Motorola W490 Phone, Black/Mandarin
Saturday, February 27th, 2010
- Compatible with T-Mobile’s MyFaves service–unlimited calling to your five most called contacts
- Chat with your IM buddies using Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and ICQ instant messaging services
- 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture; MicroSD expansion; Bluetooth connectivity with music streaming
- Up to 7.5 hours of talk time, up to 10 days of standby time; measures 1.8 x 3.9 x 0.7 inches (WxHxD)
- What’s in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, charger and wired handsfree headset
Amazon.com Product Description
Blending RAZR high style with an affordable price tag, the sleek Motorola W490 offers compelling communication features to keep you in touch with ease. With a vibrant color screen and lengthy talk-time, this compact flip phone is a handy mobile companion. In addition to text messaging capabilities, you can chat with buddies using Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, or ICQ instant messaging services. Other features include a 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture, USB wired connectivity with mass storage capability, Bluetooth connectivity with stereo music streaming, and MicroSD memory card expansion.
With T-Mobile’s MyFaves service, you’ll enjoy unlimited nationwide calling to your 5 favorite people.More >>
jarrett says:
February 27th, 2010
7:46 pm
I was and am completely dissapointed with this phone. The only redeeming quality is the ability to access my e-mail with it. Who needs the MP3 funtion ? HELLO ?!? We have iPods !!
My main gripe is the fact that if you talk on this phone for more than two hours straight, or too often, it start to do weird things. Mine started dialing the 9 & 7 during calls, and then finally, seized up completely.
Considering that I work for a merchandising retailer and got this thru T-Mobile, I’d be real careful buying this “Burner”.
Rating: 2 / 5
N. Earles says:
February 27th, 2010
8:11 pm
I usually prefer Motorola cellphones because all other brands I have had to return, but Motorola has better quality audio and volume and this phone has a bigger screen which is better for my old eyes!! But this model has been a disappointment. I got it in Heather and the face plate started wearing off the paint immediately until you no longer can read the numbers and letters. The hinge is very shaky and I know a couple of people that theirs cracked. I prefer the old metal housings, the plastic battery door cover is cheap and easy to break. The phone charger for the wall doesn’t charge the phone, tried several chargers and different outlets so it must be the phone, so I have to use the car charger only which is inconvenient when traveling. It is not easy to setup speed dial numbers but I use Fave Five which helps. Over all I would have expected better quality from Motorola as I have seen in the past with other products.
Rating: 3 / 5
Cricket says:
February 27th, 2010
10:08 pm
Nowdays it seems like people change phones every couple of months, but not me. When I buy a phone I expect it to last me at least 2 years. Originally I wasn’t sold on the W490 when I acquired it, but it was one of the phones that came “Free After Rebate” and that was within my budget.
There were several features that were must haves for me and it has them all.
* Slim (Less than 3/4 of an inch)
* Lightweight (Under 4 ounces)
* Camera (1.3mp w 8x zoom. Not amazing, but it works well. See customer images)
* MyFaves compatible
* Larger screen than my previous phone (Just shy of 1 1/4 by 1 1/2 inches)
* Alarm clock (I use it everyday to wake up)
Some extra features that weren’t necessary, but that have been very useful.
* Video Camera
* mp3 Player (I have an iPod, but did load music on to the phone and I still listen to it every so often)
* Voice notes and/or Calendar (Great for grocery lists, appointment reminders, etc.)
* Email access to AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, Compuserve, Earthlink, Gmail, HotPOP, Juno, Mac, Netzero & Verizon.
* Instant Messaging access to AIM, ICQ, Windows Live & Yahoo.
* World clock
* Calculator
* Voice dialing (I set this up and haven’t used it since. It worked, but
I mainly call MyFaves and they are all one touch calling anyways.)
As for the actual quality and use of the phone for calls, it’s been great. As long as I’m in an area that T-mobile has service, so do I. I’ve traveled out of state with it numerous times and never a problem. The clarity of the call is clear and I have not received any complaints from the people I talk to. Additionally in my experience the phone can take a beating and keep going. I have dropped this from waist level onto the concrete at least a dozen times and although there are nicks and scratches, it’s still working. (I do not recommend this, it just happens to me.)
So is there anything I don’t like about the phone? Yes! The video camera is nice for small “fun” videos like catching the kids doing something or a friend making a fool of themselves. Although as easy as it is to take a video it is not as easy to send. I wish they would allow you to send it via email or text like you can with the pictures, but the only way to send videos is via bluetooth. I know that there is an option to connect your phone to your computer via USB, but in my 18 months I have only been able to make that work once.
Rating: 4 / 5