Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19299 in Cell Phone Accessories
• Color: Black
• Brand: Motorola
• Model: W490
• Released on: 2007-10-08

Features

• Compatible with T-Mobile's MyFaves service--unlimited calling to your five most called contacts
• Chat with your IM buddies using Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and ICQ instant messaging services
• 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture; MicroSD expansion; Bluetooth connectivity with music streaming
• Up to 7.5 hours of talk time, up to 10 days of standby time
• Includes: Battery, Charger and Hands-free Headset

Amazon.com Product Description
Blending RAZR high style with an affordable price tag, the sleek Motorola W490 offers compelling communication features to keep you in touch with ease. With a vibrant color screen and lengthy talk-time, this compact flip phone is a handy mobile companion. In addition to text messaging capabilities, you can chat with buddies using Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, or ICQ instant messaging services. Other features include a 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture, USB wired connectivity with mass storage capability, Bluetooth connectivity with stereo music streaming, and MicroSD memory card expansion.

With T-Mobile's MyFaves service, you'll enjoy unlimited nationwide calling to your 5 favorite people.

T-Mobile Service
The W490 operates on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks and can handle high-speed data connectivity via T-Mobile's EDGE network (which stands for "Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution"). This high-speed, mobile data and Internet access technology is fast enough to support a wide range of advanced data services (with average data speeds between 75-135Kbps), including video and music clips, full picture and video messaging, high-speed color Internet access, and email on the go.

It's compatible with T-Mobile's myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts--on any network, even landlines--without using any of your minutes. Learn more about myFaves from T-Mobile.

Phone Features
Measuring 0.69 inches thin, the Motorola W490 sports a 1.9-inch LCD screen with support for 262K colors and a 176 x 220-pixel resolution. It has a 5 MB internal memory, which can be expanded up to 2 GB using optional MicroSD memory cards. This phone can store up to 1000 contact entries (plus up to 250 stored on the SIM card), and each entry can store up to five numbers as well as picture ID.

This Motorola phone includes the innovative CrystalTalk technology, which automatically accounts for background noise during a call and adjusts the audio quality based on ambient noise conditions to provide the optimal conversational experience. CrystalTalk also reduces the volume of the background noise picked up by the microphone during a call, making it possible to be more easily heard over the phone while in a noisy environment.

This phone provides Bluetooth version 1.1 wireless connectivity, and includes profiles for communication headset, handsfree car kits, and audio/video remote control. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones.

In addition to SMS text messaging capabilities, the W490 offers built-in instant messaging with Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, and ICQ services. iTap text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for entering text on handsets, is built into the unit--a plus for mobile email and text messaging users. Other features include:

• Music file support: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+
• 1.3-megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom and video capture
• PIM tools: calendar, calculator, voice memos
• Speakerphone
• Java 2.0 support for app and game downloads

Vital Statistics
The Motorola W490 weighs 3.8 ounces and measures 1.8 x 3.9 x 0.7 inches. Its 800 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 7.5 hours of talk time, and up to 14 days of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies.

Customer Reviews

No major complaints
I have always been a fan of motorola phones. I have had Samsung, Nokia, etc. etc. and have always found that something would break after a drop or two.

I always liked the looks of the Razr but found it to be to wide... then the krzr, but found it to be to small. Then came the 490. It carries the same style and design of the razr and krzr but is a in between the two in size.

I wont bore you with the specs of the phone... although I have seen it listed as not having voice dialing when it in fact does.

I have dropped it, kicked it, gotten it wet, you name it and it still works perfectly fine. My only complaint is that the back panel that covers the battery feels flimsy. It is more solid than other phones I have but given how thin it is it feels flimsy. It has popped off a couple of times on some of the harder falls the phone has had but for the most part it is a small complaint.

I love the phone and if the last 6 months are any indication I will have the phone for another year and half.

Side note... in my experiences and those of people I have talked to there is not a single phone provider around that offers free phones that are worth their weight. Every free phone I have seen falls apart or breaks inside of 6-8 months (long enough for them to wash their hands of it.) If you are looking for a phone of quality it will cost $50-100 to do it.

