My thoughts on the MPx220 after 5 days

By Frank
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Grand Master

Frank

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Posted (edited)

I received my AT&T branded MPx220 with the firmware revision of .343 on Tuesday and have been playing with ever since. When I ordered this phone I did not know if I was going to keep it or sell it to get an Audiovox SMT 5600 (I have already purchased one of these for my wife).

When I first opened up the box I wasn't too impressed with the look of the phone. I am not sure why but for a while it sat there and charged I actually thought I liked the looks from my MPx200 better. All of that changed after the first day of use.

I found quite a few things over the last few days that I really like and also quite a few things that I didn't like about the MPx220.

Pros

  • 1. Voice Dial Program - This program is one of the best additions to this phone. It makes dialing and pulling up programs very easily especially when you?re driving or have over 100 contacts to go through.
    2Battery Lifeb> - The battery life on this phone was just what I expected. I am getting the same amount of life out of the 220 as I did with my MPx200 with the WM2003 upgrade. I get 3 days with the Bluetooth on before I need to charge the phone. Yes it does not have the battery life of a simple Nokia, but this phone is far from a simple Nokia.
    3The Screenb> - Even though the screen is slightly smaller then both the MPx200 and the SMT 5600 it makes up for it with the quality of the new screen.
    4Volumeb> - I noticed the phones volume was not as load as it's predecessor the MPx200 but was louder then quite a few of the regular phones out on the market. If this is the volume everyone was complaining about after they went from the MPx200 they should try and talk on either the NEC 525 HDM or the Motorola V600.
    5The New File Viewerb> - This is a very nice add on to the MPx220. This allows users to open and view many documents you normally cannot see with a smartphone (IE: Word Documents, Excel Documents, PDF's).
    6The Keypadb> - I liked the feel of the keypad of the MPx220. The only thing that will take some time getting used to is the navigation buttons on the top of the phone. These seem to take up more space and I find myself pressing the back button when I try to end a call. I also liked the new light sensor they installed to keep the backlight of the keys off when you?re using the phone in proper lighting. This is a nice feature and should save you a small portion of your battery.
Cons
  • - I knew they were doing away with it on the 220, but why? It is so nice to be able to have one cable at my computer and now I have two. The only reason I can think of for changing this is because of the power output on the mini USB cable. They may be able to get a faster charge off of the proprietary Motorola cable that was included with the phone.
    No Speakerphone While the flip is closed - This was the same as the MPx200 and I was sure they would fix this issue with the 220. Why is this not a possibility? On my old i90 from Nextel I could actually scroll through my phone list from the outside LCD and make a call without opening the phone. This would be a nice feature for the 220.
    No Voice Dial Functionality while the phone is closed - This issue kind of goes along with issue #2. Why did they not include this? This would be a excellent feature if they ever got the speakerphone feature working while the flip is closed and also nice when you are using a Bluetooth headset.
    Voice Commands through Bluetooth do not work properly - This is something that definitely needs to be looked at by both Microsoft and Motorola. If Microsoft refuses to fix the problem with the Bluetooth stack then Motorola needs to go to a 3rd party provider and use someone else?s.Bluetooth usage with the battery lowow - I had some ID10T issues when I paired my HS820 up to the MPx220 but I did get them worked out and it worked great until my battery went to below 50%. It was like the Bluetooth shutoff completely and would not let me use the headset. I have seen posts about this on the board and I will follow them to see if there is a fix for this.Hinge Flimsy when Lockeded - When you open the hinge and the MPx220 locks into place the phone seems firm but if you try and clean off the screen and put a tiny bit of pressure the hinge seems to flex and the flip portion of the phone moves a slight bit. This will probably lead to a loose flip portion down the road.The Camera Flashsh - The flash on this phone is very weak but after all it is a phone. I see a lot of people comparing about this and I think to myself "If I want something to take high quality pictures I will buy a camera". I still think this should be improved upon but this should not be a deciding factor for the average consumer on purchasing this phone.

After using this phone for the last few days I have decided to keep it. The Audiovox has some nice features but overall in my mind when some of these bugs are fixed the Motorola will win hands down. With new versions of firmware coming out rapidly (seems like every month) I hope new additions will be made ( : cough : media player 10 : cough : ) and many of these bugs fixed.

Edited by Frank
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Grand Master

Frank

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The bluetooth battery problem may be a problem with the person working the phone :-). I am not 100% sure if it is a problem with the phone or if I am just being stupid.

I would check back with the phone in a couple months. I have seen reports of a Version 1.7 and a 1.8 firmware which may fix some of these. I am using the AT&T version .343. The Cingular version is 1.3 currently, but I think 1.7 will be released soon and there has been people claiming that moto is considering a consumer flash file for the upgrades.

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b0m8er

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The bluetooth battery problem may be a problem with the person working the phone :-).  I am not 100% sure if it is a problem with the phone or if I am just being stupid.

