Motorola W490

  • Released 2007, October
    107g, 17.3mm thickness
    Feature phone
    5MB storage, microSD slot
  • N/A 249,477 hits
  • 10 Become a fan
  • 1.9"
    176x220 pixels
  • 1.3MP
    Video recorder
  •  
  •  
    Li-Ion

Motorola W490 - Specs

Network Technology GSM
2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
GPRS Class 10
EDGE No
Launch Announced 2007, September. Released 2007, October
Status Discontinued
Body Dimensions 98.8 x 48 x 17.3 mm (3.89 x 1.89 x 0.68 in)
Weight 107 g (3.77 oz)
SIM Mini-SIM
Display Type TFT, 256K colors
Size 1.9 inches, 11.4 cm2 (~24.0% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution 176 x 220 pixels (~148 ppi density)
 Second external CSTN, 65K colors display (96 x 80 pixels)
Screensavers and wallpapers
Downloadable logos
Memory Card slot microSD, up to 2 GB (dedicated slot)
Phonebook 1000 entries, Photocall
Call records 40 dialed, 40 received, 40 missed calls
Internal 5MB
Main Camera Single 1.3 MP
Video Yes
Selfie camera   No
Sound Loudspeaker Yes
Alert types Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3, AAC, MIDI ringtones
3.5mm jack No
Comms WLAN No
Bluetooth 2.0, A2DP
GPS No
Radio No
USB miniUSB
Features Sensors
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML
Games Yes
Java Yes, MIDP 2.0
 MP3/AAC/AAC+ player
Predictive text input
Organizer
Voice memo
Battery   Removable Li-Ion battery
Stand-by Up to 350 h
Talk time Up to 7 h 30 min
Misc Colors Black, Purple, Green
SAR 1.08 W/kg (head)     0.55 W/kg (body)    
SAR EU 0.76 W/kg (head)    
Price About 50 EUR

Motorola W490 - User Reviews

  • My current phone is a smart phone and uses a newer, smaller Sim card. I bought the Motorola, went to a local tmobile store, and bought a $10 Sim card adapter and it works great.

  • Is this fone still available in market???

  • I seems to have problem with the camera...always busy... Secondly, I want to download songs and music but it has no memory card. Any possibility to use the camera, download songs?

  • how much ? and can i use my o2 sim card.?

  • Price? How much does it cost?

  • can u put a sim card in it

  • All motorola FLIP TYPE someday have this problem..White scren.. you have to replace the FLEX.. but to do this have to open all the phone... better go to a tecnical service.. the flex is chep.. but need to go to a tecnical..

  • All motorola FLIP TYPE someday have this problem..White scren.. you have to replace the FLEX.. but to do this have to open all the phone... better go to a tecnical service.. the flex is chep.. but need to go to a tecnical.. [email protected]

  • Depend of the use... All motorola FLIP TYPE someday have this problem..White scren.. you have to replace the FLEX.. but to do this have to open all the phone... better go to a tecnical service.. the flex is chep.. but need to go to a tecnical.. [email protected]

  • All motorola FLIP TYPE someday have this problem..White scren.. you have to replace the FLEX.. but to do this have to open all the phone... better go to a tecnical service.. the flex is chep.. but need to go to a tecnical.. [email protected]

  • I have a w490. I got it from US. The problem is that i am not able to take Gprs connection on it. There is some option missing in web access. What should i do?

  • Can I knw how 2 power on bluetooth...Am new 2 motorola..

  • If your phone freeze up or you get a white screen... especially right after you got a call or message, you need to upgrade the software, or the software became corrupted, so you need to re-install it.

  • If you can get a copy of motorola-phone-tools for your computer, yes it will, and it works great.

  • Can It Recieve PIcture Messaging?

  • Is it possible to use the motorola w490 as a modem to connect hoe computer to the internet?

  • i cant get my phone to charge

  • I lost the back to my w490. anyone know where I can get a new one?

  • This phone has good features and is easy to use after awhile. But after awhile, the phone does start to break down. For me, my screen goes white and I constantly have to take the battery out and in to try to turn it back on. Sometimes, even getting a text message will freeze it. So, if you just want a simple phone with a not-long contract, this is great but if you're looking for a sturdy phone, then I don't recommended it.

  • I was checking feedback to see if I was the only one...guess I'm not!! My screen has gone WHITE too! I have had it for a yr & 1/2...of course AFTER warrenty is over. So I must BUY another phone. Which one do I choose? I love the phone, but I am not going to get another one if this is a common problem. Any suggestions people??????

  • I have had this phone for a little over a year, and the screen turned white and the phone locked, nothing can be done, t-mobile says that they have not had any problums like this but when I read your blogs I see that its a common one, I would not recommend this phone to any one.

