- World’s first mobile phone made using plastics comprised of recycled water bottles–case is 100 percent recyclable
- Compatible with T-Mobile’s MyFaves service–unlimited calling to your five most called contacts
- Handsfree speakerphone; text and picture messaging; MP3 player; CrystalTalk technology reduces background noise
- Up to 9 hours of talk time, up to 432 hours (18 days) of standby time
- What’s in the Box: handset, battery, charger, quick start guide, user manual
Amazon.com Product Description
Get all the communication features you expect from Motorola while reducing your carbon footprint with the Motorola Renew W233 from T-Mobile. Not only is the plastic housing of Renew made from plastics comprised of recycled water bottles and 100 percent recyclable, but it is also the world’s first carbon neutral phone.
The Motorola Renew is the world’s first mobile phone made using plastics comprised of recycled water bottles. |
A great phone for those just looking for the basics in mobile communication, the Renew will keep you connected to your closest friends and family members with T-Mobiles myFaves (offering unlimited calls to your five most-used phone numbers) as well as via SMS text and MMS multimedia messaging. The phone also features Motorola’s CrystalTalk technology to helps reduce background noise, a speakerphone for handsfree conversations, digital audio player, MicroSD memory expansion (to 2 GB), and up to 9 hours of talk time
T-Mobile Service
The Motorola Renew operates on GSM 850/1900 networks and is compatible with T-Mobile’s myFaves service, which allows you to call up to five of your most common contacts–on any network, even landlines–without using any of your minutes. Learn more about myFaves from T-Mobile.
Download cool new games, HiFi Ringers (real songs by today’s hottest artists), MegaTones (instrumental versions of songs), and wallpapers quickly, as well as stay connected via the Web, instant messaging, and email.
Phone Features
If your eco-conscience has been nagging you lately, the environmentally responsible Motorola Renew was designed for you. The phone made from 25 percent post consumer recycled plastics, and its plastic case is 100 percent recyclable. It’s also the world’s first carbon neutral phone. Through an alliance with Carbonfund.org, Motorola offsets the carbon dioxide required to manufacture, distribute and operate the phone through investments in renewable energy sources and reforestation. The phone has earned Carbonfund.org’s CarbonFree Product Certification after an extensive product life-cycle assessment.
A no-frills communicator, the Renew is a great mobile voice and text/picture messaging companion. |
The box packaging has been reduced by 22 percent in comparison with standard Motorola packaging. Additionally, the reduced package size and weight helps to reduce transportation emissions. Minimizing its carbon footprint through energy, transportation and material efficiencies this device does its part reduce its climate impact.
A no-frills communication partner for your on-the-go lifestyle, the candybar-style Renew has a 1.6-inch LCD screen (128 x 128 pixels, 65K colors) and a standard alpha-numeric keypad. Sitting between the keypad and display are a four-way navigator, send/end keys, two soft navigation keys, and a dedicated digital audio player key. The phone has a small amount of internal memory–enough to store 500 contact entries as well as ringtones and other information–and it can be expanded via optional MicroSD memory cards (up to 2 GB in size). The phonebook can store multiple numbers per contact entry and is compatible with ringer groups as well as photo/ringer ID. Other features include the most recent 10 dialed/received/missed phone calls, a protected USB port on the right side, and a protected headphone jack (2.5mm) on the left side.
Motorola’s innovative CrystalTalk technology automatically accounts for background noise during a call and adjusts the audio quality based on ambient noise conditions to provide the optimal conversational experience. CrystalTalk also reduces the volume of the background noise picked up by the microphone during a call, making it possible to be more easily heard over the phone while in a noisy environment.
If you need text messaging capabilities, the Renew has you covered as support is built-in for sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages. T9 predictive text entry, a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built-into the unit–a plus for text messaging users.
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Other features include:
- GPRS data connectivity
- Handsfree speakerphone
- Polyphonic and MP3 ringtones
- Vibrating alert
- Digital audio player compatible with MP3 files
- Tools: Alarm clock, calculator, calendar, voice memo
- Downloadable games (Java MIDP 2.0)
- Web browser (WAP 2.0/xHTML)
Vital Statistics
The Motorola Renew weighs 2.93 ounces and measures 4.37 x 1.77 x 0.58 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 9 hours of talk time, and up to 18 days of standby time. It runs on the 850/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS frequencies.
