Motorola A630 Phone (T-Mobile)

by Motorola

Product Details

Product Manual [5.70mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 3.7 x 1.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0003RA29O
• Item model number: A630
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,029 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

With a unique design that incorporates a QWERTY keyboard, as well as Bluetooth and a VGA (640 x 480) camera, the tri-band Motorola A630 combines everything you need into one svelte package. Quickly respond to emails or text messages, snap a picture and send it to a friend, sync your contacts from your PC via Bluetooth. The A630 can do it all in style.

Design

Click the image to get a closer look at the A630's features. You can also see it in action.

The A630 is not your typical clamshell. The outside face sports a keypad with power and selection buttons, as well as a 96 x 48 blue monochrome LCD screen that displays call information, signal strength, battery life and more. The phone's VGA camera is housed just above this display. Supplementary up/down buttons are present on the left side of the unit, as is a camera button for turning on the camera in a jiffy. There's also a 2.5mm jack for handsfree calling with a wired headset. A combined port provides USB connectivity (with an optional USB cable) and power charging.

What's under the keypad of the A630 is what really astounds. Flipping the phone open reveals a vivid 65,000-color 176 x 220 display with a landscape format. As mentioned, there's also a full QWERTY keyboard inside the cover, plus a large five-way selection button for navigating menus and controlling most of the phone's features.

Calling Features
The A630's phone book can hold up to a whopping 1000 contacts with multiple entries per contact. The phone also features a full-duplex speakerphone that activates automatically when the cover is opened for easy handsfree talking. Voice dialing lets you speak the names of your most frequent contacts for instantaneous dialing. Polyphonic ringtones with up to 24 chords are included and more ringtones can be downloaded from T-Mobile's t-zones service. Picture caller ID lets you assign a photo to specific callers. Similarly, a ringer ID lets you assign ringtones to callers. There's even an included application, MotoMixer, that enables you to mix your own ringtones. For those times you want to keep things discreet, there's also a vibrate ringer mode. The phone's Bluetooth connectivity means that your favorite Bluetooth headset is fully compatible.

Messaging, Internet and Tools
The A630 has all the bases covered when it comes to messaging and Internet connectivity. When coupled with the built-in keyboard, you've got a mobile communication powerhouse. The phone features support for AOL Instant Messenger (T-Mobile messaging charges apply) and there's a built-in web browser for t-zones downloads and mobile web browsing. T-Mobile's t-zones service lets you receive and send emails, read news headlines, get weather updates, download games and ringtones, and more.

With the A630's built-in keyboard, you've got a mobile communication powerhouse.

Traditional text messaging, as well as picture, sound and video messaging, are also supported by the phone. When used in combination with the phone's built-in camera, MMS opens up a whole new world of messaging fun. iTap text entry, which is a technology that makes it easier for people to enter words and text on handsets, is supported if you want to use the outer keypad for text entry.

The A630 also comes ready to serve as a mobile email companion. With support for POP, IMAP and SMTP protocols, you can connect to your personal and business email accounts with ease. All you'll need is t-zones data service from T-Mobile.

A number of handy software tools are bundled with the A630 including a voice memo recorder with up to three minutes of recording capacity, a calculator and currency converter, a calendar and an alarm clock. Use the A630's Bluetooth capability to set up a wireless link with a Bluetooth headset accessory or connect to a computer or hand-held device to exchange and synchronize data. The phone also supports the SyncML PC synchronization standard via USB or Bluetooth, and this can be used with Motorola's Mobile Phone Tools PC application to manage and synchronize contacts, calendar and other data with your PC.

Imaging and Entertainment
The A630's VGA camera features a self-timer function for those times when you want to be in the picture, too. Bluetooth connectivity can also be used to transfer pictures, sounds and graphics between your PC and the phone's 5MB of embedded memory. Screensavers, themes and wallpapers can be set to your tastes. The A630 is Java enabled, meaning it supports games and application downloads written on the Java platform. Games are available via the T-Mobile t-zones service.

