Great Phone! December 28, 2011

Reviewer:  Kevin B  (Oak Creek, WI USA) -

Just picked up this phone a few weeks back, and am absolutely loving it. A bit of background - the family was on Nextel for many years, and relied on the PTT Direct Connect to keep the family in touch quickly and easily. We used Nextel Blackberries. As data became more important, we shifted to the Sprint network and away from Nextel to take advantage of high speed data. We, however, missed the PTT feature in a big way, and have been looking for a way to get back onto it, but not at sacrifice the 3G speeds for data.

We went to Android phones, but missed the PTT feature, and most importantly, the great Blackberry keyboard that was always there. No matter what, a man with decent size hands CAN NOT work a virtual keyboard well. The tactile response of a keyboard is just so much better than the touch screen. That being said, touchscreens were now pretty much standard in how many people (including myself) interact with their phones, and I really didn't want to give that up either.

My wishlist for my next phone included a high quality touchscreen, longer battery life than my prior Android phone (or most for that matter), a PTT option, and of course, an always there, non-slider keyboard. The Admiral fits the bill perfectly. There are bigger screens, but this one is fantastic and of great quality. I can continue to enjoy the Android eco system and the apps I had before. I have a fantastic keyboard that allows me to compose emails and texts far faster than on any virtual keyboard.

Bottom line, this is the phone that I have been waiting for. I have yet to activate the PTT features, as the rest of the family's phones do note yet have the Sprint PTT features, but as they get new phones, we will be going live with the PTT. Stock battery management features now are giving me a couple of days on a full charge with a decent level of usage. Great phone, love the Motorola quality, and looking forward to adding more of these to the family's inventory!

The Admiral - Great Business Phone... April 5, 2012

Reviewer:  tcerami 

After some dabbling around with different phones, I couldn't pass up buying the Admiral phone for just one cent. I wanted something that was fit for business use with a real keyboard, tough construction and a good look and feel. What I ALSO got was scratch resistant Gorilla glass, a very strong battery and it's pretty darn fast.

If you're coming from the BlackBerry world and need a keyboard with the popular Android operating system, look at the Admiral. It's the right combination of performance, quality, price, app selection and more.

Pleasantly Surprised August 14, 2012

Reviewer:  Dawn 

I was in desperate need of a new phone but didn't know a lot about the phones that were available. When I went to the Sprint store looking for a phone, the price couldn't have been better. Free! I was leary at first, but now that I have had it a while, I love it. The speaker quality is clear with no crackling, I don't get any dropped calls. I wasn't sure how I would like a touch screen but I do. I come from a real old school phone, and the only reason I replaced it was because my old one was obsolete. It's not a complicated phone, it gives me what I want and need. The camera and video take awesome pictures as well.

Amazing Just what I was waiting for May 18, 2012

Reviewer:  H. Henderson "Business Junkie"  (USA) -

this is an incredible phone i have seen some really bad reviews on this phone and i have to say that it might be that they don't know how to use this phone it is the best phone in the market
DC is fast i didnt notice a difference between nextel and sprint
go buy this phone and enjoy

easy to use and get used to November 13, 2012

Reviewer:  HighNinetyFive  (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Suburbs) -

We use DC at my work, and since they're getting rid of all the iden Nextel towers, I had to get rid of my $35 a month Boost Mobile phone regretfully. I was forced to switch to an Android phone with DC, so this was my only option.

That being said, I have been pleasantly surprised by the Admiral; it made my transition from a cheap phone to paying just over $90/month very easy. I now love having what I would refer to as a computer at my fingertips. To me, the phone is very fast and I can surf the web and run any application very easily. Having a "smart phone" is fantastic, I doubt I could ever go back to a "dumb phone" now- didn't realize how much I was missing. Texting and typing is a breeze like a Blackberry with the key pad. I never liked the touch screen idea, but having both a touch screen and keypad is wonderful; although I do like that ball that is on some Blackberrys.

At first I was not looking forward to spending well over $100 a month for a cell phone, but I now see the value in doing so with a phone this usable. I have the everything 450 plan and $10 data add on, so the bill comes out to $79.99/month, and after the fees it is just over $90 for me. I have auto pay set up so I believe that saves a little bit of money. Since all cell-to-cell calling, texting, and DC'ing, is free, and considering the free nights and weekends, I have not yet come close to exceeding the 450 mins.

I was skeptical of the $.01 cost from Amazon Wireless, and even called them no make sure there was not a catch, seeing as this phone sells for $100+ everywhere even with a contract. There in fact is not a catch, I just signed the contract and was charged an activation fee on my first bill. The person who I spoke to at Amazon Wireless was helpful, courteous, friendly, and intelligent.

The camera/video is sufficient. Use a steady hand, and sometimes it will distort colors especially in low light, but in my opinion it is adequate for being cell phone camera. I find myself taking pictures of everything now. I downloaded the "brightest flashlight" app, and I easily use it almost every day, the tiny led is extremely bright.