Motorola Renew W233 Phone, Green
The W233 Renew is a cute little phone with basic features. The phone came with a simple manual, battery, AC charger, and stereo headset with mic. The W233 will accept a standard MicroSD card (not included) up to 2GB for picture & MP3 storage. The MicroSD slot is located under the battery. The handset and speaker phone audio quality is surprisingly good, the CrystalTalk noise reduction feature works well. The battery life is tremendous, so you don’t need to charge it all the time. Two games are included on the W233, Sudoku and Tetris. If you need a low cost phone that feels solid, the Motorola W233 Renew is just what you need. What is good for the environment is good for you too!
Rating: 4 / 5
This phone is small, light, nice looking and inexpensive.
The big problem with it is that Motorola Phone Tools (latest version is currently V5.24a) doesn’t recognize the phone. This means that, you cannot sync your contacts or your calender to your computer, backup your contacts or transfer your old data from your previous phone.
According to the Motorola customer support message boards, the phone will never be supported by motorola phone tools, not for a technical reason, rather the functionality has been deliberately withheld. So despite what you may read on Motorola’s main website, much mobile phone advertising, and review sites that claim to have tested the phone; but clearly just paraphrase the marketing materials (I’m looking at you CNET); the phone will never sync your calender or contacts with outlook and you’ll never be able to backup or import your phone data.
You can transfer music to it, but there’s a trick to it. You have to plug the phone into your USB port and quickly follow a prompt on the phone’s screen to switch to storage mode. It then pretends to be a thumb drive.
So in conclusion, the phone is hobbled, and by Motorola’s own admission, deliberately so. In my opinion, it is deeply disrespectful of Motorola to pull this bait and switch on it’s customers. Shame on you, Motorola.
Rating: 2 / 5
Pros: I have very basic needs in a cell phone: I just talk with
co-workers. Important features to me are good reception, long battery
life and ease of use. The Renew offers all of these. I also wanted a
speakerphone. Buttons have nice tactile feedback.
Cons: My previous phone was a basic Nokia, and they do the user interface
better. Battery reserve and signal strength icons are hard to read. The
speakerphone is of marginal quality; I found it annoying after about 20
seconds. Buttons are on the small side
Summary: I’ve only had the Renew for a couple weeks after my previous
phone wore out. I’m getting used to it, but the major features I want
all work well. Text is easy to read, but the indicator icons (battery
and signal strength) are not very pronounced and difficult to interpret.
My previous Nokia had even lower resolution but managed to convey that
info clearly.
The Renew’s green features are what prompted me to take a look. The MP3
capability is handy but I doubt I’ll ever use it. Others have reported
that 8 GB microSD cards work, although only 2 GB is advertised. The web
browser is fairly useless because of the small screen.
This phone is an excellent basic cell phone, but if you are looking for
smart phone features, this phone won’t fit the bill.
Rating: 4 / 5
After my previous phone’s screen broke last weekend, I was trying to decide whether to just get the screen fixed or whether I should check out a new phone. My warranty was up, and fixing the phone would have costed $30, but I wouldn’t have had it for about 2 days. I decided to head over to T-Mobile because I had been looking at some phones online. I decided on this phone easily. While it’s features are basic, it’s very easy to use, and the design is very cool. I’ve gotten multiple compliments, and some people even said that they wanted the Renew also, but they would have to change networks. The reason I really decided to buy this was because it was cheaper than most phones, it has a sleek design, and it is environmentally friendly.
The only downside I would have to say is that it is “supposed” to have a nine hour talk time. I would have to say that it’s not even close to that. While I do tend to play the games fairly often (Tetris and Sudoku are included! And they’re not just lame demos), I have noticed that the battery gets low pretty quickly. I have charged it with my old Motorola charger as well as with my new one. My new one seemed to do a better job than my old one, but I’m not really that impressed with how I have to charge it every day. Oh, and the ringtones and backgrounds are pretty limited, but you could just download some I guess.
Other than that, it’s a nice phone. It automatically locks when you’re not using it so that it doesn’t dail anyone from your pocket or purse without you knowing.
Rating: 4 / 5