Motorola W376g User Reviews

This phone may be 14 Years old, but it is decent.
Browser only works with Tracfone sites, browser button is way to easy to press.
Battery, despite bieng 910 mAh, doesn't last long.
Comes with some games, SOCCER, SUDOKU, TETRIS. They are fun to play when riding the bus or something.
By the way,This phone also has no "airplane mode" feature.


The games are nice because it is one of the few basic phones I have to have games that are not demos.

Overall Evaluation: Good
Can store up to 750 Contacts (500 on Phone, 250 on SIM)
Comes with preloaded pictures and songs
DOUBLE MINUTES for life!

i have owned 2 w376 phones, no problems except i droped one and gave it brain damage and the outher one got wet. couldnt find another w376g so i went with motorola ex124g BIG MISTAKE which makes the w376g look really good (REPLACED THE EX124G AFTER 2 MONTHS) no problem with battery and didnt use camera or internet, just a good basic phone.

love the tracfone service, but I'm not sure about this phone. It seems to work very well, but the only problem is the battery life. I'm only texting on it for the most part, and the battery needs recharged every 3 days. Is that normal? If I was actually talking on the thing, maybe it would need recharged every day, and that's not exactly what I want in a cellphone. Other than the charging issue, this is actually a very good phone.

The W376 had low battery problems from the beginning, eventually Tracfone sent me a replacement battery, and after a couple of weeks I am having the same low battery problems, even after several hours charging the battery, it still beeps at me that it has a low bazttery and requires a charge. Battery life is extremely short, a couple of brief phone calls and the battery is low, or within 4 to 5 days, whichever comes first. Charging the battery takes about 6 hours, and nobody can call you while you are charging the battery, or if the battery is very low. Also the time and date are always wrong on the phone, no matter how many times you set it, you also can't set the calendar. 

I think there are a lot of high expectations for this phone, but people have to remember that you're getting it for $14.95-$20.00 (depending on retailer).The reality:  The phone looks like something from the early 1990s, has sluggish keys, poor texting ability, and the camera isn't even worth using, as it cranks out VGA images that look more like a watercolor painting than a photograph.  HOWEVER, the phone has exceptionally good reception pickup ability, decent battery life, and better than average call quality, and that is the reason some people still use it.I'll admit if I had to use this as my main phone I'd go insane, but I keep this in my car as an emergency backup phone for times when I might have left my main phone at home by accident, or, for times when my main phone (a Virgin Mobile Blackberry) might not be able to pick up a signal.  The 376G has never been in an area where I could not get at least one bar.  Now, I like my Virgin Mobile Blackberry and they have EXCELLENT plans at VM, but once you leave the city metro area, service can be spotty.  Likewise with many other carriers except Verizon or AT&T.  So having this little number in your glove box is a good idea (it uses AT&T in my area) for emergency use.If I had to use this as my main phone I'd give it a rating of 4.5 at BEST.  But for emergency use, due to the reception and call quality, I'll rank it a 7 for call/reception performance.

The Motorola W376g currently sells for $19.99 at most stores and online.

Physical Design

The phone is a lightweight flip phone, that looks like the other Motorola flip phones at first glance. The only color available is this metallic gray. There is a reflective silver strip down the phone that serves as the exterior indicator lights. A green/ yellow missed/ incoming call display is the top light, a blue text message alert light is in the middle, and a yellow battery indicator light is on the bottom that flashes when the battery is low and is continuously on when charging. There is a camera, which was sort of a big deal when Tracfone first came out with this model. The only other exterior features are the volume buttons on the left, the USB/ charger port, and the headphone jack. 

On the back, is the battery cover, and the speaker, which is pretty loud in most cases. 

Inside, the number keys are flush, with little ridge to separate them, which is nice for knowing where your fingers are without looking down. The keys light up blue when the phone is flipped open. The screen is medium sized, and has decent resolution. There are two soft keys, shortcut buttons for text messages and web browser, a directional pad with the center circle being an "enter button". And a call and a end call/cancel/power button. The keys were easy to press and decently laid out, with the exception of the browser button, which is easy to hit and accidentally connect to the web (1.00 airtime unit minimum).

Phone function

Calls

This phone does its job, and then some. The call quality is top notch, my calls were rarely dropped (maybe one every 100 calls). The sound clarity is superb, even compared to more expensive phones.  