Vital Statistics
The A630 weighs 4.3 ounces and measures 3.74 x 1.93 x .92 inches. Its lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 4.33 hours of digital talk time, and up to 200 hours of digital standby time. It runs on the 800/1800/1900 GSM/GPRS frequencies. The phone comes with a one year limited warranty.

What's in the Box
A630 handset, battery, hands-free headset, charger, SIM card.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Phone but some annoying features, May 19, 2005

By 

Harshal (Irving,TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Motorola A630 Phone (T-Mobile) (Wireless Phone)

Since first time i saw this phone on-line I was craving for it. Finally I got it and I am using it for last one month.
This is my first Motorola phone and I do agree with people that UI is hard to master. After a month I am comfortable now.
I have owned Sony Ericsson and Nokia phones before and they have excellent UI no need to read user manuals.
So What do I like and I don't?
Likes:
1. QWERTY Keyboard - Excellent. I felt early that no extra keys for numbers may be issue but not a big deal.
2. Excellent size - I thought it is very small for my hand but after using it for month my hands are used to it.
3. Speaker phone - Excellent speaker phone and even better than my Nokia 6800 (another QWERTY) CNET review says that
speaker phone does not shut off when flip is closed but mine does get off. I like the feature that you can use
speaker phone even when flip closed and also the mute function.
4. Camera takes much better pictures than my SE T610 earlier. But I don't care much anyway. Only thing is you need
to hold camera vertical to take pictures correctly else they appear 90 degree left side tilted.
5. Excellent Bluetooth capabilities. I do not use bluetooth headset as headsets are annoying and nerdy solution. But I
use it to sync up my outlook calender/contacts and also transfer photographs and ring tones. With Mobile PhoneTools
Software from Motorola.
6. Email and web capabilities are great but I do not use much of them as I do spend almost 10 hrs a day on my laptop.
7. Tri-Band phone so I can use anywhere in world.


Dislikes: (This list is bigger though)
1. Most important is it do not have auto key lock. this size of phone I am not carrying in my hand all time will prefer
to keep in pocket. Since I may forget to manual lock it accidental dialing in pocket is possible. If they can implement
screen saver why they can't implement auto key lock. It's same software anyway.
2. Annoying Phone book: All developers in Motorola should use SE phones to understand what is phone book is. I am not able
to sort out numbers from SIM and Phone so I see same number at least 4 times. These developers must be fired right
away. Don't understand what are they thinking. Only was I was able to straighten them using the PC software which is
ridiculous as I have 186 contact in my address book. There is no "Delete all" for contact so that I can delete all
contacts from my SIM. I had to use Nokia phone to do it.
3. Motorola PC software is not free. Motorola have stupid managers. Why on earth I should spend $40 dollars for PC software
when I am buying $300 phone.
4. The flip is LOOSE. After a week the flip starts making noises while opening and closing. Although it works fine but
it gives the indication that Motorola did not do any testing of this phone and used cheapo Chinese materials to build.
My Nokia 6800 flip and my old Ericsson T28 flip was million times better.
5. Motorola Chargers are flimsy as they are very cheap design. I though SE charges are cheap but my Ericsson T28 charger
is still working great even after 4 years of rugged use. A630 charger is poor and when you move phone (even little)
while charging it stops charging. Motorola needs to talk to customers what they really want. Also charging time is more
than 3 hrs and nothing close to 2 hrs mentioned in specs. Liars.
6. Games are not so good wish they had simple Tetris or Nibbles. But loading Java games is nice option.
7. Only one After Market case from Krussel which is 25 dollars.
8. There is no simultaneous ringing and vibrate options. If you change the ring style from loud to soft ring tone
also changes. Vibrate and ring option vibrates phone twice and then only ring tone plays which might be unnoticed while
at noisy place and if phone is not in hand.
9. No IR port. I wish it had IR port along with Bluetooth which helps to connect with laptops who do not have BT adapters.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fully functional, practical, but lacking in a few areas, December 13, 2004

By 

H. Fujishige - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Motorola A630 Phone (T-Mobile) (Wireless Phone)

I bought a v600 and a630 at the same time. Both are essentially the same phone, but the a630 is more for people who text message or write email a lot. I loved the v600 because of the functions, but because I write so many text messages, I found the a630 to be more my style.