I would check back with the phone in a couple months.  I have seen reports of a Version 1.7 and a 1.8 firmware which may fix some of these.  I am using the AT&T version .343.  The Cingular version is 1.3 currently, but I think 1.7 will be released soon and there has been people claiming that moto is considering a consumer flash file for the upgrades.

585176975[/snapback]

Great... will I be able to upgrade my phone when new firmware is released??? I would have to send to moto? Or as you've said they'll make furmaware awailable to public?

Anyway - can you give me a link where I can read about it?

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Grand Master

Frank

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Great... will I be able to upgrade my phone when new firmware is released??? I would have to send to moto? Or as you've said they'll make furmaware awailable to public?

Anyway - can you give me a link where I can read about it?

585177036[/snapback]

I can't remember which forum I read it at (either mpx200.org, modaco.com, or howardforums.com) but one of the members stated that it was something that motorola was considering, but they had some issues to work through (who would host the file, return policy etc.).

If Motorola doesn't release the upgrades it will be a major headache for them. I don't want to loose my phone for two weeks because I had to send it off for Moto to do a 5 minute firmware flash.

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Grand Master

b0m8er

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If Motorola doesn't release the upgrades it will be a major headache for them.  I don't want to loose my phone for two weeks because I had to send it off for Moto to do a 5 minute firmware flash.

585177089[/snapback]

Thanks! I'll check sites you mentioned. As for flashing it yourself - I agree nobody wants to be without a phone for 2 weeks so moto should be concerned what to do:

1. release flash and deal with small percent of misflashes

2. "recall" phones for reflash and deal with angry customers waiting for their phones

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Grand Master

Frank

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It's a nice phone but from my experiences as a smartphone tester/user I'd recommend the C500 over the MPX

585177101[/snapback]

The C500 is the same as the Audiovox SMT 5600 here in the states. I have been playing around with that phone also. It is a very nice phone but in my opinion it has some problems that can't be fixed. The jog dial button is a pain to use, the keys atre small so it is easy to fat finger the buttons, to remove the SD card you must take out the battery, etc. It is a very nice phone, but after I compared it to the MPx220 I decided the Moto would better fit my needs.

Thanks! I'll check sites you mentioned. As for flashing it yourself - I agree nobody wants to be without a phone for 2 weeks so moto should be concerned what to do:

1. release flash and deal with small percent of misflashes

2. "recall" phones for reflash and deal with angry customers waiting for their phones

585177117[/snapback]

I would also be happy if they allowed AT&T/Cingular stores to flash the phone. This way you would have less chance off error, and a piece of hardware specifically designed to upgrade the phone with the newest firmware.

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Grand Master

b0m8er

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I would also be happy if they allowed AT&T/Cingular stores to flash the phone.? This way you would have less chance off error, and a piece of hardware specifically designed to upgrade the phone with the newest firmware.

585177154[/snapback]

That'd be great(Y)) I'll just go to my local Cingular store, wait for 5 minutes and get my phone reflashed! :woot::

I hope Moto goes this way! Or at least releases flash for public. But I would hate to send it back.... :((

By the way - is there 512mb mini SD card awailable??? And where can I find it?

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Grand Master

ahfunaki

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Well thanks for the review and such. I just have other issues with mine.

Like the MiniSD card slot doesn't work right. I cannot get the phone to view my files.

The God awful noise it makes when you turn it off/boot it up.

It freezes quite frequently.

My mic randomly stops working

The paint that the cingular logo on the bottom is made with peels off as soon as you start using it

And I'm using 1.3

I am getting it replaced tomrrow through XBM, maybe this was just a really defective one...

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Grand Master

b0m8er

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Well thanks for the review and such. I just have other issues with mine.

Like the MiniSD card slot doesn't work right. I cannot get the phone to view my files.

The God awful noise it makes when you turn it off/boot it up.

It freezes quite frequently.

My mic randomly stops working

The paint that the cingular logo on the bottom is made with peels off as soon as you start using it

And I'm using 1.3

I am getting it replaced tomrrow through XBM, maybe this was just a really defective one...

585177724[/snapback]

I'm sorry to hear that you had bad experience with MPX200. :( I had it for 2 weeks and it works perfectly. :wub: I hope that your phone was defective and a new one will work flawlessly for you. :yes:

Where did you buy an SD card from - I found 256 mb mini SD on amazon for 38$, but I was looking for something bigger - like 512 or even 1 GB... :p

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Rising Star

nuscur

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Posted
I received my AT&T branded MPx220 with the firmware revision of .343 on Tuesday and have been playing with ever since. When I ordered this phone I did not know if I was going to keep it or sell it to get an Audiovox SMT 5600 (I have already purchased one of these for my wife).

When I first opened up the box I wasn't too impressed with the look of the phone. I am not sure why but for a while it sat there and charged I actually thought I liked the looks from my MPx200 better. All of that changed after the first day of use.

