Quick Version: The Motorola Renegade V950 is a good choice for people who want a rugged phone with excellent call quality and push-to-talk capabilities. What’s more, Motorola and Sprint-Nextel manage to throw a little fun into the mix as well.
Overview and Features
- Rugged, military-grade flip phone
- Nextel Direct Connect Push-to-Talk
- GPS
- EVDO Rev. A data
- Bluetooth
- External display with dedicated music buttons
- $129.99 with two-year contract
Perfect for…
…people who want a phone first. This thing has excellent call quality and you can drop it, kick it, throw it, and try to feed it to your dog. It’s a phone for people who just want a phone – and perhaps klutzes.
It’s not just a phone, though. You also get GPS, fast EVDO data, Bluetooth, a 2.0-megapixel camera, mobile web and e-mail access, and the walkie-talkie goodness of a Nextel Direct Connect device. At the end of the day, too, you can kick up your steel-toed heels and watch Sprint TV content or download stuff from Sprint’s music store.
Not so good for…
…those of you who want a good looking, fully-featured wonder-phone. The V950 is basically like a Motorola Razr wearing a puffy winter coat – if that coat were made of tough rubber. It’s certainly not going to turn any heads. If that kind of thing is important to you, you might get teased at school for lugging this thing around. Luckily, it could probably double as a weapon if things get too intense.
Conclusion
The Motorola Renegade V950 is a great phone for simply making and taking phone calls. Plus, there’s a little added fun when you dig into the web, music, and video stuff. It’s definitely not a kid phone but put this thing on any construction site in your neighborhood and it’ll hold its own and then some.
Voice quality is excellent – kind of a Motorola hallmark (at least it used to be). Battery life felt a little bit short, as the phone needed to be recharged about every day and a half to two days. I had it set to check my e-mail every hour and I was sometimes using it to access the mobile web and stream TV, though. I’m guessing the rough-and-tumble target audience for this phone won’t be using the data as much as I did.
All in all, the V950 is a tough-as-nails phone with a little extra fun inside. It’s a good choice if you’re looking for a rugged phone with push-to-talk features.
Motorola Renegade V950 [Sprint.com]
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