Motorola V710 (Unlocked) Cellular Phone

This review is for the Motorola V710 for the Verizon Wireless network. This phone has 1X capabilities, Get It Now, a built in 1.2 megapixel digital camera, camcorder, speakerphone, and Bluetooth wireless technology.

This is an excellent looking phone. It has a lot of standard features but it still falls short of LG and Samsung. The Keypad is well laid out and has large buttons; those worried about fat fingering numbers will welcome this. The Navigation Key and OK button in the center of the navigation button some may find a bit small and difficult to work with. This model has the ability to add additional memory via the transflash port, those into the media player thing will love this. This phone has full Bluetooth capabilities that have been turned off at the request of Verizon Wireless. There are ways to unlock all functions of Bluetooth if you don’t mind hacking into your phone. The resources are readily available on the Internet, just be aware that once you start to play with your phone you forfeit all manufactures and carrier warranties. In other words, make sure you know what your doing before you start or you run the risk of owning a pretty paperweight. Over all a sleek phone, great primary or backup phone if you lost your main phone or it was stolen.

GENERAL FEATURES

Tri-Mode
1XRTT
Bluetooth Enabled
Camera
Camera - Flash
Camera Resolution - 1.2M Pixel
Digital Music Player
Display - Color
Download Ring Tones
Enhanced Messaging Service
GPS enabled
Get It Now
Mobile Web 2.0
Multi Media Services (MMS)
NationalAccess Capable
OTA Capable
Removable Memory Slot - TransFlash/Micro
Speakerphone
TTY compatible
TXT Messaging
Video Capture
Video Messaging
Voice Dialing


SPECIFICATIONS

Up to 173 Minutes Usage Time
Up to 165 Hours Stand by Time
WEIGHT: 4.5 oz.
SIZE: 3.70H x 1.90W x 0.90D inches

This phone follows suit with other Motorola products, where it's comsumer-life is extended by it's quality craftmanship. It has several strong features, but also a number of glitches.

This phone has several tools and systems within it. Having said that, it's like a computer. And this is no exception to software glitches or conflict. This unit tends to 'freeze' if you try to run a simple or complex task- the only way out is to power down the phone and power up again after 60 seconds.

It's built-in still/MPEG camera is definitley on the lower side of the quality scale. It does take pictures, but the resolution is mild at best. If you are looknig for high quality photos to come from this phone, you will be hugely disappointed. However, the MPEG's it's capable of taking are well above average.

Battery life is poor. On a full charge, you will get about 180 minutes talk time and about 120 minutes stand-by. A full charge requires the phone be plugged in and powered down for 12 hours.

A ton of useful features such as a calendar, calculator, integrated MP3 player, huge phone book/directory and excellent web browsing capabilities.

All in all- a good phone for everyday routine use. Not the best, not the worst- just a good phone.

I first got interested in this phone after I bought the Motorola SD4500 Color Home Cordless Phone system. It allows you to add up to eight extension phones, video monitors or interfaces to your home phone. In addition, the SD4505 optional cordless charger and cellphone interface module allows you to interface your home phone with a limited number of Motorola Cell Phones such as the V710. Shared phone directories, shared call records and the ability to answer calls from either your cordless or your cell is a very useful feature.

The V710 is certainly a spectacular cell phone all by itself. I put a two gigabyte mini SD flash chip into it which allows me to load and watch DAYS of movies on it's screen, to store endless MP3 clips for its MP3 player or to take albums of pictures with the built-in camera and camcorder.

Most cell phones are nowhere near loud enough to be heard using the handsfree or speakerphone system. NOT the V710! Its tiny speaker produces enough good quality audio to keep your deaf Grandma as happy as a clam.

It is for the most part very easy to use and can be made to interface with your computer for two-way exchanges of movies, pictures, files, ringtones and music with a $10 optional charging/data USB cable. Even though I'm not a gamer, the phone comes with a number of games, certain firmware (Telus Included)supports Java to enable a huge number of additional games to be loaded.

THE CONS: Verizon and Telus have both deliberately disabled/crippled the Motorola V710's native ability to transfer files by bluetooth and to use its built-in ability to support Motorola Phone Tools spectacular file transfer and conversion program. Some vendors on E-Bay will sell you the info to enable MPT support for about $5, but if you want to use the bluetooth for anything more than attaching an earphone, forget it. Workarounds (as yet) to revive the full BT create more problems than they solve.

I couldn't get the voice digit dial recognition to work other than to say "SAY AGAIN", but the voice dial is easy, convenient and works perfectly. The voice memo feature is also convenient and easy to use.

