Motorola W490 Cell Phone is Stylish & Loaded with Features

The Motorola W490 Cell Phone is very similar to the RAZR, its predecessor, in both style and function. Like its cousin, it has a sleek, sexy design. It is loaded with features, which makes it a bit pricier than more basic cell phones. Overall, it is affordable and function, two desirable traits in cell phones. In some ways it outshines the competition, but in other areas, it cannot compete. Before buying a W490, let me familiarize you with this phone's strengths and weaknesses.

Cost and Warranty

T-mobile offers the W490 to new customers for about $65. As I had just upgraded to a Nokia 6133 seven months prior, which I accidentally placed on a hot burner while cooking dinner, I wasn't entitled to much of a discount. I therefore paid about $118 for my W490. I enjoyed it for about a month before my toddler threw it into the toilet. The warranty doesn't cover water damage, so I had to buy another W490 from T-mobile for the same price. This time I bought a shield to go over it and ponied up the cash for insurance!

Exterior Design

The Motorola W490 Cell Phone looks much like the original RAZR. It is sleek and shiny, flat, and flips open. It comes in several colors, such as black, silver, and purple. To my great disappointment it is not available in pink. The W490 can be distinguished from the RAZR easily because it is thicker yet leaner, whereas the RAZR was flat and wide. Otherwise it looks about the same.

Interior Design

The W490 has the same keypad as the RAZR, flat, which makes my fingers slip around. The keypad has two new keys, a back button and a web button. I am not used to them yet; usually cell phones just have four buttons up there, besides the arrows and center select button. They mix me up sometimes. The screen doesn't seem to attract grease as much as the old RAZRs did, and the colors are bright and brilliant. Pictures show up quite clear.

Durability

The W490 seems reasonably durable, especially protected by the shield. Don't drop it in any water, because that voids the warranty.

Ease of Use

The W490 is easy to use, once you figure out the meaning of the icons, which you won't have to do if you are already familiar with Motorola phones. It is very customizable, giving you the option to set up numerous shortcuts and even to rearrange your menu list. With a button specifically for the camera and one just for the web, taking pictures and surfing the net are very easy.

The one thing I is that all of the phone's sounds and images are listed along with the user downloads and SD card files. It makes it very time-consuming to look through pictures and mp3s for specific ones. There's no way to scroll through them faster. You can create filters for the images and sounds, but that is time-consuming.

Reception

I haven't had any dropped calls so far, and I can hear people loud and clear. The speakerphone also works very well, though I have had cell phones with louder speakerphones, which are a plus for me. I haven't yet encountered any static.

Features

The cell phone comes with three games, which unfortunately all seem be demos. I can only play a little bit before I have to purchase the game to keep it. It has a great music player that even gives you the option to create multiple playlists, which I enjoy. You can use headphones or the speakerphone to to hear your music. Mp3s can be used as ring tones. It also has the usual calculator, calendar, and alarm clock.

Unfortunately, the camera is lacking. It takes better pictures than some phones I've used, like the Nokia 6086, but its snapshots aren't as clear as with my old Nokia 6086. The photos come out looking just slightly blurry, not very crisp or clear. On the up side, it does let you take longer videos than most cell phones, and the picture quality of the videos seems superior to other cell phones that I have used.

The Motorola 490 is packed with features, including a music player that lets you create multiple playlists and a great video camera. The phone's camera, though, unfortunately takes blurry pictures, and the games that come with the phone are merely demos. Its design is similar to its cousin, the RAZR, but it is a bit more bulky. It is a pretty phone that comes in several colors, and it is very easy to use and customizable. If you want a cheaper more basic phone or a better camera, I would recommend a different cell phone. Otherwise, I would recommend the W490, because its strengths outweigh its weaknesses by far.