  • No you can't use this phone on non-GSM base service providers. This one only work on GSM carrier

  • I love this phone so much but I changed my service provider and I still want to use this same phone,my question is can I unlocked this phone and will it worked w/ alltel which they don't required sim card to use the phone

  • SOLUTION HOW TO ACCESS YAHOO MAIL and GOOGLE from Motorola W 490 Download Browser Mini Opera and everything will work perfectly ! Size: 155 kb Link: or type in your phone's browser and chose to Download on your phone the Mini Opera Broswer. Have fun checking your mails ! Anna M

  • i have motorola w490 and i am enjoying it but i have 1 question? Is it possiable to get speakers for this phone and i dont mean earphones i mean speakers you can plug in and take out when you done using them please help.. Thanx

  • Anna: Try the suggestions on this web site. It worked for me. You will loose the Motorola Media player (junk anyway) but the web access works great.

  • why doesnt this fone have a radio as you all know a radiio is a necesiti we need to listen to broadcasts and in the news if we dont have time to go home. you guys have really costed us!!

  • Screen turned white after a year, seems it's pretty common with this phone.

  • I have problems accessing Yahoo Mail with my Motorola W490. Anyone has the same problem ? I access the log in page (Yahoo Mail) and then after filling in the ID & pw, it won't log me in, gives me an error. Thanks

  • this phone is one of the best from Motorola.....beautiful and smart phone

  • it's willn't change up

  • i recieved the w490 as a gift with no instructions included. my problem is i have a bunch of songs i do not want whats my limit on the list and how do i erase unwanted songs, or even record over them

  • I bought this phone in August and in less than a month later....the screen turned white. Then the number 2 on the phone stop working. Everytime I close my phone and open it up it either turns off or the screen goes white and then I have to turn it off and on again which is really fustrating. I suggest anyone who wants this phone to find another.

  • The character count maximum for one SMS is 160 characters including spaces.

  • Received the Motorola W490 from T-Mobile (USA) in July 2008. No issues until December of 2008 when the battery couldn't hold a charge.

  • Had this phone for a while. Good first phone easy to use. good price, a bargain great camera. IM is a good feature i love this fone.. i have had some minor setbacks...screnn turning white but everything else working well!

  • yup...ive had this phone for only 3 months...1st my little screen on cover screwed up and became dark...then my main screen went completely blank white a week or so later. P.O.S!

  • I just got the Motorola W490 and I can't figure out when I've gone over the word limit when texting (per page) usually phones show the letter count-down but this phone counts up. Is there a setting change I should look into?

  • Oh my god. I have had 2 replacement phones. The first two times it went white. Now it is just frozen. If the phone is shut and i recieve a call i can open it and talk but every button is frozen! this is so irritating and they just send the same phone over and over and i take good care of my phones so i dont know what the deal is.

  • my sd reader not working. when i insert the sim card it wont read it, i bought this phone about 6 months ago. try diffrent card wont read it

  • You need to go to the main menu - choose Settings - then choose Ring Styles. In the Ring Styles then choose the Style of ring you have or want. Then go to that Style detail screen and you will see how to set up that style's ringtone for everything.

  • i think this fone is alright but it kinda ticks me off when i cant figure out how to change the tone for incoming messeages... if anyone knows how plzz tell me

  • ugh this phone sux...it really does...i bought this phone for my brothers and my dad thinking oh its cute and they'll love it...well i was right they thot it was cool but no more than a month later my dads phone goes white..so we send it in for another one and then my brothers phone did the same thing both of theirs...im trying to convince my dad to get another phone but hes old fashioned and doesnt really care...meanwhile my brothers are dying haha... i wouldnt recommend this phone to anyone

  • I have had the motorola W490 for 9 months. Actually I have had 4 phones because the screen goes blank without any damages. I just keep getting the same phone sent to me with no exlanation of what the heck was wrong with it. Now a coulple of weeks after I got my fourth phone the white screen started happening again. This phone is worthless and I wouldn't recomend a w490 for any reason. I would not accept one if the CEO of Motorola paid me a million dollars.

  • This phone is an unmitigated piece of crap. I purchased it October '07. Today it, once again, started the dialing on its own business. This was my third issued phone. I finally gave up and they're sending me a KRZR instead of yet another W490. My advice? Under no circumstances should anyone purchase a Motorola phone unless they have a gun to their head. I went through the EXACT same hassles with my Razr a couple years back. I had to have it replaced four times as well. I'll never buy a Motorola again. I don't know why I was stupid enough to do it the second time.

  • How do I change the tone for my incoming text messages?

  • Okay i got this phone for Christmas, and i loved it. they have it in purple, which is my favorite color, so i was pretty happy. in february, the phone started acting really weird. it was not water damaged or anything. i dialed my friends number and talked for like 5 minutes and then the phone kept pressing the number 4 5 and 6 by itself, it made a loud dialtone and i couldn't understand anything. i guess they keyboard locked or something, i still dont know. i just stuck with texting and then the next day, the backlight when out. it lit up, but that's it. it broke for absolutley no reason, so we took it back to t-mobile, and they sent us the same phone. now, in august, the phone is having the same problems, again for no reason. we took it back to t-mobile and now there sending a completly different phone that hopefully, we'll have better luck with. the phone itself has a great design, but i dont recommend it for anything else.

