Motorola V170 / V171 / V173 Specs, Features & Reviews

I cannot say that I am in love with Tracfone's version of this V-170 (refurbished) phone, but it works when I turn it on, and is okay for very basic texting and talking. DO NOT get this phone if you are a person trying to impress others with your phone... it won't! It has a clamshell design and SHORT battery life (2-3 days on standby). No where near the battery life that Moto. claims for it!

I mentioned the clamshell (flip phone) design because my C-139 Motorola has made numerous calls from my Levi pockets unbeknownst to me!

PROS: Clamshell (protected keypad).
Only Fair reception compared to C-139.
Good reception when compared to V-260.
External antenna can be unscrewed and another (car) antenna can be used - extending range.

CONS: Poor battery life on standby.
A rather large phone by today's standards.
External antenna can be a nuisance, too!

I got this phone from walmart as part of the tracfone "starter pack" back in 2004. The main reason I got the phone was because of it being a tracfone product ( I had an old school nokia phone that they offered several years before I got the motorola one and the service was incredible, if you are a very occasional cell user, I got that one simply because I had a child and in the even of an emergency I did need a cell) The phone worked great, it did start to echo right before I got a contract phone, However for the money you pay this model is a great value for the money and it also came with great service, no problems dropping calls or breaking up or any of that. In fact 5 years after I got the phone, I am now (to my own disbelief) passing this phone on to my daughter. (she is 8 and we have encounterd 1 situation where her having a cell would have been extremely helpful, however she has no real need for a cell, but she has saved the money to buy the minutes and charger that is required to activate the phone ( i lost my charger long ago and the phone is still "on" under the tracfone plan however there are no minutes on it)and it is still in good working order. All in all this model phone under the plan that I got it was the very best investment for the time.

This phone is perfect for me. Obviously, if you need a bunch of features and a ever climbing phone bill, then this phone isn't for you. If you just need to make an occassional phone call and the occassional text message, it's perfect. Also, I have double mins for the life of the phone, from Tracfone and I get 100 mins for $10.78, a month, which is more than enough mins for me.(I have their 50 mins a month for $10, but with the double mins I get 100) I had a phone with AT&T and it cost me about $24 a month for the same amount of mins.

I've been using this phone for about 3 years and I love it. I only use a phone for basic communication - not for a status symbol, camera, text messaging, impressive looks or games. I have had almost no dropped calls and I am able to page through menu items and make calls with one hand. It is easy to use, has more rings than I need (I've used my original ring since I got it), has a clear readable color display, and good sound. It is quite economical the way I use it. I use computers and PDAs for other items that some may want included on a cell phone, but I have never had that need.

I use this phone with Tracfone because it's very cheap. I would only suggest this phone for a "first time" cell phone user, though. It's very simple, which is good for younger children and senior citizens. But not for teens and adults.

PROS:
Nice size
Doesn't take too long to send a text message
Good price
Good reception

CONS:
Poor graphics
Bad vibrater - I can hardly feel it even when I'm holding it in my hand
Soft ringtones - very difficult to hear
Slow texting - makes me skip letters and make mistakes

I really don't like this phone, but what can you expect for $20?
Very soon I'm switching to At&T's Go-phone service because Tracfone intentionally ripped my mother off of at least 400 minutes.
I hope my reveiw was helpful to you.

ok..for my first phone, i loved it!

-it calls people
-it texts

thats all i really needed

pros:
-taught me easily how to text with looking at the keeps
-i got calls and made calls
-it was dropped like 50 billion times, and thrown 100 times, and still works SOOO well

cons:
i wish i had a camera
i wish i could get ringtones

PROS: Cheap (literally)
Gosh! It's a "flip-phone"!
CONS: Battery Life Horrible
Standby 28 Hours
Talk 1 1/2 Hours
LOW RECEIVE VOLUME
LOW RING VOLUME
DISPLAY HORRIBLE!

Please complain to Tracfone "over and over and over and over"! They STILL SELL this genuine PIECE OF JUNK! They will NOT replace it after 30 days - so BEWARE! By the time you decide it is JUNK - 15 days have passed in a flash! Tracfone and their "We No in America" representatives are as bad as the phone! IF you can handle a "pretend phone or you use it ONLY once - then AVOID THSI MOTOROLA JUNK!"

THANKS MOTOROLA FOR DUMPING YOUR JUNK PHONES IN AMERICA! ELSEWHERE THEY HAVE PHONES THAT REALLY WORK! NOT HERE! NO!

I had with phone with Tracfone, and it is alright. The screen is bright, the keys are comfortable, it is relatively small, and it is fairly easy to navigate. It lacks much memory, an external Caller ID (which is a big deal for me), a camera, and for me the battery life wasn't spectacular by any means. This is the kind of phone you give as a gift to someone who never has had a phone, or is technologically challenged, not a phone for the people who want bells and whistles. Tracfone's service, at least in my region, southwest Ohio, was less than ideal. That's why I switched and got a Nokia 6102i, which is an excellent phone!

Pros:
small
lightweight
color screen
easy to navigate
flip phone

Cons:
no external screen
no camera
very little memory
small screen

If you are looking for a prepaid phone which is basic and cheap, you may want to look into the V170, if not, other prepaid plans have better phones and rates.

I bought this phone after wrecking my expensive phone and finding Cingular wouldn't help me get a new phone cheap because I was only 8 months into a 2 year commitment. After Cingular tried to place me in a full priced phone, I went to Wal-Mart where the clerk told me I could buy this pay-as-you-go phone and use my sim card instead of the pay-as-you-go sim card provided. I did, and Viola! I am back in business with a decent phone for a mininum price. My sim card causes the phone to recognize my regular monthly plan.

It's not a top of the line phone, but it's a quality phone for the price. It's sturdy, has a louder ring tone then my previous expensive phone and has a nice (albeit small) color display. Battery signal meter is hard to see using the wallpaper supplied but I get by.

Buy it. You'll be O.K. with us.

I like this phone because it flips open (it doesn't call Istanbul when buttons are accidentally pushed while it's in my pocket) and it seems to work the way it should, except for one recurring problem......

I'm on my second TracFone Motorola V170. The first one would go 30 hours on standby til the low battery warning beep started sounding. The standby time, according to Motorola is supposed to be 180 hours.

I called Tracfone and they were nice, as usual. I told them about the problem and they sent another battery. The exact same situation occured, 30 hours on standby and the low battery warning beep started sounding.

I called Tracfone, again, and they were nice, as usual. I told them about the short battery life. They said I needed a new phone. The new phone arrived in 2 days.

The replacement phone is doing the same thing, it goes "flat" in about 30 hours.

I think that Motorola has a quality control issue or a design issue with the V170. The batteries or the phone itself will not deliver the 180 hours standby they claim.

Tracfone does their own support on this phone and it's costing them a great deal of money to try and help the customers who have them, if my experience is typical.

I'm going to keep after them to get a phone that has adequate battery life.....