Product Description

With stunning design and compelling content the Motorola W385 is the phone every user will crave. This fun compact mobile phone has a VGA camera, Bluetooth® Wireless Technology, Text and Picture Messaging, Advanced Speech Recognition and is VZ Navigatorsm capable.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13506 in Cell Phone Accessories
• Color: Black
• Brand: Motorola
• Model: LG-VX8800P
• Released on: 2007-07-09

Features

• Lightweight clamshell-style phone with internal color LCD and external monochrome display with time, caller ID
• Integrated VGA camera; send images via MMS messaging
• Bluetooth connectivity for communication headsets; USB port
• sGPS capable for E911 emergency location; speakerphone
• Includes: Standard Li-Ion Battery, Charger, Headset Adapter and User's Guide

Amazon.com Product Description
Built on the design of the MOTOKRZR, the Motorola W385 combines style with simplicity. Blending sleek lines with easy-to-use features, the W385 provides everything you want and need without overwhelming technology. This clamshell-style phone offers a colorfully bright interior LCD as well as a thin-profile external display that shows time, battery level, and incoming caller ID. It also offers Bluetooth wireless connectivity for communication headsets, a VGA camera, and polyphonic ringtones. It runs on Verizon's CDMA 850/CDMA 1900 frequencies.

Blending sleek lines with easy-to-use features, the slim W385 provides everything you need--easy access to your contacts, text chatting, Bluetooth connectivity, and a VGA camera.

Flip open the phone to reveal the 1.8-inch color LCD screen, which offers a 128 x 160-pixel resolution and up to 65K colors. The external screen has a 96 x 32-pixel resolution, white-on-blue monochrome display, and text running on a landscaped (horizontal) orientation. The integrated VGA camera has three resolution options (160 x 120, 320 x 240, 640 x 480), and also features a self-timer, brightness and white balance adjustment, color effects, and in-camera framing.

Make the most of your day. The W385 offers Bluetooth wireless technology (class 2) to allow you to stay busy and not put anything on hold to take a call. Move freely from the car to the office to the kitchen while using a compatible Bluetooth enabled headset. To make your life even easier, the W385 allows you to pre-record names of your contacts and simply state their name and your phone will recognize and place the call. Use the integrated aGPS location services on a road trip so you can quickly get to your location.

The iTap text entry technology, which makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit--a plus for mobile email and text messaging users. A number of handy software tools are bundled with the V3xx including a calculator with currency converter, a calendar and an alarm clock. The phone can also be used with Motorola's Mobile Phone Tools PC application to manage and synchronize contacts, calendar and other data with your PC. Other features include:

• Bluetooth profiles supported: Headset, Handsfree, Serial Port, DialÐUp Networking, & OPP & FTP for vCard and user generated images (phone does not support all Bluetooth OBEX profiles)
• Advanced speech recognition: Commands include My Account, Help Guide, Lookup, Calling, Sending Messages and digit dial
• Integrated speakerphone
• Polyphonic ringtones
• 5 VibraCall vibrate modes
• TTY compatible; hearing aid compatibility = M4/T4
• Email, picture messaging, IM chat
• 1000 phonebook entries to store all your contacts (with up to 5 numbers per entry)

Vital Statistics
The Motorola w385 weighs 3.8 ounces and measures 3.9 x 1.8 x 0.71 inches. Its 950 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4 hours of talk time, and up to 440 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the CDMA 850/CDMA 1900 frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.

Customer Reviews

Great No-Nonsense Cell Phone
I'm a simple guy and for me the most important aspects of a cell phone are 1) size, 2) reception, and 3) battery life. I bought this as a replacement for a more advanced LG VX8100 phone because the VX8100 was falling short in all those areas. I LOVE the W385 because it's tiny, gets great reception, and has amazing battery life. It feels solid and substantial and the rubberized shell makes it feel durable. Plus it has a tougher plastic keypad that doesn't feel as cheap as the other razors on which this design was based.

The only drawback is that sometimes it can be difficult to zero in on particular keys on the keyboard; i occasionally press one key when I meant to press another. But for me that's a very small complaint for a phone that delivers in all the areas I really care about.

If you're looking for an attractive and functional workhorse cell phone with great talk-time and standby time, I would recommend this phone. If you're interested in all the bells and whistles (that drain battery life and result in bigger phones!) then this probably isn't the one for you.

Great balance of attributes - a solid performance pick if not a status symbol.
As an IT pro I get involved in lots of cell phones and PDA solutions. When my cell phone contract came up and it was time to get a new one I switched from Nokia to this Motorola w385 after some intensive research. The w385 isn't the slickest or greatest phone in the world, but it gets the important things right and does very little wrong. Factor in price and it's a very liveable winner.

Hots:
1) Excellent reception - the number one feature of a cell phone/carrier. A big part of this is Verizon's excellent (if pricey) network service. I get bars with this thing in the NJ Transit train tunnels and lots of other weird underground spaces I never got bars with the Nokia/T-mobile combo.
2) Excellent audio clarity - the other principle feature of a cell phone. This phone is loud and crisp as a handset. As a speaker phone it isn't state of the art, but it's quite usable. Audio intelligibility is way ahead of the pack.
3) Regular cell phone features, such as Bluetooth (and easy to config), voice dialing, lots of quickdials, camera, etc... present and well implemented and easy to find.
4) Interface - like all Motorola phones the interface is a little more "vibrantly colorful" (i.e. glitzy) than I prefer - and some annoying animations slow the interface's speed a bit - but this model has the features well organized and easy to find. Most features can be mapped to your choice of hotkey.
5) Price - this was free after rebate in the latest promotion. It's awesome that this level of quality and performance is now available in a low priced phone.
6) Tough rubberized nonslip finish - attractive and tactile.
7) Outside screen shows caller ID on incoming calls so you can tell without opening who is calling.

