Motorola Rapture VU30 User Reviews

i bought this phone specifically for its keypad. i can write stories without having to look for the buttons, they're very tactile. i also like that it is fully plastic, it makes it light. it's very comfortable to hold and skinny. when i bought it 2 years ago, i remember taking it home, opening up the manual excitedly and getting ready to personalize it. THREE TEXTS INTO THIS PHONE, it freezes. i figure, ehhh, maybe it's a rarity. NOPE. i text a god awful lot, and i'd say it freezes about 5-20 times a day. and each time is like getting a fat shot of adrenaline straight to the neck. it is maddening having to either wait 4 minutes for it to realize that it's frozen and restart itself, or struggle to get the cover off and pull out the battery, wait 5-10 seconds, then put it back in. if you put the battery back in too quickly, it won't effectively discharge all power and you'll have to pull out the battery again and start over. another thing about the rapture, is after so many days of having one or more alarms in place, it'll get tired of ringing and just not do it anymore. it just flat-out refuses to ring. you have to reset all alarms, then the phone itself, and then re-do your alarms, and then it'll work for another week or so before it gets tired (and yes, i select alert daily). i do not wish to spend 100 bucks minimum for another phone, but am brinking on the edge here. i simply wish motorola to fix their frickin software.

I like this phone for the phone pad, but there are a few annoying points I want to point out.    As someone else pointed out the touchscreen lock is too easy to turn back on when switched off.  Never found the touch screen of much use.  The mose annoying feature is the signal loss.   It took me a lot of trial and error to figure out why I kept dropping calls.  The action of taking it out of the belt carrying case sometimes causes the signal to drop.   If I slowly ease it out of the case I can maintain the signal.   But if I just flip it out of the case, most times the caller is gone when I open the cover.I'm going to try a new case to see if anything improves.  If I keep it in my pocket I get better performance than in the case.

There really isn't much I can say good about this phone. The most unique (and actually most useful) thing about this phone at first inspection is the keypad. At first i did not like the the feel of it, however after owning this phone for a year, I have come to understand the thought process behind it's design. There is good tactile feel and separation between keys. I never have problems dialing in the dark, and while texting it is next to impossible to bump two numbers at once. The looks and size are ok and call reception is above normal. Now the bad; were to begin? While my phone is holding up so far, the build quality does not impress me. I take good care of my phones and the my Rapture has lost all of its paint around the front. I wish they would just use black plastic instead of painting on top of silver p;lactic to get a "glossy, metallic" look. There is really no easy way to flip this phone open. There needed to be a notch or something on the side that would let the phone be flipped open easily with ones thumb. I also think this is why my phone is losing paint as mentioned above. I am alleyways having to pry at the edges and I am sure this has accounted for some of the aformentioned paint loss. If you don't use a headset, the built in speaker in the is way too underpowered. I have to keep making sure mine is turned to full and I still have problems hearing the caller. If you use corded "old school" headsets, STAY AWAY FROM THIS PHONE! I ca not speak for this phones bluetooth performance but because the headset jack is in the bottom of the phone and this phone has the most buggy software i have seen you will accidentally hang up on callers during conversation. Apparently some coder at Motorolla though that if for some reason you bump your headset connector on this phone it should signal an automatic hangup.  if your headset connector is even slightly bumped or pulled at the call is lost with zero hesitation. Also I have problems when I dial people. The phone just refuses to dial. The screen tells me "dialing so and so" but I never hear the phone dialing in my ear. When I finally reach my caller I ask if they had any missed calles or hangups from me and they always answer no. I always make sure my software is up to date and I always reboot and neither of these fix the problem. It all comes back. The touch screen is useless it vibrates and buzzes at you all the time so I keep mine locked which should be ok, but the switch is so flimsy on the lock that it now unlocks itself. Oh yeah, and the switch has no paint left on it either. This is my first..and last Motorolla so I really cant compare it to other phones in their line.  I had a free 5 year old Samsung flip phone that runs circles around the Rapture. In summation, don't get sucked in by this phones looks...keep shopping.

