Motorola V180 / V186 / V188
Average Ratings
Not my normal pick for a Cell phone...but!!!
I had to get it. I'll start by saying I am a PDA/PHONE type of guy, but when I got my Ipaq 6315, it gave me so many problems I had to return it. So I decided to get a new PDA (Sony Clie UX50) all alone, but that did not give me a phone.
So here we are, this little guy! I must say, this is really a nice little phone. I prefer a flip so this was good. I got what I wanted in a phone, and for dirty cheap too. I spent so much money on my new Sony Clie, I thought I would have to go down in the slumps for a phone...not so.
Pros - everything that is has, I mean everything...just great!!!! Much more than I expected...much more.
Cons - No Bluetooth, Wifi, or Camera! But since I got all three of those in my Sony Clie PEG-UX50, who needs them on the phone too. For all of you who are thinking about getting this phone, think no more. GO OUT AND GET IT AS YOUR NEXT LITTLE FLIP PHONE WITH ALL OF THE RIGHT FEATURES.
Now I must add this, if you are a young person that has to have the very best phone on the market so to speak, you might want to look up in the ranks at this guys older cousin (V535). You will be happy overall though...
Best phone without camera
Best phone from AT&T (GSM) without camera & Bluetooth. But I was not looking for above mention feature.
It has great battery life, strong signal, clear voice, good speaker phone, light weight, good ringers, outside display, outside sound control, car setting & many more features..
It has hard coded mMode key (or I am not able to figure out how to change it) & out display can't change dd-mm-yy format date.
I don't consider above two as a problem at all.
Simple, Sleek and Functional
I have had the phone for about a week now and couldn't be happier. The phone is small but not so small that it becomes hard to use. Reception seems good and my friends tell me I sound very clear and easy to hear(but not so loud as is typical on Nokia phones - people don't have to turn their volume down when you talk to them). I am extremely happy with this phone and would highly recommend it.
Here's the scoop:
PROS:
- lightweight
- good reception (ATT GSM in SoCal)
- sleek look
- menu is easy to navigate (and I have come from ten years with using only nokias)
- battery life seems really good
- sound quality is excellent
- speakerphone
- quad-band (800, 850, 1800, 1900) - note ATT model is quadband; other mfg's are tri-band
- external screen (no clamshell should be w/o one)
- sturdy constuction (maybe a lot of plastic but it's solid)
CONS:
- small screen (fine for me but beware if you are looking for a large screen)
- compared to the screens on the v505 for example this one seems a bit fuzzy. But in and of itself it appears really clear.
- face scratches easily. I don't find this to be a big deal though. you only really notice the scratches when held in just the right light and even then I don't think it distracts from the phones sleek look
- back-lighting of the buttons is blue which is hard to read if you have astigmatism. still looks cool though
- instruction manual is not very thorough and is sometimes wrong. for example: the manual states you cannot add p (pause) and w (wait) instruction characters to your stored voicemail so if you want to use them you have to set your voicemail to a regular stored number. Maybe it's a result of my carrier's configuration but I was able to store both characters for the voicemail number and they worked just fine.
None of the cons (except for the instruction manual) I listed are really cons to me. I just figure they would be helpful to those considering this phone.
Fatal Glitch with Personalize feature - No-no, Moto!
Motorola made a big mistake for letting these phones hit the store shelves...
Had the phone for 1 week when this little annoying habit popped up: after hitting "Settings", then "Personalize" (to change home screen, wallpaper, etc.), my screen goes black...then turns back on showing "No reception", so I can't make calls.
This is apparently a problem for the entire V-series. We returned the V180s & got new V220s...& the SAME THING HAPPENED (see my full review on the V220s for additional details).
Motorola is aware of the problem, which has existed since early '05 (I've seen a few dozen reviews on this on other sites dating back to April 2005 that note this same problem - even one reviewer that claims he even works for Motorola & this is the worst one yet; Moto has to repair 50% of the 220s that hit the market). Why not fix this error, Moto?
