Rating: 
Summary: The best Phone EVER!
Review: This phone is great! The camera is good, the games are good, you have the option to do speakerphone when you're talking, and it comes with so many usefull tools.
Rating: 
Summary: Good phone
Review: I'm very satisfied with my v300, especially since I paid next to nothing for it. It's a nice phone and has plenty of fun features. I've been learning to make my own ringers from existing mp3 files by clipping them and sending them to my phone. Basically, it's the same thing as the "hi-fi" ringers available for $1.99 a pop. The T-Zones web browser is pretty easy to navigate, but keep in mind that what pops up first is the home-page from T-Mobile and is all links provided BY T-Mobile. It's easy enough to get out of though once you get to know your phone. If you're having a hard time with it or you want something with more features, it is possible to get a Java web browser for your phone. The camera is fun, but really only a feature to be used on the phone. If you want a digital camera and a phone, by them seperate. As a phone, it's great. Clean, clear, crisp. My only complaint is that the layout does take a little time to get used to and the manual just isn't informative enough, especially since the SIM chip isn't really addressed in the manual. Take some time and get to know this phone when you get it.
Rating: 
Summary: Karakiri and T-Mobile nightmare -> please read !
Review: -> The problem that most disappointed me, the T-MOBILE SOFTWARE in general <-At the moment the only place where you can buy the V300 is from a T-Mobile shop, or whatever other shop which is basically reselling a T-Mobile phone. These phones are called "branded" phones, because they have additional features according to the phone operator from which they are coming.
You would think that it's not a big issue, but in reality what they are selling you is not the regular V300 advertised in the Motorola website, but a "T-Mobile Motorola V300". And this also if you pay the full price to have an unlocked phone, without contract with T-Mobile. You will realize that the use of other SIM is yes allowed (to send/receive phone calls, SMS, surf internet) but not welcome, just like if in Microsoft Windows you install a different browser than Internet Explorer. The V300 is full of T-Mobile gadgets that you can't delete: for example a T-Mobile melody while switching on and off the phone, "t-zones" logo appearing during the internet connections also with other providers, and dozen of links trying to connect in various ways to "t-zones" servers. In Motorola's slang these links are called "banners", and just like in the internet environment, they are trying to invite you to leave what you where doing and to connect to the "mother" T-Mobile.
You find these banners everywhere in the phone, for example within the melodies, the games, the wallpapers and the screensavers. This means that you will click on them believing that you are loading a game from the phone, but in reality you are starting to pay to T-Mobile!! And there is no warning message to tell you that the next operations are not for free, but are at the owner's expense!! If you don't have a T-Mobile card, these attempts to connect are useless and expensive: the phone attempts to connect, starts to pay, and then realizes that you don't have a T-Mobile card.
I tried to prevent the phone from accessing these banners but even blocking all the WAP access features from the "security->lock application", the phone is still free to access these features. So you can't block these banners.
And what is worse, you can't even delete them, because "they are part of the original T-Mobile software" (just like Internet Explorer and Windows). Part of the phone's features are useless, because these banners are not working. They will just stay in your phone, on top of every page (so that they are more visible, and you can hit them easily by mistake), and remain there inactive. But at least they will contribute to your phone operator's incomes, because every time you hit them you will pay immediately. Even if it seems incredible, Motorola doesn't offer neutral software for people who don't want the T-Mobile brand version. And what is worse, nothing is mentioned in the official Motorola and T-Mobile websites. -> KARAKIRI (software mistakes) The phone is turning of by itself from time to time (that's what I called KARAKIRI) even if the battery is full. After I turn it on again, I see that the battery has three lines, and the phone is working normally.
Answer from Motorola was to try to turn off the "battery save mode" (what is this mode, does it turn off automatically the phone to save battery ?!! ). By the way, in the instruction it's nothing written about this option.
One time the display of the V300 remained blocked in its screenshot after snoozing the alarm clock. In that occasion I couldn't do anything with the phone, the keypad was not working.
Sometimes it happens also that the phone is switching off and on by itself when I'm in a WAP session. It's a strange problem, because I don't have to put again the PIN code, but anyway the phone call is interrupted and I have to connect to the server again (spending more money). It happened also while making a browser update through an SMS. -> CONCLUSION <- Basically it's a phone with a good hardware and basic calling functions. This shows a step in the correct direction from the old fragile Motorolas. B U T: for 300 EUR it should be a high class phone, it has only TWO games, and a firmware that MUST be improved in reliability and cleverness. Being only youth and software problems, I'm confident that Motorola can do something quickly, including something for the mobiles already sold. For example they could offer a service to register their product in their website, where according to the serial number they could inform us about software updates or possible product recalls.
I think that all the users should have the right to choose if they want the T-Mobile branded phone or not. At least as long as in the official website a "neutral" phone is advertised and the V300 is sold exclusively through the T-Mobile channel.
