Not a Phone But a Work of Art. Review on Motorola C168

Coming to the Motorola C-168 I did quite a bit of research and decided for the given price this was the best bargain available in the market for a basic color screen phone for communicating with people.

After a Week of Usage I Will High Light it’s Benefits and Disadvantages. The Phone has been used in normal conditions with MTNL Trump Jeevan Saathi Life Time Prepaid Mobile Connection with New SIM.

1}The Looks of the Phone are 100% Spot On and comparable to the Panasonic GD-75 and the size and ergonomics are superb. It is of the correct size, weight, thickness & length to hold in the hand and talk for long hours without wrist or arm fatigue. The Menu System has also been copied from the Panasonic with Iconic Interface of 9 Icons and then selection with the help of up, down, left, right, centre and then right and left soft keys which are programmable as per users choice.

2}Speech Quality is Crystal Clear even with a MTNL Connection Which is supposed to be the Under Dog of all GSM Operators in Delhi.

3}The Best Part of the Phone is it’s Phone Book with 600 Contacts under which name, wired phone no, postal address, e-mail, mobile no & Web Page Can Be Added. This is Truly Fantastic! When Ever One Views the name of the contact in the address book the phone number appears in front automatically.

4}Sending a Text Message is the most easy part from this phone thanks to Intuitive Software Menu & the well spaced keys and ergonomic design of the buttons which need only a feather touch and not hard pressing like the other Motorola Model C-115.

5}The Menu System is very easy to understand being 9 Icons Based and use and even a novice can understand and use it very easily.

6}The Quality of FM Radio is Fantastic and the bundled ear phones are of very high quality and there is no room for any complaint here. About 9 channels can be tuned and programmed & by pressing the numbers button to access them or to change channels.

7}The Other Useful Features are the Lantern Which Make the Screen Display White Light to see things small things in the dark when there is no electricity.

8}The Display Quality is Quite Rich but frankly I could not distinguish if it is a 4096 color or a 65000 Colors but one drawback is that the display is not visible even in day light with the backlight turned off to save battery and hence backlight always needs to be turned on to see things clearly. Battery Saving Mode has not been included in this phone like the C-115.

Now the Achilles Heels of this Phone!

1}The Placement of the FM Radio Head Set Socket & the Neck Cord Cut at the top is completely wrong and so is the battery charger socket located at the top right corner. This is because with a PVC Zip Cover Put on the Phone to Protect it, each time the zip needs to be removed 3/4th to put the ear piece and the battery charger pin. The Neck Cord Can Never Be Put in the Cut Without Damaging the Zip of the PVC Cover and hence defeats the purpose .One Has to Carry this phone in the belt pouch only or not use any Cover to Protect the Phone From Dust and Grim. This is Indeed a Major Irritant!

Both the Sockets Should Have Been Located In the Left Lower Side or the Lower Bottom at Least the Battery Charger Socket! The Neck Cord Cut Should Have Been Made In the Right Side Bottom End. Motorola Should Have Taken a Cue from the Panasonic EB-GD 75 in this.

2}The Quality of the So Called Polyphonic Ringtones is not polyphonic and not to my liking and ever since purchase I have been trying to copy three ringtones from the Panasonic but have not had much success even after scanning the internet. If someone can help me on this I would be very much thankful to them! However the Volume is Quite Loud to be heard in the crowdest of places.

3}The Software Used is a little slow and after editing a contact when one presses save it shows as saving 10%,50%,75% with a Hour Glass Icon Coming and takes time. Some might not be so patient but for me it was not much of a problem.

4}The Phone Does not have silver internal battery and hence when ever the main battery is removed the clock loses time and needs to be set. Motorola’s SIM Insertion Method and Socket Design is the most antiquated and always needs a mini aligner to push and remove the SIM.

5)Though the Phone can be set to switch off at a particular time it cannot be set to switch on by itself. This is indeed unforgivable!

6)There is no ISD Directory in the phone and after pressing + One has to enter the ISD Code Manually. My 2002 Panasonic has this feature.

The User Manual Provided My Motorola is Incomplete and certain Features are not mentioned in detail and can be found only with fiddling around. For Example the phone in idle screen can be set to silent mode by pressing # but this is not mentioned anywhere and since I knew about this from the Panasonic others may not know and so I am mentioning this here!

7) The Other Features Like MMS, WAP, GPRS, Ringtone Composer, Games, Stop Watch, Calculator are not of interest & relevant to me but the Alarm and Calendar are Good and very Accurate. Multiple Alarms can be set on the phone with different names.

8) Now Coming to most asked part of the phone it’s Battery Life!

The Phone After the First Charge on the 29th Sept 2006 Lasted till 05th October 2006 with Mixed FM and Voice Calls and Fiddling Around with Backlight Set to 10 Seconds Delay and Screen Saver Set to Off. Wall Paper was On and Screen Contrast at Level 4. Phone was programmed to shut off at 22:00 Hrs Daily and Was Switched on at 06:00 hrs. Charging time with nil bars on the battery indicator was 2 ½ Hours exactly and with full dead state it took 3 Hours to charge.

Since this is the Second Charge Battery Life Will Improve Further and with mixed use in 24 hrs on mode the battery can be expected to last 4 days with mixed use and 6 days in standby time without fiddling.

Added:17th October 2006 After Second Charge with Mixed Standby ,Talk for short time, and nil FM usage & phone switched off at 22:00 Hrs to 06:00 hrs the battery lasts nearly 8 days.

Finally the Verdict:

This Phone Can be considered as the best option for people who want a basic color screen phone for voice, contacts and sms sending. Added Bonus when one wants to keep themselves entertained is the FM Radio.

Since the Price of Rs 2450/- is so low the Investment is more than justifiable and the best thing is one cannot go wrong with this phone. You can only like it if you can forgive it’s quirky aspects as given above. My Advise for all prospective color screen phone buyers without the need for camera is Go For this Phone. Much Better than all Nokia Models. This Phone Rocks!