Camera Phones Plaza

Motorola V180 costs $119, but you can find it in various places at lower prices, with service agreements. These silver cell phones are dominating the market and I think everybody likes the stylish design brought by Motorola V180. It is colored in black, and it has a silver trim. It looks pretty good, the measurements ( 3.5'' x 1.7'' x 0.9'' ) and the weight (2.8 ounces) give the phone a real portability and comfort in usage. The rectangular external screen shows time, the battery life and the ID caller, when available. The screen in monochrome, and the only control on the exterior is the volume button. Speakerphone is located on the rear face, but the phone actually doesn't have a sturdy design. It looks pretty fragile, and you can feel it while holding it in your hand.

The display is quite small, it is only 1.5 inches diagonal, and has very low visibility in sunlight. It supports 65,000 colors, and you can't say it renders vibrant colors, because the general aspect has an washed-out effect (only the contrast can be adjusted). The display and the frame are vulnerable to smudges, and a real disadvantage is that the text size cannot be changed (this is a problem for users with visual problems).

The menus are quite easy to navigate, and the navigation controls have a cheap plastic look. The toggle has five directions, and takes you to the phone book, the call log, the message center and to the section where you can set up the ring styles. There are two buttons for T-zone applications, which can also operate in the instant messaging application also, and they can activate the speakerphone while in a call. While most of the Motorola phones have the Talk button on the right and the End on the left, this model has the keys in the traditional places.



The keypad buttons are set flush with the phone's surface, and it's quite hard to dial by feel. The set of features is at an average level. The address book can store up to 500 contacts which can have six fields for phone numbers and an e-mail address field. If you have more than 500 contacts, you should think of the storage space on the SIM card too, which is up to 250 contacts. Contacts can be categorized in groups and they can get associated to any of the 28 monophonic or 20 polyphonic ringtones. The contacts can get also a picture, but it won't be shown on the external display. This phone doesn't have a camera, so you have to upload the pictures yourself, or ask those people to send them to you their pictures.

All in all, Motorola V180 has good call quality, the speakerphone is good, it also has USB capability and instant messaging, the battery life is satisfying but the slippery keypad and cramped controls are pretty important minuses in the final report. It also has a flimsy plastic construction and even if the design is not so impressing, this Motorola V180 is a quality, basic cell phone.