Motorola Motofone F3 Review

posted terribly early in the morning by Constantinos. Filed under Review

I bought the Motorola Motofone after being introduced to it by this post on my friend Nick Baum‘s blog. For as long as I remember, I’ve been reading about how phones keep getting more and more complicated. Yet many people want their phone to do only one thing: make calls. The trick was getting a phone that was usable and friendly at the same time. When Motorola finally came out with the Motofone, it appeared that they had achieved just that. The only problem was that the phone was only available in India! Fortunately for me, I’ve been in India for the last 3.5 months. So I decided to buy one (or two), and write a hands-on review for it. Well, after writing a single-spaced narrative that spanned 3 pages and finding myself only half way through the things I wanted to say about this phone, my friend Nick came to the rescue with a list of questions for me to answer. So I’ll just break my unnaturally long essay into pieces and post the review in interview format-.

Update 2007-03-07: Cross-posted on nickbaum.com

Update 2007-03-27: For those of you looking for a manual of this phone, I found two, in English. Motofone Draft Manual [pdf] is one, and Motofone Digital Manual [pdf] is another. The latter doesn’t contain the list of ‘advanced’ codes.

Without further delay, the brand new Motorola Motofone F3:

Motofone

Nick: How is the packaging, the new user experience? What’s included in the box?

Manual Me: The phone came in a cylindrical container, aka a tube. Opening the box revealed inside the device itself (without any protective plastic bag/screen cover), a battery in a nylon bag, the back cover of the device, a charger, a user’s manual (in Telugu, Kannada and English), and the standard warranty papers. Motofone box Motofone box - rear The package is a standard cardboard tube with plastic tops, which makes it feel a bit cheap. However the finish is good, and if it’s sitting on a table it looks better than expected, so it might actually work in places other than India, like Europe or even the US. Most phones come in solid & glossy cardboard boxes with the phone securely tucked away in polystyrene or a plastic casing, but the Motofone’s case is different enough that it might get away with it.

Nick: Tell me about the physical design of the phone. How does it feel?

Me: The phone is extremely light. The face is completely flush, with no nicks or grooves for dirt to get into (not even around the screen, which is simply a transparent piece of plastic as far as the outer shell goes). Even the keys are completely flat, which I love. Motofone keypad I read somewhere that the phone was built for the weather in countries like India, where there’s a lot of rain and dirt in the air. I have not tested the rain claim, but I will take Motorola’s word for it. As for the dirt, the only place I can see dirt getting into is the speaker, but even that seems hard. Everything else is either completely flat or sealed with rubber. There’s still tactile feedback through the protruding rubber lines above and below the buttons. Both the buttons and the click wheel in the middle feel very natural. The clickable area is quite large, and you can easily feel the button being pressed.

The only input slot is the charger/headphone jack, which is smaller than any other charger jack I’ve seen. Motofone comparison However, the fit of the plug is extremely snug in the phone (it will not fall off if you dangle the phone from the cord, but at the same time it does not require much strength to push it in/take it out), and it seems that it uses the same plug for headphones, which I have not tested. The thickness of the phone is about the same as an Apple Remote.

Nick: How about performance? In practice, how long is the battery life? How is reception?

Me: Motorola claims 300h of stand-by battery life which, for the less mathematically inclined, translates to 12 days. That might be true if you turn on the phone, leave it on a table and never touch it or receive any calls. The screen consumes absolutely no power when it’s not changing the contents of the display, so on stand by the only power drain is the signal reception and updating the time every 60 seconds. However, I would not expect the battery to last anything more than 5 days under any circumstances where the phone is actually being used. I did let the battery run down completely, but I did get a solid 4 days of constant use from it before the 5-segment battery indicator dropped to a single line (just barely dropped below 2, where the last line can easily go for another day).

As far as reception goes, I only have one word: outstanding. I’ve been using this phone for 2 weeks, and I still have not seen the reception indicator fall below the full 5 lines (and no, reception is not generally this good in my area). In line with this, the excellent speakerphone is a feature I did not expect. Voice clarity on this device is up to par with any phone I’ve ever tried, including land lines. I have no problems understanding anything anyone says to me on this phone.

Nick: How does the screen perform in different light conditions? How does it compare to regular screens?

A Motofone Apart Me: The screen is definitely the most innovative power saving feature of the device. I already knew that the E-ink technology used for the screen requires no power to keep the screen on, but it’s a different feeling when you take out the battery without turning the phone off, and the screen keeps displaying the last characters on it! (Yes, it does reset without any trace when you turn it back on). The contrast is excellent and the characters are clearly visible in any light condition from any angle (unless there’s complete darkness).