Texting

Texting with this phone is okay. The phone uses iTap as the predictive texting tool instead of T9. There is no issue sending and receiving messages with this phone, but it is slow. Let me explain. There is a bit of a delay when you enter the text and when it actually comes up on the screen. When you send a text, you have to hit send , then wait for the phone to display 0.30 minutes deducted, then sending... During this time you cannot close your phone or else it will stop sending. This may take an average of 5 seconds, which can cause you to stand there with your phone open not doing anything. Receiving messages also need to wait for the phone to say 0.30 minutes deducted with no way to skip this notification. 

However, one HUGE plus is that I have found that you CAN send and receive SMS texts internationally (at least to Canada). This is technically NOT allowed by Tracfone, but I have been able to do it with this phone just by texting 1-xxx-xxx-xxxx, like normal. Most other Tracfones does not allow you do send international text messages, only receive. 

There is also MMS messaging on this phone, so sending a picture taken with the phone's camera is kind of a nice feature. However, receiving large pictures is no possible with this phone, so tell your friends to not send you large media files. With MMS you can email people, and can receive emails with 10digitphone#@att.mms.net (works for most phones). 

Browser

There is a browser option for those who want to use it. The cost is 1.00 units to connect and 0.50 units for every minute of usage. Sadly, the browser is restricted to the Tracfone mobile site and features, so you cannot access other URLs (facebook, espn, GoogleMaps, etc.) 

Camera

The camera is not great, but it is a camera, the resolution is so-so, but works well in well-lit places (in the sun). You have to be pretty still when taking a picture with this phone. There is a 4x zoom feature, and some extra effects (black and white, different color tones, etc.) A pretty basic cell phone camera.

Ringtones

The phones comes with some pretty standard ones, but if you want your own, you will have to download them from the Tracfone site (by phone or online via computer). These ringtones are pretty short in length and costs around 18.00 units of airtime or $2.00-$3.00 on your credit card if you buy it from a computer, then you phone will charge you for data as the ringtone is downloading, which may take a couple of minutes.

Midi files can be sent to the phone (via MMS) and downloaded and used as a ringtone, but mp3 files cannot. 

Radio

A neat feature on this phone is the radio, which can only be used when headphones are plugged into the headphone jack. The radio reception is decent and the interface is easy to use. 

Bluetooth

The only use for this is for bluetooth headsets. Data transfer is not possible. Don't bother

Games

Phone comes with Tetris, Sodoku, and "soccer" (more like fooseball). Graphics aren't great and even moves a bit choppily. 

Other notable features

Calendar, for appointments and meeting (can set alert)
Phonebook- up to 500 contacts
Stopwatch
Calculator

Other Important Notes

Vibration is just right, not too excessive, but able to be felt. 

The browser shortcut button is easy to push by accident, which is annoying, but if you hit the End Call button quickly, it will not deduct minutes right away. 

Another annoying thing is the lack of a external time display, so you have to open the phone to see the time. 

The volume cannot be changed when the phone is closed, even with the exterior volume buttons (on the side of the phone), so you have to flip the phone open to change the volume/ put it on silent or vibrate.

Pros

Neat looking notification lights
Excellent Call Quality
Lightweight
Radio
International Text Messaging
Presence of a Camera

Cons

Slow sending/receiving texts
Browser button being accidentally pressed
Limited Bluetooth
No external time display
Have to open phone to change volume

Overall, a good phone for the money you pay. International text messaging is literally a STEAL. 

Thanks, hope this helped :) 

Daniel 

I consider this phone bare-bones acceptable for those who do not use their cell phone frequently. For frequent use, there are other phones that are much better in quality and features that are also pre-paid phones. I am very displeased with this phone and personally would not reccommend it, although I do like Motorola products. BTW- this phone was purchased new at Walmart but the speed dial function was defective.