I am very pleased with the Motorola VU 30. Small streamlined design in a flip phone that opens wide enough to feel like your talking into it.The slide lock for the touch screen face is a good feature, even if it comes unlocked you can't pocket dial anyone. With the music player and camera being all thats on the front you can pocket play Hotel California or take a pocket picture. I prefer the button layout because of the spacing between them. I text alot and the only problem I have had is the frozen text message, unlike the other reviewers I have noticed that just letting the phone alone after a minute or so it resets and you dont have to remove the battery. The feel of this phone is what sold me. I use the VZW dashboard for easy access to weather and sporting info. Well designed easy to love phone. I also purchased a 2 gig sim card which holds hours of music and the speaker has very good sound quality give its size and that its is a cell phone. I've had no problems with battery life. The lithium ion battery if properly drained before charging will last me for at least three days. All together I recommend this phone.

I've had the Rapture for about a year now maybe, I got it when it first came out. Since then, I am on my third one, and EVERY single one I've had locks up during texting. Not always, but with a person who texts a lot it locks up at least once a day, sometimes more. This has happened with every one. The only reason I continue to get the same phone was, the first time, because I thought it was just a bad phone I had and the second time I was just used to it. It is a really great phone despite the locking up, but when it does freeze it won't turn off, the battery needs to be taken out. I know now that it's all of them, not just one and I haven't read a review yet that addresses this.

This phone looks better than how it works.  If you want a fancy "futuristic" phone just for talking on this is a great choice, but if you want all the extra features you need to look for another phone.  I was suprised at first about how well built this device is but after a while I found some flaws!  First and formost is the sound quality.  During a phone call it sound pretty good but when using Vcast Music ID and the recorder it SUCKS!  I was not able to get Music ID to ever work because the mic won't pick up sound as good.  I tried recording the music on voice recorder and it sounded all garbled.  Sometimes it was restart or freeze, not alot though so its not a bother.  The battery is pretty good to but as with all phones it could be better.  The software is awsome considering it being VZ common UI, its real customizable and the phone comes with a great selection of wallpaper.  I still wish Verizon would drop the commi UI idea and let the phone makers program their own software.  The camera is real good but horrible quality on the Video Camera...the video is good quality but the sound part is all garbled.  If they had put Crystal Talk in this phone it would have been alot better but they dropped the ball on this.  Eveybody has mixed feelings about the keypad...I have to say its good.  The buttons aren't really that small and its real easy to txt with.

I've had the VU30 for 5 days.  When I saw it in the store i was instantly enthralled by it, I had to have it.  I like aesthetics too much maybe.  It just feels so comfortalble and I can live with the fingerprint thing, since that seems to be a coating for protection thing. This replaced my RaZR V3 which was a good cell.  I do like Motorola products.  So far, this has been a great cell.  Text messages go out a lot quicker. I would like to see M incorporate the "message received" three beeps ala the old Star Tac. The VU30 seems to be user friendly, which is good for me as I am not too tech oriented. Sound quality is good and the graphics are awesome. Keypad is acceptable and Internet connection is also quick. 

I have had the rapture for a few weeks and have become very impressed. Bottom line, its a great phone with tone of features and excellant reception. The keys are going to be a love/hate thing with people. I was unsure about the keys at first because there really different but have really come to love them. Texting and dialing with the keys are very easy and all most like haveing pin point accuracy because you never make mistakes. Its almost impossible to hit mutiple keys at the same time. I think this was Motorola's Idea behind the key design. The service/reception is outstanding, I really was impressed but have come to expect that from Motorola. The fit and finish is very nice. Touch screen on the front works very well also. The only flaws is the finish on the front is very finger print prone, some aluminum atleast on the back cover would have been nice. Overall very nice phone from Motorola, should fit well in the flip-phone market. 

Ive had this phone for 10 days and for a flip phone it works great i luv the buttons on it and dig the clamshell like shape.

