- Bluetooth Technology
- WAP / Web Browser WAP 2.0
- EMS / Picture Messaging
- Predictive Text Entry Technology: iTAP
- Data-Capable
Product Description
This offshoot of the SLVR V8 keeps many of its best features, including a super-slim profile, Bluetooth, speakerphone, and push-to-talk. Other features of this GSM phone include Java 2.0, MMS, USB, and class 10 GPRS.Amazon.com Product Description
Need to thin down? The Motorola L2 is the answer. This stylish, quad-band world phone has more than just great looks, with features like Bluetooth, mobile email, a speakerphone, and more. Now you can have a skinny phone that’s big on the features that make your life easier.
Your thin friend. See the features of the Motorola L2 in detail. |
Design
At less than a half-inch thick, the L2 borrows heavily from the popular design of the Motorola SLVR L7. A large 128 x 160 color display with 65,000 colors resides above the handset’s backlit control pad. Most of the phone’s menus and features are controlled by a circular control pad just above the numeric keypad. Up/down buttons are placed on the left side, and there’s also a highly accessible mini-USB port on the right side of the phone for data synchronization.
Calling Features
The L2′s internal phone book can hold up to 500 contacts. The phone also supports polyphonic ringtones as well as MP3-based ringers, allowing you to use portions of your favorite songs to alert you to incoming calls. A number of ringtones come preloaded on the phone and more ringtones can be downloaded from Cingular Wireless’ MEdia Net service. And for times when you want to be discreet, there’s a vibrating alert. A built-in speakerphone makes it easy to talk without having the phone to your ear.
Because the L2 is Bluetooth enabled, wireless headsets can be configured with the phone for total handsfree operation.
Messaging, Internet, and Tools
The L2 is a messaging and wireless Internet powerhouse. Support is built in for sending and receiving pictures, text, graphics, and sound via messages. Instant messaging is supported via AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and ICQ, and the phone also ships with a built-in email client. Plus, there’s a wireless Web browser for MEdia Net downloads and mobile web browsing. Cingular’s MEdia Net service lets you receive and send emails, read news headlines, get weather updates, download games and ringtones, and more. iTap text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is built into the unit– a plus for mobile email and text messaging users.
A number of handy software tools are bundled with the L2, including a calculator, a calendar, and an alarm clock. Use the phone’s Bluetooth capability to set up a wireless link with a Bluetooth accessory or connect to a computer or hand-held device to exchange and synchronize data.
Entertainment
The L2 supports custom graphics for wallpapers so you can dress up the phone to suit your mood. Support for gaming is also built into the phone and games are available for download via the Cingular MEdia Net service.
Vital Statistics
The Motorola L2 weighs 2.8 ounces and measures 4.33 x 1.93 x .41 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5 hours of digital talk time, and up to 14 days of digital standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.
This phone was an upgrade from my Nokia 6010 (a very reliable phone, but that time had passed by).
I wanted a speakerphone to avoid carrying the wired earpiece the 6010 required. I wanted Bluetooth to take advantage of my Palm TX PDA with a huge contact list.
The build is mainly plastic. It’s so light, I can barely feel it in my pocket. So thin, I don’t think it could withstand much of a fall (though I haven’t tried yet).
The keypad is small, and if you’re not comfortable with alot of fingernail dialing, I would look elsewhere.
The screen is very nice, large relative the size of the phone, easily readable in daylight.
The Bluetooth works well, I can dial using my Palm TX PDA. Transferring records from the PDA or PC does take time, as each individual record has to be “accepted” one at a time by the L2. You can transfer video, pictures, music via Bluetooth fairly easily from a PC.
The speaker is acceptably loud, and audible over traffic if you are in a car. The volume dialing is only “up,” so you have to cycle through 7 volume settings to get to the lowest setting again.
Call quality is equal to my Nokia 6010, reception slightly worse, but not significantly. Battery life is 24-36 hours with standby/frequent calls/heavy Bluetooth/speaker use.
