Motorola W315 Cell Phone
Review
By Richard Baguley
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
Published on December 31, 2007
How much of a cell phone do you get for $25? The answer is not much, but that may be enough for many users. The Motorola W315 is a pre-paid cell phone that costs $24.99 and runs on Verizon's InPulse pre-paid service, where the user pays in advance for the service. This would make it an attractive pick for those who just want to make calls without the hassle of a monthly contract, but users looking for more sophisticated features will be disappointed; the W315 doesn't do email well, doesn't have a web browser, has no camera and can't play music or video.
This means it would be a poor pick for someone looking to take their music on the road; although the W315 has a basic audio player and a USB port on the left side, it doesn't come with a USB cable or any software to transfer music to the device. Neither does it have a camera to take photos or video, and there is no way to view videos or photos on the device. It's also the only cell phone that we have reviewed recently that doesn't have Bluetooth; it won't work with bluetooth headsets or headphones. If you want to use a headset, you have to use a wired one.
The audio quality of the W315 in calls is good, though; we found that both sent and received voices were clearly reproduced without the overemphasized bass or treble that we see on many phones. And it's also easy to manage contacts and calls; the included contact manager and call logging features are basic, but easy to use. Our only issue is that you can't search the contact list for a particular name; you can only type the first letter of the first name, then scroll down the list. this could be a real pain if you have a lot of friends; the E315 can hold up t thousand contacts, but scrolling through that many would be a frustrating exercise.
But the W315 quickly begins to look less attractive when you consider the features that many cell phone users take for granted. It can send and receive SMS text message, but it can't send or receive MMS messages that include photos or video, and it can only send emails through an SMS gateway (so your email address comes out as yourphonenumber@vzmail.com). And there is no web access: although Verizon's InPulse pre-paid service does offer web browsing (for $0.99 a day), the W315 doesn't have a web browser and doesn't support web browsing. And, as there is no way to add applications to the phone, you can't install a web browser.
The other software on the device is also basic. There's a fairly decent calendar application that has a reasonable set of features for managing schedules and altering you of upcoming appointments, but no to-do application or way to save text notes. And the W315 is an island; there is no way to synchronize your calendar or contacts with programs running on a PC or Mac.
The battery life of the W315 was also disappointing. In our talk time test, it lasted 2 hours and 22 minutes; significantly less than the average that we see. This could be a problem if you like to take long trips away from power supplies; while phones like the BlackBerry curve can keep calling for over 7 hours, the W315 will be begging for a power point after just a couple of hours. We also test phones for battery life while playing music and browsing the web, but the W315 wasn't capable of either.
So the W315 has some big limitations, and the pre-paid nature of the InPulse network is another. This might seem like a good deal to begin with, but it can get expensive; you have to pay a daily access fee of between $0.99 and $2.99, depending on which plan you go with. This daily fee is charged for any day you make or receive a call or text message, so a single wrong number or received text will quickly eat away at your balance. But, these issues aside, the W315 is a decent basic phone that users who just want to make calls without spending much up front could find ideal. Others who are looking for a wider range of features will be better off spending more on a more fully-featured phone.For a more in-depth review, visit the Motorola W315 Review at our partner WirelessInfo.com
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