Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsExtremely Unreliable
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2024
TL;DR: Doesn't maintain connection to WiFi, actual "phone" function would randomly stop working, would freeze during start up, failed to correctly boot and needed a factory reset, not at all water resistant, stylus is very basic and not pressure sensitive, very heavy and bulky for a phone. Battery lasted well, speaker and camera were decent, and had some nice software features.
The phone was great, for the first month, until I started to notice particular issues with it. It doesn't maintain a WiFi connection. It'll say that it's connected, but then pages won't load and it'll endlessly be buffering until I turned the WiFi off and suddenly it was a fast as lightning. I own numerous devices that connected to the same WiFi with absolutely no issues, and I even tried using different WiFi hotspots, but always had the same issue. I even tried configuring the phone settings to see if that would help, but it never did.
What really bothered me about this phone though, was the fact that after a certain period of time after it was on (I'm not sure exactly how long, but definitely less than 24 hours) suddenly the actual PHONE part of this "smartphone" would stop working. It would still be able to use data, and I was able to send /receive messages via social media, but I wouldn't be able to make/receive phone calls or texts. I'd suddenly get a voicemail, while using my phone, stating that I missed a call when it didn't ring. And if I tried to make a call, the call would immediately end without ringing. The only way I figured out to resolve this (even after searching Google for more ways to configure the settings), was to restart the phone.
Which brings me to my third issue. A small percentage of the time, it would restart in a normal, timely manner (1-2 minutes), but most of the time it would freeze on the startup screen for at least 5 minutes before finally loading in. Sometimes, if I held the power button and manually turned it off and back on, it would fix it, but not usually.
My fourth issue, was that sometimes if I plugged it into the charger, it would suddenly restart. It didn't seem like too much of a big deal at the time, until one of the times that it happened, it froze ENTIRELY on the startup screen. I tried doing what I did previously to hopefully get it to start again, but it continued to freeze. After searching online for answers and trying to troubleshoot it, the only answer I was able to find... Was to manually factory reset it. I would have considered bringing it it somewhere to be looked at by a professional, but I didn't have the time or the money for that, especially since I was not at home and needed the phone ASAP. Doing this was an absolute last resort for me and I was devastated.
Finally, what brought about the death of this phone, was that it's definitely not waterproof. I'll admit that this was entirely my fault, but I'd like to mention this as a warning to those who are used to nearly indestructible water resistant phones (like the Samsung Galaxy series). It happened to be on the sink counter beside me while I was brushing my teeth and I accidentally knocked it into the water stream. The charging port ended up frying and it no longer charges. Being that I had so many issues with it though, I'm thankful to have a reason to move on.
Also, I'd like to mention that if you're used to responsive pressure sensitive styluses (like the Galaxy Note series), the stylus for this phone is nothing like that. It's exactly like a stylus you'd buy from the dollar store, except it looks nice and fits inside the phone.
Another thing I'd like to note, is that this phone is very heavy compared to other phones and kind of bulky. I like to use PopSockets, and I never had issues with them before, but while using this phone I had to replace the base about once a month because it would just start peeling off, due to the weight. I ended up having to super glue it to my phone case, which resolved the issue. It also hurt my hand quite a bit while holding it for any length of time.
Despite all of these things, it did have numerous features that I liked, but they were software related, so I imagine they would probably be available on most Motorola phones. The battery also lasted a decent amount of time as well, about a day and a half as long as I didn't do too much gaming. The speaker was also nice and loud, but a little tinny at times. The camera was decent too, and I was able to take some nice pictures with it.
The cons definitely outweigh any positives in my opinion. What the point of a smart phone if it doesn't perform as a phone?