The address book does have an irritating feature of making each phone/fax/email entry a separate listing, which results in one name being listed several times.
A good phone for cellphone “bottom-feeders” such as myself looking for a simple phone with speaker and Bluetooth and not much else.
Rating: 4 / 5
I’ve been waiting for a phone like this – a phone without any frills but gets the job done perfectly.
Pros:
1. Stylish, sleek, ergonomic
2. Great reception and crisp call quality
3. Excellent battery life (it goes 4-5 days on a charge!)
4. Quad-band world-phone supporting GSM 850/900/1800/1900
5. No frills (no camera, no iTunes, just the phone please). When was the last time you seriously used a camera-picture anyway? And sometimes a phone with a camera actually gets in the way because you are not allowed to take such a phone to some sensitive locations/buildings.
The only reason I gave 4 stars (instead of 5) is that some features are not designed well:
1. The phone book: you can not store multiple numbers for the same person (cell, work, home, etc). Either they all show up as separate entries on the phonebook, or show up as same name for different numbers.
2. Some people complain about the display and the speakerphone quality; I find it passable but not great.
Rating: 4 / 5
I’ve been waiting for this kind of phone. I don’t need any camera (most of them produce poor picture anyway) or mp3 player (you can never replace iPod with any cell phone built in mp3 player). Just give me a phone that works best for phone calls. Business user will appreciate all the extra solid and basic functions. A speaker phone, quad band (for international travel), bluetooth and very sleek looking metal casing. Using the latest Motorola Phone Tool with bluetooth, I can connect to the internet with 115 bkps, it uses GRPS though, not the prefered EDGE technology. I was impressed by the ease of signing in my Yahoo email (it also has AOL and MSN preinstalled) and messenger (AOL and ICQ are available too). I also tried to access my Gmail account, works great.
Rating: 5 / 5
I purchased this phone as a backup to my Cingular 8125 (as I hate taking that thing outside of work–love that phone, but it is freaking bulky!).
My basic requirements were: quad band, bluetooth, small form factor, and cheap. This phone fits the bill perfectly. It’s based on the SLVR/L2/L6/L7 platform and works as well as the more expensive phones for MUCH LESS $$$.
Form:
Good small-sized phone, if you compare it to the folded RAZR (as I did with my wife’s), it is approximately less than a centimeter longer than the RAZR, approximately the same width, and slightly thinner. I can slip it into a pocket and I barely notice it. I like this keyboard more than the L6/L7 keyboard–the elevation/texture of the keys makes it *slightly* easier to touchtype than the flat, etched keyboard of the L6/L7. The microphone is next to the 9 key–I’m a “left ear” so the microphone doesn’t affect me as much (see prior reviewer), but since the mic is on the lower right part of the phone it can be obstructed by your cheek if you’re a “right ear” person. The stylized Motorola “M” logo on the back is textured for friction (intended for your index finger to help hold the phone to your ear).
Function:
The basic software/menu system originates from the V600 series, so if you’ve used a Motorola phone since ’04 or so, you know the system. The menu system is customizable (icons versus text list, order, etc.) as well as the keyboard shortcuts. The D-pad works well, but sometimes, I have a little difficulty actuating the middle “select” key and I don’t have particularly thick fingers. There is a “key guard” command, “menu-*” (borrowed from the Nokias, I guess)–a must have for a “bar” style phone.
Sound quality is good, but you have to be particularly careful lining up your ear to the earpiece–slight misalignment will significantly diminish the volume. On the lines of volume, I miss the old volume up/down buttons on the side like on the (my old) V600 or the RAZR. The L2 has a single button that cycles from silent>vibe>volume 1-7, a bit of a PITA. I’ve had no complaints about vocal quality (the phone’s mic seems to pick up my voice reasonably well without distortions or too much background noise). Speakerphone works adequately.