This being said, it’s not all rosy. The character display is exactly like the old 16-segment LCD displays of yesteryear. 2 rows of 6 characters, that’s it. What’s even worse, only the first row is used for actual alphanumeric characters, which makes reading messages a big pain. I do believe there’s a valid reason for doing this (read on about the user interface), but it doesn’t stop it from being extremely annoying. Also since the characters are constructed from segments, there’s no notion of upper/lower case. You will see an upper case letter or a lower case letter depending on which one will make the most sense when formed by the segments.

Nick: Describe the user interface? Is it immediately intuitive, or does it take getting used to?

Me: The interface is by far the most interesting aspect of the device, even more so than the screen. The phone has a language setting, but not in the traditional sense as none of the menus have any text in them. Instead, any action you might perform on the phone and might need some instruction, comes with a voice-over, in the language chosen by the user. As this phone is targeted for the low-income family, there’s a good chance that a user of the phone might not even know how to read. For this reason, I believe the choice to preload the phone with voice messages in the native languages of the region it is being launched in instead of simply having text in different languages is an excellent choice.

Manual - Interface The first time I turned on the phone and entered my PIN, I was greeted by a man speaking in a language I did not understand. After a few seconds, the same man said, in English, “For English, press 3”. Since I bought the phone in the Karnataka district of India, the phone comes with 3 pre-set languages: Telugu, Kannada, and English, where the first two are the official languages of the district. These options come up whenever the SIM card is replaced in the phone, which makes sense. Once the language is selected, if you wish to change it you must either change the SIM, or go through the ‘advanced menus’ (read on).

As soon as I pressed 3, the same voice asked me if I wanted voice prompts while using the phone. 1 for Yes, 2 for No. I pressed 1 just out of curiosity. This option is presented to me every time the phone is switched on. Note that wherever I make a note of what the “friendly voice” says, this is always dependent to whether or not voice prompts are enabled. If they’re not, then the voice will never be heard from again (at least not until you turn the phone off and back on).

Since I had just powered on the phone, I was presented with the option for setting the time on the phone (with the voice telling me “Enter time”). After telling it the time and date, I was pretty much done with the setup.

Manual - Buttons There are exactly 6 menu choices. The menu can be accessed by pressing right or left on the click wheel. Pressing up or down while on standby changes the volume of the phone. The menu itself contains no characters, just icons. The same friendly voice tells you the menu you are on, which you can access by pressing the action key (top left). These choices are (as narrated by the friendly voice): Send a message, Read your messages, Call history, Change ringtone (7 possible pre-defined choices), Set alarm, Change time. Scrolling to the menu you wish to use you can press ‘up’ or ‘action’ and the menu will be selected, where the voice will tell you what you can do (“Write your message” for example).

There are a few other (advanced) options you can mess with: change language, select time format, set voicemail number, keypad tones on/off, auto keypad lock on/off, set SIM pin, SIM pin on/off, restricted calling – phonebook only, prepaid balance display, set balance inquiry number, and the obligatory reset factory settings. All of these options are accessible by pressing *** [3-digit number code] * [action]. These settings obviously require the manual which lists all the 3 digit codes, and are generally the kind of thing you would only set once and then forget about it. I haven’t tried to see if there are any easter eggs in there.

All in all, it took me about 10 minutes to get used to the interface. It did not immediately come to me (I spent a few seconds being utterly confused), but I believe the reason for that was because I’m so used to the standard interfaces that come on every phone. After getting the hang of this one (which was very fast to do so), it became almost second nature.

Nick: How does the address book work?

Phone Book Me: There’s a phone book button (top right) which takes you directly to the phone book. There is no memory on the phone itself for an address book, so it uses the SIM memory which is limited to 12 characters per contact name, and one number per contact entry. Pressing the phone book button will bring up the phone book, which you can navigate with up/down, or press a letter to jump to that point in the phone book. To scroll through the 6 character limit of the display you must press right. Pressing right multiple times will display the phone number of the contact, and then an option to delete the contact (shown as a trash can, you must press ‘up’ to delete it when the icon is shown). Furthermore, each contact has a number associated to it (the SIM card memory location), which can be used for speed dialing. If an unknown number is on the display, an icon appears above the phone book button which indicates that pressing it will let you add that number to your SIM.

The Call History menu has a memory of the last 15 dialed/received calls (the menu icon indicates whether the number was dialed or received, depending on the direction of the arrow).

Nick: How does text messaging work?

Me: There are two ways you can send a text message. The first way is to start writing a message by using the “Send a message” menu (first choice), then entering the number or going through the phone book. Alternatively, whenever a number or a contact (either through the phone book or through the Call History menu) is visible, a “Send a message” action is available and accessible through the action button, which will take you to the same “Send a message” menu. Writing the message and pressing send will send the message to the number you already selected.