A further remark: T-Mobile probably thinks that their customers are so proud of having sounds and images from their beloved company that they will like to show them to everybody. For example, concerning the switching on/off loud music, the customers will be so happy to hear every single day this T-Mobile melody, that they will never want to change it (because anyway, they are part of the original software and they can't be changed).
Do they really think that the customers are so stupid and crazy about T-Mobile marketing gadgets?
I'm not sure if the V525 will have similar problems with Vodafone, but my personal opinion is that there is a tendency to bind the user with a phone operator for the rest of his life (or at least of the phone's life). And this is happening using some tricks learned in the PC software business.
Rating:
Summary: Worthless Device
Review: I was so excited when I purchased the Motorola V300. When I recieved the phone it wasn't working. Amazon kept on telling me it was T-mobile's probem. I called T-mobile and they said it was Amazon's problem. I went back and forth calling for three days. It ended up being a problem with the phone. I even took it to a local T-mobile store and they were shocked b/c they never saw this happen on a phone. The phone would say enter the SIM card & it was already inserted. Amazon sent me a new Motorola V300 and it was stating unchargeable. I was so upset because the phone was giving me so much problems!! I was fed up and purchased the Samsung E715. That is one outstanding phone!!! I recieved the phone and it was working in no time. I had absolutely no problems. The Samsung E715 is what you should choose over the Motorola V300. I guarntee you will love it!!! I give it 5 (*****) stars.
Rating:
Summary: tip for battery life
Review: For the most part, the v300 is a great phone. I get good reception, and I haven't had any calls cut off or anything like that. There are a lot of great features which people have already addressed in their reviews. The major negatives are 1) No bluetooth/infrared, and 2) At first it seemed to me like the battery life was very weak, lasting sometimes pretty long, sometimes only 1 day. Here's a tip that helped a lot: the battery meter on this phone is worthless. It usually stays at 6 bars for a few days, then jumps from 6 to 4 to 2 to 0 bars on the last day. This also means that the charge complete message that pops up when you charge it for a few hours shows up too early. If I leave it charging overnight, rather than stopping when I see the charge complete message, it always lasts at least 4 days. Once I figured this out, I was very happy with this phone.
Rating:
Summary: KARAKIRI and T-Mobile nightmare -> please read !
Review: I will start this review first with the POSITIVE things: * good camera (enough for most people),
* battery autonomy (I charge it every 4-5 days),
* "soft feel touch" (good feeling of quality),
* robust feeling when opening and closing the phone (not so easy on shell phones),
* reception quality is very good (better than my previous Nokia 7110 which was already very good),
* very intelligent ITAP dictionary. I will focus now on the long list of NEGATIVE experiences, reporting some problems that I submitted to the customer support. They answered very fast to these questions, but I guess that they didn't have much chance to actually solve these problems. * T-Mobile software
* Switching off/on by itself
* Network operator settings management
* Melodies management -> The problem that most disappointed me, the T-MOBILE SOFTWARE in general <- At the moment the only place where you can buy the V300 is from a T-Mobile shop, or whatever other shop which is basically reselling a T-Mobile phone. You would think that it's not a big issue, but in reality what they are selling you is not the regular V300 advertised in the Motorola website, but a "T-Mobile Motorola V300". And this also if you pay the full price to have an unlocked phone. You will realize that the use of other SIM is allowed but not welcome, just like if in Microsoft Windows you install a different browser than Internet Explorer.
The V300 is full of T-Mobile gadgets that you can't delete: for example a T-Mobile melody while switching on and off the phone, "t-zones" logo appearing during the internet connections, and dozen of links trying to connect in various ways to "t-zones" servers.
Even if it seems incredible, Motorola doesn't offer neutral software for people who don't want the T-Mobile version. And what is worse, nothing is mentioned in the official Motorola website. -> KARAKIRI (battery or software mistakes) The phone is turning of by itself from time to time (that's what I called KARAKIRI) even if the battery is full. After I turn it on again, I see that the battery has three lines, and the phone is working normally.
Answer from Motorola was to try to turn off the "battery save mode" (what is this mode, does it turn off automatically the phone to save battery ?!! ). By the way, in the instruction it's nothing written about this option.
One time the display of the V300 remained blocked in its screenshot after snoozing the alarm clock. In that occasion I couldn't do anything with the phone, the keyboard was not working.