All in all, a great phone
The Moto W490 is a really great phone. Like the other reviewer, I too found the Razr to be too wide and the Krzr too narrow but the W490 is just right! I have the purple one and the backlight behind the keys is a purple color too. It's a very sleek style flip phone, slim and lightweight. Purple is my favorite color so I don't even need to worry about getting a faceplate and losing the sleekness or streamline of the phone. The phone can hold up to a 2gb memory card and the memory card slot is in a very convenient place. Also, the ability to download mp3's and make them ringtones will save a lot of money! I have had a lot of fun with this phone. My only complaint, and it's a small one, is that the ringer isn't loud enough. I have it on max volume but the ring itself is very low. That isn't enough to change my opinion of the phone, though. It gets wonderful reception (even in my 2 story townhouse), the memory options are excellent, the camera works great, the sound quality for both music and calls is great, it's a beautiful phone with a spun metal finish and it's options regarding pictures, music, set up and personlization are wonderful. If you are in the market for a new motorola and need something less than the Razr 2, but more than a Krzr or a Razr V3 this is the phone for you! Go to your local cell phone dealer and play with the demo and you'll see what I mean!

Pretty in green
It works, makes phone calls, & makes cool noises.

Icons are poor, useless, & not intuitive, but was able to get almost everything up & running without reading the very thick manual. I have mine set to not show icons & just text.

Does not play WMA files, which is normally a standard feature on any phone with a built in player & all players... Why? Because you can fit 2-4 times more tunes on the same 2GB memory in WMA without them sounding too compressed or scratchy. A software upgrade to play WMA files is a must ASAP if you want people to buy this phone who like a player in a phone.

There is no graphic equalizer or other tone controls for the player. This is a must-have on any player, & is standard on other phones with players.

The speaker is adequate for speaker phone calls, but a bit too quiet for music compared to other phones, but the quality is better than expected for playing music through a phone speaker. An equalizer would help here too. People tweak up the highs & mids a little & tweak down the bass on their music to get a little more volume out of the limited power available for a tiny phone speaker.

You may not hear the ringtones ringing from across a large room unless the room is relatively quiet.

Sound through headphones of my choice sounded good & had plenty of volume. It was too loud on some songs, where the lowest setting was too loud, & the next lowest setting shuts the sound off entirely.

Don't buy a spare battery from the factory or carrier for over 35 bucks. They're only 4 bucks everywhere else. Likewise, don't get their headphones & headphone adapters for 99 bucks. They're 2 bucks everywhere else.

The battery cover in the back is plastic, not metal, like on older Motorolas. So if you change out the memory or battery often, you can expect it to wear out, become too loose & get lost. Invest in scotch tape.

Manipulating, uploading or downloading lots of files to a PC via the USB port is extremely slow compared to most & even older phones, but required no special phone software to do it (Good, because most phone PC software is bloatware, buggy, & can even crash your computer).

Inserting the micro card into a thumb reader to transfer files goes a lot faster. But I wouldn't recommend doing that too often. The slot for the card in the phone is poorly made, & really grinds the little micro card up after repeated removal. I would expect failure of the card or the slot's contacts by pulling it in & out a lot.

The SIMS card is also mounted poorly, right behind the battery. I would suspect a little banging around or dirt getting in to cause the SIMs card mounting or contacts to fail.

These are the only potential flaws I could find in the phone that could cause it to fail prematurely. Other than that & the battery cover, they seem to be solidly built.

The camera & it's quality are way below those in most modern phones, but I do like the low-light feature for taking pix in low light without a flash... taking pix without being obvious. Just make sure your hand is steady, & your subject doesn't move for a second.

Zoom feature is totally useless. It zooms the screen, not the pic. When you upload the zoomed image to a PC, it's actually much tinier than if you used no zoom at all.

Haven't tried recording movies or sound with it because my micro card is always too full of music.