Motorola C168

The Motorola C168 is an entry level model phone that lacks the bells and whistles that most mobiles ship with today. It lacks just about everything else as well, making it suitable for absolute novices or those who want a cheap second phone.

The first thing that will catch your eye about this unit its slim form factor. It's not at good looking as the RAZR by any means, but rather thin nonetheles. The phone is also big enough though, that we could comfortably cup it in one hand and still operate the controls.

The small CSTN screen, while displaying vivid colours, was a little too small for our liking, and this is a little puzzling as there is plenty of real estate all around the it to make the screen that little bit larger. Like many other newer phones we've tested, the screen is prone to picking up fingerprints and we have to continually wipe it down. The screen display on the C168 is rather basic, and although useful information such as the time, date, reception and battery life was displayed, we did find some of the icons quite small. The screen can also be used to display wallpapers, but as there is no camera, memory slot or PC connection, they have to be downloaded or pre-installed.

The more we used this phone, the more we thought of the Vodafone Simply, which is designed for beginners. The control set on this phone seems to be designed that way, and the only buttons are the keypad, a 5 way keypad and two soft keys, which is just the way we like it. There are no volume buttons, power buttons or any other controls on the sides or back of the unit, keeping with the simple theme.

The 5 way keypad is used to navigate the fairly simple menu system. Pressing the centre button displays the menu while using the directional pad allows you to move to different options. To select an option however, you have to use one of the soft keys, not the centre keypad button, which we think is counter-intuitive and took us a little while to get used to. The menu itself consists of nine small icons, each fairly self explanatory.

The second icon, Recent Calls, contains some handy features including a Call Cost counter and a Notepad, which stores all numbers recently entered into the phone, whether they were dialed or not. For messaging, the C168 supports both SMS and MMS and uses iTap functionality for predicting text. A calculator, calendar alarm clock is provided as well as three games.

The basic feature set continues, with the phone lacking a camera, a memory slot or a USB connector. This phone really is just meant for messaging and calling and the extremely low RRP pricing reflects this. A speakerphone is probably one feature that we would've liked to have seen, even on a budget phone, whilst Bluetooth would also have come in handy. Motorola has outfitted the C168 with an FM radio, but it's nothing to write home about and this function can only be used with the supplied earphones.

Overall, the C168 lacks many features seen in other handsets, but at this price, we can't really complain. For those who simply want to make calls or send messages, the C168 should serve them well and its compact and thin design will ensure you look good doing so in the process.