Motorola E815 (Verizon Wireless)

Expert Reviews of Motorola E815 (Verizon Wireless)

Expert Rating: 3.5
by Joni Blecher -- June 23rd 2006

If you’ve had it with tiny cell phones that leave your fingers cramped after dialing a phone number, check out the Motorola E815. In a word: it’s big. Don’t get us wrong, it’s not so big it won’t fit comfortably on a belt holster, but it is noticeably larger than many of the cell phones currently available. With its size comes an array of high-end features: MP3 player, 1.3-megapixel camera and Bluetooth. The Motorola E815 is no slacker. The real question is do you have enough room for it?

Call Quality

Calls and speakerphone: We found calls to be loud and clear using this cell phone – even when using the speakerphone. When we did need to use the side volume buttons to adjust the sound it was typically to make it softer. However, we often confused the speakerphone key and the voice activation keys found on either side of the Motorola e815’s spine. As is the case with many cell phones, call quality did suffer when we used a Bluetooth headset.

Ease of Use

Menu/Phonebook: The Motorola menu interface is intuitive; requiring only a couple of steps to access most of the cell phone's features. Entering and saving numbers (store up to six phone numbers and an e-mail address for each contact – sorry, no place to save addresses) isn’t too hard, but if you’re not accustomed to using Motorola cell phones it might take you a few tries to get acquainted entering Contacts.

Camera/Video: Like many higher-end cell phones, the Motorola E815 sports a 1.3-megapixel camera and a flash (though, the flash doesn’t do a whole lot). The camera phone takes decent pictures. The video recorder functionality is a nice plus, but you can only record 15-second videos, so don’t plan on capturing a ton of footage with this Motorola.

The real issue with this camera phone is that the Motorola E815 only comes with 40MB of memory. That’s not a lot to save photo, video and music files. The good news is that you can expand the memory by purchasing an external TransFlash memory card (Think: multimedia card that went into the Willy Wonka shrinking machine). Although many of the Motorola’s features are typically straightforward, the TransFlash memory card might trip you up a bit. First, the actual memory card is super tiny – about the size of your pinky fingernail. Second, you’ll need to format the card in order to store and later access videos, photos or music files.

Music: The Motorola E815 includes an MP3 player that does a decent job at playing back the music. However, using the music player is another story completely – it’s a tad buggy. For example, while the player supports playlists you have to actually create them on the cell phone. You also can’t play another song without opening the cell phone and accessing the player. Many cell phones with this capability, such as the Sony Ericsson W600, have buttons on the outside of the cell phone that can control the MP3 player.

Connectivity/Bluetooth: We were able to cell pair the phone with a Motorola Bluetooth headset, however, we needed to consult the manual to set it up correctly. We should note using the Bluetooth feature for calls degrades call quality a bit. Unfortunately, you can’t use Bluetooth to transfer music to the cell phone from another Bluetooth-equipped device.

Design

Look and Feel: There’s no easy way to say this, we’ll just come out with it: The Motorola E815 is a big cell phone. True, it’s not as big as the first cell phones that were installed in cars in the late 1980s, but still it’s noticeably larger than other cell phones on the market. And with big size usually comes noticeable heft. If you have large hands you’ll likely appreciate the Motorola E815. While if you have smaller hands this cell phone is probably too big for you and the Motorola V325 is probably a better fit. The internal and external displays are bright and highly readable in most lighting environments. Although, the cell phone is big we should mention it’s a bit of a delicate flower. Meaning it easily attracts scratches and can be temperamental if jostled too much.

Keypad: One good thing about a big cell phone is that it’s likely to have a large keypad – as is the case with the Motorola E815. The keys are highly tactile, spaced out and large enough that one-handed dialing is an easy affair. If you tend to have problems reading the numbers/letters on the keys you won’t have that problem with this Motorola cell phone.