Bluetooth works well with my headseat, haven’t tried it for contacts synch, but since the phone comes with mini-USB, I find bluetooth sync redundant anyway.
Address book/contacts is typical Motorola. You actually CAN record multiple numbers per contact (I think someone has already described how below). However, the search contacts function still sucks big time (same old system originally in the V600). You can only press keystrokes for the first letter of the alphabet (“S” for Smith) and you can’t refine further (like “S”, “m” for Smith). It only will get you to the starting letter and then you scroll through to find the contact name.
Reception/signal strength is typical Motorola, not the best (like Nokia), but more than adequate in most situations.
Battery life is excellent. I can go at least 4 days with moderate usage (no bluetooth, though) before recharging. Bluetooth seems to increase battery consumption only sightly.
The phone, while it doesn’t have ITunes (like the L7) or an expandable memory card (like the L6/L7), will play small mp3 clips or a song or two (5 Mb onboard). So you can download a mp3 clip as a ring tone or something like that. Sound fidelity is pretty good, suprisingly. No camera, so no pictures or video, but has video playback capability (for downloaded/synced videos). Screen quality is excellent, not large, not small, but adequatly sized for the phone (would have liked maybe another 0.5 cm more screen, but whatever).
Overall, a great value. It does what every phone should without the frills (camera, mp3/ITunes, etc.) Quad band for global usage (although the Motos are notorously difficult to unlock–may be worth the extra to buy one that’s factory unlocked), bluetooth function, mini-usb for computer syncing/modem usage. 4/5 stars (detracted 1 for volume button, D-pad, and search function)
(holy cow that was long–sorry!)
Rating: 4 / 5
I have this phone for about a week now and I like it well enough. Took some getting used to after so many years with my Nokia 3120.
I wanted small and slim and this one fits the bill. I think it’s pretty “hand happy”, meaning it feels good in my hand. It took me a lot of playing to figure out all the menus and settings (not as easy as on the Nokia), and the manual is virtually useless–and set up in a rather illogical order. I mean, really, who puts info on how to text message before the setup options and menu map?
Anyway, I like that the navigation buttons are completely customizable. You can program the middle up/down/right/left keys to be shortcuts that YOU want, not what Moto thinks you want. You can program the left and right softkeys under the screen to lead where you want, as well. You cannot reprogram the two side buttons or the center menu button. At first I thought that the two side buttons (ringer options and voice dial) would be in the way and constantly be activated, but I haven’t found that to be the case. They are nicely out of the way, yet convenient when you want them. I do find the dial keys slightly small, but I can work with it.
A design flaw that another reviewer noted is that the microphone is on the side of the phone rather than bottom center. If you are “right eared” this can be a problem as your cheek might muffle your voice, especially if you tend to press against the phone. If you are “left eared” it’s easy to put your finger over it.
Another reviewer noted that the phonebook uses a separate entry for each person’s separate phone number. This was a major disappointment to me, because my Nokia had all numbers stored under each directory entry and all I had to do was hit “view” to see them. I later found that you can do this with the Motorola, but it’s not easily to find out how by reading the manual. Here’s how to do it:
Access the phonebook and scroll to the “new entry” space. Hit the menu again and scroll down to “setup”. Hit “select” and then the second entry is “view”. Hit “change” and then choose “primary contacts” and select. Exit to the main screen and you will see that your address book list just got shorter. If you have an entry with multiple numbers, you will have to choose which is the primary number or Moto will assume it’s the first one–not that it matters, since each number has it’s own speed dial location and you will still be able to view all the numbers under a directory name by hitting the left or right arrow on the navigation wheel. It will cycle through each of the entry’s numbers. (You won’t actully be able to see the numbers without hitting view, but if you selected a “type”, you will see the icon for which number it is)
As phones go, this one does what I want it to do and doesn’t have features that I don’t want. However, for the retail cost of this phone (which no one really pays anyway), they should include the phone tools CD with it instead of making you pay for it.
Rating: 4 / 5