Motorola Citrus Android Phone (Verizon Wireless)

Unbiased review January 17, 2011

Reviewer:  JameS1999 

Considering how big my hands are, the Citrus is a very comfortable to hold phone. Its not as slippery as most all other phones Ive had either. It does what the description above says. Ive read reviews on this device that state that the battery life is very weak, which It is. I dont use my phone much during the day (a few phone calls, and texts, maybe google something here or there) and when I get home (sometimes 14 hours after I unplugged it) I have half or slightly less than half of a charge left. This is a little annoying, but I have ordered a car charger (I work for Fed Ex) to solve that problem. There were also complaints of screen lag and issues with the device freezing. To this I say, its a mini computer in the palm of your hand. Think of all the problems there have been with computers over the years, and that technology is decades old at this point. This device does what it says, sure the screen freezing is annoying (only because everyone seems to want things RIGHT NOW!) but this is a really cool phone.
My only complaints are: the camera. There are NO settings for white balance (the description says otherwise, I cant find it) there are no settings for black and white, ISO, timed exposure. Basically you can point and shoot. You cant even edit photos that you have taken. (This was a feature that I LOVED on the Samsung Reality) And there is no flash (Which makes a few apps pointless).
The only other thing that I dislike is that there seems to be no way to transfer downloaded apps to my SD card. And I have yet to find an option that allows me to select the card as my primary save space for apps. Phone also only comes with 256 meg of internal memory, which fills up fast when there are thousands of free apps.

The Citrus was dubbed a starter smart phone. I disagree. It a great smart phone for people that don't want to follow the trend of the Motorola Droid craze. Oh yeah, download the Advance App Killer app and set it to kill apps every thirty minutes and the battery life seems noticeably longer.

I love it and I don't love it. March 22, 2011

Reviewer:  Robin Johnson Esak "Robin Johnson Esak"  (Fredericksburg, VA USA) -

***UPDATE***
My previous review stands to some extent but, after owning the phone for eight months now, I thought I'd do an update. The more I use this phone, the more I hate it. I do really like the Android style but, honestly, if you can't afford a better one, DON'T buy this one. It's cheap because the phone is cheap. Here are the things that are making me TOTALLY crazy after extended use:

1. The car charger is completely useless. If the phone has powered off, I can turn it on and use it if it's plugged into the car charger but it goes off as soon as I unplug it. It won't take a charge from the car charger at all. When I took it to Verizon, they said there was nothing they could do. Sucks.

2. The camera is very nearly useless. It takes so incredibly long to load that the moment is long gone before the camera even comes up. On top of that, it takes a ridiculous amount of time to actually TAKE the picture. Last time I took a picture, I counted to ten before the picture actually snapped. This is indefensible.

3. The chip on this phone just can't handle the load. I wouldn't mind so much if it took a while to load web pages and such (which it does) but it can take two or three minutes just to bring up a basic text message. And, god forbid, I actually RECEIVE a text while I'm trying to type one. My phone freezes for about ten seconds and whatever I was typing goes completely wonky. Again, I addressed this with Verizon and they just explained that the memory chip on this phone isn't very robust.

I hate, hate, HATE this phone and spend each and every day hoping it will get run over by a car or something so I have an excuse to buy a new one. Otherwise I have to wait another 14 months (I don't know if I can stand it) before I have an upgrade option. Ugh! I'm never, EVER listening to the Verizon store gimme-my-commission-and-bonus-for-selling-these-crappy-phones again!

** ORIGINAL REVIEW **
This is my first Android so I don't have either the benefit of being able to compare or the drawback of having to. The only comparisons I can make are to my past phones (in recent years, the EnV).

The pros:
* Nice size - fits well in my hand and is neither too bulky or too small to use

* Easy to set up - reasonably intuitive although SOOO different from the menu-based phones I'm used to.

* Swype message entry is pretty cool.

* Voice input for text messaging is pretty cool.

* Very nice touchscreen - the touchscreen is perfectly responsive. Having used my friend's touchscreen (don't remember what the phone is), I worried about this. I have a terrible time with hers but mine is simply lovely.

The cons:
* The screen will freeze for up to a minute at a time. This doesn't happen often but when it happens just as you're trying to answer a call or send a text, it's seriously annoying!

* Lag time in loading - the lag time isn't THAT bad but hopefully you don't have to snap a quick picture. It takes a significant amount of time for the camera to come up when you press the button and, many times, it's long enough for the moment to be gone. This camera is for posed shots only (or at least ones where your subject is still for at least a minute). This lag time appears when bringing up contacts and text message conversations as well.

* No real keyboard - ok, I hate to complain about this since I knew about it when I bought it but I thought I'd get used to it. I sort of have but I REALLY miss the real QWERTY keyboard from my old phone. Swype is kind of fun but it's just not as quick and I find myself not wanting to text as much as I used to.

* The volume - I have the ringer volume at it's highest level and it's still very, very low. I can't hear it when it's in my pocket at work (which is not a particularly noisy place).

* No text to speech option - My old phone had an option where it would read out my incoming texts to me. I really miss it.

* No ability to change font sizes - You're stuck with the fairly small size they think you should see. I'd really like to be able to pick a larger size (like I could on my old phone).

* Battery Life - You have to charge it every single day period. And it really has to be an outlet charge. I have the car charger and it seems to work (the battery goes up to what it says is 100%) but (this is NOT hyperbole) 10 MINUTES LATER, it says it's at 50%. This doesn't happen with the wall-charger.

