Just being a phone is not good enough (Motorola V2288)

Member Name: fluidfernando

Product:	Motorola V2288
Date:	18/01/05 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: FM Radio, Light weight, Very easy navigation

Disadvantages: No predictive messaging, Battery life very short, No screensavers

I have had three mobiles - the Alcatel Max DB, a Nokia 3310, and this one - this is the worst phone out of the three in my opinion - I have written opinions on those too - check them out.

As usual I'm not going to dabble on about each aspect of the phone - just the major parts.

When you buy a phone, what do you look for? Well, along with nice reception, you need style, a good brand, games to keep you occupied on those long train journeys, a calendar for those business type people, long battery life, predictive texting, a clock, etc etc - well.... this phone doesn't really cover any of those features - apart from the brand name and style.

The look of the phone is nice - and came in two covers - blue and pink - these are rubber covers which surround the phone- it gives the phone a little more protection and grip - but you can have no cover as well if you want, and it looks just as nice.

I bought this phone about a year ago (June 2001) and I was impressed by the fact it had an FM Radio - it is nice - and there is good clarity - the headphones needed are special ones which are included.

There are a limited amount of tones - and tones can't be ordered or downloaded - and in my opinion they are very tame - they are monopitched - ie one instrumental, and very boring - there is no vibrate option either - so you're stuck between no tone or a rubbish one. Most of the tones also are monotonous.

There are no games for you die hard games fans either.

The inbox holds 10 texts, which is fairly poor compared with newer phones - although not a lot of the time will you need to store them.

The menu is quick and easy - there is a button on the phone which contains shortcuts to other features on the phone - so you can press two buttons to reach a designation. Also, you can customise the shortcuts to suit you. For example to get to your inbox you press the shortcut key and then press 2. It may be different for other people as it can be customised. This was the feature I was impressed with the most.

The buttons on the phone are nicely spaced but I found that it is very hard to text very quickly - you can't do predictive messaging and it can be frustrating because the keys are hard to press quickly. Also, those people who are used to pressing number 1 for the space will have to get used to pressing 0 if you get this phone.

There is a WAP facility - used to browse the Net, but WAP is generally quite poor - and whether you'll need anything to search is doubtful. On the One2One network - it costs 10p per minute last time I checked.

The battery lifetime was very poor in my opinion - Motorola phones are generally bad at this. Also, when someone texts you - you can't tell who it is from because it doesn't give you the name - just the number.

I noticed a few of you only put helpful for the opinion - so I will add a little more.

I bought this phone for £60 on what was then the One2One network (Now T-Mobile). I found this price to be quite a good one for a phone at this price - but it is the lack of features that get the rating down for me. I personally like a phone which isn't just a phone - one where you can play games, add reminders, use a calendar - and you just can't do that here. Apart from the WAP capability and the FM Radio - there really is no reason to use this phone other than calling and texting.

I don't think I have given a 2/5 before - I am sad too, as this isn't a bad phone - only every single feature could be improved.

The weight and bulkiness of the phone is ok. The phone is quite light, and the rubber covers give a nice grip.

In terms of the phone book capacity - it holds 100, and this is enough for most people.

The light that appears on the phone in the dark is a yellow type colour - but again this isn't brilliant as it still can be hard to see the lettering - a blue colour is much better. Even though my Nokia 3310 also has a yellow background - the yellow is much brighter with the Nokia.

This phone as far as I am aware is not available in the shops now - other models have improved on this model therefore the Motorola V2288 is now out of stock.

I know a lot of people who have this phone and really like it - but if you are looking for a phone with lots of features, easy to text with, or style - sorry folks, this isn't it. What really got my goat was where the text you received didn't state who it was from, only the number - you then might spend 5 minutes searching the phone book figuring out who sent you the message in the first place!!

ADVANTAGES:
Nice brandname
Good style
Incredibly easy navigation
WAP compatible
Works on most networks
FM Radio
Fairly light (weight)

DISADVANTAGES:
No clock
No games
Tones are monotonous
No predictive messaging
Hard to text properly
Too old for today's phones
Battery life is short
Screen light is dull
No option to create/download tones
No screensavers
No stating who texted you - just the number is given
No date

Summary: