Motorola W490 / W510 / W5 Specs, Features & Reviews

I purchased the Motorola W490 in May of 2008 from a MN T-Mobile retailer. It has user-friendly terms on all menus, large icons, and the font is easy to read.

COMPACT DESIGN: It’s perfect for people with small hands and it fits well into small places. Durable with minor accidents.

BATTERY LIFE: The battery life is exceptional. Several warning beeps before the battery goes dead.

KEYPAD: The keypad has a soft backlight and is flat with a raised surface area dividing the keys and on the number “5”. The keypad sound has adjustable volume levels or may be silent.

DISPLAY SCREEN: Icons can be re-arranged and the display screen fades to black during conversation. The internal and external displays are easy to view and may be personalized.

MESSAGING: Easy to use for text, email, and instant messaging. Default templates built in or create your own. The text message display is only one-line showing the name or number. The “Mobile Email” feature allows you to access 12 different email providers, but MSN isn’t one of them.

HANDS-FREE & SPEAKERPHONE: The speakerphone feature has great sound quality, but the speaker is on the back of the phone near the bottom so it can be muffled a bit depending on the surface or if being held. Bluetooth is simple to setup – phone settings has a “find me” option. The voice-dialing feature is sensitive - may dial if wording is used in a sentence.

MEMORY, PHONEBOOK & TOOLS: The memory is small, but large enough to handle the phonebook, music, games, video clips, and photos. The phonebook has a large capacity and allows multiple numbers, emails, websites, home/business addresses, and birthdays. The calendar is ok, but the color-coding for events are bright colors that are not always easy to read.

SIGNAL/SERVICE: This is a quad-mode phone so it works in many areas where other phones can’t get a signal (regardless of carrier) and it has international capabilities.

so, i have had t-mobile for many years. I used to work for another carrier doing warranty so i when i come across a great phone i have to try it out.

This is a great phone where it counts; call quality, reception and battery life. Anything other than that is just a bonus.

It is amazing how many phones rate sub par one the most important yet basic elements of a phone.

Pros:
price-about $40 right now with 2 year extension
call qualify- clean and crisp even in the dead spots in phoenix
battery life-i only charge it twice a week with moderate use. maximum talk time is 8 hours per the user's manual
sturdy feel, nice hinge
memory card slot is hot-swappable but under battery cover
1.3 MP camera is nice for a phone camera
full duplex speaker means you can actually hear your phone ringing
music player is standard.
lets you send MP3s in picture message (you can send all your homies ringtones)
keypad clicks when you press a number, even though the buttons are flat.

Cons:
back cover feels like cheap plastic even though its secure
menus are slow (its a motorola)
no different folders for music or pictures (it will bring up in the order you put it on your phone)
limited external display functionality (cant really do anything special with the outside screen)
internal display is a bit small, although it is crisp and bright

If you are looking for 5 million features on your cell phone and dont really care about the phone part, buy another phone.

If you want a rock solid performer that you wont have to call in about in 3 months, buy this phone. Buy it for your kids, give it away for christmas.

2 thumbs up

I got it because its pink. PONS: pink, zoom camera, 5 alarms, soft ring may set for slected ring tones only and reg ring for mine and all others. memory card a plus. may set more then 9 speed dial no.s if u can work from phone. may hold up to 1000 nos. CONS: couldn't seem to find out how to use the extra speed no.s just 9. White screen alot. (couldnt use in emer.) had to keep removing my texts in and out, have no more that 50 together for it to work better. needs way to use speed nos easy. OVER ALL: I would say no. I dont use the extra stuff, but for me as a person whom wants the car to drive and the phone to work. I like easy and to work when I take care of things.

When I switched to T-Mobile, I had to switch away from my favorite brand, LG. I always felt that there was something cheap about Samsung, and kiddy about Nokia. The Motorola brand seemed to be the logical choice. Now that I've owned mine for over a year:

PROS:
-Battery Life has been good (usually don't need a recharge for 2-4 days)
-call quality is good, clear, and speaker phone works well
-display is clear and bright, readable in all but the most impossible outdoor settings
-Surprisingly adept texter and text manager. Easy to pop open and reply / generate new and send
-Finish has survived several drops, and picked up only minor scratches. Still feels solid and blemishes are really hard to notice (and I really gave it a good one on the pavement)

CONS:
-Camera really needs a flash. It is sub par anyway, and the screen is ultimately too small to enjoy them anyway. And Tmobile won't let you send a pic without email attaching it and sending. Should be able to just USB them.
-Limited ringtones, and all the basic ones are pretty lame.
-Browser? Forgettaboutit - so slow
-slowest interface in the world, lags while doing anything from choosing a menu to dialing a number
-did I mention I don't think its responsive?