Battery Life

The Motorola E815 did well in the battery life department. We found that we could last three to four days before needing to recharge when using the E815 regularly to make calls and send/receive text messages. Heavier cellular phone users will likely need to charge the Motorola cell phone every other day. However, we did find the battery drained faster when we used Bluetooth.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews of the Motorola E815 (Verizon Wireless)

Customer Rating: 4.8
by Megan -- May 31st 2007 -- Tarpon Springs, FL

I have had this phone for almost a year now and it has been the best so far. My first Motorola and I couldn't be happier! I never get any echoing and the display screen is bright and clear. I like the size of it because I;m constantly losing things and you can never really lose the phone 'cause it is big. The keys are easy to use and the features are great. Being a teenager, I have been through several phones and this one is by far the best. Love the speaker phone and how there is a large speaker in the back. Alltel has great service and I have never had a problem. I am quite happy with my Moto.

Customer Rating: 5
by Reba J Holt -- April 5th 2007 -- Pocahontas, AR

I am pleased with the Motorola E815 phone and the service. I especially like the fact that if I bump the side of the phone it doesn't mess up my ring settings like other phones have. There are times when I can't get a clear signal but it is seldom. I enjoy being able to call long distance without a high cost or hassle. I feel I have chosen a very company for my wireless service and the phone is easy to maneuver.

Customer Rating: 4.5
by Mitchell Hancock -- January 25th 2007 -- Greenville, SC

I've had my Motorola E815 cell phone for about a year now and I love it. There is nothing that this phone can't do. I use it for internet, email, and music. The cons are its size and battery life when bluetooth is enabled. You basically have to charge it every night if you keep the bluetooth on. Its size is not really that big of deal to me though. It's definitely no RAZR but in size but it has so many more functions than the RAZR it's worth it. I especially enjoy the mp3 player. One caution for those that are looking at buying an mp3 player that is also a phone is the head phone jack only puts out mono sound. So when you plug in headphones it only plays in one ear. The speakers are loud enough though especially for a small room. You can make playlists and organize your music. There are louder phones out there with more speakers but then you sacrifice other features that this phone has. It is the best phone on the market.

Customer Rating: 4.5
by Michelle P. -- January 19th 2007 -- Corona, CA

Wow, my husband and I must have the only two E815s that work. Of all the reviews I read no one ever mentioned that they have ever downloaded updates to their phone. If you are a Verizon customer at least once every month or two you are supposed to dial *228 to program your phone. Didn't know this until I started to have weird things happen when I was charging the phone. Tech support informed me. There is also a second option for you too after you program your phone and that is to update your roaming capabilities. Whenever the phone starts to act funny this always takes care of the problem. **One bit of advice is make sure you know what your pre-programmed code was (mine was the last 4 of my phone number) because you will need to re-enter your personal security codes when you do this if you have activated this feature. This is a great phone, no battery problems, no vibrate problems, no echoing, or anything else that I have read here...I am now going to try out the MP3 feature as I just got the reader/writer. I'll let you know how this works out....Until then.....

Customer Rating: 2.8
by kattalyst -- January 16th 2007 -- Hightstown, NJ

I "liked" my Motorola E815 so much I had two of them in about six month's time. When Verizon tried to replace it yet again, I said "give me anything EXCEPT a Motorola or I will leave Verizon." There is no really good way to rate it on the scale above.It is a great phone at first....... but incredibly quirky about charging. It would freeze or turn off when charging, or mid-call when charging. This would change some of the settings. I had the contacts cleaned, bought new chargers, spent more time in Verizon Tech Service lines than I should have. Finally, they replaced it in November with a new E815. Less then six weeks in from having the second phone, it was starting to have trouble charging again. turning of at random times, etc.....Thankfully the representative at the Verizon Technical Service had seen this problem more than a few times, and replaced my crummy Motorola with an LG phone. I would have preferred Nokia, which I have never had trouble with in the past, but hey, anything is more reliable than a Motorola E815 - even two tin cans and a string!

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