They use plastic rather than glass windows on the inner and outer displays, which means that they scratch pretty easily. Fortunately, the windows are just sticky glued in place and can be easily peeled off for relacement. Attractive snap-on cases are also available to cut down the scratching.

Its a little heavier than I'd like but you have to give up something for a long battery life.

The real question is "Would I buy it again ?" And the real answer is " I sure would, Its the BEST phone I've ever had ! " Now if we could only get the Telcos to keep their grubby and greedy little paws off Motorola's firmware, life would be real real real good. "Beam me up Scotty, there's no intelligent telcos down here!"

I recently re-upped my US Cellular contract. I needed an upgrade in phones. But, I decided to let my daughter have the discounted phone that came with the new contract (She got a new KRZR 1M).

So, for my phone, after doing some research, I found that the Motorola V710 has all of the functions of the Razr's and Krzr's. Having more of a regular flip phone style, it just wasn't in the sleak new style that is so popular.

Since I'm more concerned with function than keeping up with the latest fads, I decided to buy the V710. And, I ended up getting one "like new" and very much as described (even better) on Ebay for $56 plus shipping.

I love the huge screen on the V710 and it's overall durability.

(Note: a US Cellular technician showed me some of the parts that Motorola uses to get the Razr's & Krzr's so sleak, particularly their flimsy, plastic screens. He told me that they aren't very durable at all, and that he see's problems all of the time because of it.)

The camera on the V710 operates at 1.2mp. So, pictures and videos are noticably not as good as those on my daughter's Krzr. (I think the Krzr's are 1.3mp)

But, I'm not that much of a photographer. And, the other functions are awesome. I love using the mp3 player. And, I really love having the MicroSD slot and the fact that it is at the top of the phone instead of below the battery like in the Razr/Krzr's. I also am happy with the speakerphone & the flexibility and the reliability of the calendar & the alarm.

I am very happy with Motorola's software--which is made to provide you with a lot of flexibility to setup the menus, access, etc., pretty much any way you want.

The original battery that came with it doesn't last very long if you use many functions. And, I use the phone alot to get news, weather, sports and to check my email when I am away from a computer. But, from my research, I knew about the battery going in. So, I purchased (again on ebay) an extended battery (SNN 5760) that fits in the phone with the original battery cover. And, I get more than enough battery life.

The things that I am less pleased with are likely US Cellular issues, I believe. While you can apply pictures from your MicroSD card to be used as wallpaper, you cannot apply songs from the card to be used as ringtones. I think the carrier is trying to get you to pay to download their ringtones. Again, I bought Motorola's Phone Tools 4.0 on ebay for my gaughter to get around this problem. I haven't tried it yet myself. And, I haven't heard from her yet as to results.

Another thing that I am less-than-pleased with relates to the iTap function. It works great for regular phone functions like text messaging and other functions when you need to type. It even works in other languages. (My daughter's studying spanish, so I send her spanish text messages sometimes.)

But, again, a carrier issue I believe, when typing on Easyedge (the carrier's mini internet service), you are not able (or allowed) to use the phone's iTap function. Typing is very cumbersome in Easyedge, which is frustrating. So, getting emails and other information on the phone from Easyedge is awesome. But, sending emails or sending IM's even using an Easyedge AOL program--not as good.

I read in my research and saw in ebay that there are hacking programs that you can buy that will get around the carrier limitations that are placed on the phone's functions.

Overall, I love the Motorola V710! Great Value!

The good: Internal and external high-resolution color screens; analog roaming; decent speakerphone; expandable memory.

The bad: Limited Bluetooth and MP3 player functionality; inadequate e-mail support; somewhat hefty; low standby battery life; poor picture quality.

The bottom line: Though the Motorola V710 comes packed with high-end features, their integration and performance is far from satisfactory.

While Bluetooth has made extensive inroads into the GSM cell phone world, the CDMA camp has been less eager to embrace it. So when we heard about the Motorola V710--Verizon's first Bluetooth phone--we were anxious to get one in our hands. Sadly, our initial euphoria quickly faded once it arrived. While the V710 has excellent sound quality, its Bluetooth capabilities are severely limited. Similarly, while we were excited by the prospect of an expandable memory slot, a 1.2-megapixel camera, and an MP3 player, the player and the card slot were not well integrated, the photo quality was average, and the handset's standby battery life was below par. Add in the V710's $319 price tag (without a service agreement), and you get a second-rate mobile that will disappoint beginner and experienced users alike.