Motorola V220 Phone - Next Generation (AT&T)

With video playback, gaming, multimedia messaging and a VGA camera with digital zoom, the Motorola V220 is an affordable and powerful way to get in on all the mobile fun. It's the perfect companion to AT&T wireless service. What's more, it's a quad-band phone with global coverage support.

Design
The phone features a sleek clamshell design with a large 128 x 128 color display with 65,000 colors. The outside cover of the handset sports a supplementary 96 x 32 blue monochrome display that can display time, call information, battery and signal strength, and more. The VGA camera lens is housed below this display. A stub antenna is placed on the top right side of the unit. Volume buttons are placed on the left side, as is a USB port for data connectivity. Most of the phone's features and on-screen menus are controlled by a five-way center button on the handset's control pad. There's a standard jack to accept universal hands-free headsets on the bottom of the handset, next to the phone's charging port.

Calling Features
The V220 allows you to assign pictures to your most common callers. It also supports polyphonic ringtones as well as MP3 ringers, allowing you to use portions of your favorite songs to alert you to incoming calls. A number of ringtones come preloaded on the phone and more ringtones can be downloaded from AT&T Wireless' mMode service. There's even an included application, MotoMixer, that enables you to mix your own ringtones.

Speed dialing, which allows you to call pre-programmed numbers with one button is built in, as is a vibrating alert. A built-in speakerphone makes it easy to talk without having the phone to your ear. Voice activated dialing makes calling your friends, family and associates as easy as saying their names.

Messaging, Internet and Tools
The V220 features support for ICQ, AOL and Yahoo! instant messaging applications (AT&T messaging charges apply). There's also a built-in web browser for mMode downloads and mobile web browsing. AT&T's mMode service lets you receive and send emails, read news headlines, get sports updates, download games and ringtones, and more. Traditional text messaging, as well as picture and sound messaging (MMS) are also supported by the phone. When used in combination with the phone's built-in camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. iTap text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit-- a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.

A number of handy software tools are bundled with the V220 including a voice memo recorder, a calculator with currency converter, a calendar and an alarm clock.

Imaging and Entertainment
The V220's USB connectivity can be used to transfer pictures, sounds and graphics to the phone's 1.8 MB memory from your PC. Screensavers, themes and wallpapers can be set to your tastes. The V220 is Java enabled, meaning it supports games and application downloads written on the Java platform. The phone ships with a single game, Bejeweled, and additional games are available via the mMode service. For extra gaming fun, the phone is haptics enabled, meaning the phone's vibrate system is activated by crashes or other events in games. The V220 also supports MPEG4 video playback. Load video clips from your PC or download them from a wireless web provider and enjoy video on the go.

The phone's built-in camera features VGA (640x480) resolution and a 4x digital zoom for getting great shots on the go.

Vital Statistics
The V220 weighs 3.76 ounces and measures 3.29 x 1.73 x .94 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 7.2 hours of digital talk time, and up to 380 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.

What's in the Box
Motorola V220 handset, lithium-ion battery, power supply/charger, user's manual.

1 read this!
this is some important information left out of previous reviews!

DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE UNLESS YOU ALREADY HAVE AN AT&T PLAN!!

if you do not already have an at&t plan you will not be able to activate this phone, as at&t is now part of cingular you will have to sign up for a cingular plan, thus having to buy a new phone.

but if you do already have an at&t plan, this is a great phone. well worth the asked price.

also, you can add multiple numbers to one name, just go to the phone book menu and set the "view by" option to "primary contact".

the screen could be bigger, but this is just a minor drawback, and the features are quite good for the asking price. menu is difficult to get used to, but once you do it isn't bad at all.

the only major drawback is not being able to switch to speakerphone when you are not already in the call.

2 Motorola V220 GSM quadband
I had read the reviews of the other people here before I got the phone, but since it was a good deal I went ahead and got it.
I have to say that I am quite satisfied with it and do not plan to return it.

Good things about the phone:

-Small size, light weight
-displays clock on front screen
-cool menus, lots of options
-really nice ring tones
-port to hook up your phone directly to computer
-decent camera
-GREAT battery - lasts for 4,5 days with regular usage

Bad things

-screen is too small
-some keypads are too small so if u have big fingers too bad!
-cannot deny calls without flipping the phone open
-camera is not top quality

All in all I like the phone and for the price I paid it's fantastic!

3 There's better phones out there
I got this phone after years of being with Nokias. I wanted a nice, cheap, flip camera phone. Only get this phone if you don't plan on using the camera functions or looking at the screen too often. In other words, if you're just looking for a basic phone, this one's for you.
Here's what I didn't like. The screen is very tiny and has a fuzzy, somewhat washed out appearance. Whatever is on the screen doesn't appear very crisp. Which means that whenever you take a picture, it won't show up very well on the screen. A major disappointment for me. There's room for the screen to be larger, but for some reason it isn't.
The volume is pretty low. At it's highest volume, I couldn't hear my phone in the next room over the TV, a problem I never had with Nokias.
The menu is somewhat limiting, I just felt the phone should do more. But the speakerphone was a plus, especially when you're on hold with customer support. And it is small and lightweight. But I couldn't get over the bad screen, which made the camera a waste, and the volume. I returned the phone to get the V400. It was a bit more money, but well worth it. The bright vivid screen made almost every picture look good. The volume is better, but still not as good as Nokia. But overall, the V400 is much better than the 220.

4 Waste of money...
I recently upgraded my old Nokia to this phone because I wanted something a little higher end, ie flip design, camera, etc. I took it home that night and played with the camera and it was sub-par at best. The menu had an awkward "haze" over it. A bit washed over, in my opinion. Also that night, I was entering my phonebook names and each number has to have a separate entry. You can't combine multiple numbers for one person. Very irritating considering that no where in the booklet was this explained. Very poorly written as well. I was hoping that when I actually used the phone in normal, everyday life, I'd love it more. Fat chance. The volume level only goes to "7" and it is very, very, very low. I could barely hear my other party and vice versa. This gave me the opportunity to use the speakerphone, which (not that it really matters to me) must be activated after the call is made and is a mixed bag. It is quite loud, but can be spotty at times. I found myself fighting over which mode to find the best results with. Quite fustrating considering a paid almost 240 dollars for an "upgrade". Many other cons, but they're mostly quirks (USB port is useless without software that is much extra, tiny photo caller ID display, etc). I'm returning this today, so I suggest you do the same if you've made the same mistake that I have by buying this phone.