Motorola W385 Cell Phone Review - Intro
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Mark Brezinski Published on December 28, 2007 Comment on this |
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The Motorola W385 is an entry-level device available from Verizon for free with a contract. Since it's such a basic device, it doesn't offer much other than the ability to make calls. It does have a camera, but the pictures are nothing you'd want to print out and frame. Interestingly, however, it does come with more photo editing software than most smart phones. The phone is also not capable of music or video playback. It does have a calendar and notes application, but they're also fairly basic. The phone is pretty good looking for a free device, however, and fairly slim as well. If you're in the market for a free handset, the W385 will give you basic functionality and throw in a bad camera for good measure.Below you'll find a table of contents for this review. Clicking on the titles will skip to that section.
Tour & Design - The W385 handles well and seems to be surprisingly well built.
Audio Quality - Audio quality was decent. Many phones that do cost money performed far worse.
Imaging - The camera wasn't very good. We'd recommend leaving the pictures you take on the phone. This shouldn't be too much of an issue, however, as Verizon has made it ridiculously hard to transfer pictures off the device anyway.
Making/Receiving Calls - The W385 is quick with a phone call, but its in-call management is a bit confusing.
Messaging - While there isn't an email client, the phone handles SMS and MMS messages fairly well.
Organizer - The organizer features are what anyone familiar with phones would recognize as the bare minimum for a modern handset.
Multimedia - The W385's music and video playback scores were severely hampered by its inability to play back either music or videos.
Software - While the software is basic, the BREW OS is fairly responsive.
Battery Life - The W385 doesn't have very good battery life. Typically, entry-level phones won't have the best battery life, and it seems to be about average for phones in its class.
Connectivity - As a CDMA phone without wi-fi, the W385 isn't the most connected phone out there.
Hardware - The hardware behind the W385 isn't the best, but its still pretty good. We liked the keypad.
Other Features - The phone can be used as a Bluetooth DUN and VZ Navigator can be downloaded and installed, but both require more hassle than they're worth.
Value & Comparisons - We tend to think the W385 is a good options for bargain hunters. Though it doesn't have many features, many people just want a phone that makes calls. The W385 can do that, plus it takes really bad pictures as a bonus.
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