Sometimes it happens also that the phone is switching off and on by itself when I'm in a WAP session. It's a strange problem, because I don't have to put again the PIN code, but anyway the phone call is interrupted and I have to connect to the server again (spending more money). It happened also while making a browser update through an SMS. -> NETWORK OPERATOR SETTINGS <- I downloaded some network operator settings (excellent service from Motorola website). I'm using regularly three SIM cards (due to my work, I need different cards for different countries), and I quickly reached the maximum number of settings that I can store on the phone. Counting three settings for operator (MMS, WAP-CSD and WAP-GPRS), if you have many SIM cards it's easy to reach the maximum. This can happen for example if you give the mobile to your girlfriend, or if one day you want to change operator. The problem is that you can't replace the settings arrived via SMS, because beside these settings it's a small symbol of a padlock, that means that you can't delete them. And if you have already the maximum, the phone is refusing new ones or modification to the old ones.
Answer from Motorola is that you have to reset the phone (losing the address book, photos, melodies, games and so on, that cost a fortune in terms of time and money). Or send the phone to them and they will cancel the settings for you (but not for free, as they clarified). -> START-UP MUSIC <- The music while turning on and off is from T-Mobile (very loud and ugly in my opinion), you would want to set another one because you don't care about T-Mobile, or eventually not to have it at all, not to disturb your neighbors.
Answer from Motorola is that it's impossible to change this melody, because it's part of the original software. -> RINGTONE management <- I downloaded a polyphonic melody that I can listen to, and is correctly appearing in the "downloads" menu. But the same song is not appearing as an available ringtone from the "change ringtone" menu in the settings. Other songs that I downloaded from the same website are instead appearing both as downloaded items and as available ringtones, so I don't understand what is the problem with this song. I tried to bypass this problem from the "downloads" menu: I can "apply this song as ringtone", but when I receive a telephone call and this ringtone is selected, no sound is coming from the phone.
Answer from Motorola was to download melodies only from Motorola's website (!!!!) -> T-ZONES LINKS <- The phone is full of links directing to "t-zones" services about which I'm not interested, because I don't have a T-Mobile card. The most annoying of these links is on the homepage of the phone where you can hit it by mistake when you need to access some feature. I tried to prevent the phone from accessing them but even blocking all the WAP access features from the "security->lock application" the phone is trying to connect to the T-Mobile server. I'm not sure if these connections to "t-zones" are done through the user-default WAP connection (in my case I set up a country specific one) or with the phone-default T-Mobile connection. Probably it's done with this second option, that's why blocking the WAP-services doesn't block also these links. After trying the connection (and when I already started to pay the phone call!) the V300 realizes that my card is not a T-Mobile card, and it blocks the data download.
You can't delete them, because "they are part of the original T-Mobile software" (just like Internet Explorer): they will just stay in your phone, on top of every page (so that they are more visible, and you can hit them easily by mistake), and remained there inactive. But at least they will contribute to your phone operator's incomes, because every time you hit them you will pay immediately. -> CONCLUSION <- Basically it's a phone with a good hardware. This shows a step in the correct direction from the old fragile Motorolas. B U T : it has only TWO games, and a firmware that MUST be improved in reliability and cleverness. Being only youth and software problems, I'm confident that Motorola can do something quickly, including something for the mobiles already sold. For example they could offer a service to register their product in their website, where according to the serial number they could inform us about software updates or possible product recalls.
I think that all the users should have the right to choose if they want the T-Mobile software package or not. At least as long as in the official website a "neutral" phone is advertised and the V300 is sold only through the T-Mobile channel.
A further remark: T-Mobile probably thinks that their customers are so proud of having sounds and images from their beloved company that they will like to show them to everybody. For example, concerning the switching on/off music, the customers will be so happy of these sounds, that they will never want to change them (because anyway, they are part of the original software and they can't be changed).
Do they really think that the customers are so stupid and crazy about T-Mobile marketing gadgets?
I'm not sure if the V525 will have similar problems with Vodafone, but my personal opinion is that there is a tendency to bind the user with a phone operator for the rest of his life (or at least of the phone's life). And this is happening by using some tricks learned in the PC software business.
Rating:
Summary: good phone, good amazon
Review: The phone lives up to its reputation as stated throughout this review section, so I won't reiterate everything that has been said. I would like to comment on customer service. Amazon had a convoluted order to process with me because I was porting over from att and signing up for a family plan. Although there was a snafu between the order and carrier, both amazon and t-mobile were very responsive and courteous.
Other comments:
- reception by the ballpark in san francisco is fine.
- the ear piece plugs in next to the antenna, remove the rubber plug, duh.
- amazon does have a customer service phone number. search for it on google.
- to sign up for the family plan, buy the phones with any plan offered. When it arrives, t-mobile does a great job at adjusting your account to whatever you desire, e.g. a family plan.