* No flash - self explanatory and sucks.

* Slow - They've recently come out with Angry Birds for the Android. I'd heard a lot about it so I downloaded it. I'm not joking when I say that it takes over 5 minutes to load the game and, because the processor is so bad, the graphics display of the game is jerky.

Obviously there are a lot more cons here than pros. I guess that, overall, I like the Android style but next time I'll opt for a higher-end phone. There may be apps that will fix some of the issues I complain about above as well (I'm thinking I may be able to download a text-to-speech app, for instance). In any case, I wouldn't NOT recommend this phone. I think if you're used to a higher-end Android, you'll be disgusted with this one but if it's your first Android, maybe you'll love it despite it's foibles. Would I buy it again, knowing now what I didn't know then? Naw. I'd've kept my old phone and waited until I could afford a better Android but there's a good chance that my next upgrade will be to another Android.

P.S. Note that the trackback thingy isn't listed as either a pro or a con. I tried it. I thought it was stupid. I turned it off. It doesn't get in the way so it's not a con but it sure aint a pro. What a useless feature...

Another P.S., if you do buy this, may I recommend the app called Gesture Search? It allows you to handwrite the contact, app name, or whatever that you want to find. I do sometimes have a heck of a time finding the apps I've downloaded - there are tons and they just kind of get lost in the shuffle. With Gesture Search, you 'write' the letters with your finger and it shows the best matches.

slow, crippled, cheaply made August 15, 2011

Reviewer:  Tom  (Palo Alto, CA) -

I have literally owned about a dozen Android phones and this one is the worst of the bunch. In terms of hardware, it has poor screen resolution, unresponsive touch screen, cheap construction, and most importantly, a slow processor. It also doesn't charge reliably with some non-Motorola USB power adapters. In terms of software, it runs Android 2.1 (really old), Motorola's UI is arguably worse than Android's native UI. Verizon made some kind of deal with Microsoft to put Bing on the phone; you can't install Google's search application, and Bing intrudes randomly and annoyingly into apps like Google Maps. The phone comes with Swype, which is actually an OK choice for small screen devices like this (but Swype language packs are limited to English and Spanish). Just about the only nice thing one can say about it compared to other Android phones is that it is small and light. Note that like most other Verizon phones (and unlike T-Mobile and AT&T phones), this phone is only ever usable on Verizon's network. Verizon's minimal prepaid plan ends up costing $75/month: $45/month for the minimal voice service you must buy (you can't pay by the minute or day, you must buy 450 minutes), plus $30/month for data.

Prepaid doesn't have to be this bad. Other prepaid providers offer the LG Optimus, which is a much better phone all around: better built, faster, better touch screen, etc. And the Optimus is also often cheaper. And you can get good prepaid service with tons of data starting at around $25/month from other providers.

Why bother with a Verizon prepaid phone at all? I bought it for a trip across the country--because Verizon still has a monopoly in many rural areas of the country; either you get their phones or you get none at all. As such, it fulfills its function of letting me navigate, search, browse, and check E-mail while in remote areas, albeit slowly and with lots of eye strain. After the trip, I never want to be a Verizon customer again if I can help it. I plan on using the Citrus as a WiFi webcam after discontinuing service, so the hardware isn't a total loss for me.)

Unless you really have no choice other than Verizon prepaid, save yourself some money and get a much better phone and better plan--from a different prepaid provider.

Not great not bad August 2, 2011

Reviewer:  Jennifer R. Reaves  (Charlotte, NC USA) -

This is my first smart phone. I upgraded from an old Razor. The deal I got ont it from Verizon was not bad so I want went with it. It is fun to have a phone like this and it makes a decent starter phone. For my needs it works just fine. For someone who grew up back in the old 14.4 dial up internet it is a lot of fun. Of course there are a lot better phones out there that are faster but I have learned not to jump at new tech. I buy what I need and what works for me. This little phone works quite well and quickly has become my flying monkey. Down the road I will upgrade to a better phone but for now this one will do.
I have a little problem with some freezing up and some of the apps are a little slow to load. But it is a phone first for me. I can make calls and text after that the rest is fluff for me. If you need a phone with a lot of bells and whistles this is not it. Spend the money and get a better phone but if you are just getting on board with the smart phone craze and have to watch your money this is not a bad way to go.

Crippled Device February 6, 2011

Reviewer:  Andrew H. Berks "AndyB"  (New York, NY) -

I bought this phone for my wife, who needed an upgrade, but we had to pay full freight, so we opted for an inexpensive Android. But after a few days of use, this phone is a big disappointment.

This phone is small and physically well designed but has very serious flaws so I would not recommend it. Several important apps do not appear on the Marketplace at all, including Weatherbug and the excellent Curvefish battery meter. Verizon tech support informed me that they were not visible because this phone is not a full powered device. I don't understand why - the phone is lower powered than some other phones, but not that bad. This is a deal breaker and I will probably return it.

The processor is clearly slower than other phones (I've used the Motorola Droid and HTC Incredible), giving the phone a sluggish feel, and causing a visible lag in rendering menus and lists (like emails). I also thought the sound quality on the music player was not as good as it should be. I haven't tested the camera.

On the plus side, the call quality is very good (better than my HTC Incredible), and I like the Motorola interface, which is very well done and intuitive. This phone also has "backtrack," a little touch pad on the back that lets you navigate with your forefinger of the hand holding the phone. I think thats a great feature.