  • I have had the same problems with the keypad just dialing numbers by itself. Thank god I had the warrenty from tmobile cause I'm phone #3 for the same problems.

  • go to usb mode and click the music file, then drag and drop youre tuns into music file.

  • how to unlock the keypad

  • How to unlock the external keypad? My mobile is not working. It displays a command external keypad is locked.

  • does it come in pay-as-you-go? because im looking for a good phone and this sounds like the perfect one i just need to no if it is pay as you go

  • how do u put music on it

  • this phone is one of the best from Motorola.....beautiful and smart phone

  • does it take mxit?????????????if anyone knows plz let me know,thats very important to me. i have a n70 which i hate and i wanted to take the w490 on contract is it wise?????

  • I have a Motorola W490 and I am very satisfied, especially of big memory that it support.It's a simple and good quality mobile phone

  • Greatttttt phone love the MP3 player never had a better phone motrola really out did themselves this time.

  • So I've dropped my Motorola W490 phone and totally submerged it. It turns on, and the screen lights up but...nothing else. I suppose it's completely fried...is there any reason to think it might not be?

  • Well I've had this phone for 4 months or so. Its a pretty cool phone. As far as standby time and picture quality I love it. I also love the fact that it has a music player and expandable memory. As for the bad... the browser sucks pretty bad and my key pad is pretty crappy. Nothing I can't live with tho. Lol. The motorola w40 gets a 7 out of 10 from me.

  • A basic phone with a long standby time. The materials of the phone, especially the numbers pad feel a bit cheap, but hey got if for free when I renewed my contract!

  • today i got mine it's a great phone it realy makes the money

  • hey people, i really need your help. Motorola keeps making new w-series "krzr" phones, yet EVERYTIME they lack a certain feature. For example, w375 cool phone, no bluetooth or micro-sd slot. The w270, i know it's a budget phone but motorola should make another one with a camera. I have been waiting a long time for motorola to wake up and just make one fine w-series flip phone. If enough of us can go to www.hellomoto.com and contact them to try to convince them to make a w-series flip phone with Fm radio, micro-sd slot, bluetooth, and camera, they might actually take this idea and introduce one last w-series phone. They actually came pretty close with the w490, but it doesn't have an fm radio (Really important to me) So I would really appreciate it if you all could send motorola a simple e-mail telling them that they should make ONE LAST w-series flip phone with all of the features consumers want; bluetooth, fm radio, camera, and micro-sd slot, that's all we need! Thanks everyone!

  • good

  • should i buy this mobile phone?i dont't know what to do:(i think it has a great price....but the performances?????thanks:)

  • how do i get my signature to work ? its not working

  • the micro card slot is at the bottom back of the phone. it is very easy to find

  • A simple mobile phone, with little features.

  • A simple mobile phone, with little features.

  • i like it, i have a microSD card 1GB. i have only one problem: where to put the .jar extentions for the phone to read them?

  • It does have a card slot. And you can also put themes on it if you tinkle a bit in the software. It's slow but has a long battery life (6-7 days) with 3-4 text messages and around 150 mins a day of calls. Good sound quality and good reception. I'm happy with its basic functions, after all that's the purpose of a phone.

  • i don;t know what to believe....i saw at www.vodafone.ro that it doesn't have a slot card but on this site you say it has a slot card....

  • i hate this phone. It is extremely slow doing eveything. first of all, when i answer the phone i have to say hello like 3 times before people can hear me, second of all the phone absolutley cannot keep up with my texting and it doesn't remember the spelling of words i use all of the time in the predictive text mode. I hate sending pictures because it takes somtimes up to 5 minuted to send one pic. sometimes i'll have to erase the message and re-send it again. and don't even bother sending a message to a group of people like Merry Christmas or something because that will take dang near all day. bottom line......don't buy this phone unless u don't text, don't send picture and don't mind saying hello three times before someone can hear you

  • I got the phone about a week ago. If you don't need all the extras on your phone it is a good phone at a great price.

  • I do not like this phone at all for my purposes. Yes it has a great camera, however I have already had to send one back in less than a week because the keypad kept pushing 8 by itself. My main problem with this phone is the browser. Half of the pages I try to visit tell me it can't be displayed or not found. For basic functions its ok but don't expect bells and whistles.

  • Good phone... best price... goooood camera

  • It has an 22MB internal memory not 5MB how is presented on the page... it's a cool phone ...just the right price

  • This phone is Cute... but i recently purchased it on Halloween. 2 weeks ago my kepyad stopped working. I ordered a replacement under warranty and today, the replacement stopped working as well.. has anybody else has this problem with this model. Thanks

  • first impresion: great

  • its available in india or not should have f.m.radio motorola plz start to give f.m.radio in all phones

  • Sorry if my English is bad I'm from Argentina :)

  • I'm first and I have to say that this phone is similar to Motorola w510 (except for the internal memory). I think it's a good low-level mobile phone, I have a Motorola ROKR W5 that is also much like W510 and I have no problems so far. Only it's a bit outdated because of the high specs of the phones nowadays but it's ok