My opinion: if they can't get the easy stuff right, how do you know the phone won't totally crap out on you after a couple of months? They know about the problem & don't seem to care. A good company would recall all phones & give you the next model up for free. If they had tried to make things right, I might have stuck with them. But now? It's No-No, Moto.
Pros:
*Speaker phone is decent.
*It looks pretty.
*It can make calls, sometimes.
Cons:
*Limited speed dialing options (only available for 9 phone book entries)
*Limited voice dialing (only available for 5 PB entries)
*No option for multiple phone #s per PB entry, meaning your friend with 4 #s will take up four entries.
*Not user friendly or intuitive at all - you must read the entire instruction manual front-to-back to personalize your phone - IF this feature doesn't cut your phone off!
So, if you want a bright, shiny, paperweight, go for it. Otherwise,
************* Don't buy it! **************
Check out the Nokia 6101/6102 instead. From the reviews, it's a far superior phone for about the same cost. That's what I've got coming in the mail right now.
This phone is an excellent phone
I want this phone so so bad my friend and I accidentky liked and wanted the same phone and (slider) and Virgin Mobile is not worth the money because of awful reception. Cingular has an excellent coverage area especially in the country where I stay @ so hopefully by the end of my Freshman year I'll be the proud owner of an awesome V180
Pros:
Small
Changeble faceplates
Superphonic ringtones
Cingular Gsm network
Affordable
Could be the best phone I ever had
Cons:
There is no cons except I have to wait till about May 19, 2005
Very Nice Phone
I just received my phone today which is a replacement for my motorola T720 which broke. I would have to say im very impressed with this phone. Only had to pay 50 bucks for the insurance coverage to get the phone. speaker sounds great, rings loud and the phone is small enough to fit into any pocket.
DURABLE, AND DEFINETLY A PHONE I'D GET IF I WERE U
This phone was amazingly durable. I probably would loose count telling you about the times I dropped this thing.It was horribly scuffed and dented and scraped by the end of the two year agreement, but I stuck with it because it worked for what I needed it for. I dropped this phone out in the grass in my yard OVERNIGHT and it survived. I would get this phone if your kid or you, abuses phones. It definetly can handle it. I left this phone when the mic stopped working, back then I talked more on them, but now I'm using it for texting and fb.
I'd buy it again if it had a camera, but the tone composer was enough for me back then, however took some learning curve, as you couldn't type the notes. Ended up with some funny tone combination, lol, BUT it was loud, and i could hear it over the preloaded ones, and it always was heard when I was at work.
It also got texted on a lot back then, even though more calls than texts were made/composed on this phone.
GUYS I EVEN DROPPED THIS From my ROOF and it survived the fall, sure it all came apart but it worked like a charm then.
Awful phone
I had this phone for a year or so around 2004 or 2005. It totally sucked like a hoover. I have many fond memories of times I had while I used this phone day in and day out. I think this is the first phone I used text messaging on. I hated the external antenna.
Great Name - Sorry Phone
Sad to say...I purchased this phone because of the name brand, after upgrading from my other older phone. I thought this phone would be a nice phone. I hate it...the number 5 button often doesn't depress, the reception is horrible unless I'm in an area where there are sever att cingular towers nearby. The screen in not easy to see in the daylight hours and too small at that. I see this piece of junk has been discontinued.
Mine is going in the trash as soon as I find a good rugged phone without all the techie junk on it.
Bad Experience
Some of you who read this review may have had a good experience with this phone, or a bad one. In my case, I had a bad experience, but it started out as a good one. I bought the phone unlocked from a third party. At first, the phone worked great. It would say that I had good signal strength, it would ring when I needed it to, etc. All of that changed after I was messing around with the phone one day, looking at the embedded ringtones I had on it. All of a sudden, the phone flipped out. The phone did not turn off, but the screen went white, and then it went black. Then it went back to normal. I called the manufacturer and told them what the problem was. They told me that there was a problem with the operating sytem and that the phone would have to be sent in to be looked at and get the new operating system put on the phone. I decided that that was more hassle than that little phone was worth, so I took an axe and destroyed the thing!
