The Mobile Phone Saving Network

Motorola i95cl

Wireless/Mobile Phone/Cell Phone

Based on Motorola’s i90c phone, the i95cl offers some valuable upgrades that increase the functionality of the phone significantly. The new highlights include a full-color display with an eight-line screen, plus more memory to handle Java programs.

The phone is quite sturdy, but it sacrifices compactness for rugged design. Since it’s too big to fit in most pockets, the i95cl has a belt clip, but at almost 5 ounces it can weigh your belt down a bit. The retractable antenna has a durable feel, and the rubberized volume control and push-to-talk buttons on the side and speaker buttons on top are unlikely to break if the phone is dropped. Buttons on the i95cl’s interior are fairly flat but are spread apart so misdialing is not an issue. An LCD screen on the outside of the flip top is helpful for quickly checking time and date or for screening callers.

The phone was slow to power up (about 40 seconds), but considering the rich graphics, that’s to be expected. Upon start-up, the i95cl put us immediately into the message center. We had no text messages, but a voice mail from a colleague sounded crisp and clear. From the main menu, we easily accessed all of our settings without referring to the manual. The long eight-line, high-contrast screen with a large text and mellow, white backlighting made it easy to read our options from several feet away.

We set our background display to the American flag, (which looked impressive on the color screen), personalized our keys, and adjusted the ring. The i95cl has nine selectable ring styles—the usual tinny electronic-sounding rings--and 10 polyphonic musical files to choose from that sound almost orchestral compared to ring choices on most cell phones. After enjoying Pachebel’s Canon in D Major and Tchaikovsky’s "Waltz of the Flowers," we eventually settled on the "Star-Spangled Banner" for our ring.

The phone book holds multiple numbers for each person, and we had no problem entering a few friends. We set up voice-activated dialing for a few numbers as well, but found that giving a command with even a slight change in tone from the original voice recording caused the i95cl to reject our dialing request.

The i95cl’s Internet connection is one of the faster ones we’ve experienced, and Motorola has bumped up the memory and improved the processor and connectivity speed in this model. In addition to preset weather, financial, and shopping links, the phone lets users do Internet searches and send and receive two-way messages and e-mail (including instant messages with AIM).

The Java apps feature combined with the rich color screen was amazing to behold. Preinstalled apps include a calculator and two fairly sophisticated games. We found that Tiger Woods PGA Tour Wireless Golf has great graphics but is fairly slow and easy to win. The action-packed MotoGP motocross racing game played so well it felt almost like we were on a GameBoy. Subscribers to Nextel Wireless Web service can download additional Java applications from Nextel’s Web site or install custom apps from the Internet.

Motorola has increased the memory in the i95cl (since the release of its predecessor, the i90c) to handle robust Java applications—and it is a significant improvement. However, users still won’t be able to pack a whole lot of apps in there if they want to download a bunch of animated 3-D games. Each of the preexisting games takes up about 700-800 KB of data space and our phone comes with 1,479 KB of free space for new applications. That leaves room for only two additional games or several other business applications. In addition, Java apps share memory space with ring styles, wallpaper images, and voice records, so once users run out of space, they’ll have to start deleting some of these files. Still, this is a fairly recent breakthrough in cellular technology and the fact that Java apps can be stored at all is remarkable.

The i95cl also has the ability to function as a walkie-talkie, through a technology that Motorola and Nextel have been offering for years. Using Nextel Direct Connect, users can communicate with one person or a group via two-way radio. A PTT (push-to-talk) button on the left side of the phone, below the volume buttons, lets users talk without opening the phone or even removing the phone from their belt loop. The best part is that users don’t pay for minutes using the radio.

Overall, the slick features and conveniences on this phone far outweigh the issues with the bulky design. The multitude of communication options make the i95cl an ideal phone for business users who are communicating with employees both on site and long distance. --Cristina Vaamonde

Pros:

Supports Java applications, including 3-D games
Large full-color display with high-contrast screen
More memory and faster processor than its predecessor (Motorola i90c)
Fast Internet connectivity
Doubles as two-way radio without using minutes

Cons:

Bulky design
Voice-activated dialing doesn’t always recognize commands
Java apps share memory space with ring styles, wallpaper images, and voice records

How We Tested Battery Talk/Standby Time

When reading our reviews, you should view the test results of mobile-phone battery talk time and standby time as relative information only. Many variables, including carrier signal strength at your location, signal consistency (including incoming and outgoing calls), display and ringer settings, and battery charging methods and history, will affect performance. When handset manufacturers and mobile phone carriers list talk-time and standby-time ratings, they usually include disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times. Some quote expected battery life ranges, and in this case you're probably safe to assume you'll experience at least the minimum rated range. Note that manufacturers of dual-mode digital and analog handsets publish battery-life rates for both digital and analog modes, as analog mode consumes much more power than digital mode.

