Motorola V265 / V266 / V276
Average Ratings
Don't buy Motorola
When I signed up for cell service the Motorola V266 was the phone I chose b/c it had a $50 rebate. That should have been a sign of things to come. I've owned this phone for a year and overall....I hate it. The battery life/indicator is more of a guesstimate. I've had 3 bars at 7:00 in the morning and by 5:00 it was completely empty after making NO CALLS!!
I'm not sure if this phone is even on the market anymore but Motorola should do something to keep their customers happy b/c as it stands I won't touch another Motorola phone b/c of my experience with this thing.
Verizon v265 review -early model
I got this phone shortly after it came out for Verizon Wireless. I see a lot of the reviews here have many quality complaints, but I do not have most of them on my phone. Perhaps the later versions (v266/v267) are a little different. Either way, here are my pro's and con's:
PRO'S:
Small size
External LCD - never shuts off, has clock
Changing to ring/vibrate - press outside buttons, can be done with phone closed. You need to press 2 buttons, so it prevents accidental changing.
Moto interface- I like it..but see con's
Speakerphone - loud enough for car use, if phone is close to you
Design- black and silver color is different then most phones
Durability - I have dropped this phone many times, a few of them with some force. It has gotten a few minor scratches but still works fine.
Keypad - nice, eay to press buttons with a good feel to them. They also light up a cool blue when you are in a dark area.
CON'S:
The main screen (inside) is small. It is also dim outdoors with sunlight. It is still readable, but you have to get used to it.
The camera works, but it is a bad quality. The pictues are usually not sharp. Other phones with similar, VGA cameras do take a bit better pictures.
The Motorola interface is annoying to some. The chief complaint I hear is that you can only have 1 number per contact name.
The phone has a voice command feature. However, to dial by name or number, you first have to say "name dial" or "number dial", and only then can you say the name/number. This takes a few extra seconds. It does work pretty well though, and only get's a few names wrong (ones that don't sound like they are spelled). However, there is no way to train the phone for these difficult names.
In conclusion, I think this phone is pretty good as a phone. If you are looking for a great camera, don't get it. Otherwise, it's small, sturdy, and has decent extras. Try it out in a store if you can, then decide.
Motorola- What were you thinking?!?
This has got to be one of the worst phones (V276) on the market. Hands down. I first got this phone in October of '05 and have had three replacements since. The phone tends to shut off for no reason and displays a white screen with red lines. Usually when something like that happens, you think it's because it was either dropped or got wet. WRONG... Neither has happened to my phone and still, nothing...Another big thing I didn't like about the V276 were the ringtone options. If I wanted to hear circus music, I'd call Ringling Bros. I am so extremely disappointed with this phone and with Motorola. After my third replacement, Verizon issued me a brand new phone from a different manufacturer. I haven't received it yet, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Pros:
Missed call/ Caller ID notification
Cons:
Everything else
STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE!!
What ever you do stay away from this phone. Our company recently purchased 9 of them and it has been the biggest pain in the rear. My phone says I have a voice mail waiting but there is no voice mail message and it won't go away. It is very slow to operate on things like speed dialing, etc. We had some LG phones and even after almost 3 years they worked great other than needing new batteries, we have had these phones for 3 weeks and had nothing but problems with them. Wish we had read these reveiws before purchasing them.
It was ok
i just got this phone, it wasnt bad, but i guess i was just use to my LG6100 so i didnt really like this phone, but it did have good sound quality, it froze on me however like the second day i had it, i am not a real big fan of motorola phones, so i would probably not buy this phone.
SCREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!1
here is something you might want to think about
Before anyone else starts to talk about screen quality or camera quality read this.
There are 2 types of LCD screens: The two types you are likely to run into are: STN (Super Twisted Nematic) and TFT (Thin Film Transfer). At first glance they appear the same in most product photos, but the difference between the two is vast.
STN monitors:
Passive matrix:
Each subpixel does not have its own transistor.
This means that the pixels are switched by row and column, not individually.
This results in slow frame updates.
False color:
Color range is limited, and often colors will appear incorrectly.
For example on one STN screen I own, green appears as purple.
Colors also fade in relation to the center of the screen on some models.
Colors that are bright at the edges of the screen may fade to black at the center.
Colors can also become dark on the edges and fade back toward the center.
(This can change depending on the manufacture and construction method)
Viewing angle:
STN screens have a very limited viewing angle, often under +-15 degrees.
Even small changes in the angle can result in large visible differences.
