to be more resiliant from scratches.
The V180 has great battery life and the sound clarity of the phone when on a call is outstanding.
Good Phone and Simple Texting Device
All I really wanted is a phone with good reception and exceptional battery life, and this phone truly satisfies me in both regards. Charge has lasted so far for 2 days with 3 bars and I have spent probably about 30-45 minutes talking on it, and I have sent/received about 6 text messages.
I had a Sony Ericsson T600, which I loved, but the reception wasn't so good, (NOT T-mobile's fault!) Reception is much better with the Motorola; 3-4 bars where I once had none.
The predictive text type on the Motorola is taking some getting used to, but is equally functional.
One thing I can't stand is the fact that you can't assign a distinctive ring to an individual if they are stored on the SIM card. It can only be done if their info is stored on the phone. So, one option is to have two entries. Haven't decided yet whether that will become a pain in the butt. Must be a Motorola thing, it is the same on my new A630.
The phone is really light, but to me doesn't seem cheap looking or feeling. The screen is adequate, I can easily read texts and graphical menus. Again, I am not using this phone for images etc. Seems you can customize images etc. with the USB port, but my understanding is that you have to purchase software to be able to use it.
Comes with very limited rings and wallpaper/screensaver images, but I probably wouldn't like any they offered even if it was chock full. So, I downloaded some, and it was easy, and about 2 bucks each. T-mobile sometimes offers promotional images for free, but again, probably not something I'd be interested in.
I had to pay $50 for it since I am already a T-mobile customer, but it seems worth it.
Overall, I recommend this phone for reception, battery life, and price for those interested in those things with minimal extras.
Good phone
This is a really good phone thus far.
PROs:
--Speakerphone (MAJOR plus when you are on hold or when you are driving)
--quality ringtone sound
--external caller ID
--good call quality.
CONs:
--kinda small internal screen
--contrary to what others say, not the lightest or thinnest phone in the world.
I'd say, over all, very good phone for now a crap load of money.
Very Professional
This device is a great alternative to the v600 and the v505. It doesn't have a camera, but what does one expect when it is so reasonably prices. Quad-band functionality is another great component.
Pros:
-Design
-Screen (small but nice)
-Quad-band
-Outer Display
-Price
Cons:
-Menus confusing for people not used to Motorolas
Great
I came to this phone after using a Samsung x426. I used this phone with AT&T service. They claim this phone is entry level, but some features say its not.
Pros:
-Nice form, weight, shape
-MANY customizable settings
-MP3 Ringtones are a plus. Goodbye polyphony!
-Buttons have a good feel
-External Caller ID
-USB Port (could be useful if needed, but see below)
-Swapped Answer/Hang-up Buttons
-Multiple numbers per name (must have entry saved to phone, not sim. in phonebook menu, edit entry & go to "more". Then select "add new: phone number" also must set phonebook to "view: primary contact info" You can set which number to use as primary)
Cons:
-Faceplate scratches EXTREMELY easily. (a feather could scratch this thing)
-Screen size is 128x128. Industry standard is 128x160
-Ringtone speaker is in inconvenient location & is easily muffled (see pictures)
-iTap instead of T9 text input
-USB Port-kinda useless unless you have Mobile Phone Tools.
Again, entry level phone? I think not!
I hate to get burnt
This phone is junk. I've contacted Cellular One without any resolve to the problems. I've contacted Motorola and again no satisfaction. They want me to send the phone in which normally wouldn't be a problem, However I know people that have done this only to have thier screw up again in 2 to 3 months. I can't beleive that someone doesn't step up and take responsability for this phone. Unless someone steps up I'm done with Motorola and Cellular One for good. My phone currently is doing the following: Screen will go blank, Lost calls when I still have good signal,Busy signals when I haven't even been on the phone,Call fails from phonebook says number entered wrong ?,Poor signal where other phones on Cellular One pick up fine... Etc Hope someone has answers for all this.So far I guess it's just my problem and no one elses.
Weird malfunctions after a few months
Pros-
Cheap
Good speaker phone
Cons-
Everything else
The phone seemed to work ok for the first few months I had it, (although I hated the fact that when you set a personalized ringtone it played for calls and text messages, who wants to hear a 30 second long ringtone for a text message?) but now itâs terrible.
The screen just goes to blue now about half the time when I open it, making it drop the call if itâs ringing. Sometimes I have to open it and close it a few times before itâll get back to normal.
The phone has also, apparently, decided I donât need to be on the phone longer than 18-22 minutes at a time and just stops. It doesnât actually die; it just does the blue screen thing and stops but when you close it works fine again.
I also noticed the thing where the call timer keeps going after you close the handset.
I guess if you donât talk on the phone long, donât mind dropping about half your calls before you actually get them, and donât use ringtones the phoneâs not bad, but I definitely would not recommend it.
wasnt satisifed
cheap plastic
scratches easily
1 trial game
no camera
tiny dull screen wheres there is room for a bigger one
terrible wall papers
OK ring tones
speaker phone good
speaker is on back of phone, if it is faceing up you cant hear when some one is calling
confuseing phone book
also, if you dont like this phone you wont like the v220 same thing only it has a bad camera