SUM
I've never really preferred Motorola's phones. This is a GREAT phone though if you are just looking to make a few calls and texts every now and again. But Motorola really needs to either streamline their OS or invest in faster chips because the slow responses make their phones feel . . . well, even more basic. A solid and reliable choice however for the non-geek.

Other than that, I do still find it hilarious, having used iPhones and Blackberries, that these companies think we should pay 100 bucks a month or more for premium data and text services. When the hardware and speed are that good, let me know.

In the mean time, my 2.5 rating reflects that the phone is great, but not outstanding compared to the high end phones available. I don't covet it.

ok here is deal. my wife has this phone, she loves it, except the fact it malfunctions. this is the moto w490 with t-mobile. she had it replaced 3 times in a 120 day period. the phone tends to dial on its own and go through the phone book. this is very annoying when your on the phone and it starts doing this as the tone of the keys over rides any conversation. i know other ppl that have this phone and never had a problem. so pick and chose wisely. i suggest stay away from moto phones. we are leaving t-mobile and going to verzion and getting LG phones.

I'm using this phone on T-Mobile in the Dallas, Texas area. The reception quality is ok. I've had better and certainly worse. I have had this phone for over 9 months now. The camera quality is better than I would expect for 1.3 mp. The pictures do look a little washed out though. The phone is good about hiding scratches. Though the black color is starting to disappear and bare metal is starting to show at the top where the phone hinges.

The battery cover used to be hard to remove (a good thing), but now it slides off way too easily. I have had the cover come off, while holding the phone in my hand. Also, the cover on one of the navigation keys is starting to crack. The menu can be slow to respond. The display is clear and looks good. However, the date only displays on the outer screen, not the larger inner screen. I don't know if this due to T-Mobile's adjustments to the phone or all W490s are like this. A flash for the camera would have been nice too.

My major complaint about this phone is that when it is on silent or vibrate, it is WAY too easy for it too be switched to ring. A simple key press on the side (even when the phone is closed) switches the phone from silent to ring loudly. I've had it switch to loud in my pocket and when pulling it out. A major design flaw, Imo.

I got this phone from my local T Mobile store in Heather Grape. At first I wanted it in black but they were sold out and now I'm glad I got the grape one. This is a great basic phone. I love the color I have and I like the bright display. I wish the backlight stayed on longer than 20 seconds but I can live with that. My camera takes pretty good pics even though other reviews say the camera is not so hot. I can download ringtones and they sound pretty good. I am happy with my phone and I'm glad I made the choice that I made.

This phone is really nice and everything and is very pretty but the buttons are too close together and it is very slow if you like to type fast or just browse fast. The camera is good but memory is so bad when it comes to storing alot of pics or videos. I rarely get dropped calls which is surprising because motorola isn't known for that.

I got this phone about two weeks ago only because it was free with T-mobile and I have to say I really like it! It often gets mistaken for a RAZR at a few feets distant which I find kind of odd, but up close you realize its not! All the features are excellent although photo quality could be better, but its fine. Service is superb, I always seem to have 5 bars no matter where I'm at, like in a basement. My old phone was always searching for service! I'd say if you want a sleek hot phone with all the features like cam/vid/music etc. for a very low price, then this is a very excellent option! Get It!

I bought a black W490 for T-Mobile and I love it. Reception and call quality is good. It's not a high-end phone but has plenty of features and much to like about it. I actually returned the RAZR2 V8 and got this instead. The phone looks very plain and industrial, especially in black, if military issued phones it would look like this.

Pros:
1) Compact size,easy to hold because narrow
2) LCD is small but is sharp, bright,
and renders plenty of detail for movies
and pictures.
3) Plain-looking matte finish does not show
any fingerprints, stains or scratches
4) Decent MP3 player, plays 320x240
mpeg-4 files, shows all jpeg pictures
5) Excellent battery life, after playing
with video, MP3 all day and talking for
75 minutes still had 2/3 bars
6) Micro SD card slot conveniently located
on side of phone under battery door, no
need to remove battery like some phones
7) Customizable smart key and soft buttons
for instant camera, video, voice
recorder, etc or whatever u like
8) Very good video mode, records in
usefully high 352x288 resolution up 3.5
minutes per clip if you use micro SD card
9)Intergrated Email and IM Service
10) ability too add more information
to each phone entry, like 2nd phone
number, email, birthday, address

Cons:
1) Backlight only stays on for a maximum
of 20 seconds, sometimes pain in the ass
2) Speakerphone does not work with flip
closed. Closing the flip will end the
call. How stupid, on the RAZR you had
a choice of using the speakerphone
with the flip closed under the settings.
3) Photo quality is disappointing in most
cases, pictures look fuzzy and washed
out. Looks okay only when you take
pictures outdoors under the sunlight.
Also not bad for taking portraits of
faces. (Thank God for that so you can
show all your friends how cute your
girlfriend is!)
4) No MP3 controls with phone closed
except for volume