Texting I already mentioned that only the top row is used for text, and that this makes reading messages extremely annoying. However, you do get used to it. If a word is less than 6 characters long, it will definitely be shown in its entirety. I.e. if you receive the message “hi how is california?” then “hi how” would be on the first screen, “is” would be on the second and “california” would span two screens, split at the ‘o’. The reason behind all this, in my opinion, is consistency. Browsing anything (messages, contacts, call history, etc) is a top to bottom action, and reading a message is a left to right action. If the message spanned two lines, it might be a bit more confusing, but the initial confusion might be worth the convenience. On the up side the response time of any action is next to nothing, so reading a message on this phone is NOT considerably slower than on any other phone, provided you’re not using T9 or any other sophisticated input method. The only way a message can be composed is by typing each letter in the standard way. Furthermore, there’s no ‘back’ button in the sense that you can navigate your message. If you make a mistake, you have to erase all the letters from the end of the message to the mistake in order to correct it, and then type everything again.

Nick: What do you like best about the phone?

Me: I’d have to say the large characters that display the time, the visibility of the screen, and the intuitiveness of the interface (after you take 10 minutes to learn it, mainly because we’ve all been conditioned to expect a lot of counter-intuitive interfaces from phones). Oh, and the price. You just can’t beat a $40 price tag on a phone that looks this good.

Also, I was surprised by the alarm. It’s quite loud, annoying, and must have a very well constructed sound loop because when it starts “chirping”, it appears as if the frequency/tone of the sound is slightly randomized, so it’s not a constant beat. Let’s just say it has more success waking me up than most other alarms I’ve tried (with the possible exception of The Matrix soundtrack CD starting at full volume).

Nick: What do you miss most? Is the simplicity a blessing or a curse?

Me: I think what I miss the most is the ability to synchronize my contact list with my mac, and slightly less I miss being able to connect my mac to the internet through the phone from wherever I am. However I still force myself to not carry my bluetooth enabled phone everywhere with me, because I believe having that kind of access to the internet should be reduced. As a computer scientist I spend a LOT of time on the internet as is, and having the ability to connect to the internet from anywhere at any time is just distracting. Feel free to disagree with me on this.

Beyond that, I do not miss the camera, the color screen, or the mp3 capabilities (I even have an iPod that I never use). If anything, I’d say the simplicity is a blessing. I never really used any of those features on my phones for any reasonable purpose, and simply having them there caused me to take ugly photos, waste time with 100px color photos, and suffer through low quality songs. Granted there are a lot of smartphones out there that get a lot of these things right, and maybe it is convenient to some to have a low quality 2MP camera in their pocket at all times. As far as I’m concerned however, if I believe I’ll want to take some photos, I’ll take a real camera. There’s just no way a phone can be designed to do all those things, and at the same time be small, light and usable. It always takes away from the primary purpose of the phone: making calls; which is why I believe the simplicity of this phone is a step in the right direction.

Nick: What are the greatest flaws of the phone? How would you improve it?

Me: I’d have to say the way the screen displays the characters. It seems that e-ink technology is able to create finer text, though I don’t know how that would affect the stand-by battery life (not that it matters much in real-life terms). Reading/Composing messages is troublesome at best, which is a problem concerning a lot of cellular communication now occurs via texting. I realize that a lot of the marketing around the phone is targeted to people who potentially don’t know how to read and/or write, but it’s a mistake to not consider the vast number of people who do and will be using this phone for that purpose. Other than that, I couldn’t be happier with it.

Nick: How popular is the phone in India? How is it marketed?

Me: I have not seen any ads for it, nor have I seen anyone else carry it or use it. That being said, I had a hell of a time finding a unit, as it was out of stock in every shop I went to. On the flip side, one shop owner I chatted up said they only brought 20 units total which sold in a couple of weeks, but they have no plans of bringing more. A few other stores hadn’t even heard of the device. I was finally able to locate a store that was having some stock brought in, and I reserved a device from them. The store attendant seemed to be very curious as to why I would choose a phone that had no features, and kept trying to get me to buy something else. Then again I’m in Mangalore, which is a city of 800,000 people in a country of 1.2 billion, and is also considered by many as a backwater village (i had to go to 4 different computer stores to find a 6-pin to 6-pin firewire cable). It’s extremely likely that Motorola has just not focused any marketing efforts in my parts of India, but I can’t confirm that.

Nick: Would you use this as your primary phone in the US?

Me: Probably. I’ve definitely given up a Nokia 6230 and an Ericsson K700i for this phone. Both of the other phones are turned off and stuck in my closet. That being said, I would not get rid of secondary phone with some more wireless capabilities, because I often find myself needing some mobile access which a simple phone cannot provide. I don’t know if I’d give up a blackberry for it, as I’ve never owned one (re: my comment on the simplicity of the phone).

Update 2007-03-28: Since some people have started adding undocumented key codes to the comments, I’ll try to maintain a complete list here and update it as more undocumented settings codes come up.

