For better or for worse, the vast majority of Motorola cell phones released within the last few years operate in much the same way, meaning that the way that you use a Motorola mobile phone isn't all that different, regardless of whether you have an older V551 or the hot new KRZR (sometimes misspelled as krazr or krazer). If you want to take pictures, apply custom ringtones, or just access the included calculator, you go about it almost the same way on every Motorola phone.
In the guide below, we will go through some of the most popular functions and how to use them.
How to Use a Motorola Phone
In no particular order, the most commonly accessed features on a Motorola cell phone are:
- Recent call history
- Taking pictures
- Applying ringtones
Call History
Open the main menu by pressing the button that looks like three or four vertical bars. Now, depending on whether you have the menu set up to be display in an icon-based way or in the list-based way, move with the directional pad over to the option that reads "Recent Calls". Several items can be accessed from this feature, all of which can be very important for tracking your usage (and avoiding those nasty overage charges for using more minutes than your cellular plan includes).The first of these is "Received Calls". This shows your ten most recent received calls in reverse chronological order. It is here that you would look up any calls that you missed so that you can call the person back. If you actually answered your Motorola phone when the person called, you will see a checkmark beside the entry.
The second is "Dialed Calls." As you can probably guess, this list is much like "Received Calls" except it is calls that you initiated ("outgoing"). Just as above, calls that were answered are highlighted with a checkmark.
One feature that you will want to pay particular attention to is "Call Times". You'll get indications for the length of your last call, all calls (reset your timer to correspond with each billing period), and lifetime (all calls ever made or received on this cell phone). You'll find similar information in the "Data Times" section.
Camera Phone Functions
Everyone likes taking pictures with their camera phone, so if you're lucky enough to have a Motorola Cell Phone with an integrated camera (like the RAZR), you can go ahead and take those spur-of-the-moment snapshots that you probably couldn't have otherwise. Most camera-equipped Motorola phones come with some sort of quick access key (either on the side or on the main keypad itself) that acts as a shortcut to the camera, but if not, you can find it under "Multimedia" in the main menu.Some phones may come with extra features like being able to take video, adjust white balance, and apply various effects (like Sepia and B&W), but for the most part, Motorola camera phones are point and shoot. Simply press the associated soft key for "capture". Now, a very important thing to remember is that the picture is not automatically saved! After "capturing", make sure you select "store" and not "discard" in order to save your picture. But wait, it's still not saved yet. You will also need to choose whether you want to send it in a MMS message (a multimedia version of a text message), save it to the phone's memory, apply it as a wallpaper, apply it as a screen saver, or apply it to a phonebook entry (for picture ID). I usually just select "Save to Phone" first.
Using Ringtones on a Motorola
Some Motorola cell phones are only capable of polyphonic ringtones, while others can use MP3 ringtones that sound much more realistic. Whatever the case, you can choose to apply any number of different ringtones to all of the different entries in your phonebook, to a category, or to a ring style.To apply a ringtone to a single entry in your phonebook, access that entry and then press the Menu button. From there, go to Edit and move down to "Ringer ID". From there, you can select a ringtone from your phone's memory. Don't forget to save!
To use a ringtone for an entire category in your phonebook (business, friends, family, etc.), open your phonebook and then press the menu button. Go down to Categories and select that. From there, move the cursor down to the selected category but don't choose it yet. Instead, press the menu button with the appropriate category highlighted, choose Edit, and apply the Ringer ID just as you did to a single entry.
Finally, if you want to apply a "global" ringtone (or the "default" one that will be use for entries not in your phonebook), go the Setup/Settings menu and select Ring Styles. Choose the Ring Style that you would like to edit by pressing left or right (we'll use "Loud" as our example), and then go to "Loud Detail" (or "Soft Detail for Soft Ring Style, etc.). From there, you can select your chosen ringtone for each event -- incoming call, incoming text message, and so on -- as well as the ring volume.
