Legend-ary!!. Review on Radio Moto W170

This phone is the stuff of legends, at least my handset is.

This is an entry level CDMA phone so generally comes bundled.

First the basic features then I will relate the extraordinary adventures of this phone. It is not a colored phone but has good backlight options. As the name suggests it has FM Radio and the voice quality is good. I do not know whether it is Tata Indicom or this handset but the voice clarity is exceptional. It has a decent address book.

The keypad is plastic/rubber and some of the keys give up with frequent use. It is not easy for quick SMSes. So if you are someone used to more than 10 SMSes a day, dont go for this one! The display though small, is adequate. There are 3 games: bricks, web and chess. Nothing great but can make for a timepass.

The battery lasts almost a day without recharge but it is tough to fit in more than 2-3 hours of talktime/ radio play.

Conclusion: Considering the price this phone is good value for money.

Also go for it as a second phone.

Now for my encounters of the fourth kind with this phone:

I had just joined office and carried all my stuff in a small purse. It was June and surely I carried a small water bottle. One day the bottle was slightly open by mistake and water made its way into the phone. I spent half my day with newspaper and the phone trying to soak out as much water as I could. In the evening I tracked down a phone repairman and requested him if he could bring my phone back to life. He opened the case and wondered aloud if I had dipped the phone in a bucket of water. After chemically drying it for 15 minutes he was able to fix it.

Few days later I was traveling on a rickshaw. On my way I decided to take change out of the purse to pay the rickshawallah. As I opened the purse the phone came out and fell on the road.I was dumbstruck for a second and the rickshwallah, unaware of the loss was going full speed. I started shouting and he stopped after a good five minutes. As he stopped, I looked back and saw a Tata Sumo cab whooshing by. Sure enough my phone came under one of the tyres. I lost all hope and yet when I picked it, it was still working!

It worked the entire next day and then the display was gone.

I again went to the repairman and his expression was: *ab kiya aapne? *(what have you done now?)

He looked at the phone and barely suppressed his laughter. He told me that the display circuit was gone and nothing could be done. The replacement would cost more than the phone! On repeated request he gave one more shot and recreated the circuit. For 300 Rs my phone was back to life and even after eight months, still works!