Phone Functions

The Motorola W233 Renew features dual-band GSM (850/1900MHz) support for T-Mobile's network, with EDGE for moderately quick data transfers. Thanks to the plastic housing, reception on the Renew is extremely good. The phone was easily able to maintain a steady connection, even in known weak spots. The W233 includes Motorola's CrystalTalk noise reduction technology, and it shows. Callers reported that I sounded clear, and I was able to hear them equally well. Unfortunately, the W233's speakerphone is not nearly as good, with distorted sound rendering it nearly useless.

The web browser on the Motorola W233 Renew is clearly not its strong point, though it uses the OpenWave browser to reformat larger web pages for its tiny screen and slow data connection. As such, browsing is a quick process, but extremely limited. The OpenWave browser sometimes presents the phone as a desktop browser, which means that, on occasion, the phone is not automatically routed to mobile-friendly versions of certain web pages, which can be frustrating. While it's handy for quick information lookups, any mobile web junky would be disappointed in the Motorola W233 Renew's browser, without a doubt.

There is no camera on the W233 Renew, but there is a somewhat decent music player. Thanks to the microSD card slot, it's possible to load this phone up with plenty of your favorite songs. I was able to use a Sandisk 8GB microSD card in the Motorola W233 Renew without issue, which was definitely convenient. The music player only allows you to browse through all of your tracks at the same time. There are no options to view by artist, album, or even genre, unfortunately. You can, however, minimize the music player, so that you can continue playing music while using other functions on the phone, which is nice.

The Motorola W233 Renew offers a minimal amount of customization in the form of the clock style on the standby screen and the color of the various menus. The homescreen wallpaper can also be changed, as one might expect. The main menu can be presented either as a grid of icons, or in a list format, if you prefer. I was also surprised to see that the user can rearrange the menu icons, a feature normally reserved for smartphones.