Our Tests: We tested digital-mode talk and standby times with each phone. Prior to each test, we fully charged the phone's battery according to the manufacturer's directions. To test digital-phone talk time, we turned the phone on, established a digital carrier signal, dialed a number in our test lab, and, when the call rang through, took the receiving phone's handset off the hook. When all went well, we didn't do anything else except record the time when the phone died. In a couple of cases, the phones lost the signal and dropped the calls. If we were right there and could redial, we did so immediately and continued running the test. Otherwise, we halted the test, recharged the battery, and started the test over. Assuming consistent carrier-signal strength, this test should represent best-case talk time. And it's worth noting that several phones' talk-time performance significantly exceeded the manufacturers' ratings.

To test digital-phone standby time, we turned the phone on, established a carrier signal, and left the phone in standby mode. We checked the phone every few hours (for what was often days on end) until the phone finally cut out. Since no outgoing or incoming calls occurred during testing and because the phone was not moved, this method should represent best-case standby time, again assuming consistent carrier signal strength.

Features of Motorola i95cl:

includes 750mah lithium-ion battery, travel charger and holster belt clip
includes java-powered applications
speakerphone function for hands-free calling
voice-activated dialing
wireless web enabled

Reviews:

WARNING

Rating: 1

My problems with nextel did not stop when I canceled my service. I will get to the problems with the service. When I went to get a new phone a day before my contract expired, I of course wanted to keep my number. So as I went to get my Cingular phone (highly recommended), I had the old number switched to my new number. Today, I get in the mail my nextel statement for the month with a $200 early termination even though I had not canceled my service, but had simply got a new phone and switched my number over. This was on icing on the cake after 2 years of absolutely amazingy bad service from nextel. In my town, not a small town by any means, there are very few places that have any service. In the largest subdivision, you cannot get service anywhere. I constantly get comments from people trying to reach me that get the classic nextel line...Please hold while the nextel subscriber you are trying to reach is located. Most of the time I would not even recieve incoming calls, calls would go straight to my voice mail. Not only would I not get the calls, but often I would not even get the voice mails until days or even weeks later. When I did actually take calls (and call out), I cannot count the number of times I've had my call dropped. I recieved so many different error messages sometimes I wonder if they just spend all their time at nextel thinking of different error messages to program into their phones. That brings me to the selling point of nextel, the famed and well-loved direct connect feature. This is an absolute joke. Direct connect only works MAYBE half the time I tried to use it. Even then, in the middle of the conversation I would be greeted by the loud beep of my phone telling me I wont be talking to that person anymore. Of course, I would expect nothing less from the nextel network. Text messaging with nextel is next to impossible. If it did not take hours to send or recieve a message, it took days, or maybe didn't even come at all. The internet access was fine, it the rare instance that it worked. Of course, when you don't have service, you don't get the internet access either. I was constantly getting the message "network not available". Calling and trying to complain to nextel is futile. Trying to get through to customer service takes forever and once you get through they do nothing. My experience with nextel has been nothing short of a disaster and I write this trying to warn anyone considering nextel. Stick with Verizon or Cingular and you will be much happier in the end. Don't make the same mistake I did.

i loved this phone

Rating: 5

i had this phone for over a year, i loved it best phone i ever had, the only negative thing i can say is that the case is kinda weak and the holster holds the phone backwards so it doesnt break the external caller id if dropped, this means you have to take the phone out of the clip to answer the phone, unless you use speaker phone, id recommend this to anyone that wants nextel, best phone they had

Great color phone for Nextel users

Rating: 5

I've been a Nextel customer for years for both business and personal use. I've used almost all lines of phones. The i95cl was my favorite until i830 came along. The i95 is good for casual and especially heavy business users. The color LCD screen is huge compared to i730 and i830. Apparently Nextel had to reduce screen size in order to reduce phone size. That is one thing I miss in i830. I never had a problem with i95 size since it weighs about 5 oz. Great phone and I could not believe Nextel would discontinue it. *Note: I have an extra i95 for sale. It was my personal phone and in very good condition with some scratches. It is fully operational, travel charger and holster, shipping in USA included for flat $120.00. I will accept paypal only. Please email me if interested at leel1@netscape.com.

By Motorola