Manage updates with the Download AppMotorola C168i (AT&T)
Manufacturer: Motorola Part number: 980128
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Motorola C168i is a basic functional phone, but it's almost a little too simple.
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CNET editors' review
Motorola C168i (AT&T) price range: $42.99
- Reviewed by: Kent German
- Reviewed on: 09/24/2007
The good: The Motorola C168i is an easy-to-use cell phone, and it offers decent quality. It also has an impressive battery talk time.
The bad: The Motorola C168i lacks a speakerphone, and you can't assign ringtones to callers. Also, the audio sounded fuzzy at times.
The bottom line: The Motorola C168i is a basic functional phone, but it's almost a little too simple.
User reviews
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The operative word being PHONE!
by teeshot1313 on May 12, 2008
Pros: Simple, great battery life, great sound quality
Cons: No auto keypad lock
Summary: My work phone cannot have a camera, so it limits what phones I can choose from. Even without that limitation, I'd still choose one without a camera. What I ...
Summary: My work phone cannot have a camera, so it limits what phones I can choose from. Even without that limitation, I'd still choose one without a camera. What I need is a phone that remembers its a phone first and everything else second. That is a rarity these days. I went into two different AT&T stores looking for a simple, reliable phone with good battery life. Both times the sales clerks acted like I had the plague when I didn't get all excited about a Razr or Blackberry. One of them literally turned his back and walked away when I told him I wasn't interested in text messaging or accessing the internet. AT&T and the rest need to wake up!!!! There's a whole lot of people out there that'd stampede to their door if they'd just offer a simple reliable phone! The JitterBug is going after the senior market with success. Why in the heck isn't someone going after the folks like me that just need a phone to make calls, receive calls, and keep an address book? Huh? I mean come on. I don't give a flip about taking pictures, listening to music, seeing what the weather is in Minneapolis, or having Snoop Dog for a ring tone. Most of the people I know would toss their current phone in the trash if you'd offer a phone that is just a PHONE!!!!
Anyway, back to the review...I bought the C168i for $19 for all the reasons above plus I was sick of extending my contract just to get a phone for a reasonable price. I chunked the "GO" phone SIM card that came with it and stuck my regular SIM card in. Works like a charm. So far, it has fantastic battery life, is easy to hear for someone with less than perfect ears, and does EVERYTHING I need it to do and darned few of the things I don't. As above, the only drawback so far is the lack of an automatic keypad lock like I used to have on my old Nokia. Seems a no-brainer to have such a feature on a stick phone, but I can live with having to lock it manually as long as it keeps doing everything else as it should.3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Fine for solely functional purposes.
by cathedral_radio1282 on January 26, 2008
Pros: Simple design, easy to navigate, great battery life, stylish looks
Cons: Fuzzy reception, doesn't support real-music ringtones or most graphics
Summary: I have recently been looking for a cell phone that will function for my basic needs, such as arranging for rides or changing plans on short notice, without paying for ...
Summary: I have recently been looking for a cell phone that will function for my basic needs, such as arranging for rides or changing plans on short notice, without paying for many confusing bells and whistles and the hassle of contracts. I decided on the C168i, and it seems like just the phone I need. The design is very basic and easy to understand, the service is good, it looks great-- and at $19, who could resist? Other than the fact that the reception sometimes sounds so fuzzy I can barely understand the speaker (which may just have something to do with the area I'm in), my primary gripe is that the phone does not support real-music ringtones. I researched the phone on multiple sites before purchasing the C168i, and all claimed that it could support them. It can't. I was extremely disappointed with that, as well as the fact that I can't pick one of AT&T's awesome wallpapers from my favourite movie on this model. I ended up settling for a polyphonic tone and wallpaper that I like very much, but don't love. Nothing else was available for my phone.
All in all, the C168i is a nice, purely functional phone if you just want something very simple that will work for your basic needs, but certainly not the phone for you if you want all the fancy features more expensive phones offer.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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This is a great phone!!!
by bowlofpunk2 on December 10, 2007
Pros: Best Reception I've ever seen. Very compact.
Cons: Crappy ringtones, (though you can download others), and no speaker phone.