To access the advanced settings, press * * * [number code] * [action]

Phone Setting Number Code
Reset Factory settings 000
Restricted Calling (Phonebook only) ON | OFF 160|161
Keypad tones ON | OFF 250|251
Auto keypad lock ON | OFF 260|261
Set SIM Pin 300
SIM Pin ON | OFF 310|311
Select time format 470
Prepaid Balance Display ON | OFF 500|501
Voice Prompts ON | OFF
(can also be toggled by pressing
[action] on the volume menu)
510|511
Change Language 520
Set Balance Inquiry Number to # * 642
Set Voicemail number 644

Those are the ‘official’ codes, covered in the manual. Now for the experimental part…
Note: Use these at your own risk, even before these codes were posted here phone numbers were lost from a SIM card because of them, so back up your numbers before you use them!

Undocumented Codes – Use at your own risk!
Display total time of accepted incoming calls 111
Display total time of outgoing calls 121
Switch Audible call minute counter (beep) ON|OFF 130|131
Region Code display ON | OFF 400|401
List available networks with option to change to another network 402
Display network currently receiving service from 480
Display list of networks within range 481
View / Edit Service Cell Number (SMS Service) 643
Delete ALL stored messages 700
Enter SMS prepay query code (?) 701

The following codes work AS IS, i.e. without entering the * around them

Phone information details * * 9 9 9 9 * [action]
Cell phone serial number * # 0 6 # [action]

That’s it for now! If you find more, post them in the contents, I’ll pick them up and put them here.

394 Responses to “Motorola Motofone F3 Review”

  1. 1. Comment by Tomas
    on 16 Dec 2007 @ 3:50 am

    I brought mine unlocked at a Tiger Direct store on Miami (USD 40 approx.). Works perfectly on my home country (Panama).

    I am very, very happy with this phone, since I have an attraction to minimalistic designs in general.

  2. 2. Comment by Ustas
    on 17 Dec 2007 @ 6:49 am

    [quote comment=”2128″]Hi all, thanks for all the great comments! Has anyone in the US had success with using this phone on t-mobile USA network? Thanks!![/quote]
    I use unlocked F3 with T-Mobile SIM in Chicago area without a problem. 🙂
    I’ve used various cellphones for past fifteen years and this one by far is the best… kills all the geeky phones around here. Bravo Motorola!

  3. 3. Comment by Lefteris
    on 18 Dec 2007 @ 12:54 am

    from the official motorola site in the Full Specifications motofone f3 section
    [quote]
    Personalization / Fun Features

    Downloadable monophonic ring tones

    Embedded polyphonic ringtones
    [/quote]

    so how can i dowload monophonic ring tones???

  4. 4. Comment by Mitchell
    on 18 Dec 2007 @ 3:58 am

    This phone is pure crap. I’m not into high tech phones, to me a mobile phone is for texting and making calls, but this phone is just horrible. I started using alot more credit once getting this phone because I couldn’t stand to write text messages on it so I would just call people to make it easier. The only good thing about this phone is that it is as strong as an ox, but it needs to be considering the number of times you will be throwing it at the wall after spending 10 minutes writing a messages only to have it not send on you, meaning you have to write the whole thing again (and you just know you left out that witty pun that made the message special to begin with). This phone is terrible to talk into and it’s hard to hear the person at the other end, somehow it also manages to barely ever have reception in places where people on the same network have perfect reception.

    A fucking failure of a phone if I ever saw one, even with the volume right up you won’t hear the message tone unless it’s right next to your face. For the same price a cheap Nokia is by far the better choice – this phone caused me nothing but grief for the 6 months I had it.

  5. 5. Comment by neenee
    on 18 Dec 2007 @ 7:30 pm

    Hi Mitchell,

    I’m sorry to hear you do not like the Motofone.

    This review, as well as many others, don’t pretend the text-messaging function is any better than it is.

    Your issue with messages being sent is something I have not encountered.

    I do not share your problem regarding reception either, nor your problem with hearing people talk. As for ‘being terrible to talk into’; Perhaps you are used to phones with a different model, rounger or longer; With some shape you find more pleasing to use as a phone, but again, reviews should have prepared you for how the phone looked.

    Indeed the text-message sound has quite a low volume, but that too has been mentioned it at least this review/the comments. Perhaps you should have tried setting your phone to vibrate.

    All in all, I think you could have saved yourself some aggrivation if you had read some reviews or had tried out the phone at a shop before purchasing it.

    Instead, you choose to blame the phone.

    Ah well. Good luck with your Nokia.

  6. 6. Comment by inedible
    on 18 Dec 2007 @ 7:30 pm

    juanpa: 112 is the global standard emergency number for GSM phones. Dialing 112 will connect you to 123 in Costa Rica.
    I’m in Canada and I accidentally dialed 112 once.. The lady answered “Hello, 911.”

  7. 7. Comment by Chris Grillo
    on 21 Dec 2007 @ 6:51 am

    Hi, I got the phone last week. I live in Malta (Europe), and got the phone via relatives from PLAY DOT COM. The F3 came with an orange sim card, which I removed, and put in the local provider (GO). It worked instantly.

