Motorola W230
Motorola has recently unveiled a new entry level mobile phone specifically targeted towards the Indian market – the Motorola W230. The W230 is part of Motorola's MotoYuva series, which highlights music capabilities more than anything else. It therefore comes with a pre-installed memory card worth 256 megabytes. It's quite the far stretch from the usual 10 Mb that ships with most mobile phones with more features than this one, which is a pleasant surprise. What's more, it is expandable to up to 2 Gigs that is enough for more or less 500 songs, should one choose to purchase and upgrade.
The model W230 tends to mislead people into thinking this is a Walkman phone though. And not only that, the MotoYuva series name sounds too similar with Muvo, Creative's forerunner in the media player rat race. Maybe it was intentional on Motorola's part as to insist upon the W230's music functionality.
Too bad also that all that power in the W230 does not translate in its design. It looks uninteresting and will not grab your attention once lined up with its competitors atop your favorite mobile phone dealer's shelf. Even the interchangeable face plates can not save the W230 form design dullness.
Motorola W230 Display
The Motorola W230, being a music phone first and foremost, seems like the developers never bothered trying to cram a camera inside their candy bar handset. This may be fine with some, but considering that most of its competitors are boasting of music playback
with camera functions, the W230 is surely a disappointment. Had they included a camera, the design would have probably been forgivable.
The display on the W230 is nothing to sing about either. It is smaller than most at just 1.6 inches and with a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels. Aside from that, not much can be said about its display except that more than anything, it does serve its purpose. At least the screen does not freeze.
Motorola W230 Design and Accessories
Now, with the dull design and absence of the camera aside, the W230 does pull out some punches with regards to its other features. Most apparent of course is its music playback capabilities. It comes with its own music playback application and its supplied memory can host a decent amount of songs. Extending the phone's memory for another 2 gigs via its microSD slot can make room for about 500 tracks more. For that alone, the W230 is a worthy purchase for the music-loving buyers, especially when considering the W230's pocket-friendly price. It is also equipped with a stereo headset and a USB cable for transferring your music files from the computer to the phone. Aside from the simplicity of its computer to phone connectivity, the Motorola W230 is also compatible with the familiar Windows Media Player 11 and above, and this enables the user to transfer music files directly to the phone, without fiddling for hours with proprietary file transfer programs. Motorola also placed dedicated music keys to the W230 for quick access to its built-in music player.
Aside from the wonderful experience of listening to music on the W230, the user may also have an amazing experience listening to a friend's voice on the other line. Thanks mainly to Motorola's CrystalTalk technology which enables clean and sharp sounds even when using the phone in noisy environments.
Another big plus considering the price of the W230 is the ability to access and surf the web with just one click, utilizing the now standard WAP 2.0 and xHTML technologies. Other features that make the W230 worth the purchase include the currency converter, calendar and even reminder and calculator. Also, as this is targeted towards the Indian market, the W230 boasts of Hinglish Predictive Texting and Indian wallpapers. Plus, with a fully charged battery, you are surely to enjoy the features of the W230 for a long time.
Summary of Motorola W230 Features - Technical Specifications
- Weight: 80 g
- Width: 45 mm
- Height: 111 mm
- Thickness: 14.7 mm
- Network: Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
GSM 850/1900 MHz (America), GSM 900/1800 (Europe and Asia) - Screen Resolution: 1.6 inches, 128 x 128 pixels, 65,536 colors, Color, STN
- Data: GPRS
- Connectivity: USB 1.1
- Web Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML
- Music: MP3, AMR, FM radio with RDS
- Camera: None
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, Predictive Text Input
- Expansion Slot: microSD
- Tones: Polyphonic
- Battery: Li-Ion 940 mAh, 9.16 hours of Talk time, 450 hours of Stand-by time
PROS: For a budget phone of its size, the Motorola W230 does come with a lot of pros. One may be impressed right away with its included 256 Mb of memory instead of the popular 10 Mb that come packaged with most phones. The compatibility with Windows Media Player 11 and above may also be a source of good cheer for many who are still figuring out how to transfer music to their mobile phones. Browsing the Web is also decent and you may do more so with the supplied Li-Ion battery, which promises long hours of talk and standby time.
CONS: A possible common gripe with the W230 may be the lack of a camera. Although this might be fine with some, it does throw you off considering that you can purchase a camera phone with music capabilities for about the same price. Another source of dissatisfaction is the dull and uninspiring design of the W230.
Overall: The Motorola W230 is overall a well rounded package especially when considering its cheap price. It does what it does with great ability so that it makes up for whatever it lacks.