Motorola's T193 aims to satisfy those who want numerous ways of chatting with their friends and colleagues. When coupled with VoiceStream's service, this phone is designed to provide affordable wireless Web access for the mass market. It succeeds on that level, although some of its basic features could be a little more intuitive.
Tiny titan
The sleek, silver T193 is an attractive phone that's small enough (3.3 by 1.7 by 0.8 inches) and thin enough (4.13 ounces) to fit comfortably in a pants pocket. Because the keypad is recessed and the buttons are raised ever so slightly, you shouldn't have to worry about locking the keypad. However, we would have preferred that the volume-control buttons be placed on the side of the phone for easier adjustment. The T193's four-line backlit screen is readable in all lighting conditions, and you can change the font size if you have problems viewing text.
As for features, the T193 has all the basics, including a date book, voice-activated dialing, a currency converter, high-speed wireless Web access (via GPRS), a to-do list, games, multilingual menus (English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese), downloadable ring tones, and a 99-entry phone book. A note about how the phone book handles new entries: You need to go through two menus before you can add a number. And once a contact is entered, you can't immediately access a list of stored numbers.
The phone does have other merits. Given the T193's emphasis on wireless data connectivity, text entry is particularly important. You can alternate among three text-entry modes: alphabetic, numeric, and the iTap method, which attempts to anticipate the word you're trying to spell. And the phone's wireless Web features are compelling, most notably its support of AOL Instant Messenger.
Good deal
Using the T193 via VoiceStream in the Chicago area and Cingular Wireless in San Francisco, we had no problems getting a connection on either network. Sonic quality on this GSM 1900/GPRS phone was outstanding on our end--virtually free of static and dropped calls. Unfortunately, that wasn't always the case for those on the other end of our conversations. Callers occasionally had difficulty hearing us and said we sounded as if we were speaking from the bottom of a large tin can.
When it came to talk time, the T193's battery life fared better. We logged more than 3.5 hours of conversation before losing power, which was within the rated range of 200 to 300 minutes. But the T193 didn't do quite as well in standby mode. We managed about 75 hours of continuous standby time, compared with the 80 to 150 hours that Motorola claims.
Despite its focus on wireless connectivity, the T193 ($100) is priced for the mass market. The good news is that you're more likely to find it for less than $50, and at that price, this phone is a solid value.