    The phone is blessing, so simple to use and above all, so so sexy. The thinness of the unit is amazing! Anyone who sees it wonders at the simplicity, style and simplicity of it all.

    Motorola have gone back to basics with this one, and receiving and sending calls is the most important thing. OK, the SMS don’t look all that great, but don’t knock it, I have become addicted to the phone. So easy to slip into your jeans or shirt, you forget it is there until you are startled with the phone ringing LOUDLY.

    Reception is brilliant, and the speakerphone loud enough to have everyone enjoying the conversation.

    Battery life is amazing too! This phone cannot be compared to other phones, simply because Motorola designed it in a different way, so please do not compare this to the others. You call, you receive calls, and make the odd SMS now and again, but even that is ok, we turn the T9 off to write in Maltese!

    Great Great phone..and for 12Euros? It’s a bargain… costs less than a 6-pack of beer!

  8. 8. Comment by GaryB101
    on 21 Dec 2007 @ 9:50 pm

    I just got one of these for my wife and when we finish doing ANYTHING (basically hitting the red button) it shows the number “31041” before the screen goes black with the time showing. Does anyone know what this number means? Does anyone know how to change it or erase it?

  9. 9. Comment by Ustas
    on 22 Dec 2007 @ 3:37 am

    [quote comment=”2137″]I just got one of these for my wife and when we finish doing ANYTHING (basically hitting the red button) it shows the number “31041” before the screen goes black with the time showing. Does anyone know what this number means? Does anyone know how to change it or erase it?[/quote]
    That has mentioned before… The number you see is the local station number of your mobile service provider. 🙂

  10. 10. Comment by inedible
    on 23 Dec 2007 @ 4:45 am

    For anyone who’s experienced the antenna bars “scanning” back and forth, and not being able to make a connection:

    1: Make sure the phone has the correct frequency band for your country. Most of North America uses 850/1900, while most of Europe and the rest of the world uses 900/1800.

    2: Have you been fooling around with the “Advanced Options”?? I tried ***402* to see what networks were available, and since then was unable to connect to any network. If this is the case, entering ***000* will reset the phone to defaults and should get you back online.

  11. 11. Comment by Nate
    on 23 Dec 2007 @ 5:24 pm

    Does anyone know if the touchtone feature is adjustable and how to adjust if it is. Not being able to use automated services is a pain in the ass.

  12. 12. Comment by Twins
    on 24 Dec 2007 @ 1:26 am

    Hi,

    For anyone who’s experienced, how to delete the icon “Callouts”, even I hear/open all voice mail, and call to the provider, the icon still appears.

    gracias

  13. 13. Comment by Dave
    on 25 Dec 2007 @ 7:11 pm

    All those people who are complaining about this phone. You have missed the point. The phone was design to be simple to use with a large character display and large keys. If you won’t an all singing, all dancing phone that does nearly everything except make tea. Go and spend more money and stop moaning.

  14. 14. Comment by Laszlo
    on 25 Dec 2007 @ 11:42 pm

    RE: Comment 225 by Jason and 230 by Jay:
    I’m using Cingular as well and am encountering the same problem with voicemail notification. Is there an icon for this? What does it look like? Another issue with voicemail is that if you use speedial(#1), it doesn’t go through, even though the settings were modified via ***644*. Calling voicemail directly DOES go through, however. ??? Is this problem related only to Cingular users? I know the 31041 stands for the network (Cingular), but is there any way to change that? Using the ***481* command to display available networks shows 31041 along with the name Cingular spelled out. Seems like there should be a way fix this. Great review by the way, the advanced settings table was the icing on the cake!

  15. 15. Comment by fred
    on 26 Dec 2007 @ 4:05 am

    [quote comment=”2140″]Does anyone know if the touchtone feature is adjustable and how to adjust if it is. Not being able to use automated services is a pain in the ass.[/quote]
    I’d like to have answer to this question as well…

  16. 16. Comment by George
    on 26 Dec 2007 @ 8:32 am

    Hi,

    I received my Motofone f3 without a functioning backlight. Does anyone know if this is a setting with a code that I can enter? It is really annoying because I can’t see my phone in the dark. If someone knows how to fix this, please let me know.

    Thanks

  17. 17. Comment by neenee
    on 27 Dec 2007 @ 10:04 am

    Return the phone and get a new one.

    No code can fix a hardware problem.

  18. 18. Comment by Ben Allison
    on 27 Dec 2007 @ 3:07 pm

    Is there a code for forwarding the phone to another number?
    Ben Allison

  19. 19. Comment by neenee
    on 28 Dec 2007 @ 4:13 pm

    No such code is known.

  20. 20. Comment by inedible
    on 29 Dec 2007 @ 11:48 pm

    #269: re call forwarding: call your provider and ask that they set it up on their end or ask them what the code is, it’s often carrier-specific and handled by the carrier, not the handset.

