Motorola W175 Prepaid Phone (Tracfone) Reviews

Average Customer Rating - 12 Reviews


4.0 out of 5 stars Good for the basics., November 23, 2010
I've had this phone for three years ever since my old Tracfone quit on me, and it hasn't had any major problems yet. It's a very basic phone; you can text message, call people, etc., but there is no web access, media storage, etc. You can't receive or send texts with pictures in them either. So get this if you just want a phone that performs all the basic functions, nothing special.
One very awesome thing about this phone is that it is very hard to break. I call it indestructible, as I drop it on the concrete all the time, thrown it across rooms, and even dropped it from the top of the stairs to the floor below, and it does not break. The back opens and the battery and SIM card will fall out, but the screen has yet to crack and it has yet to stop functioning.
The only problem I've ever experienced with this phone is that it will sometimes mix up your text messages in the order that they are sent.
Other than that, this is a good phone, but if you are considering buying this for your teenage son or daughter, you can expect them to complain because it doesn't have any of the cool features in many phones today, and the design is rather simple, with no QWERTY keyboard or touchscreen.

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheap, Dinky, Little Cellphone Packed With Surprising Features, April 28, 2009
The one thing the package doesn't tell you is that the phone needs to be charged for 5 hours before one can activate it or use it. That was okay; I didn't need it right away but it proves that even with an "emergency" cell phone a little pre-planning is needed.

Once I had it charged up and activated, it proved to be a handy way to have a "local" phone number while on vacation. Despite the affordable price, this cellphone comes with a full bank of features including caller ID, texting and the ability to store and auto-dial frequently used numbers. One buys a chunk of minutes either on a card in a store, from the Tracfone website or by calling Tracfone's number. Every time more minutes are loaded on the phone, the service period gets extended so one can chose to keep this "temporary" cell phone going for as long as one wants. The service expiration date shows on the screen along with the time of day and how many minutes of time left.

The audio quality was excellent and there have been no dropped calls. When I changed time zones the phone updated the time display instantly. I'd recommend this as an excellent way to try out a cell phone for a child or senior citizen, to have an emergency or backup phone and to have a "local" phone number for a place where you frequently vacation.

5.0 out of 5 stars trac phone, September 28, 2009
i ordered and recived my phone quicker than i expected. and am yery happy with it.

4.0 out of 5 stars Does the job!, February 6, 2010
I purchased the Tracfone for my brother to use while he was visiting us at Christmastime. Since he lives and teaches in Japan, his Japanese cellphone would not work here in the states so I got the Tracfone a few weeks before his scheduled trip and shipped it to him. This way he'd have a phone with him once he got to the airport in the US. It was soooo easy to work with, set up online, enter names and phone numbers and add minutes to! I was very impressed! The only small problem that I had was getting the battery cover to click into place securely. Since my brother never mentioned it as having been a problem while he used it for two weeks, I'm guessing it stayed on even though its "click into place" feature seemed a little sketchy. We intend to keep it as a backup for emergencies now. Great little phone! With more bells and whistles that I expected it to have for the price!

5.0 out of 5 stars great basic phone, May 15, 2009
PRO:
-great battery life
-great call quality
-great speakerphone
-great reception
-holds a lot of text messages
-holds a lot of contacts
-can hold contacts on the phone or the sim card

CONS:
-only one phone number per contact
-cant send a text message to an email address


1.0 out of 5 stars Exception that Proves the Rule, April 10, 2010
My experience with this phone was all bad. Apparently I got the Lemon. The one I received never worked. Reaching Tracfone for help was no easy matter. What was worse, I was blamed for the problems I was having, and I had to call several times before I got a new battery mailed to me. That did not help the problem. Rather than waste any more time, I threw the phone away and lost my minutes. That is one good thing about Tracfones....they are cheap enough that you can do that!

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, inexpensive phone, August 10, 2009
I was spending too much for cell service being I am a lite user. So I set out to buy the least expensive phone available and "pay as I go." The Motorola W175 was the cheapest phone I could find. I paid $15 for mine and got "double minutes for life." Which is really just a sales gimmick. Otherwise minutes from Tracfone are overpriced. You can buy a double minutes option from them, but that stand alone purchase is $25. I got the phone, double minutes for life, 20 mins of airtime, and 2 months of service for $15. You should get a similar "starter" deal. The Motorola W175 phone on sale here is NOT a double minutes for life phone, by the way. Just FYI.

As others have said, this sort of "pre pay" deal isn't for the heavy phone user...or even the modest one. This is more for people like me who use their cell phone sparingly, and may even go days at a time without using it at all. And if you do have conversations, they are short. I mean think about it...a half hour conversation costs $3 to $5 with Tracfone. Depending how you buy your minutes. So if you have several or more of those half hour conversations a month, heck, you can get a pre payed "no contract" plan via Straight Talk with 1000 mins and 1000 text included...for $30 a month. Straight Talk is owned and run by Tracfone, btw. And Virgin has unlimited talk and text for $50. With Tracfone you get no "mobile to mobile" or "nights and weekends." You simply get what you pay for. No ups, no extras.

So Tracfone (and the similar Net10) is for people who use the cell phone 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there...a couple minutes a day to talk to the kids, maybe? Or to have a phone around "just in case." Maybe let the kids use it on sleepovers, etc. To "keep in touch" with home.

So far as the phone itself...its plain, sturdy, has good build quality, and looks decent next to similarly styled Moto's. It has a loud speakerphone, a big text display, and keeps a charge well, also. The menus are simple and well laid out. It makes calls, takes calls, sends text, receives text. Thats it. The buttons feel nice, and it looks better in person then in the pictures. It is a simple, plain phone. 4.5in high, around 1.7in wide. Nice candy bar sized phone, lightweight but not cheap feeling. Service is reliable so far, good connection, calls are clear, none have dropped. The phone seems to get a strong signal here in the L.A. area, however it does take two or three minutes to find the signal when you power on the phone from OFF. I don't know if that is a phone issue or a network issue? But its not a big deal to me.

For the phone, double minutes for life, 3 months of service, and 140 mins of airtime, I paid $30 total. Thats enough for me for a month and a half...maybe two. And if I need more minutes I can get more for a little bit of cash anytime to add to the phone. Pay as you go. It suits me fine. I was paying $50 a month before for a phone I hadn't used much in almost 3 years. So this is great for me.


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