I think folks (I'm guessing mostly very young people) are forgetting what they should expect for the price paid for this phone.  The W376G (Tracfone) is an older model and the average retail price is $19.95.   That's twenty dollars for a cell phone, with (limited) bluetooth and an admittedly poor camera, but still, twenty bucks for a working cell phone.  I mean come on - what should you expect for that price?  If you're a light cell user who doesn't live with their phones up to their ears (yes, these people still do exist), then the Tracfone system works best, as you can get as few as 60 minutes that are good for 90 days, while other prepaid plans (Net10, etc) force you to buy larger minute sets with only 30 day expire dates.  The W376G piggybacks on the AT&T network in most areas, and reception is good indoors and out at least where I live.  Camera quality (VGA 640x480) is very poor even by email standards, and the keys on the phone lag a bit when texting, so you hear the beep a second behind when you actually press the key.  Ear speaker sound quality is overall good, and the folks on the other end say I sound clear enough, with very little distortion.  I have not had any dropped calls as of yet.  Battery life is good if you don't use the web/camera features a lot - if you do, these features will drain the battery much quicker.  The phone uses a standard mini-USB plug which is convenient. If you're buying this phone for the camera or bluetooth features, look elsewhere.  While this phone has many bells and whistles built in to it, it does none of the extras very well at all except the actual call quality and features.   But as a decent, basic, cell phone with good reception and battery life, it's well worth the $20.00 if all you really want or need is a PHONE without the fluff.

I had this phone for what 4 months now.And i have had it .The camera is too slow and doesnt come out clearLoading your ringtones to listen to them take too longMaking messages and sending them doesnt get to the person but gets them after a whileIts a horrible phone

This phone sucks. Bluetooth only works with headsets. I mean by this you can't share music or pictures with your friends via Bluetooth. The camera can't shoot video or take a picture of a moving target. the internet uses a lot of minutes, and fast. I do not suggest you buy this phone if u have a single brain cell in your body. IT SUCKS!!!!!!!

Here's a way to put your mp3 ring tones on Motorola W376g, go to http://www.myxer.com/3Guppies/ and follow the directions. I just added a mp3 ring tone to my phone this way and it works great. You will have to play around and see how big of a ring tone you can use, the one I used isn't very big. Hope this helps:)

I have had this phone for about a year now I am very happy with it except I wish that there was a way to download the pictures from it to my computer. As far as the battery, everyone is complaining about it only lasting 3 days, well you can solve that by doing what I do and plug it in overnight.  I do that everynight when I go to bed and my battery never goes dead, even if I forget to plug it in for a day or two. I know people who have expensive phones from verizon and there batteries don,t last as long as mine. We recently went to camp. We left on Thursday and came back on Sunday. We were back in the woods and my friends that have verizon phones could not get a signal, but if I walked around in the yard I could find a spot to get a signal and they would not get one. Also there phones were on rome the whole time and there batteries would only last about 3 or 4 hours before they would have to recharge them. I plugged mine in the second night while I was sleeping and my battery never went dead the whole weekend. I do agree about the internet browser button though, I wish I could find a way to block that button because I bump it alot and it starts to browse.

Great phone . It work overseas with TRI BAND gsm 1800 mhz . has mp3 ringtone on it 

I agree with one of the reviews regarding the battery life. I have to charge it about every 3 days as well.  Very disapointed with that feature.  The LG phone from Net 10 had a much better battery life but did not have a camera.
 
 Also, when texting, the delay from when you type a letter to when you see it on the keyboard is SO SLOW, I have to turn off the volume otherwise it distracts me.  The camera shutter time is very slow and does not take good pictures of anything moving, your subject has to be completely still for the picture to be in focus.
 
 I wonder if Motorola ever reads our reviews.

I had the phone for a few months and I'm fully satisfied with it. It does everything I need it to do. Screen is easy to read, menus are intuitive, the ring is quite loud on full volume and it is quite customizable. Everybody seems to be complaining about the browser button... this button is easily changed to any other function you'd like in less than a minute! I do agree that the battery life is shorter than it says in the manual, mine lasts bout 4 days. But this isn't a problem for me and I didn't realize it was supposed to last longer until now. It would be nice to have an easier way to get pictures off the phone, but hey, I bought it as a phone and not a camera. Having the camera at all is a nice little extra to me.

i got this phone for my 11th birthday it's nice but the battery only holds for 3 days then i have to charge it again (so don't send it back for a new one get a new model) and its falling apart the mirror is scratched, a rubber peice fell out, the tracfone sign fell off, and it freezes constanly so i have to rip out the battery and start all over. plus it's really slow and i always hit the browser button  its a good phone for someone who would be willing to charge it and doesn't use a phone too often.