    #266: re touchtones: ***250* should enable keypad tones.. my F3 works fine for navigating automated systems like voicemail and such. if it doesn’t, the phone in broken.

    #267: re backlight: There is no known code for enabling or disabling the backlight, if yours isn’t working it’s probably physically broken. That said, I’d trade you for my F3, the backlight works fine, but I have no use for it and I’d like the extra battery life. My email address is: pseudolobster at gmail dot com if you’d like to set up a trade.

  21. 21. Comment by Eno Ibanga
    on 30 Dec 2007 @ 12:46 am

    How do I unlock the Motorola MOTOFONE F3 that I just purchased from a shop in Nigeria. The IMEI number is 355072016692881 and is registeredto T-Mobile network. Please send me the code to unlock.
    Ibanga

  22. 22. Comment by Bratislav Metulsky
    on 30 Dec 2007 @ 10:43 pm

    [quote comment=”2149″]Is there a code for forwarding the phone to another number?
    Ben Allison[/quote]As on every GSM phone you can use the standard GSM codes for setting up call fowardings. Just enter one of the following codes and pick up the phone:
    ##002# Unregister all call diversions
    **004*PhoneNumber# Set all configured call diversions to PhoneNumber
    ##004# Unregister all configured call diversions
    **21*PhoneNumber# Register and activate divert all calls to PhoneNumber
    *21# Activate divert all calls
    #21# Deactivate divert all calls
    ##21# Unregister divert all calls
    *#21# Check status of divert all calls
    **61*PhoneNumber# Register and activate divert on no answer to PhoneNumber
    **61*PhoneNumber**DelayInSeconds# Register and activate divert on no answer to PhoneNumber after DelayInSeconds (enter value of 5-30 seconds)
    *61# Activate divert on no answer
    #61# Deactivate divert on no answer
    ##61# Unregister divert on no answer
    *#61# Check status of divert on no answer
    **62*PhoneNumber# Register and activate divert on not reachable
    *62# Activate divert on not reachable
    #62# Deactivate divert on not reachable
    ##62# Unregister divert on not reachable
    *#62# Check status of divert on not reachable
    **67*PhoneNumber# Register and activate divert on busy
    *67# Activate divert on busy
    #67# Deactivate divert on busy
    ##67# Unregister divert on busy
    *#67# Check status of divert on busy

    Find further GSM codes for call barring, call waiting, PIN code change and caller ID settings at http://web.telia.com/~u47904776/gsmkode.htm

  23. 23. Comment by Name
    on 2 Jan 2008 @ 3:43 pm

    [quote post=”73″]This phone is terrible to talk into and it’s hard to hear the person at the other end,[/quote]

    You’re holding the phone upside down.

  24. 24. Comment by Brian
    on 2 Jan 2008 @ 9:23 pm

    I LOVE my but I’m having such a weird experience. Like a few other people here I was having trouble with voicemail and text notifications not showing up. When I leave the phone on vibrate, all that happens is the screen blinks a few times, and the small envelope icon appears. Same if I increase the volume. Here’s where it gets weird: this is what happens when I’m in NYC. I was just out on the West coast, and when I got a text, the phone vibrated, and a large envelope icon/animation appeared. What’s going on?

  25. 25. Comment by jon
    on 4 Jan 2008 @ 1:52 pm

    Comments 242 and 262 Robert and Nate-

    I had the touch tone problem right now. I had to enable tones, which didn’t work (**250*) and then I tried disabling tones (**251*). Now I can use my voicemail again!

  26. 26. Comment by Tony
    on 5 Jan 2008 @ 4:42 pm

    To Eno Ibanga comment number 272.

    Hi, Just bought a subsidized F3 in the UK. I removed the supplied sim and popped in the one I was using for another network, Works great! -don’t think you need worry about unlocking codes!
    Regards Tony.

  27. 27. Comment by Arjun
    on 6 Jan 2008 @ 7:38 pm

    anybody know how do delete the call list one by one ?

  28. 28. Comment by Dan Hightower
    on 10 Jan 2008 @ 1:00 am

    I just got the motofone F3 and as stupid as it sound I tried to check my voicemail by doing the whole “*86” thing and it just tell me that I have dialed an incorrect number. Could anyone help me out with checking my voicemail???? Thanks.

  29. 29. Comment by Gracious
    on 10 Jan 2008 @ 9:17 am

    [quote comment=”1411″]I’m fairly happy with my pay as you go F3 but two things :

    I can delete received SMS messages easily enough but how do I delete the ‘received calls’ history ? (If I can’t delete them how many records of calls received does the memory hold ?)

