Motorola W755 Review

Introduction:

The Motorola RAZR line has been one of the best selling labels for Verizon of the past few years, beginning with the V3c and followed by the V3m. When the more advanced RAZR2 V9m was released, many began to wonder what would happen to the original RAZRs. They have now been discontinued and replaced with the new Motorola W755. It is considered a mid-level phone, with a higher resolution internal display and camera than the W385. Its main competition are the LG VX8350 and Samsung U550, and is targeted to the consumer looking for an easy to use device with some added features and style, without having to jump to a high-end device.

The Retail Package includes:

• W755 phone
• 940mAh battery with cover
• wall charger
• user manual.

Design:

The W755 is a standard flip phone that incorporates a more consumer-orientated appearance than the V3m, as it is available in two color options (black and purple), with soft-touch paint and silver trim. Current RAZR users will immediately notice that the construction has been greatly improved with a sturdier hinge, better designed keypad, and an overall felling of durability. However, these improvements come at the cost of having a device that is slightly thicker and heavier.


You can compare the Motorola W755 with many other phones using the Size Visualization Tool.


Located on the front is the 1” diagonal 96x80 pixel CSTN display and 1.3MP camera, which are similar to the ones used on the V3m. This is a disappointment, as there is plenty of space for a larger external display and a 2MP camera could have been used. Surrounding the display and Motorola logo are five touch sensitive buttons for music playback control, changing between vibrate and audible ringtone, and for turning Bluetooth power on and off. This is the first device to offer Bluetooth and ringtone controls on the front, without having to flip open the phone. Located on the right side are the speakerphone button and 2.5mm headset jack, with the volume rocker, smart button, and miniUSB port on the left. All of these buttons are raised from the sides to allow for easy locating while in low light conditions. The microSD slot accepts up to 4GB memory cards, but still requires the removal of battery to gain access. We would encourage Motorola to change this design and use a more consumer friendly side-loading memory card slot, so that the device would not have to be powered off.


When opening and closing the flip, the hinge operates smoothly without any creaking noises. No changes have been made to the resolution of the internal display, which is still 170x220 pixels and only supports up to 65K colors. However, both the VX8350 and U550 offer up to 262K color support. Even though the user can select from different brightness settings on the W755, the display can still be difficult to see in direct sunlight, which is a problem common among many phones. Located on the bottom flip is the white backlit keypad, which is easy to view against the black color of the keys, but when going into an application (such as the camera or music player) the backlighting changes color to blue. The circular d-pad is located at the top and is simple to use for accessing different parts of the phone’s software. The numeric keys are easy to use for dialing and text messages, thanks to their size and larger numbers and letters. They provide your finger with good tactile feel, since they are raised from the rest of the keypad, and also produce a noticeable “click” sound when pressed.

Software and Features:

Little has changed regarding the User Interface, except that Media Center is the new name for the Get it Now menu, which is also used on the Glyde and other upcoming Verizon devices. The four other menus are Messaging, Contacts, Recent Calls, and Settings & Tools. There are a total of 5 themes included (Classic, Youth, Headlines, Chrome, and Vapor), which is a first for a Verizon Motorola phone. The Classic theme is the same one that is used on the V9m and is the least graphical out of the bunch. The Youth theme is similar, but provides more colorful icons and backgrounds. If you like lists, then the Headlines theme is for you, or for a 3x3 icon grid, change to Chrome. However, the Vapor theme is the best looking, due to it being the only one with animation, and happens to be selected by default. Regardless of which one you choose, the response times are fast and there is no noticeable lag when navigating between menus. We are glad to see that Verizon is including more themes on their mid-level devices, since other carriers have been doing this for years.


The Phonebook now allows up to 1000 entries to be stored, each with their Name, Mobile 1, Home, Work, E-Mail 1, Group, Picture, Ringtone, Mobile 2, Fax, and E-Mail 2. After a contact is saved, you can assign them to one of 99 speed-dial locations.



Having an integrated 1.3MP camera is nothing new, but unfortunately the one found on the W755 is a major disappointment. Images taken outside during the day look dark and lack detail, with colors being dull and lifeless. It should then come as no surprise that it takes even worse inside pictures, with a large amount of grain shown and even less detail. Because of these issues, we find the built-in camera almost unusable, as we did with the VX8350, but the one on the U550 does produce better outside pictures.


Camera settings:

• Resolution: 1280x1024, 640x480, 320x240, Picture ID
• Self Timer: Off, 3 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec
• Brightness: -2, -1, 0, +1, +2
• White Balance: Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Darkness
• Shutter Sound: Shutter, Silent, Quack, Boing
• Color Effects: Normal, Antique, B&W, Negative
• Fun Frame: 9 choices
• Switch Storage Device: MicroSD card, Phone

Since the W755 is not a music centric device like the Juke or Chocolate, it comes with the same outdated application that has been used on Verizon devices for years. However, playback quality is quite good and is remarkably loud, more so than the U550 and VX8350. Some vocal music was so loud that we had to turn the volume down to medium because the rear speaker started to cause distortion. When the flip is closed, the front music control icons are illuminated blue and allow you to rewind/skip-back, play/pause, and fast-forward/skip-ahead, but they only stay illuminated for 7 seconds and then turn off. You then have to slide you finger over one of them for it to turn back on. We would prefer they stay lit-up and not turn off while using the music player. Stereo Bluetooth A2DP/AVRC is also supported.


Other software features include Mobile Web 2.0, VCast Music downloads, VCast Video streaming, and VZ Navigator for GPS guided directions. You can also download a wide variety of games and other programs using the Media Center. Applications open fast and there is no noticeable delay when using them. The only problem that we encountered (just like with the U550) was when using the Mobile Web program and going to large HTML sites, such as PhoneArena.com. The page would stop partway during download and display an “insufficient memory” error message, causing us to view the page without most graphics. When going to smaller sites (Google) or WAP pages, the browser was able to work without problem.


A total of 83MB of internal memory is included, but 17MB is used out of the box, leaving only 66MB available to the consumer. To counter this, you can install a microSD memory card up to 4GB in size, which provides added space for MP3 files and pictures.

Performance:

The Reception on the W755 was excellent and about equal to that of the higher-end V9m. We were able to place and receive calls in fringe areas where the VX8350 could not maintain a signal. However, the Call Quality was somewhat disappointing. The earpiece volume had to be set to medium, since raising it to high would cause noticeable distortion to be heard. This was also true while using the speakerphone. Call quality was also not as clear as on the U550 or V9m, with some background noise being heard. Because of this, we would suggest the U550 for those looking for a mid-level device with good call quality and reception.

The included 940mAh battery is rated to have 3.6 hours of talk time or 15 hours of talk time on a full charge. Our testing showed that the 3.6 hours of talk time is accurate, but the phone only got 4 days of standby time on a full charge. This leaves us wondering how Motorola can rate it at 15 days.

Conclusion:

The Motorola W755 is a modest upgrade from the V3m with most changes being limited to the styling, better build quality, and updated themes. However, most other features remain unchanged, such as the displays, camera, and music player. The touch sensitive buttons are very useful, as it is the only flip phone to offer Bluetooth power and ring/vibrate control on the front flip. Even though the reception was excellent, the call quality was a disappointment and not as good as from the Samsung U550. Because of this, we would recommend the U550 over the W755, since it offers better call quality and about equal reception, build quality, and comparable features.