Well, I returned the motorola vu30 after all.  In the beginning I was impressed and was even accepting of the keypad, but after about two days, the impression started wearing off.  The keypad starting getting on my nerves, the feel of the phone was not substantial enough and the call quality wasn't as good as I would like.  So I went back to my motorola v9m.  In between the vu30 and the v9m was the w755.  The call quality sucked. I haven't found a motorola yet, with the call quality of the v9m.  I too was a motorola E815 user and I loved that phone.  The only reason I upgraded from that was because I dropped it one two many times and busted it.  But the darn phone still worked.  However, I knew it was a just a matter of time before it totally crumbled so sadly I had to get another phone.  If I hadn't busted it, I would probably be still using it today because I had that phone almost 2 years and it worked like charm.  But back to the matter at hand.  I am back with my v9m after trying the w755 and the vu30 and I am happy with it and didnt realize how much I missed it until I picked it up again.

I thought I finally found a replacement for my E815 but after 3 days I think I'm going to return the VU30. Overall the phone is nice….it is very stylish with its glossy exterior however it is prone to finger prints and smudges. The displays are very bright and clear, reception & call quality are good. I do think the speaker phone could be louder – when in the car I kept checking to make sure it was turned up all the way. I'm still trying to get use to the keypad. The keys are very small but I didn't have a problem using them as long as I dial without trying to poke each key. That may not make sense but when you first get your hands on the phone there is a tendency to use the end of your finger and try to poke each key because they are so small. Now for why I'm returning the phone….only after 3 days the side of the phone is showing wear and scratches from being carried in my pocket. There is even a spot where the glossy finish is rubbed away. I haven't dropped or abused the phone in any way. This is just from being carried in my jeans pocket a couple times over a 3 day period. If the phone is already showing wear I can't imagine what it would look like after a couple months. So I think I'm going to switch to the V750.

The VU30 exhibits many of the qualities that I find attractive in Motorola phones, good reception, good build quality and an appealing design/form factor.  It surpasses the W755 in some areas like software but also takes a few steps back in the materials category at the same time.  In comparison to the V9m's sound quality in all areas, earpiece, speakerphone and music, the VU30 can not compete.If you are in the market for a handset from Verizon, I would look very closely at both the VU30 and W755.  In the end I think that it would come down to personal preference on which phone looked and felt better and this would be the deciding factor between the two.  I find that both of these phones are adequate in all areas except for sound quality which is just OK.If you want the best phone for both sound and build/materials quality, try and find yourself a V9m if you still can.

I have been waiting for and calling about this phone for weeks!  Finally, I have it!  I ordered this phone on Sunday night and received it yesterday.  I couldn't get the box opened fast enough!  So far it is a keeper.  So far everyhing is working well.  It is a cute phone, although but not as strong feeling as the W755.  However, the call quality so far, is better and that is important to me.  Of course the first thing we are attracted to is the look of a phone and we go from there.  But if the call quality is not good and you can't hear the person on the other end well, then you just have a good looking phone.  And that's not enough for me.  The Rapture has a very pleasant style, the external and internal screens are nice and large. Also, verizon is finally coming around with the menus and getting away from the standard boring menu set up.  The phone is very entertaining and so far I am enjoying it.  The touch screen is pretty sensitive and you can easily hit it by just picking up the phone.  But the good thing is you can lock the screen so that that doesn't happen. The buttons take a little getting used to but that's not major, just something different. I am enjoying the phone. So if you want a decent phone with a pretty package and a decent price, then check this one out.  Happy shopping!

I ordered this phone on Monday 10-6-08. Got it by Fed Ex on Tuesday. I have played with this thing for at least 3 hours now, and I have to say that this phone is very impressive. The touch screen on the front lets you activate the camera and access your music. Very cool! As you flip open the phone, you will see round dialing keys, not the usual square. Also very cool. The style of this phone is awesome. Volume worked very well in a loud environment (my work). The keys are sensitive, but not too much. This phone has everything I need wrapped up into 1 device. Even though I have only had this phone 3 hours now, Everything is working great. I will re-post a review in the upcoming weeks to update the long term use of this phone. Bravo Motorola!