    Does the # key serve any particular purpose other than writing the letter ‘H’ ?![/quote]

    to delete call history… ***000* maybe used…peace

  30. 30. Comment by Matt
    on 16 Jan 2008 @ 5:27 pm

    I’ve had one of these for about three weeks now and have been using it with at&t on the east coast. I think it’s a pretty sweet phone for voice and only voice (and the occasional rare text message.) After using this phone I’ve learned a lot more about my sim card than I ever knew before. With the F3 your phone book is your sim card database, Period, so however the data is organized on the sim card is it. Also, speed dial numbers are not programmable. The second number in the card database is dialed with the number 2 speed dial, and that’s it. When I started using the phone I noticed what I thought was a nicely organized phonebook on my old nokia was actually a mess the nokia was sorting out. Any numbers on the sim were dumped there from my old verizon phone by the cingular salesperson and any new numbers since were only in the phone memory. In addition, numbers on the sim were in random database slots but if I told my nokia to move/copy a contact to the card it would put it in the first open spot. Eventually I worked out that I could assign useful speed dial numbers by moving all my contacts off my sim with the nokia, then manually copying the first nine so they became my keypad speed dials, dumping the rest onto the card, and then putting the card in the F3. A pain to figure out initially, but only a mildly labor intensive one time thing in the end. During this process I learned that the voice mail call in number had to be on the 1 speed dial. The first time I manually moved the contacts around I forgot to put it back in the number 1 place and broke my voice mail speed dial. Dialing it from another speed dial location wouldn’t work, although I think manual dial still worked (can’t remember). Either way it was definitely an ‘oh ish!’ moment when I did that.

    Other observations: Like other people have observed, on at&t/cingular my new voicemail flag doesn’t come on, although the missed call indicator covers for that issue. I get about 5 days of battery max. I have no idea what silly tricks motorola used to get the insane numbers they quote. I kinda like the ring tones it comes with. Vibrate settings not being separate from ringer volume is really annoying. Having it tell you the carrier code is cool, if mystifying at first. Not being able to delete the call history is vaguely irksome. You can delete other things and there’s a trash icon, so why not? Having to set the time/date manually is dumb. It talks to a network that can wirelessly tell it the time/date with atomic clock accuracy, so why do I have to set it myself? This is the loudest cell I have ever heard, which can be good or bad, depending on your perspective. The speakerphone mode works great and you press a nice, big fat button to access it. It charges quite slowly. From dead a full charge is around four hours, so a top-off is no quick thing. The phone’s geek factor is sky high.

    My favorite feature: It Doesn’t have a web browser!

  31. 31. Comment by gene
    on 19 Jan 2008 @ 12:33 am

    If you want to go to a number in your phone book quickly, just press the phonebook key to get into your book, and press the corresponding letter on the keypad to the first letter of the contact. In case it it for example Edward, press 3 twice or 33. Brilliant!

  32. 32. Comment by Sinclair
    on 20 Jan 2008 @ 4:46 pm

    I don’t wish send my own number in my calls. Can I do it ? Thanks from Brazil, the ‘Country of the Sun”…
    Sinclair

  33. 33. Comment by Constantinos
    on 21 Jan 2008 @ 1:26 am

    [quote comment=”2168″]I don’t wish send my own number in my calls. Can I do it ? Thanks from Brazil, the ‘Country of the Sun”…
    Sinclair[/quote]

    Try dialling *31#PhoneNumber

    This will probably work, but it’s not phone specific, it’s network specific.

  34. 34. Comment by Paul
    on 21 Jan 2008 @ 1:10 am

    I need a bit of help. I left my charger at the hotel while on vacation. I have found several chargers that have the correct jack to fit the phone, however I don’t knwo and can’t seem to find anywhere on line what the output voltage of the charger really is. Could someone please look at your charger and tell me 1) what the output voltage is and 20 if it indicate the polarity of the charger output (ie center + and shell -) Thanks in advance!!

  35. 35. Comment by Constantinos
    on 21 Jan 2008 @ 1:23 am

    [quote comment=”2169″]I need a bit of help. I left my charger at the hotel while on vacation. I have found several chargers that have the correct jack to fit the phone, however I don’t knwo and can’t seem to find anywhere on line what the output voltage of the charger really is. Could someone please look at your charger and tell me 1) what the output voltage is and 20 if it indicate the polarity of the charger output (ie center + and shell -) Thanks in advance!![/quote]

    Purchased in India, specs on the charger read:

    Output: 6.4V, 200mA.

    Doesn’t have a traditional +/- polarity diagram, has a solid line above a dotted one. But typically the standard is +.)- and it seems the charger (apart from the plug part) is universal… 100-240V ~ 50/60Hz 0.1A Input, so I’m guessing they made all of them standard?

    Mine has model number SPN5322A (remember, one of the first batches made in India).

  36. 36. Comment by Hari
    on 23 Jan 2008 @ 5:24 pm

    First of all, a big thanks to the guy who wrote this entry. It is awesome!!
    Nor, I am looking for a feature which according to one of my friends should be there in any phone according to phone standards. That is, conference call! How can I put a call on hold and dial another number?
    Please let me know!!