Now that I have found and am able to print the manual for my phone I'm very pleased with it. When I first bought it and transferred everything from my previous TracFone I had no idea how to use all the wonderful features, now that I have the information I needed I'm sure I will be even happier. I do wish there was some way to move the date from the top left to either the bottom left or bottom right with the time. Maybe after I read the manual I'll figure out how to do it. I recommend this phone for people like me who don't like to do a lot of talking on the phone, nor a lot of text-messaging.

I am waiting for TracFone to send me a replacement battery so I haven't really had a chance to experiment much with mine.  I DO agree about the browser button---I would like the capability to disable it.  My phone won't hold a charge.  With no calls and no texting, only on standby, the phone charge (and I charged it the full 5 hours when new as recommended) runs out of charge in 36 hours on standby.  I did, however, contact TracFone and they are sending a new battery.  If that don't work, I will have to return it.  It is a sharp looking phone but I bought it to use, not to just look pretty.  I think it will be fine----well, I hope. So, if you are having problems, make sure you do contact the company.  I too had a Nokia that seems to hold a charge for a loooong time.

This phone seemed really neat. But will not hold a charge. The 1st one of these would not hold a charge, I took it back to Walmart and exchanged it for another W376g. Got all set up and minutes transferred etc. After all the charging etc, left the phone powered on all day, did not make any calls or use any feature. Powered off that night, next morning phone won't come on unless I charge it again and turn it on, while the charger is in the phone.  As soon as I take the charger off and power the phone on and off, same thing. Won't hold a charge for anything and will not power on. I have been screwing with this phone for 2 days now.
I also don't like the fact that the browser cannot be disabled.

good phone....went on a cruise and phone work in Mexico and Costa Rico....would not access in Panama.

It does not solve the problem entirly but put the phone on list and not Icons setting. Saves me a lot of hitting the browser problems. Still have to watch the button but I was hitting it as I cruised the ICONS more than the button.

Really love the 376 but would like to know if anyone has developed an overide for the PC-USB linkup. Also agree that the browser button should have a disable feature.

I just got my Motorola W376g a couple of days ago.  It took two days to get it activated and to get minutes transferred from the Motorola V170 I had used for a couple of years.  The first day, I talked to a guy in Guyana with a very distinct accent.  He got the phone turned on and my minutes deleted from the old phone.  He said my old cell phone number and the minutes should be transferred to my new phone within five hours.  The next day, I called TracFone again and this time got Eileen in Columbia.  After 40 minutes of Spanglish that pretty much fried my brain, the minutes were transferred and the phone works.  The phone is pretty much as advertised, but the instructional manual enclosed in the packaging was very skimpy.  I came to this site to read the Motorola manual in order to figure out how to use the speakerphone functiion.  There are no spkr on/off buttons anywhere on my phone.  Will ask on the Forum site if the feature is limited to a more expensive model.  Overall, after a day's use of the phone, I'd say the clarity is great, love the signal on/drop tone feature as I'm on the periphery of a cell tower with varying signal strength, and the ring tones are legion. 

I recently lost my older Motorola V-170 Tracfone and replaced it with this phone.  What a great phone for the money!!!  I paid $29.95, including double minutes for the life of the phone.  The reception is excellent,  The address book is easy to add to and I like the ability to add one name, then home phone #, cell phone #, work # and e-mail address, without having to re-enter the name each time.  I love all the extras included in the phone.  The picture quality of the camera is pretty lousy, but I didn't buy it to shoot pictures.  I accidently hit the "search internet" buton a couple of times, but now am very conscious about avoiding that button. 
I've heard so many horror stories about Tracfone's customer service, but had no problem transfering the phone number from the lost phone to the new phone.  They even gave me partial credit for the remaining minutes that were lost on the old phone, though I didn't think they would be able to. 
Though the phone is a tri-band phone, don't plan on using it overseas.  Due to Tracfone's unique software burned into the phone memory, it won't read a sim card from another company.  If you successfully unlock the phone, it will only work until your Tracfone minutes run out, then you're stuck.  Also, you can't plug the phone into a USB port on the computer to upload or download photos, etc...  This is disabled. 
Overall,  Love the phone, love the service!!!

I purchased my W376g at the local discount store along with some extra minutes. I took it home and activation was quick and easy using my computer. It is a nice looking clamshell type phone that is rugged enough to carry in my pocket, though I purchased a belt holster for it.
 
Over all this is a good phone with some nice features.