Motorola W385 Cell Phone
- Installed Memory: 32 MB
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB
- Performance: Dual Band
- Design: Mobile
- Style: Clamshell
- Network Type: CDMA 1900 CDMA 800
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Looks can be deceiving
Pros
Slim, good reception
Cons
USB limits doing two things at once with the phone, cheaply made, bad pic handling
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Avoid it.
Been using cellular phones for over a decade. Its just a tool right? Anyway, switched carriers so I had to get new phones. Didn't want the fanciest nor the most complicated. I wanted to use it for a phone and take the occasional picture. After looking at the options from my carrier, and having just had a terrific experience with another Motorola phone, I thought - great lets get them.
What a mistake. The first one fell apart, pieces of the black cover just would drop off. Then the "8" button just stopped working. The second did not do that but these phone were designed with some serious problems. You have to silence all features to make it stop beeping once you have had a call you did not answer or a voice mail was left for you. Oh, you can go in and push the buttons but the point is that if you are in a meeting and did not put it on complete silence, not even vibrate, you will have beeps until you either view the number or silence the entire phone. Battery life on one unit went to 15 minutes within months and the other only lasts around 60 minutes for phone use. Stand-by is pretty good.
Another problem is the mini-USB connector. Sounds great right? Well, yes and no. First, you can trickle charge the phone from any powered USB with any regular-to-mini USB cord. Nice. However, you can not charge your phone and use a headset or ear bud at the same time!?! So, in the car where most of us actually charge our phones, using a hands free device means no charging. And changing from one to the other is NOT something you want to do while driving!
Last, that USB connector - well you can't just hook your phone up to a computer and download your photos - oh no. You have to buy proprietary software or send them as pics to an email account (another expense).
Reception is good with it in our experience. Buttons are easy to push and large enough. Slim and fits nicely in the change pocket of my trousers.
All-in-all a bad purchase on my part.
What a mistake. The first one fell apart, pieces of the black cover just would drop off. Then the "8" button just stopped working. The second did not do that but these phone were designed with some serious problems. You have to silence all features to make it stop beeping once you have had a call you did not answer or a voice mail was left for you. Oh, you can go in and push the buttons but the point is that if you are in a meeting and did not put it on complete silence, not even vibrate, you will have beeps until you either view the number or silence the entire phone. Battery life on one unit went to 15 minutes within months and the other only lasts around 60 minutes for phone use. Stand-by is pretty good.
Another problem is the mini-USB connector. Sounds great right? Well, yes and no. First, you can trickle charge the phone from any powered USB with any regular-to-mini USB cord. Nice. However, you can not charge your phone and use a headset or ear bud at the same time!?! So, in the car where most of us actually charge our phones, using a hands free device means no charging. And changing from one to the other is NOT something you want to do while driving!
Last, that USB connector - well you can't just hook your phone up to a computer and download your photos - oh no. You have to buy proprietary software or send them as pics to an email account (another expense).
Reception is good with it in our experience. Buttons are easy to push and large enough. Slim and fits nicely in the change pocket of my trousers.
All-in-all a bad purchase on my part.
