Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The Purchase:
After alot of research, I decided to purchase this Motorola XT701 from Amazon last year (Amazon has a great return policy). Phone looked good when it arrived. There are different versions of this phone, the one I received was the Chinese/HK version. Unlike other 'new' phones as told in other Chinese Motorola forums, the menus didn't start in Chinese (like other Chinese/HK XT701s) - More on this later. After a quick charge, I popped the AT&T SIM card in and poof it worked. It'll work on AT&T & Tmobile. It'll work on AT&T's 3G network. It won't work on Tmobile's 3G/4G network. I did have some problems sending MMS. After re-entering the AT&T settings a couple of times it finally started to work.
Suggestions:
Add $100+ for a SquareTrade ADH Warranty. YOU WILL NEED IT. You'll need to update the phone (to Android 2.1) as soon as you get it. The built in keyboard is $&^+ (it's a English/Chinese style keyboard) - you'll want to download another one from the Android store. I'd suggest tossing the supplied MicroSD card. It's slow. Buy another one thats at least a Class 6 or better.
What's great:
1. Cool design.
2. 3G speed
3. Thin & lite
4. Apps
5. Camera + a REAL flash
6. Easy to root
What isn't great:
1. Keyboard
2. Screen - taps are unresponsive at times
2. Internal memory / App storage limit
3. Physical camera button - hard to get to
4. Phone freezes / lags - it can't keep up with ALL the bells and whistles (live wallpaper, etc)
5. No custom ROMs (its not a popular phone)
6. Getting lied to - first by Motorola, then (possibly) by the seller.
Lie #1 - When I bought the phone, Motorola stated it planned on updating the phone to Android 2.2. After saying yes then no then maybe then yes to Europe, but not China, and now no to all xt701s. If I knew this before I bought it, I wouldn't have made the purchase. Android 2.2 would solve ALOT of nagging issues with the phone. First, Android 2.2 is faster than Android 2.1. Much faster. An update would get rid of some of the lag (due to the slower the slower processor) when taking pictures, videos, running live wallpaper, etc. Second, the ability to store Apps onto the SD card. With Android 2.1, I hit the App memory limit within 2 weeks of owning the phone. Third, better keyboard and multi-touch responses. The list goes on.
Don't buy this phone if you're a power user. It will disappoint you.
Lie #2 - I treat my phones very good. For this phone, I bought an SGP XT720 case for it (one of the very best phone cases). About a month ago, the phone started to go crazy acting like someone/something was tapping the screen, making selections, dialing numbers etc. For awhile, I thought someone hacked the phone. Factory resets didn't solve the problem. This craziness evolved into a part of the screen being dead to touch. A vertical strip about 3/8" (1cm) wide located on the right side of the screen was dead. The phone was barley usable. I know its not covered in the US, but I took chance and brought it a certified Motorola repair center who told me - yes, the screen was dead, no its not covered by Motorola US and by the way, the phone looks like its been opened before (tool marks) and the screen in there doesn't have a Motorola P/N on it - hinting that it was some generic screen replacement. Which means, I didn't get the "gorilla glass" screen that Motorola had advertised. It was made known to me that this "new" phone could be a Chinese/HK refurbished phone being sold as "new" to unsuspecting US customers. It apparently happens all the time with International "No Warranty" phones. Going back to my first paragraph about the language being switched from Chinese to English when I purchased it doesn't help me believe that the phone was new and untouched between the factory and my door. Alas, I can't "prove" that it's a refurb except from what the tech told me (and the gut reaction to how greedy people can be). I really hope its a refurb because I would hope (as a Motorola fan) this isn't the way Motorola puts an expensive phone like the XT701 together. Apparently, there are many many instances of this screen issue happening to the Milestone/Droid community. As the Moto tech described, the Droid and the xt701 screen use the same technology. So this could be a defect (or the result of a bad batch of screens, or a real design flaw). It doesn't help that Motorola dropped support for this line like a hot potato late last year. When I bought it in September, the phone wasn't out in the market for that long. Two months later and Motorola started to drop planned upgrades, accessories, patches, etc.
Don't buy this phone if you're looking for a sturdy product. Do buy this phone if you'll plan on spending another $200-300 on extended warranties, cases, and a backup phone for when it randomly dies.
Conclusion:
While when I bought this phone, I considered it a 5 star product. Looking back, I see that I put up with the little issues knowing that they were going to be fixed in the next software & firmware updates. Now that I know these things won't be fixed (no updates whatsoever), it's not worth the money. Seriously. If you're going to drop $350 ~ 400 for a phone, you'd expect for it to be refined OR at least have a way to get issues resolved. No support from Motorola for software/ firmware/ warranty makes this a bad gamble. There isn't a third party community for it. So there isn't much indirect, community support either. The warning from the tech about the International refurb phones sold to North Americans as "new" isn't surprising. It's happened to me with "new" Motorola phones from eBay in the past, but I really wasn't expecting it from Amazon.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. If I were in your shoes, I'd look elsewhere.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Motorola XT701 Unlocked GSM Smartphone with 5 MP Camera, Android OS, Wi-Fi, gps navigation, Bluetooth and Touchscreen--International Version with No Warranty (Black)
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