  37. 37. Comment by Alex
    on 24 Jan 2008 @ 3:21 am

    The Motofone looks like exactly what I need. I have a few questions for current owners.

    1. What does the phone display when you have an incoming call? The phone number? The associated phone book name (if there is one)? Both? Nothing?

    2. Does the phone indicate that you have missed any calls, or do you have to go to the call history screen to find out if you’ve received any calls while away?

    3. Are people still having problems with the voice mail indicator flag on AT&T?

    Thanks!

  38. 38. Comment by David
    on 24 Jan 2008 @ 4:07 am

    I just bought an unlocked motofone and so far it’s great, but when I call my voicemail, I can hear my mesages, but not do any of the touchone options…it’s so far the only thing that doesn’t work…i have t-mobile.

  39. 39. Comment by Constantinos
    on 24 Jan 2008 @ 11:26 am

    [quote post=”73″]1. What does the phone display when you have an incoming call? The phone number? The associated phone book name (if there is one)? Both? Nothing?[/quote]

    Associated phone book name, or number if there isn’t one.

    [quote post=”73″]2. Does the phone indicate that you have missed any calls, or do you have to go to the call history screen to find out if you’ve received any calls while away?[/quote]

    There’s a missed call indicator, specifically the incoming call history icon flashes.

  40. 40. Comment by neenee
    on 24 Jan 2008 @ 4:19 pm

    The call history icon does not flash, it’s just displayed, until the user checks missed calls.

  41. 41. Comment by neenee
    on 24 Jan 2008 @ 4:21 pm

    Hari – Please read the previous comments before asking a question that has already been answered. The Motofone F3 can not put a call on hold, but there is a chance that your service provider can do it for you.

  42. 42. Comment by gene
    on 25 Jan 2008 @ 2:51 am

    I have ATT, and the message indicator does not work. Sure wish it did. My biggest gripe with the phone.

    [quote comment=”2178″]The Motofone looks like exactly what I need. I have a few questions for current owners.

    1. What does the phone display when you have an incoming call? The phone number? The associated phone book name (if there is one)? Both? Nothing?

    2. Does the phone indicate that you have missed any calls, or do you have to go to the call history screen to find out if you’ve received any calls while away?

    3. Are people still having problems with the voice mail indicator flag on AT&T?

    Thanks![/quote]

  43. 43. Comment by Inderjeet sahu
    on 26 Jan 2008 @ 5:40 pm

    I have a Motorola F3c and I thing it has many codes which are not given in the manual. Like ***777*^and***100*^and but I don’t know the meanings of these codes. Could you please tell me the meanings of these codes

  44. 44. Comment by gene
    on 26 Jan 2008 @ 11:25 pm

    I jst picked up a Kyocera car charger at the flea market and the jack fits the F3 perfectly. FYI

  45. 45. Comment by Goxy
    on 27 Jan 2008 @ 12:59 am

    This phone rules! Is it possible though that there is no code for sms delivery report? It would be great if someone wrote it here…

  46. 46. Comment by Hari
    on 27 Jan 2008 @ 5:14 pm

    [quote comment=”2182″]Hari – Please read the previous comments before asking a question that has already been answered. The Motofone F3 can not put a call on hold, but there is a chance that your service provider can do it for you.[/quote]

    That is what, Neenee, any phone should have this ‘hold’ facility because of some technical reason. I mean, it is in built in any phone. Only thing is that, we don’t know how to do it in F3!!

  47. 47. Comment by neenee
    on 27 Jan 2008 @ 5:48 pm

    Why does a phone need a hold facility? Which technical reason are you referring to?

  48. 48. Comment by Obiman
    on 28 Jan 2008 @ 12:25 am

    For some reason my red on/off button seems to have stopped working. This is a real pain as its the only real way of exiting back the clock display or ending a call! So when I make a call and I want to end it, I have to quickly pull the battery out of my phone so it powers down…its a pain!!! Apart from this technical glitch the phone works great. Is this a known problem? Is it a hardware problem or have I just disabled something by incorrectly pushing a whole series of buttons? Any suggestions? Thanks.

  49. 49. Comment by neenee
    on 28 Jan 2008 @ 6:35 pm

    I’ve never heard of your problem. If you just bought your phone, try returning it to the store for a replacement. If you somehow caused the problem yourself, I think you’re out of luck, as I think it won’t be covered by warranty. I think it’s a mechanical problem, that the button-press no longer registers. A faulty contact perhaps.. I can’t say without seeing the phone or opening it up.

    Good luck 🙂

  50. 50. Comment by pishkinn
    on 30 Jan 2008 @ 6:46 pm

    I’ve been trying to reach my voicemail but can’t seem to get it to work. I set a voicemail number (does any number work??) but when I call it, it says it’s not a valid number. I’m confused about the system, does it have to be on speed dial to work? What number should I set?