Motorola MPx220
Average Ratings
Best phone I've had, but...
This is the best phone I've owned, but there are a few drawbacks.
Strengths:
Attractive. The buttons are big enough to actually enter text, and the arrows are much bigger than most Motorola's, making navigation simply.
Windows Mobile technology makes synch'ing with your PC simple. The data cord is included (saving ~$30), and it automatically syncs with Outlook.
The camera takes decent pictures in good lighting, but don't expect anything great. After all, it's only 1.2 mega pixels.
The fact that it has a speaker phone is good.
Supports bluetooth AND 2.5 mm technology.
Weaknesses:
My main problems are with Windows Mobile, not the phone, so I'll start there.
First, like anything from Microsoft, it freezes and needs to be restarted (at least twice/week).
It's complicated to learn. Once you do, however, it's fairly easy.
Not enough shortcuts. For example, it takes 4 keystrokes to get to my alarm clock. That should be customizable.
Now, for problems with the hardware of the phone itself:
The screen could be bigger, considering its function. Even compared to the RZR, its screen is a little small.
The overall volume is too soft. Setting it to outdoor only means that it has the volume at maximum by default. It does not mean it raises the maximum potential volume.
Both speakers (handset and speakerphone) distort slightly at the highest volume level. Annoying when driving or in a loud room.
The speakerphone is almost never loud enough. It almost always requires turning it to the highest volume, even in a room by oneself.
Moreover, the speakerphone is in a bad place on the phone, and it cannot be used while the phone is closed. The speaker is on the front of the phone, which means when the phone is open, the speaker is pointed away from the user. Great engineering there.
Although it's the best phone I've used, I can't give it 5 because there are still some bugs that need to be improved. But, now that I've used a smartphone, I will most likely not go back.
I LOVE THIS PHONE!!!
Compared to the MPX200, which I also own and will soon be selling on eBay, this phone is a dream come true! I've been shopping for a full-featured next-gen phone with Windows OS for a long time. Thought I'ld found it with the MPX200. Boy was I wrong! But the MPX220 is THE BEST PHONE I'VE EVER USED! AND IT LOOKS GOOD TOO! I say BUY IT, and cherish it like a girlfriend who deepthroats...
Love MPx220, but no qwerty
This is the best phone I've ever owned! It's a good phone and great PDA. Windows Mobile for Smartphone 2003 is a fantastic operating system. I bought lots of add-on software so I can do just about anything with this phone. Except for the lack of a qwerty keyboard, it's like a tiny PC.
Though I did list below some "cons" for this phone, the only one that makes me keep looking for the perfect phone is the lack of a qwerty keypad. I didn't buy the phone for the camera, and who needs speakerphone with a bluetooth headset?
I had the Treo 650 before this and hated it. This phone holds a much better signal than Treo.
Pros:
Holds good signal on Cingular network
Small form factor
Great display, bright & high resolution
Great operating system
Like a tiny PC
Good button placement, intuitive
Seamless sync with Outlook even notes with 3rd party software
Relatively fast processor
Battery good
Bluetooth
External display
Cons:
Ringer not very loud, so I set it to vibrate & ring which solved the problem.
Speaker not great
No qwerty keypad
Camera not great, but not many phones have good cameras
All in all this is such an amazine piece of technology. Very highly recommended.
I love the MPx220
I looked long and hard to find the right phone. My last phone was the iPAQ 6315. It certainly has it strengths, but not enough of them.
CONS:
1) The speaker phone is too soft - This is not a problem for me, but I'd agree with others' opinion
2) Basic phone features like Call History are not easy to get to. This may be my on ignorance.
3) The Camera is not that great, not as good as the RAZR. Flash, what flash? it's a light.
PROS:
Too many to list...but I'll try
1) Voice quality is great.
Signal strength is great. (when there's signal to be had)
1) ActiveSync had be up and going with 2000 contacts, emails, and my calendar in seconds
2) Bluetooth works very well, but I believe the persistent softness of my voice to callers is a headset problem not the phone's problem. I am able to use Bluetooth with ActiveSync. The trick is twofold: a) register the computer with the phone b) Configure Window's BT driver to receive through a COM port. Then set Activesync to use that COM port. You have to manually initiate synchronization.
3) This phone IS compatible with Cingular's FastForward feature even though their web site didn't say so. This really saves me on my minutes while letting me have one phone number.
Most of the things I like about this phone are related to it being a Windows SmartPhone.