Summary: Gets great reception. I live in the middle of nowhere and have a hard time finding a phone that gets service where I live. This phone has 4 or full ...
Summary: Gets great reception. I live in the middle of nowhere and have a hard time finding a phone that gets service where I live. This phone has 4 or full bars throughout my whole house. You can barely tell it’s in your pocket because it’s so dang small. Paid less than $10.00 on sale and is normally around $15.00 to $20.00 which is still a steal of a deal. It was easily unlocked faxing info and receipt to at&t and got unlock code the next day to use on any GSM network. Add some ringtones to it and you'd have a nearly perfect phone without all the bells and whistles of the higher priced phones on the market. Very highly recommended.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Not bad for an inexpensive basic phone
by bullyforyou on February 26, 2008
Pros: works well with a headset, decent call quality, excellent battery life, compact and light, easy to use
Cons: keys are quite small, layout of keyboard is such that you can depress the wrong key easily
Summary: I bought this phone to determine how much I would use a cell phone, before locking myself into a contract. You can actually do a lot on this little thing, ...
Summary: I bought this phone to determine how much I would use a cell phone, before locking myself into a contract. You can actually do a lot on this little thing, and it has some very useful features including an alarm clock, a calculator. a calendar and others. I mainly call or occasionally text message, and it works very well for me. I can tell you that the battery seems to last quite awhile. I use a universal headset with this phone and the reception and call quality are quite good. For practically next to nothing, you can get good basic functionality and determine what rate plan is right for you!
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great go-phone for the money
by toufm on January 12, 2008
Pros: Battery life, small size, price
Cons: Voice quality, features
Summary: I bought two of these phones to test AT&Ts service. As my spouse is a long-haul truck driver, we wanted to compare Verizon and AT&T for ...
Summary: I bought two of these phones to test AT&Ts service. As my spouse is a long-haul truck driver, we wanted to compare Verizon and AT&T for coverage around the U.S.A. without committing to either service with a long-term contract so a go-phone for each of us was the test environment. This phone is GREAT considering the price. The battery lasts longer than any phone we have ever had. Five days of talking on the road and the battery was STILL going! The ringer is LOUD but the volume can be adjusted. Media-net and text messaging is also available. The phone size makes it easy to carry in a shirt or pant pocket without knowing it is there.
The cons: Voice quality could be better but considering the price, one can't complain. However, voice quality improved and sounded better when a headset was plugged in. Also, some features such as ring-tones wouldn't "set" on a consistent basis. No matter what ringtone was picked, the phone would revert to the AT&T ring tone.
Summary: Although Verizon has much better nation-wide coverage than AT&T, this phone works great where AT&T does have coverage. If you want a CHEAP phone that works in an AT&T area, this one is hard to beat. I rated it an "7" because although it works well in coverage areas and has a great battery life, voice quality and features that don't set permanently keep it from being a perfect "10." The phone cost $19 at Walmart with a $10 phone credit so the phone really only cost $9. One really can't complain about the cons for that price.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great little 'condom-phone'
by fondy on November 30, 2007
Pros: Price, Size, Battery Life
Cons: Small Buttons, No Display Options
Summary: I suppose the best description I could give for the c168i would be to call it a 'condom-phone' - better to have one and not need it, than to need ...
Summary: I suppose the best description I could give for the c168i would be to call it a 'condom-phone' - better to have one and not need it, than to need one and not have it. And with the gradual extinction of the public pay phone, the need to have access to something is becoming increasingly legitimate.
If you're one of those guys who uses a cell phone so rarely that pre-paid is a better financial alternative to a monthly plan, then this phone is for you.
It's small, lightweight, not cluttered with a bunch of confusing options or doo-dads, and it has a stout little battery.
The only big drawbacks I've noticed are:
1) like most modern devices, the designers felt an overwhelming need to stamp the time/date on the main screen, then programmed the display to go completely black when not in use - essentially making the phone useless as a wristwatch replacement.
2) the buttons are small.
3) one would expect a better keypad-lock on a phone that was made to live inside a pocket.
Don't be fooled by the price, it's a great option for its intended user. The fact that it's the polar-opposite of an iPhone doesn't make it mediocre, just as a hammer's inability to saw through wood doesn't make it a useless relic.