I would not call it military tough at all, I've seen others at my work drop them bad on pavement, and in some cases they were damaged severely and beyond repair. The screen does seem highly resistant to scratching, but I've also seen a shattered one. I have noticed a few tiny glitches, but they are very rare, and no where near as bad as any other phone I've used from Motorola- it's a level of quality I am not used to from the company.

The general smoothness of usability, and the seemingly endless list of features could keep me talking about this phone all day, and I'm no techie. Overall I would buy this phone again and again, and would recommend one to a family member or anyone looking for a good smartphone, whether you need it for the DC or not.

Suits it's intended purpose September 11, 2012

Reviewer:  KT 

I have used this phone for almost 1 year. Decent call quality, easy email and gmail setup. If you are familiar with the android operating system the phone will be a snap. The direct connect is fairly similar to other nextel phones. Ringer volume isn't quite as loud as I expected.

A time or two the phone has froze up, simply putting it to sleep and waking it up stops this.

Cons: Seems to be a slight reception lag going from sprint towers to roaming towers.

I wish it had more RAM to run games.

Also broke the plastic cover over the camera lense the first week I had it. Get a good case to prevent this.

All in all, it meets my needs.

good phone.. mostly April 21, 2013

Reviewer:  jdk555 

Pretty functional phone. Good combination of touch screen functionality and physical keyboard. The phone has a solid constructed feel to it, but like any smartphone, it needs a case or cover. Biggest downfall for me is when typing text or email. The phone constantly either doesnt recognize a key that I punch or when I press a key it double or tripple inputs that particular character. I ve had the phone for about a year and its done it the whole time but may be getting worse. I cant do a single text or email without having to make corrections to improper character input.

This has to be the worst phone I ever had EVER. February 4, 2013

Reviewer:  mary merkin 

This has to be the worst phone I ever had EVER. There is nothing good at all to say about it. It hangs up in mid conversation and goes to standby mode frequently. The direct feature marginally works at all. The e-mail is slow and 50% of the times doesn't work either sending or receiving. The battery life is horrendous. I am lucky if it lasts 4 hours with out a recharge with minimal use. The touch screen seems to have a mind of its own, works when it wants to. When using a bluetooh device, it often switches back to the phone in mid conversation. (this was verified with several bluetooh devices that it was the phone not the bluetooth) I complained to Sprint and they put an update on the phone which all it did was waste my time and changed nothing on the phone. The only good thing about this phone is it is better than two cups and a string.

You get what you pay for. December 17, 2012

Reviewer:  Golfmomto4 

This was a replacement phone for my Samsung Epic, because I kept breaking the sliding keyboard. It was free and meant to hold me over until my contract is up in 5 months. The phone is slow to react and often locks up. I actually was making a 911 call when the phone locked up. Fortunately, it was not a life saving emergency. The keyboard often imputes multiple letters into a word, requiring me to go back and edit texts, emails, etc. Frustrating to say the least when you're in a hurry to get something sent quickly. The camera quality is not as good as the Samsung, and again, it takes so long to take that your subject has usually moved on at that point. I would say on average 4 out of 10 calls that I receive I am unable to answer because the screen won't respond. My car is Bluetooth equipped and never had any issues with dialing through my car or making receiving calls. However, it usually takes 2 to 4 attempts with this phone and I can't even think about making a call immediately after as the phone takes a good 20 to 30 seconds to realize you're not on a call anymore. I wouldn't even get it for my kids because once they downloaded a couple of apps it would be slow and I would worry about them actually ever needing to use it in an emergency and it locking up or not dialing.

I have purchased the Motorola Photon for my kids and I think that is a much better Motorola phone.

Great phone December 2, 2012

Reviewer:  Teresa Habeck 

I have owned this phone for 6 months and am loving this phone.
Pros:
The keys are tilted in such a way that it makes typing on the keyboard easy. Notifications show up nicely at the top of the screen. camera functions are awesome and I love the panoramic shots. pictures are clear and easy to transfer my photo site. Push to talk feature is awesome. It is great to be able to notify when user is available as well which was not possible with our Nextels.

Cons:
would love to see bet texting capabilities. the voice texting does not work. When I ask to send message it brings up the send message screen but am unable to dictate my message without further navigation which makes this useless since i use this mostly while driving.

Phone is full of glitches! May 23, 2012

Reviewer:  skb 

There is only 1 good thing about this phone.... it has an INCREDIBLE battery life! Other than that, there are so many glitches with this phone (screens popping up on you during text, words appearing that you didn't type in, screens shutting down out of nowhere, the phone itself shutting down out of nowhere, etc etc). I could go on and on. I sent my first one back, and received a replacement, and it was more of the same. Do not waste your time or money!