Motorola W490 Reviews

71. Complete review.

11 May 2008 by Nicole

92%9.2out of 10

So I've had my new phone (the Motorola W490) for about a week now and I think its time to make a review on it.

List of features with reviews.

Digital Audio Player App (Music Player, MP3, AAC, AAC+, AAC+ formats supported)
*Pretty good, you need the MicroSD card to use this feature I believe, they aren’t too expensive to buy. My only complaint is that you cant “hide” this app like you can through the sound feature. The playlist function is pretty cool on this and the volume on it is moderate, if you like to turn up your music enough to make your ears bleed you can’t with this. Although it gets loud enough to block out noise around you*
MicroSD card slot
*Very awesome, you can get a 1gb MiniSD card for the phone and have about as much storage on it as a small Ipod. You can store pictures (which go straight to the pictures section on your phone) videos (same) and Music (goes to the “sound” and the “digital audio player app”) The MiniSD cards aren’t very expensive. I bought a 3 in 1 pack (comes with the MicroSD card and two addapters that you can put the microSD card into to make it a MiniSD or SD card) for 25 dollars at the T-Mobile store*
7.5 hours ( 450 mins) of Talk
*I haven’t tested this yet but I’m pretty sure its true*
336 hours ( 14 days) of Stand-by time (on but not in use)
*That is AMAZING*
Camera
1.3 megapixels Resolution
Video Recording
Digital Zoom
*The camera is pretty nifty, I’ve heard people say that the megapixels and colors are off, but it’s a cell phone camera, not a 500 dollar top of the line camera. As far as I’ve seen it is a great camera. Its got tons of shooting modes and color modes (color, black and white, antique, bluish, redish, greenish.) The video recording is pretty good too. I havent had much time to shoot videos but what I did it was pretty good A lot of people have complained about not being able to take pictures of themselves with the phone closed, sorry but as far as features are concerned, that’s not important in a phone. So you can’t take vanity shots of yourself. If you really want to have a picture put up on your myspace you can ask someone else to take it. Otherwise, I’m sure nobody would miss your typical emo myspace pictures.*
Video Playback
*I actually put a music video on this phone and its very cool, you can play it full screen and it goes sideways. Very nice to watch clips on. I’m pretty sure you could put a whole movie or what not on there, but why would you want/need to?*
IMing (yahoo, ICQ, aim, & MSN)
*The Iming is much easier to do on this compared to my previous phone, a RAZR. So far I’ve been on yahoo, aim and msn. All which are pretty easy to use. I do like that you can not save your password. And you can also change your display name on the MSN chat. You can’t put a custom away message on the aim as far as I’ve found.*
Email (aim, aol, yahoo, comcast, compuserve, earthlink, gmail, hotPOP, juno, mac, netzero, verizon)
*I havent used this feature yet due to not using email a whole lot. I do admit I am dissapointed that there was no Hotmail/Live on there. Gmail got pluses with me though.
USB connect ready (you don't have to buy Phone Tools, you just need the right USB cable)
*you can choose to have the default be the phone (for importing contacts) or the memory card (pictures, video & sound) It also charges your phone when its plugged into an active computer. The charge feature is a great thing for me because if I lose my charger/leave it at home. Most people have a computer and the standard small USB cable*
Bluetooth ready
Airplane Mode (turns off connection to satalites so you can listen to the MP3 player/look at photos without actually having the the phone connect)
*this is pretty useful in hospitals as well as airplanes.*
Voice Recording
Tools
Calculator
Calender
Alarm Clock
Voice Dial/Fixed Dial
Web Access (you have to pay extra for it)
World Clock
*The World Clock is an awesome feature for an add on.*
Games & Apps
*still can’t figure out how to delete the default games that came with it, without having to delete all of them.*
Sounds
*This is an alternative to the Digital Audio Player, you can hide it in the background so you can IM/Text AND listen to music unlike the Digital Audio Player.*
Message Center
Picture Message Ability
Templates for both Text & Picture messaging
*Standard on most phones now, no complaints*
Phonebook
Picutre/Ringtone customization for each person when stored in phone book vs. sim card
*I wish you could store them to the Memory Card as not to lose any numbers if the phone breaks but oh well.*
Pictures
*Decent storage, only made better by using a 1gb Mini SD card. Pretty good default pictures that come with the phone.*
Other Features
Speakerphone
*Speakerphone is crystal clear and super loud. Pretty good if you ask me*

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72.