Trust me, if you want features, buy a laptop or UMPC. No sense paying extra for features that the carrier will try to limit or disable.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Poor audio
by JohnnyBrigantine on October 12, 2007
Pros: Great basic phone
Cons: Call reciever audio poor
Summary: I was looking for a real basic phone as I never used any of the advanced features on my previous phones. I thought this thing was the best. Loud ringer ...
Summary: I was looking for a real basic phone as I never used any of the advanced features on my previous phones. I thought this thing was the best. Loud ringer volume and very clear audio and reception. That was until every one I talked to said the echo was so bad they could not understand anything I was saying. My wife got the same phone and has the same problem. It's going back this weekend
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great tough phone
by narn3049 on July 25, 2011
Pros: phone was what I needed
Cons: Nothing that I see here. Was tough, just needed a backup and it provided what I needed in it.
Summary: I got this phone awhile back, and i tossed it around a lot. I got it because i needed a replacement phone if I went out of Verizon's area ...
Summary: I got this phone awhile back, and i tossed it around a lot. I got it because i needed a replacement phone if I went out of Verizon's area by chance. But i loved it so much i kept it for other stuff as well, I dropped it once out of the car, a lot on the street, and got it wet once, it ended up the screen cracked because of a hard fall that hit the screen just right. I tried the 2610 after that, but finished it off, FROM ONE DROPthe c168i made it almost 2 years, and the 2610 lasted about 5 months.
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Horrible phone.
by prithvidas on August 6, 2009
Pros: Cheap, nothing else
Cons: Freeses all the time, extremely slow, way too basic, feels more like a kid's toy than a phone.
Summary: I'm never even considering a Motorola again.
I guess I've been a little too harsh on this phone.
Updated on Nov 17, 2009
I reliazed that this thing ...Summary: I'm never even considering a Motorola again.
I guess I've been a little too harsh on this phone.
Updated on Nov 17, 2009
I reliazed that this thing is not the worst phone in the world. But it still lacks a camera and a speakerphone, and the design is really boring. Plus it's overpriced-I can get a VGA camera and music phone from Virgin Mobile for the same price. But after looking at my friend's Nokia, I'd have to agree that this is an acceptable basic phone. But still, if you are looking at a basic phone, I'd suggest a Virgin mobile. -
I got it at Wal-Mart for $14.99.
by TheJimmy051 on November 4, 2008
Pros: Its a good phone. Esy to use and has all the features that I want and need on it.
Cons: It doesn't have a camera on it though, but its still a good phone.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Motorola
- Part number: 980128
- Description: With stunning design and compelling content, the Motorola C168i is the phone every user will crave. At the heart of this good-looking mobile is a fun, compact and slim form factor. With impressive talk times and downloadable fun, the Motorola C168i keeps in touch effortlessly. Share pictures, messages and more. Experience this affordable, color display bar phone that offers sleek stylish looks and great basic features.
General
- Packaged Quantity 1
- Product Type Cellular phone
- Form Factor Bar
- Phone Design Candy Bar
- Antenna Internal
- Width 1.8 in
- Depth 0.6 in
- Height 4.1 in
- Weight 2.8 oz
Cellular
- Technology GSM
- Band GSM 850/1900 (Dual Band)
- Service Provider AT&T
Messaging & Internet
- Cellular Messaging Services SMS
- Messaging & Data Features Text messages,
Multimedia messages (MMS) Communications
- Data Transmission GPRS
- Communication Features Internet browser
Phone Features
- Phone Functions Call timer,
Vibrating alert - Polyphonic Ringer Yes
Organizer
- Personal Information Management Calendar,
Calculator,
Stopwatch,
Alarm clock - Phone Book Entries Qty 600
Display
- Type LCD display - Color
- Technology CSTN
- Display Resolution 128 x 128 pixels
- Color Depth 16-bit (65000 colors)
Battery
- Run Time Details Talk - up to 528 min,
Standby - up to 336 hour(s) Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Power adapter , Power adapter
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Motorola products on Shopper.com
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- Manufacturer:Motorola
- Address:
600 N. Highway 45, Libertyville, IL 60048 - Phone: 847/576-5000
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