Motorola Motoyuva W230

It’s great to see mobile phone manufacturers incorporating multiple features into low-end handsets targeted at the entry-level segment. The Motoyuva W230 is a slight upgrade from the previous Motoyuva that was simply a basic radio mobile. The new version promises to be a step ahead by incorporating an MP3 player. But does it deliver? Here are my findings on the W230.

Design
I rather liked the candybar design of the W230; it’s ergonomic and lightweight. Unlike some other basic models, the W230 doesn’t have an often-hard-to-use rubberized keypad. It has a 2.5mm earphone socket on one side and the miniUSB charging / PC docking port on the other. The speakers are on the top. The 1.3 inch CSTN display has a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels and 65k colors.

The W230 sits comfortably in your hand. I liked the design from all angles except for the fact that it lacks a hot-swap slot for the microSD card. Of course if you do buy a 1GB microSD card it’s not like you’ll be removing it often, but it helps to have an easier facility, doesn’t it?

Features and Performance
The W230 is a simple phone, so it doesn’t offer any extravagant features. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t try to deliver. From the Media point of view the W230 seems VFM. The FM radio is easy to use and has superb reception, even while commuting inside the train. It includes auto scanning and setting presets.

Sadly, it didn’t seem to be able to save the channels correctly and ended up saving the same channels twice. You might as well set the frequency, fine-tune it, and save the presets yourself by holding down a number key on the keypad that will correspond to the channel preset. It’s a cinch. There's also a recording feature for the radio.