A few things I found could be improved:
-AOL Instant Messenger is SMS based, not GPRS, which is T-Mobile's fault.
-The email function is very lacking, it took T-Mobile a while to help me out to set it up. The software only asks for email address and password and somehow automatically sets it up. I would rather have manual settings
-Larger memory space...5mb fills up FAST! Especially when I am texting multiple people at times. I have to empty the in/out message boxes constantly.
-No video playback. This is the largest difference between v600 and a630. No ability to watch mpeg4 movies. Both phones would benefit if there was video recording.
-No elemental lights. Would be more attractive with those cool multicolor lights! (ok ok ok, just needed something to gripe about)

Things I love about this phone:
-The size, this is the BEST QWERTY phone I have owned, because of the compact size. My Sidekick is now a paperweight because of this phone.
-Battery life. This thing stays charged! Can go through 2 full days of text messaging before needing a plug in. Talk time is pretty decent too.
-Bluetooth! Extremely easy to use, fast transfers, and lots of cool free ringers/apps.

Last comments:
If you like texting, get this phone. If you like the features of this phone, but dont need the keyboard, then get the v600.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is what you have been looking for (almost), January 10, 2005

By 

RobV "gadget addict" (Jax, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Motorola A630 Phone (T-Mobile) (Wireless Phone)

Most of Motorola's offerings lately have been getting a bum rap (and with the many software bugs, for good reason). However, the A630 is a stand-out and a great phone. I have been looking for a small phone with a keyboard and think the Treo, Sidekick, etc are just too big to carry around for everyday use. The a630 is much smaller and about the size of any other clamshell (it just opens landscape style and is a bit thicker due to the keyboard, etc) - still very carryable. I had the old Motorola T900 2-way pager and this is the exact same size. Also if you used one of those, the keyboard layout is the same and just as easy to use.

First thing is it turns heads. The 'wow' factor of this phone is high. RF is great. Battery life is good - 2 days no problem with heavy use (camera, texting, phone). The phone-like pad on the outside is a great feature and capable of basic phone stuff like text msgs, phonebook, change ring style, etc. On the inside the qwerty keyboard and full phone capabilities are revealed. The camera is good enough for day-to-day snapshots. Bluetooth implementation is much better and I had no problems transferring apps, rings, photos, and using the phone as a bluetooth modem for my laptop, etc. w/ the built-in winXP bluetooth support. If you want more customization buy an OEM Motorola data cable and Phone Tools CD (much much cheaper on Ebay) Either way, the transfers are flawless. If you are a tinkerer, Motorola phones are some of the easiest to modify and upgrade yourself. There are several websites that will walk you through this and I for instance, was able to quad-band the phone and boost my earpiece, speakerphone volume, etc.

My only nag is the phonebook! Motorola's implementation of the phonebook has to be the worst. Just like everyone else mentioned, if you have more than one # for the same person it will show as a seperate entry. The only way I found around this is to load all your #'s, but then filter the phonebook to show the primary number only. This way you only have one name displayed. Other people have complained about creaky plastic feel but I felt build quality was pretty solid. However, I don't think it would survive a drop test as well as other phones. My only other wish is that AIM was GPRS based and not SMS. You'll need a SMS package from Tmobile if you use this phone to it's fullest. Email implementation is also crippled by Tmobile and the a630 is goood for light email usage but is easily outperformed by the Sidekick or Blackberry for heavy use. If you are a corporate user and need real HTML and email, I would consider the Blackberry 7100t instead.

Overall - The a630 is more fun than business and a great phone worthy of 5 stars but I could only give it 4 due to the phonebook. This is a better and more functional phone than any of the other Vxxx line from Motorola. I wouldn't take a V3 razor over this. That thing is a waste of money. THis is all IMO of course.