Motorola has proven to the mobile world that cell phone technology can be a bit earth friendly. The plastic parts of the Renew W233 are made out of recycled water bottles. The Renew also claims a 9 hour talk-time and an 18 standby time on its battery thus requiring less frequent charges – a feature that can only be more energy efficient if the cell phone owners remember to unplug the charger between charges. The reduced carbon emissions and waste from the use and manufacture of the Renew apparently required reduced features. Nonetheless it is still a decent phone for the modest cell phone user with a message that mobile convenience and earth-friendly can go together. Read on for the full review.
SIZE AND WEIGHT:
You won’t burn too much energy with this phone with its modest 83 grams. The dimensions are at 111×45×14.7mm (LxWxD).
STYLE & DESIGN:
Motorola keeps with the green theme with a lime-green trim and lime-green surrounding the navigation array. The color contrasts well with the black back and cream keypad. The MicroSD hides behind the battery – if this bugs you I doubt Motorola is begging you for forgiveness since there’s apparently no other place to put it from the Renew’s small size. There is a meek 2.5mm headphone jack on one side and the mini-USB and charger port on the other.
The keypad has a backlighting and its keys are flushed but are well spaced apart. They could have done better without the flushed keys but it shan’t be too much of an obstacle for texting or dialing once the fingers increase in sensitivity to detect the location of the smooth keys.
Other keys are the navigation controls that’s an OK key surrounded by a four-way control, two soft-keys, and the traditional TALK and END/POWER buttons. The left soft-key also activated the music player. Another key can be assigned to one of four functions. The keys are few.
The display is as simple as the design of the box and small. It is 1.44 inches with only 128×128 pixels with just 65,000 color supported. To say the least the resolution isn’t the hottest on the market and you won’t be watching your favorite episode of ‘Recycling Superhero’ while you wait for the eco-train. On the bright side of life the text is bright and clear but you can forget about changing the font or the brightness. What can be changed is the timing of the backlight and the design of the menu.
FEATURIFICS:
Since you’ve had a few sentences to get over the lack of resolution you shouldn’t be too disappointed that this phone doesn’t offer caller ID with a photo. You probably wouldn’t be able to tell who the heck it is anyhow. What it doesn’t offer is a 500 contact list capable of holding up to 6 numbers and email addresses per contact with the option of an additional 250 contacts with a memory card. That’s not all folks! There are a total of 35 polyphonic tones to match them to. The other features are basic and standard like Multi-media messaging, USB syncing, calculator, alarm, and other basics.
MEDIA:
This phone is really nothing more than a recycled MP3 player/phone. Don’t even stress about the lack of Bluetooth and concentrate on the fact that this phone is working towards keeping Santa’s North Pole from becoming a rainforest. The quality of the music is modest but better than most music players Santa gave out a decade ago. Get a memory card and you can save up to 2GB of music – top that MR. Sony Cassette Player Walkman!
The Renew does come with two games, Tetris and Sudoku with more to choose from. Since the phone’s processor is a tad slow, you might want to stick with your Xbox for your gaming pleasures.
CALLING:
The Renew is a dual band GSM 850/1900 phone. The Moto CrystalTalk does the Renew W233 some justice by providing an amplified clear voice and blocking out background noise. Enjoyment of the crystal clear calling can only be experienced in North America since the phone doesn’t support European GSM.
THE GIST OF IT
For it’s incredible inexpensive price with a service plan, recycled body and packaging, and Motorola’s partnership with Carbonfund.org – investing in renewable energies and deforestation – the Motorola Renew W233 is a good buy for someone not needing many fanciness to a phone and wanting to make a statement. Hopefully other manufacturers will catch on and have a more eco-friendly mindset when designing a phone.
SOME COMPLIMENTS: Recycled design and great call quality.
SOME COMPLAINTS: No volume rocker and poor display resolution.
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