I'm not ecstatic over Cingular's customer service. I would give them a B. It has been hit or miss and I have even dropped a call with a support person that did not seem knowledgeable only to call back to get someone else. There are smart people in the organization, so be persistent.
good
ok the phone I bought it in Dec. I love the phone but heres the thing it has problems.. like its hard to hear someone on the other line talking most of the time.. and I've never dropped my phone or anything and its had like problems like the person on the other line couldn't hear me.. or it wouldn't cut on even though it was fully charged or the time and all on it would get messed up somehow or weird things like that.. finally like 5 days ago my phone wouldn't cut on.. I took it to a Cingular store and they said it'd be discontinued and that they have no batteries for the phone and I needed to ship it in. Well I called Cingular and they said they didn't have any of the phones in stock and are going to send me a Audiovox smt5600 and that they didn't know when they'd get a Motorola Mpx220 in and they might not get them in.. So this is a warning to anyone to buys the phone right now.. Be aware if you cant find anything for your phone or that Cingular can't do anything for the phone..
jamjoumo
i was really shocked from the user reviews in here. i really liked the MPX220 its a great phone.every thing you need is in your hand and the earpiece volume is good the camera is amazing during the day but u should change the resolution.default is VGA maybe this is why some people didint like the camera.check the settings.network coverage is good.
the bad things is you can not change the name of your bluetooth device and the speacker phone is not loud enough.
Better than the RAZR By FAR
The reason I said that this is a better phone than the RAZR is because
1.) You can have a Warrenty on it and not have the problem of you breaking it, losing it, getting it stolen ect.
2.) It has a Windows Operating Sys which can be good or bad, Bad because it can sometimes just shut off, but very good because you can do everything you want to like on a computer.
3.) You can customize your own MP3 files and use them as your ringtones and I found this very useful because I can trasfer them via Bluetooth or Infrared to friends and they pay me for them because I can download the songs and the part of the songs they like.
4.) I can watch music videos, and full legnth movies on it with use of the expandable miniSD which is awesome
5.) I can browse any web page that I want to
and hear all the music and see all the pictures
6.) It has Windows Media player so I can listen to all my MP3s(out loud through the speaker) and videos (full screen and wide)
7.) Its a nice looking phone
8.) It has bluetooth which is awesome because it comes very handy because I have a manual car and yah its very hard to talk on the phone with out that and plus it catches peoples eyes well atleast the Motorola HS810 with the flashing blue light =)
9.) I can add numerous email accounts on it, either hotmail,yahoo, outlook ext.
10.) I could go on and on about it
Now the CONS
1.) The speaker phone isn't up to my par, as well as the head speaker as well but it doesn't matter that much because Its excellent on the bluetooth. But the wierd thing is that the speaker is louder through the music files interesting
2.) The Internet is a a little slow but atlest I can browse any web page I want
3.) The camera isn't too hot on it and the flash is alright but it looks awesome on the computer.
This phone has so many features I like it would take me about an hour to put them all down. But you do have to know what you're doing and play with it to get to know it.
Devin
Good Fix
When I got the mpx220 I was very happy but over time I was starting to not like it but right when I was going to give up I saw the new ROM update so I try it, what a fix. Every thing works now.
#1 THE CAMERA WORK GOOD, NOW I CAN TAKE PICS IN THE DARK AND EVERY THING SHOWS UP
#2 BACK LIGHTS STAY ON LONGER, NOT JUST 5 SEC
#3 PEOPLE CAN HEAR ME NOW AND I CAN HEAR THEM
#4 THE FRONT SCREEN NEVER FLIP BUT NOW IT DOES
#5 THE BLUETOOTH EVEN WORKS BETTER
#6 THE RING TONES ARE LOUDER I CAN HEAR MY PHONE RING
Thats all I found for now
Still one thing not fix using speaker phone when flip closed...
OVER ALL NOW I'M VERY HAPPY WITH THIS PHONE
Excellent Phone!
I hesitantly bought my mpx220 to replace my smt5600 which had extremely poor reception at my home. After reading all the horrors stories about the phone I wasn't going to even bother. I spoke to a rep at Cingular who said the phones software had been updated, so I decided to give it a try. I am glad I did!!!
pros
Beautiful design
Real good volume ( a little on the tinny side but sill clear)
Operating system is smooth and fast
Screen is bright and clear
Reception is just exceptional
blue tooth is great
Keys are large and easy to use
voice recognition is fantastic
Internet connection is nice and fast
battery life is unbelievable
Cons
camera is so-so ( who cares though)
no included headphones
This phone is by all means not perfect but if
reception and a good stable operating system are important then this phone delivers. Compared to the SMT5600 it is superior in RF and and operating system speed.
Obviously Motorola finally got their act together on this phone. It finally works the way it was designed to.
Solid phone
This is my second smartphone and I'd say this is a solid smartphone. My first was the VZW i600. This one is much lighter and thinner than the i600 and the battery life is significantly better.
If you are looking for a clamshell phone that integrates with Outlook than go with this phone. Don't expect to send emails with this unit because its a real pain but you can receive them and read them easily. If you need to send email than consider the blackberry or treo.
If you go with this phone than don't hesitate to get a bluetooth headset. It makes using this phone very functional because you can view your contacts and calendar as you speak on the phone.
One note on the processor speed of the phone, its not that fast. When I'm killing time playing tetris, I can't get past level 5. The phone just can't keep up with the key commands as the game gets faster.
Regardless, this phone has got almost all the functionality of other phones and integrates with Outlook. In my book thats a biggie because I live by the calendar.