Not so hot:
1) VGA camera. The camera is fine, and is just as good as the one on my last phone, but be aware that this is a 640k model, not a gigapixel so if photo performance is important to you, this isn't your phone.
2) No color choices. I'm also not so wild about the silver interior. I wish the whole thing were black - but this is a quibble for me.
3) It's just a cell phone (what do you expect at this price?) Although web surfing, text messaging, GPS Navigator and the like are available (costly) options the slow CPU and small screen make this a less than suitable platform for those advanced features. If you can afford the scratch for those monthlies, you should kick the bucks for a top end phone optimized for those features.
4) Unit is thin - (although not quite as this as the RAZR - dimensions about the same as the KRZR). Like the Krazer this unit is a bit long. It doesn't sit in my shirt pocket quite as nicely as the tiny Nokia flip. The KRZR is better looking too - with its color choices and smoky mirror finish. On the plus side for the w385 the rubber finish enhances grip - which might save its life. Also the w385 fits the hand better than the RAZR and is a really great unit ergonomically in use. It sits just right in the ear and the microphone is right in front of your mouth (just like a real telephone). OK - all this is probably, on balance, a plus rather than a minus (unless you must have some wild color to match your look).
5) Microphone recordings in "My Sounds" cannot be used as ring tone. I guess they want to save their income stream from selling ring tones.

Battery life is very good, if not superb. I can use it for 2 days of light normal use before I drop a single bar on the battery. I could go 3 to 4 days easy without having to recharge. Used heavily (lots of speakerphone) I easily manage the whole day with some bars to spare. If you find you're sucking the battery in one day you can upgrade to the high capacity battery option, but you'd be a maniac.

All in all this is a great value in a basic phone - nailing all the important points. My general impression is one of solidity, quality, and performance within its areas of competence (basic phone functions).

10 month follow up (11/30/08): Solid. The only significant sign of wear is that two of the four little rubber spacing bumpers (tiny little rubber bumps on the inside of the top portion that soften the plastic on plastic snap when you close the phone) have come off. I often keep this phone in my front pocket with my keys so there are a few minor scratches on the exterior screen, but hardly noticeable. The paint and rubber exterior have held up well so far. I have a two year contract so I'm going to need this phone to last. So far so good.

I can't imagine a Better "Phone"
I need to preface this review by saying I'm the kind of consumer this phone was made for. My wife and I together have never used 500 minutes of call time in a month, neither of us have Ever sent a text message, and the only time I've used the camera was right when first receiving the phone and playing around. I use only the Phone part, and that's not likely to change.

I used my NE2 to upgrade from a Motorola V265 that'd served me well for 2 years. My only complaint with that phone was the stubby antenna, which I broke a handful time times while the phone was in my pocket. Beyond that, it did what it was supposed to do and I was generally happy.

My only reason for the upgrade was because the new phone was "free" (okay, so a 2-year contract... Verizon is the only reliable carrier in Wyoming that also has coverage through the rest of the US, so I'm not likely to change anytime soon), and my old battery needed a charge daily to make it through the following day.

Immediate impressions of the W385 were that's it's small, has a nice feel to it (both the rubberized outside and the buttons), some weight and a nice appearance. As compared to the LG3850 and G'Zone, it felt Substantially more well built than the LG. The LG felt like it would break at any second, just holding it in my hand... it only got a look due to the CNET rating (I don't feel it's a better phone, obviously). The G'Zone felt as good as the W385 in build quality, but it's a brick. I didn't think I'd mind a larger phone, but this one felt like I had the Oxford Dictionary in my pocket. I also didn't like the feel of the phone in my hand, or next to my ear. The final blow for that phone was the charging, I have a LOT of devices that use a mini USB connection for charging/transferring and in the interest of having just 1 cable for everything the W385 won out.

I've only had the phone for about a week now, but I'm still on my first full charge. This was with about 2 hours spent in an area where there is NO cell coverage. This used to kill my old phone, so either the battery is improved or the firmware improved to not drain the battery as fast when in that situation. Initially, I was going to comment that the phone got worse signal reception because it only shows 3~4 bars where my old phone showed 5, but I found that the W385 picked up the signal sooner and held onto it in holes where I previously lost signal when coming out of the cell-free area. So it seems to have slightly Better reception than the V265, but it doesn't show it by the signal strength meter.

The complaints about the inside screen size is a non-issue to me, as when you enter numbers to dial, they are nice and large which relates to VERY easy to see. Maybe if you text or try to use the camera it's an issue. The outside screen does make you work to see the name/number of who's calling due to its size, and that's the one thing my old V265 did better. This is an area that Could be improved with firmware if Verizon decided though (use the whole screen area by removing the signal and battery meters on the top half of the screen when there's an incoming call).

My wife uses an XV6700 "smart" phone, and I'm finding that she's picking up my phone for short calls now and has mentioned the possibility of selling that to get a W385. I find more and more that multi-tasking items do everything poorly, and have been doing my best to buy the most task specific item possible. The W385 seems to be the most task specific Phone out there on the Verizon network.

It may be possible to buy a better Verizon phone, but it's likely easier to buy a much worse phone too. If phone is what you're after, this one deserves a good inspection.