Rating: 
Summary: I like the phone but it broke in 3 weeks
Review: Its a good phone, I've had it for about a month now, it gets better reception than my other nokia does. It is a little larger and heaver than some other phones. The camera is pretty cool, but I don't use it as much as I thought I would. The phone quit working after 3 weeks. Opened it to make a call and I believe a solder joint broke. The phone quit working, power would come on and the keys light up but nothing else worked the monitor was dark and the clock didn't work. T-mobile sent me a replacement handset in 4 days so I guess everything is ok. If it hadn't broken I would give it 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: nice phone, but still need improvement
Review: this phone is nice, i play with it a lot, cos it's so cool. but if u play with it a lot, battery will be gone within a day, if u use speaker phone a lot, battery drains up fast. i like speaker phone, so i turn it on most of time. I port my number from AT&T to T-mobile, went back and forth 10 times, finally got it ported. it take so long becuase AT&T has the old address of mine when I sign up the phone. AT&T also need all feed from T-mobile in upper case. kinda system issue. any way if the number transfer goes through, your old number will be routed to your phone within hours. T-mobile has far better signal than AT&T, there is no comparison. any one want to get a cheap phone? never go to AT&T. THis phone does not have multiple number per name, so if a contact has many different numbers, you have to enter them one by one by name. the camera is better than Samsung, similar to LG. it's quite heavy, twice as much as my antique Ericsson T28. but if u have it on your belt, it make no difference. A belt holder is included, it's quite nice, but hard to take it out of the holder. I attach a string from my girl's Samsung phone, so i can pull it out of the holder easily. T-zone sounds like a good deal to get fun stuff, only $5 a week.
Rating:
Summary: The Rolls Royce of Cell Phones
Review: I have the Motorola v400 model which is basically the same telephone as the Motorola v300 but it is for use with Cingular and several other Wireless network companies. The reason I picked this v400 phone was the great rebate offers from Motorola and Cingular that were offered for the first few months of this cell phone's debut release. I have used the Nokia phones for five years and had switched in the past to the non-flip Nokia's due to their durability, battery life, and ease of use. These things are still true of the Nokia phones as I found using the no-frills, non-flip Nokia model 3595 cell phone which is offered free with 1 or 2 year contract from many cellular companies. However this new Motorola is an entirely different animal. It has every bell and whistle you can think of except for blue tooth wireless data. If you want to easily transfer your data wirelessly to your home PC, notebook or phone to phone you may want to wait for the next Motorola release ( v500,v600 or ?) or look at other brands. If you want a phone that has every thing else but bluetooth then this is it. Motorola has set the standard for features and quality in a phone. The phone gets great receiption, great sound quality, the ring sound features include MP3 tunes along with polyphonic ones, it has an excellent, very readable 65k high color LCD display, is surprisingly good for internet web and email, messaging, and simple camera photos. Now for the negatives because there definitely are some. With all the bells and whistles being added cell phones are becoming less and less like phones and more like personal data and communications devices. Bells and whistles are not a bad thing but if you are looking for a simple, easier to use, basic cell phone that you want to use heavily and on a daily basis for answering calls, retrieving voice mail, and receiving simple text messages, then this phone Motorola is overkill. The problem with the Motorola is that its like getting a Rolls Royce automobile to use as your daily driving car. If you don't mind carrying around all that luxury then by all means buy it, but if you just want a simple solution to get the job done it may not be your solution. Here are a few negatives that really stand out: This very small phone is made of silver painted, somewhat thin plastic which means you are one good drop away from damaging a very expensive to replace cell phone. The Motorola power charging connection is complex and fragile compared to the simple round plug and charge holsters of other brands like Nokia. The extra bells and whistles can add necessary complexity to the cell phone for those people who don't need those features. Also the high color LCD and other features tend to drain the lithium ion battery very quickly so instead of the rated 5-7 hours of talk time expect to get only 2-3 hours of time between charges if you use the camera, internet, and other features than demand the LCD display is used. You can compare the Motorola with the Nokia 3595 which easily gets 5-7 hours of talk time between charges even while using some of the internet features along with its color LCD display. It is my hope that Motorola fixes this fragility issue with this phone. Even if we had to pay another $30-50 for a more durable phone with a little longer battery life it would be well worth the cost. Also, the power charger interface really should be improved with a solution more like other companies. The power charger plug is fragile and prone to breaking. This phone would be great for someone who wants most all of the features and quality in a cell phone but doesn't plan on extremely heavy usage where the phone gets unintentionally abused with frequent accidental drops, etc. For the other 70% of the population who needs a rugged, reliable cell phone you may want to look elsewhere until or if Motorola ever makes a more durable version. All in all the Motorola v300/v400 is an excellent piece of technology and a great value compared to other phones such as the Samsung or Sony phones that have some of the same advanced features. If you are one of those people that MUST have the latest and greatest cell phone, if you like the functionality of FLIP style phones, and don't mind the fragility or possible cost of replacement that this Motorola phone brings to you then I highly recommend this cell phone. If you are not into the latest cell phone gadgetry and want a reliable phone for mostly voice and some data access you can save yourself a lot of money and worry with another brand such as Nokia.
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