Motorola WILDER

Featurephones still have their fan base even though we are now in the midst of an age where smartphones can be said to be taking the phone market by storm. Motorola WILDER is one such featurephone that is pretty affordable even for a featurephone. Let’s find out if it’s really a bargain by diving into its features.

Design
Although the Motorola WILDER hasn’t got the specs its sibling Motorola Defy has to offer, the design on the back of the phone is however very similar to each other. The Motorola logo in the middle of the back panel as well as the tapered edges for instance is the similarities we mentioned. It’s also going for younger users with the saffron or classic gray band around its sides which makes it attractive to the eye. The Motorola WILDER has only got a 2.8 inch resistive touchscreen in comparison to the 4 inch screen that comes with smartphones these days but it’s not bad for this phone. A unique design feature with this phone is the second monochromatic OLED display right below the main display. It shows the date, time, signal strength and other things that need be to notified to you like missed calls and new messages. It also doubles as a ticker that displays the title of the track or video being played when the screen is off.  To unlock the main screen, there’s a dedicated button on the top. The home button is found on the bottom left of the front of the phone and its shape gives the phone a design edge too. It’s also large enough making it good for users with fingers of any size. However, being a featurephone, on the back you will find a camera which is only 2MP. Overall we are impressed with design since it’s not only thin and light but at the same time it’s also durable. However, just a tiny disappointment is the fact that the protective rubber lid over the headphone jack and the microUSB port on the phone is hard to open, but we suppose that’s what you get for a dust and splash resistant phone.

Features
The following numbers might be a shocker, but bear in mind that this is a featurephone. The Motorola WILDER has a basic Qualcomm processor. The 64MB of RAM and the 128MB ROM aren’t exactly mind blowing either. In fact, this combination led to a phone that ran really slow. This became very apparent when running the Java apps on the phone.

The Motorola WILDER is running on Brew MP the same OS found on the HTC Smart, so there’s no smartphone OS here either. There are some basic apps provided like the calendar, games and social networking apps. Nevertheless, you can get a bunch of other apps since there is a Java client provided. There are three main menu pages with the default apps on them, and the other apps are all in the Apps folder. It was also really easy to find what you want thanks to the well structured menus. This phone’s phonebook is great as you can put a bunch of details about each contact. In the calendar app, you can also make notes either under one of the given categories like birthdays or create one of your own. The To-do list app and Notes app helps keep you very organized. The lock screen on the Motorla WILDER displays both time and date and you can get directly go to the messaging or phone apps from there. No physical keyboard means we have to count on the virtual one. It was not all a bed of roses with this one as it was extremely uncomfortable to use as the keys were crammed, but it was not least due to the screen size as we have seen better virtual keyboards before.  

The Motorola WILDER as we had mentioned earlier has only got a 2.8 inch resistive touchscreen which comes with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. It’s obviously not even close to the numbers you get with smartphones, but the resolution is acceptable given the screen’s size. The viewing angle you get from this phone is not bad but images do get washed out under bright sunlight. There is another screen here that we have to talk about though, the second monochromatic OLED display. Since it serves as a notification indicator, the 0.7 inch screen is not always on to save battery. It’s not really that bright, so viewing it on a sunny day it going to be a pain.

A dedicated camera button on the right of the phone was a welcome inclusion on the Motorola WILDER. Although the camera is only 2MP Motorola didn’t just leave it there for good measure. They actually gave it an interface that allows for changes in the white balance plus other effects as well. However, as you would have expected, the photos taken with this camera were not at all good.  Although this camera actually comes with video recording, we wouldn’t recommend it as the QCIF recording is only at a rate of 15fps and can only be viewed on a really small screen.

The NetFront browser in the Motorola WILDER provides for a normal internet surfing with no Flash support or zooming. Nevertheless, pages do get resized on their own to fit the 2.8 inch screen. The CPU that we have doesn’t help much as due to its disappointing speed, scrolling through websites was a really slow affair. The data counter that keeps track of your usage was something that’s pretty neat. Nevertheless, the phone does come with Opera Mini as an alternative to the NetFront browser and it was quite fun to use in comparison. The Motorola WILDER does come with EDGE 2G support as well as Bluetooth, but sadly no Wi-Fi radio.

Call quality with the Motorola WILDER wasn’t half bad actually. The volume was good enough and the voices were also clear in the earpiece. Our friends on the other side weren’t too impressed as they said our voice was muffled and unclear. Background noise was also evident they say. The 910mAh battery was great for one or more days of use. It is rated for close to 10 hours of talk time and this is where this phone can ask questions about its smarter rivals.

Pros and Cons
The Motorola WILDER is dust and splash resistant which means you will be able to bring it with you to your grave. It’s also affordable.

The keyboard should have been better seeing that it’s the only option. Motorola WILDER’s camera could also have been better.

Conclusion
The Motorola WILDER will take on anything that you throw at it, even a pail of water. Maybe that’s pushing it, but you get the point. It’s an affordable Motorola phone, so it’s one featurephone to be considered.