TFT screens:
Active matrix:
Each subpixel has its own transistor.
This makes for faster frame updates.
True color:
Color range is capable of representing 16.7 million colors.
Provides an accurate representation of video source.
Viewing angle:
TFT viewing angles are often in a range of +-30 to +-70 degrees sometimes more.
Learn about the phone you buy before you buy it and cry about the screen
Pros:
speakerphone, you can clip this to the visor of your car and drive while talking on it
battery life, unlike the LG6100 no hi-res screen to suck up battery life
small yet very capable phone
cons:
it would be nice to have bluetooth or be able to put mp3 ring tones on here more easily
Not what I expected
The phone looks nice, but the resolution and quality of pictures are horrible! Verizon Wireless representatives have also confirmed my same feelings. Because my 15 day guarantee was pasted due, they are not willing to satisfy my disappointment with this phone.
Mitchell's new phone
I was looking for a cell phone that does want a phone was made to do well. It has to make and receive calls well. I mean it has to have really good reception. Thats the main function of a cell phone.
Well there are companies out there have forgotten about that. They are so hung up in making whistles and bells. Well there are few companies out there that haven't, one is Motorola. I had narrowed it down to two phones the Samsung SCH-A670 and Motorola V265. I chose the Samsung SCH-A670 first. I notice that is had the following:
Clear screen, Solid feel, Good reception. No outside display. So if you miss a call thats it. The caller has to wait awhile until you look at your phone. You can miss and import call that way.
I didn't like it. So I choose the V265. I was glad I did. Being a V60 owner, it had looked to me they took the V60 and souped functions. I don't care about the camera thats why I got digital camera for, to take real pictures. A phone major function is to receive and make calls.
Pros:
Solid feel
Good reception
Tri-mode
Solid key pads
Compact
Quick and easy menu
Pull out antenna
Voice dialing is good to have while driving. Will keep you from getting ticket or crashing and burning or both.
Miss call alert or beep
Cons:
Screen is too small
Voice receiving and calling has little
dynamic range. Could have fuller sound quality. But I could live with it.
Reception Reception Reception
I just got this phone to replace my aging V120c.
Although the sales guy was really high on them I have been a little wary of getting LG's. I live in a signal hole, and people with LG's can't keep a connection, where my paltry v120c usually could. No matter how cool the phone is, it comes down to reception, and coverage area. This is a good tri-mode phone with great reception.
Comparison shopped against the Samsung SCH-a670, and the LG vx6100
Pros
(1) Reception and sound quality
(2) Intuitive Interface (barely need the instruction book, but I'm upgrading from another motorola phone).
(3) Voice dialing doesn't need to be trained
(4) Speakerphone works well
(5) There are ring options that sound like normal phones
(6) Backlit external LCD is easy to see in all conditions.
(7) Quick change between loud and silent ring modes (2 buttons while closed)
Cons
(1) Screen hard to read in the sun (can alleviate this this by choosing to go without wallpaper to get dark letters on a light background.
(2) No date displayed (can solve this by assigning one of the 6 programmable keys to display the calender... a nice compromise to be able to see the whole month anyway if you ask me.
(3) Security lockout - in my old v120c I could lockout different portions of my settings menus, but still get to things like ring change... in this phone you have to leave it all unlocked to be able to change ring mode on the fly.
(4) Seems a little underbuilt. The v120c always seemed a little flimsy, but held up for 3 years fine. Probably the case for this phone too, but it does feel a little toy-like. Of course, all the phones are toy like these days.
(5) Outside buttons hard to use (but I don't think they're prone to accidental pressing)
Irrelevant to my life (gimmicks)
(1) Camera
(2) Planner (might be ok to remind for birthdays, but not a replacement for a PDA)
(3) Bluetooth, Get it now, Web browser.
Cell phones are entirely about reception
location: Los Angeles. Outstanding product! from inside the guts of my company (above-ground) parking structure, to the inner-most conference rooms of my concrete office building, to the deadest of dead zones in my house, this V265 is a beacon of microwave energy and never fails to complete a call.
my previous phone was a VX6000, another great phone, but it is nice to be back at moto with a UI that give me total control over the phone (6-soft keys plus how many short cuts? >9?)
the voice recognition is fantastic. speakerphone works well. for the money, i can't imagine how this thing can be beat.
cons:
there is suppose to be a camera on this thing?
crashed on me the first day, but i think it was a latent reboot after initial programming.
uh.....
