TracFone Motorola V170 Review
The Motorola V170 is a budget priced basic flip-phone offered by TracFone. It retails for about $20
and is well worth the money. This phone is one of TracFone's first and is very basic. If you're looking
for a phone that is great for calling, then the Motorola V170 is the phone for you. It's GSM service
provides great coverage in most places. But unfortunately, calling is about the only thing the V170
does well. Messaging on the Motorola is terrible and any other phone features are non-existent.
Hardware:
The Motorola V170 is an extremely thick device, measuring in at 24 mm thick. JEEZO! But don't worry too much, its still really light at just over 3 oz. It is finished in a glossy silver plastic with a black plastic insert on the front. There is no camera or external display. The internal display measures 1.5 inches diagonal and is pretty bright. Unfortunately, the screen is low quality and resolution, resulting in fuzzy images and text. Now lets look around the phone: the left and right side have nothing on them. The bottom has the propriety charging port and LED charge notification light. The back sports the Motorola logo and speaker, as well as the 3.6v lithium-ion battery. On the top is the 2.5mm headset jack and the small antenna. When the device is closed, there is a Motorola logo and a black plastic insert on the front. When the device is open, you see a 1.5 inch LCD display, the earpiece, and the Motorola logo. Below that is the back-lit numeric keypad and microphone pinhole. The phone has a sturdy hinge, which makes opening and closing it extremely satisfying. It is also very durable, I drop tested it to see.
Software:
The Motorola V170 runs an older version of TracFone's propriety operating system. When you start the phone up, it has the search for a signal. Once this is done, you see the home screen. The home screen has a picture as a background as well as the time, date, and service status. A small battery icon is in the upper right corner of the screen and two shortcuts (you can customize what they do) are located at the bottom. Clicking the center button in the cluster of navigational keys brings up the main menu. The main menu consists of; 1. Prepaid: Lets you access your airtime information. 2. Phone-book: View your contacts and speed dials. 3. Messages: Lets you send SMS Messages. 4. Games: This phone come preloaded with 3 games. 5. Recent Calls: View your call logs. 6. Ring Style: Change the ring type. 7. Alarm Clock: Set the Alarm. 8. MyMenu: Not sure what this does? 9. Chat: Start using SMS Chat. 10. Setting: Change/view your phones setting and information. 11. More: Contains the calculator, service dial, and stop watch. Text messaging on the V170 is downright terrible due to software limitations and numeric keypad. On the other hand, call quality is decent; our callers sounded clear and we sounded about the same on their end.
Conclusion:
The Motorola V170 is not a very good phone unless calling is all you care about. It doesn't have many features and doesn't preform well compared to other flip phones in TracFone's lineup. If you're on a tight budget, are not very tech-savvy, and want a device that will call well, the Motorola V170 is the phone for you.
*It is always possible that some specifications or facts may be incorrect. We try our best at MobileTechnology Reviews to provide accurate information, but we occasionally make mistakes. If you notice that something is wrong or incorrect, shoot us an email at [email protected] and we'll fix it!
and is well worth the money. This phone is one of TracFone's first and is very basic. If you're looking
for a phone that is great for calling, then the Motorola V170 is the phone for you. It's GSM service
provides great coverage in most places. But unfortunately, calling is about the only thing the V170
does well. Messaging on the Motorola is terrible and any other phone features are non-existent.
Hardware:
The Motorola V170 is an extremely thick device, measuring in at 24 mm thick. JEEZO! But don't worry too much, its still really light at just over 3 oz. It is finished in a glossy silver plastic with a black plastic insert on the front. There is no camera or external display. The internal display measures 1.5 inches diagonal and is pretty bright. Unfortunately, the screen is low quality and resolution, resulting in fuzzy images and text. Now lets look around the phone: the left and right side have nothing on them. The bottom has the propriety charging port and LED charge notification light. The back sports the Motorola logo and speaker, as well as the 3.6v lithium-ion battery. On the top is the 2.5mm headset jack and the small antenna. When the device is closed, there is a Motorola logo and a black plastic insert on the front. When the device is open, you see a 1.5 inch LCD display, the earpiece, and the Motorola logo. Below that is the back-lit numeric keypad and microphone pinhole. The phone has a sturdy hinge, which makes opening and closing it extremely satisfying. It is also very durable, I drop tested it to see.
Software:
The Motorola V170 runs an older version of TracFone's propriety operating system. When you start the phone up, it has the search for a signal. Once this is done, you see the home screen. The home screen has a picture as a background as well as the time, date, and service status. A small battery icon is in the upper right corner of the screen and two shortcuts (you can customize what they do) are located at the bottom. Clicking the center button in the cluster of navigational keys brings up the main menu. The main menu consists of; 1. Prepaid: Lets you access your airtime information. 2. Phone-book: View your contacts and speed dials. 3. Messages: Lets you send SMS Messages. 4. Games: This phone come preloaded with 3 games. 5. Recent Calls: View your call logs. 6. Ring Style: Change the ring type. 7. Alarm Clock: Set the Alarm. 8. MyMenu: Not sure what this does? 9. Chat: Start using SMS Chat. 10. Setting: Change/view your phones setting and information. 11. More: Contains the calculator, service dial, and stop watch. Text messaging on the V170 is downright terrible due to software limitations and numeric keypad. On the other hand, call quality is decent; our callers sounded clear and we sounded about the same on their end.
Conclusion:
The Motorola V170 is not a very good phone unless calling is all you care about. It doesn't have many features and doesn't preform well compared to other flip phones in TracFone's lineup. If you're on a tight budget, are not very tech-savvy, and want a device that will call well, the Motorola V170 is the phone for you.
*It is always possible that some specifications or facts may be incorrect. We try our best at MobileTechnology Reviews to provide accurate information, but we occasionally make mistakes. If you notice that something is wrong or incorrect, shoot us an email at [email protected] and we'll fix it!
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