Motorola V220

Definately Not My Idea Of Silver!

A Series of Unfortunate Events

What You See is What You Get

Good thing you can now obtain this phone for free with a contract, because it really isn't worth spending the $124 it's available for.

Specifications and Features

Vibrating Alert

Voice Dialing

Calendar

Calculator

Caller ID

Ringer Control

SMS

JAVA applications

Wallpaper, screensaver

Now here's where the "Silver" model name comes into play. The phone's looks are enhanced by a silver-metallic color, a mini display and camera lens on the flip cover, as well as useful volume, camera and voice dialing buttons on the sides. A short, protruding antenna adds a bit of a stylish touch to its outside design. The mini display screen is nothing extraordinary. When in standby you can see the time and battery life, as well as reception bars like mostly any other phones. However when receiving a call or an SMS, you practically have to stare for several minutes until you actually realize someone's trying to get your attention. If the phone is set down at a table, for example, you literally have to stand over the phone at a straight angle to be aware of the fact that someone's calling you. Poor, poor design I tell you. The hinge is not good at all. The open-and-close motion is too sluggish considering the fact that the flip cover is small and not heavy at all. Whereas with other models this motion literally takes a fraction of a second, the V220's cover takes approximately one full second to open or close. Just to give you an idea.

You open the cover and you'll see a plain display, not very clear in fact. And just wait until you put it to use by taking pictures or browsing the net, for example. You'll come face to face with bad quality. Practically the only things that are quite legible on the display screen are the name of your phone company, the time, Camera tab and AIM tab, which is for instant messaging. However, the screen is so small that all these are bunched up together, blocking your eyes from seeing either the selected picture or wallpaper. To make matters worse, the wallpaper or picture always look blurry, no matter what. Thank goodness I still have good eyes, because otherwise I'd be squinting at the screen every time I want to look at something on the screen, making my vision deficiency more acute. This is why I warn you, if you wear glasses or contacts, do yourself a favor and skip this phone option.

The key pad buttons are large for such a small phone. I guess someone with stubby or large fingers will find this a plus. I have relatively small and thin fingers so this feature goes unnoticed to me. As with most phones, it lights up when put to use, a convenient feature at night or in dark places.

Yes, it has six different options for both Image Style and Lighting Conditions. It even has Auto-timed Capture and Shutter Tone options. In addition to that, you can pick your camera's resolution and exposure. So what? All these features are overshadowed by the incredibly poor quality of the pictures. No matter what option you choose to enhance these, the outcome will always be the same: grainy, blurred, undefined pictures. I remember the first time we put the camera to use. My dad decided to take a family picture for the posterior memories. We posed as a beautiful family in our Sunday clothes only to find that our faces, outfits and background had been seriously distorted. We somehow looked like wax figures at Madame Tussauds, undergoing a severe heat wave. So apart from one gorgeous picture I took of the country side with horses on the pasture grounds, I have refrained from using any of the dreadful pictures taken and just stick to good old' wallpapers.

Talking about wallpapers, I can tell you that at least they're a bit better than the picture image quality. Nevertheless, the quality is very low in comparison to all the other phones I've owned and to those out on the market today. Many are already on the phone's memory at the time of purchase, and other can be downloaded from the Internet. The screensavers however, are pretty varied in design, style, color and movement. Some are very entertaining to look at. But wait, if it sounds too good to be true, then it is. When using the display, be it for calling someone, or looking at something, you better be quick. The screensaver comes up so fast; it is very frustrating to keep on pressing some key so that you can go back to what you were previously doing. For example, I have the Delay time set at 1 minute, but trust me, 1 minute to the V220 means 5 seconds. Literally.

Text messaging is always convenient for those moments when you're either low on minutes, are in class, or just simply don't want to bother making a call for something so simple. In this aspect the V220 succeeds. All Motorola's are programmed to "guess" or figure out the word you're trying to type in your message, so that you don't have to go through the "trouble" of typing the entire word out letter by letter. There are also optional features like Templates, and attaching things like pictures, sounds, animations and contact information.

Unlike with my Sony Ericsson Z500A, I have been less clumsy with the Motorola V220, therefore I couldn't tell you how durable or resistant it is. I've probably dropped it just twice in all, and it still is in almost perfect condition. (Just between you and me, sometimes I wish the opposite, so that I may acquire a better phone ;) But like they say, leave bad enough alone, right? Or is it well enough…..?

I was really looking forward to discussing battery life in my review. Let me tell you, the battery life in this phone is the worst I've seen, ever, especially for such a small phone. I mean, how much energy could a bland phone like this consume?? I still cannot figure out how just after I make a call or two, send one SMS, or take a look at the display a couple of times, the battery goes from being full green to red and blinking in a couple of hours. Insane!

In Spanish there's a saying that goes "la repeticion es la madre de la retencion" which literally means "repetition is the mother of retention". Accordingly, I would like to reiterate the disadvantages of this phone which greatly outnumber the advantages. However, to be fair and assist you in making an unbiased purchase, I will also summarize the aforementioned.

Short battery life-span

No Video Recording Feature

Blurry display

Inconvenient outside display

Screen saver delay

Advantages:

Digital camera settings

Keypad

So yes, here I am still stuck with a Motorola V200, hoping that maybe one day soon I can obtain a better phone. Today's market offers the caller varied options in mobile phones, so most likely you won't be searching for this phone as one of your options. However, if you want to save money or don't want to be bothered with a high-tech phone that will tangle you up, please do not think this is an option for you. There are many other older phone models that offer convenience and quality without being dull and insufficient. Do not be fooled by the name or the "Silver". 

Front w/ lens and display

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