I found quite a few things over the last few days that I really like and also quite a few things that I didn't like about the MPx220.

Pros

  • 1. Voice Dial Program - This program is one of the best additions to this phone. It makes dialing and pulling up programs very easily especially when you?re driving or have over 100 contacts to go through.
    2Battery Lifeb> - The battery life on this phone was just what I expected. I am getting the same amount of life out of the 220 as I did with my MPx200 with the WM2003 upgrade. I get 3 days with the Bluetooth on before I need to charge the phone. Yes it does not have the battery life of a simple Nokia, but this phone is far from a simple Nokia.
    3The Screenb> - Even though the screen is slightly smaller then both the MPx200 and the SMT 5600 it makes up for it with the quality of the new screen.
    4Volumeb> - I noticed the phones volume was not as load as it's predecessor the MPx200 but was louder then quite a few of the regular phones out on the market. If this is the volume everyone was complaining about after they went from the MPx200 they should try and talk on either the NEC 525 HDM or the Motorola V600.
    5The New File Viewerb> - This is a very nice add on to the MPx220. This allows users to open and view many documents you normally cannot see with a smartphone (IE: Word Documents, Excel Documents, PDF's).
    6The Keypadb> - I liked the feel of the keypad of the MPx220. The only thing that will take some time getting used to is the navigation buttons on the top of the phone. These seem to take up more space and I find myself pressing the back button when I try to end a call. I also liked the new light sensor they installed to keep the backlight of the keys off when you?re using the phone in proper lighting. This is a nice feature and should save you a small portion of your battery.
Cons
  • - I knew they were doing away with it on the 220, but why? It is so nice to be able to have one cable at my computer and now I have two. The only reason I can think of for changing this is because of the power output on the mini USB cable. They may be able to get a faster charge off of the proprietary Motorola cable that was included with the phone.
    No Speakerphone While the flip is closed - This was the same as the MPx200 and I was sure they would fix this issue with the 220. Why is this not a possibility? On my old i90 from Nextel I could actually scroll through my phone list from the outside LCD and make a call without opening the phone. This would be a nice feature for the 220.
    No Voice Dial Functionality while the phone is closed - This issue kind of goes along with issue #2. Why did they not include this? This would be a excellent feature if they ever got the speakerphone feature working while the flip is closed and also nice when you are using a Bluetooth headset.
    Voice Commands through Bluetooth do not work properly - This is something that definitely needs to be looked at by both Microsoft and Motorola. If Microsoft refuses to fix the problem with the Bluetooth stack then Motorola needs to go to a 3rd party provider and use someone else?s.Bluetooth usage with the battery lowow - I had some ID10T issues when I paired my HS820 up to the MPx220 but I did get them worked out and it worked great until my battery went to below 50%. It was like the Bluetooth shutoff completely and would not let me use the headset. I have seen posts about this on the board and I will follow them to see if there is a fix for this.Hinge Flimsy when Lockeded - When you open the hinge and the MPx220 locks into place the phone seems firm but if you try and clean off the screen and put a tiny bit of pressure the hinge seems to flex and the flip portion of the phone moves a slight bit. This will probably lead to a loose flip portion down the road.The Camera Flashsh - The flash on this phone is very weak but after all it is a phone. I see a lot of people comparing about this and I think to myself "If I want something to take high quality pictures I will buy a camera". I still think this should be improved upon but this should not be a deciding factor for the average consumer on purchasing this phone.

After using this phone for the last few days I have decided to keep it. The Audiovox has some nice features but overall in my mind when some of these bugs are fixed the Motorola will win hands down. With new versions of firmware coming out rapidly (seems like every month) I hope new additions will be made ( : cough : media player 10 : cough : ) and many of these bugs fixed.

585176207[/snapback]

they wont have a media player 10 install for this phone

the camera on the v300/400/600 was way better

i dont have that flip issue mine locks into place even w/ leather case

my bluetooth doesnt kill my battery

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Grand Master

Frank

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they wont have a media player 10 install for this phone

the camera on the v300/400/600 was way better

i dont have that flip issue mine locks into place even w/ leather case

my bluetooth doesnt kill my battery

585183148[/snapback]

And where are you getting your information about MP10? Any reason why you think they won't include it?

What firmware revision do you have? The camera was horrible in the early .325 versions and has gotten better with every version after. I am using the AT&T .343 version and I used to have a V600 and the .343 revision of the camera on the MPx220 beat out the V600.

If you read the post carefully I said it locked in place BUT if I am cleaning off of the screen and apply just a bit of pressure the screen bends backwards. It was not like this on the MPx200.

I never stated Bluetooth killed my battery. I had problems with bluetooth working after my battery got below 50%.

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Grand Master

ahfunaki

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what format did u use? i installed a program called "beta player" on mine.. it plays everything

.avi format. And yea, I was using betaplayer to play them...but since my card doesn't show up to the phone I couldn't play them at all...

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