4 May 2008 by Dog Head

90%9out of 10

Get this phone. Really wanted the Nokia 5300 but went through 3 phones that all froze or had major problems. Finally upgraded to this phone and love it.

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73. pretty good phone

20 Apr 2008 by Anonymous

72%7.2out of 10

I bought this phone two weeks ago, in purple, when my nokia 5300 broke and T Mobile wouldn't help replace it (even while it was under warranty/I had insurance.)

So far I've been pretty pleased with the phone. I haven't had any problems with freezing, dropped calls, or the battery life. I've only had to charge it a few times since I purchased it, and I use it quite a bit.

The only problems I've had are with the layout of the messaging. I think it's me, though. I'm still not used to it. Another issue I've had is accessing the web. For some reason, the browser always tells me, "You do not have access to the site _____.com." That's okay, as the mobile web feature isn't too important. I haven't used the music player, and don't really intend to.

So far, for a 150 dollar phone, I'm impressed. I bought my nokia 5300 for nearly twice as much and had problems with it starting the day after I got it, and now that I have a perfectly functioning phone, I feel spoiled.

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74. Videos??

16 Apr 2008 by Brandon

92%9.2out of 10

I love this phone. At first, I was clueless on puttin stuff on it. But I got a memory card and I get stuff. The only problem is videos. I download videos, but they dont play on my phone. I download it to the phone. When I go to my videos, on my phone, there's no video. I don't get it. Other than that, this phone it great.

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75. Better Than Razr

20 Mar 2008 by Curtis

94%9.4out of 10

I just got this phone yesterday after having a Razr for the last 2 years. I would definately take this phone over the razr anyday. The camera has better quality and effects. Also, the MP3 player is great. Another aspect is that the phone will play MP4 videos, so if you have any good clips you can save them on your Sd card and watch them. Overall, I am really impressed so far.

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76. COOL!

13 Mar 2008 by Anonymous

96%9.6out of 10

I LOVE this phone! The camera could be a little more clear, but it's better than most phones I've seen! Speaker phone is gr8, and so easy 2 txt! i don't know why people are complaining! The signal isn't always strong either. otherwise, it's the best phone 2 have!
PS: I don't really have the phone, I just based this mostly off my friend's opinions.

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77. Key Pad Sticks

11 Mar 2008 by Paul

66%6.6out of 10

After 7 weeks the keypad began to stick (#'s 4, 7, and the volume control). T-Mobile wanted to charge $10 for shipping to get it fixed. I went directly through Motorola and they paid the shipping and fixed the phone for free.

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78. Moto W490

9 Feb 2008 by Flip Phoneguy

98%9.8out of 10

I really like this phone. (previous enjoyed a Mote Razr V3).

Style, size, quality, colors, call clarity, talk-time, comfort & quad band - are all excellent. My only gripe is I cannot use the speaker-phone with the phone closed - this may not be an issue for some users.

This is a quality, high-end phone - at a bargain price.

Well done - Motorola!

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79. Pleasantly Suprised!

26 Jan 2008 by Adri

92%9.2out of 10

I was very disappointed with the RAZR and I'm pretty loyal to Nokia, so getting this W490 was a gamble for me. So far, I have been very impressed with this phone. It has the best sound quality I have ever heard and amazing battery life. I like the MP3 feature, but I have to say that just the sound and battery life alone have made me very happy. The screen is a bit smaller than most, but the camera is of good quality and takes nice, clear pictures. This phone is pretty durable and the pin hinge seems stong. Overall, I really like this phone. If Motorola keeps making phones of this quality or better, I'll stick with them rather than Nokia.

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80. To Ed

9 Jan 2008 by Sharon

90%9out of 10

You are the one that should read before posting stupid things. People are complaining about the backlight and not the display timeout. The back light has settings for 20 seconds max.....look in your settings. It is in initial setup, there is a choice for 5, 20 or 20 seconds. The display timeout is a whole other feature.
Yhis wa sin responce to the comment below:
"For all those complaining about 20 sec display timeout go to Settings > Initial Setup > Display Timeout. There you can increase the timeout. And for the future ... RTFM before posting stupid things."

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