This flip phone boasts the best of two networks with features including push-to-talk, Direct Talk and a speakerphone. Philip Berne investigates if two networks are better than one.
Review summary of the Motorola ic502:
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 If you just want better calls from your basic Nextel phone, this is the one that makes better calls and still works as a walkie-talkie. The contact list is simple and effective, if a bit ugly on the low-res screen. The subscription voice command service is a strange addition, hopefully not the start of a trend. Otherwise, it’s a tough phone that does what it's supposed to and not much more. Release: November 2006. Price: $60.
Pros: Durable design; better calls than many Nextel phones; loud speakerphone.
Cons: Dearth of features; low-resolution screen; unresponsive keys; lack of messaging options; strange voice commands service.
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Full Motorola ic502 Review:
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Design
The Motorola ic502 will not fool anyone into thinking it is a purely CDMA phone, it has Nextel written all over its large, rubberized shell. The phone meets several military durability standards, including vibration and dust, and it looks the part. The buttons are large and plastic that feel a bit loose and are very unresponsive, especially the "Menu/OK" key, which registered only about half the time we pressed it.
Calling - Good
The point of a hybrid CDMA / iDEN device is to benefit from the call quality of CDMA and the walkie-talkie versatility of iDEN. We're pleased to report that the Motorola ic502 does fulfill its promise of better call quality, compared to other phone's we've recently tested on Nextel's iDEN network. Features were light beyond the impressive list of Nextel services, such as Direct Talk for off-network walkie-talkie service, Group Connect and Direct Send, which beams contact information over the walkie-talkie. The ic502 also boasts a surprisingly loud speakerphone, but the phone lacks Bluetooth capabilities, and the voice commands app is actually a subscription-based dial-up service that requires you to make a call every time you use it. The address book held all the fields you'd expect on a Nextel phone, with space for five numbers and walkie-talkie groups, and while-you-type searching made browsing more pleasant. In our tests, we got about three hours 20 minutes of talk time, which is more than the 2.8 hours Sprint claims.
Messaging - Mediocre
The bare minimum of messaging options have been included on the Motorola ic502. The phone handles SMS only. Predictive text input helps with typing, and the address book is accessible through a menu item from the To: field. Otherwise, there is no MMS messaging (and without a camera, what would be the point?), no instant messaging, and no e-mail. The display can show a satisfactory 140 characters for incoming SMS messages, but shrinks to a paltry 41 characters on the composition screen. The phone's keys are not uncomfortable, but the "Back" button is placed to the right of the right navigational key, which seems like a better spot for a "Forward" key than a Back. The phone has data access over Sprint's slower 1xRTT network, which is faster than iDEN but far slower than 3G. It has a web browser, capable of only basic surfing.
Price and availability
Available now from Sprint Nextel, the Motorola ic502 retails for $250, or $60 with a two-year service agreement.
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