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Today, natural resources, energy and time are more precious than ever before. That is why Motorola created the environmentally responsible MOTO™ W233 Renew. Not only is the phone’s housing made using plastics comprised of recycled water bottles and 100 percent recyclable, but Renew is also the world’s first carbon neutral phone. Renew delivers the quality you expect from a Motorola device while empowering you to reduce your carbon footprint. Renew was designed for eco-conscious consumers as well as the millions of people who put making phone calls as their number one priority in a mobile phone.

User Reviews about Motorola W233 RENEW Unlocked Cell Phone

Motorolla makes a big deal that this phone is environmentally friendly; made from recycled plastics and other materials.

Truthfully, I believe them. In fact, the packaging it came in is probably the least EV friendly thing about the product.

Here you have a basic GSM phone. You can goto another website that Amazon's editors 'redacted' from my review, and that site actually has REALLY good tech details on this and any other phone. It would only make sense if they actually provided a fraction of the detail that you can get the scoop on, but their approval process on notes apparently needs better oversite. So instead I'll focus on actually using the phone here.

First of all, I'm not sure what problems "M.Demay" was having. This phone doesn't actually support any syncing of any of its applications, like its organizer. It DOES have a microSD slot (2gb). The literature from Motorolla isn't very clear, but there are 2 drivers for this phone, both can be downloaded for free on their website. One is for 'power charging' thru USB, the other is for accessing the phone as a data device (pc only). This lets you copy music MP3s, MID, and a few other formats over to the microSD card on the drive. (You could also just use a card reader ahead of time, which I would recommend, as the phone is very slow, usb1.1 slow.)

It comes with a 2.5mm stereo earbud/handsfree headset, ac charger, sim card, and ...that's about it. You have to buy a microSD card if you want to play MP3 because the phone has no usable internal memory you can access.

Physically, it's your basic candy bar phone. Call sounds clear, reception holds pretty well. The LCD is bright and vibrant, but it is very laggy (ghosting response time is probably above 100ms). The buttons are VERY firm and 'clicky'. I prefer this as it resists accidental dialing in your pocket. A standard mini-usb jack is on one side for data/charging and the 2.5mm jack on the other. The speakerphone is very loud and clear.

Software: The music player has no extra features, like eq, but the scan/seek, shuffle, play and volume are simple and responsive. It has a picture jpg viewer. It includes 2 full-version games of Sudoku and Tetris (both versions by EA) instead of crippled demo-games. The calender scheduler is easy to read, the alarm clock is straight forward...

Ask me for more details if you want, but this is a really decent 'phone-first' cell phone that has an mp3 player.

**UPDATE**

Cons discovered after month of ownership:

Even if the phone is set on VIBRATE ONLY, it will still chirp a tone out when the battery reaches 'low.' Thats a majorly dumb oversite of the firmware programmer. If you want a phone to be quiet, that doesn't mean "except for the battery getting low, go ahead and make distracting noises then."

Battery performance very erratic. Talk time battery life is predictable, all others good luck.

Sometimes when powering on, the phone doesn't load the MicroSD slot, requiring a power cycle.

When the media player finishes a song/playlist, it emits a terrible subsonic noise. I wouldn'tve noticed it if I didn't have it plugged into a big stereo when playing. It goes away when it changes menus.

The keyguard time-out isn't adjustable... happens too quick for me. -- Basic, Green, Useful

I bought this because I wanted a phone for making calls.

This phone does have many extras I will never use. You can browse the Web, play MP3s, and send standard text messages none of which I do. The only feature it is missing which I would and have used in the past is a camera. Also beware FM Radio which some sites advertise does not work and is a known defect. MP3s need to be bought through online store with phone since syncing is apparently not possible.

The speakers are crisp in both standard and speaker phone mode. There are a couple games on the phone as well as an: organizer, calculator, multi-media center, alarm clock, stop watch, and calendar. If you download the driver it is simple to use your computer/notebook for charging the battery if you already own a USB2 to Mini USB cable otherwise why waste money since Syncing is not possible. On the Motorola Website you can setup this phone for your current carrier which is handy if you received a phone preset with a different carrier.

This is not for the tek-savy junkie but us average folks which wants a phone for talking it is everything we need. -- Basic and simple

I just love this phone!!!!
I have used it here in the U.S. and I took it to South America and both called and texted. The previous user must have had a bad battery. I used it all day texting and talking and had to charge the battery at the end of the day. I am NOT a casual cell phone user. I use my phones to text (and I mean I do text) I liked it because of its size and easiness when texting. it was very easy and fast to send messages. i did not have any problem with the speaker phone and I was even able to text and talk in the subway!!!!
I believe it is a great phone for the price. My son is using it right now and he has not complained about the phone but he is a very casual user and never texts (LOL)
I highly recommend this phone to talk and text. It is true that it does not have a camera and do video. That is not exactly what I want in a phone when I am overseas.
I have a fancy phone at home and I enjoy it at home. I will be able to take this phone to Europe next year and just zip a SIM card and go talking and texting!!!! -- great phone!!!!

This is a phone for a minimalist. It worked out of the box with my T-Mobile SIM card with no headache. The battery life seems very short--from a full charge, I can make about 70 minutes worth of calls and then I'm down to 2/6 bars. A little over 90 minutes and it is shutting down. Additionally, it will be at 2/6 bar from a full charge after a little over 24 hours with no talk time. Perhaps I have a bad battery, but I think this is just par for the course with at $30 phone. Lastly, the speakerphone is very quiet and hard to hear unless you hold it next to your ear, which kind of defeats the purpose for a speakerphone. Bottom line, the phone meets my needs, but I need to remember to charge it every night, can't make long calls, and can't rely on the speakerphone when I want to talk hands-free. -- It's a phone, it works.