SAVE $199.98 - Motorola Karma QA1 Phone, Black (AT&T) $0.01

The best phone I never intended on buying I'll start out by saying that I actually had no intentions of purchasing this phone to begin with. Being in an IT background, I tend to use 'more' of your standard cellphone than most do. I'm one of those guys who actually use the calendar, notes, voice records, and so on, in addition to actually using it to call. Thus the reason I've purchased smartphones in the past. However, with the advent of the required data plan in the summer of 2009, there was no way to avoid a data plan tied to the smartphone, aside from purchasing a smartphone outright - which was itself removed as an option recently. Therefore I was left with 3 choices - suck up the $30/month for a data plan (in an area where I barely get 2G coverage), switch to T-mobile, the ONLY cell phone provider that DOES allow you to purchase a smartphone outright and use it with no data plan; or give up smartphones. I asked myself what was absolutely necessary in a phone, and for me specifically, it came down to three things - text messaging, the ability to plan (calendar), and good reception. My father had recently purchased the Motorola Karma, and he recommended it to me. I'm NOT a slide-phone fan; they seem inherently more 'unstable' than a standard brick phone or even a clamshell phone. However, I researched the Karma, and surprisingly found that it had great reviews, so about a week ago I took the plunge. I have to say this phone has been phenomenal thus far; and it has changed my previous (and incorrect) assumption that I 'needed' a smartphone to manage my life. The phone is shorter and wider than most phones, and it undeniably is a bit thicker than most phones; I would estimate it's about .7 inches thick. However, in my personal opinion, this is offset by the fact that the phone is VERY solidly built, with a glass front and a rubberized exterior. I've dropped it twice (accidentally) and it shows nary a scratch. As previously mentioned, carrying it in one's pocket is a bit more noticeable than, say, a thinner smartphone or a clamshell phone such as the Motorola RAZR. But considering its build, it's a tradeoff I'll gladly take. Reception is EXCELLENT with this phone. My two previous phones were a Nokia E71x and a Motorola Q9c, and both of them had excellent reception - I thought. At best, either of these two phones would get approximately 1 to 2 bars. The Motorola Karma, however, is sitting next to me in the worst part of the house reception-wise, and it currently has 4 bars - unheard of in this house. Calls are clear as a bell, both incoming and outgoing; I've been on speakerphone before, hearing call recipients express surprise that I didn't have the phone to my ear. The keys on the keypad are somewhat small, and the top row keys can be a bit hard to get to depending upon what angle your thumbs are held at. And I've NEVER been a fan of uncomfortable or small keypads. However, despite their size, I have to say that it truly isn't that hard to type on the phone, due to the space between the keys and the height they are raised to. I can actually type faster on this phone than on any other phone. The OS itself is MUCH quicker than previous Motorola phones - long a bane of mine. As an IT guy, pressing a button on a phone and having to wait at ALL drives me absolutely bananas; and phones like the RAZR did indeed drive me bananas. I hated having to wait on button presses. The Karma has none of that - responses are instantaneous, and I actually HAVE to scroll line by line through the address book because holding down the directional pad scrolls way too fast to view. The phone is loaded with features, and for those who are heavily into social networking, this is the phone for you. Out of the box, it is set up for Myspace and Facebook, as well as email access. My one quibble in this area is that you cannot set up your own email address access, but I'm fairly sure this will be corrected in an update in the future. The calendar works just fine; my only complaint is that it does not display upcoming appointments on the home screen, as many smartphones do. Am I satisfied with this phone? Absolutely. With one or two VERY minor quibbles, not of concern to most, this phone is absolutely perfect for what I need. Loaded with features, great reception, solidly built; I HIGHLY recommend this phone to anyone interested in those qualifications, especially if you're big into the social networking scene. Rating: 4 (Kung, 2010-01-30) Product reviewed: Motorola Karma QA1 Phone, Black (AT&T)

Great phone I have been looking for a basic phone with a key pad for months. All the ones I found either had rather negative reviews or required the data package and I did not want to pay the additional $30.00 a month for a service I was not going to use. I just about gave up when I found the Karma. The key pad is easy to use even with my large hands. The sound quality it far better than my last phone(LG) and the reception is terrific. I get 4 bars in places my old phone got 1. I have no complaints with the battery life, I'm am going 4 days between charges. I didn't expect to use the music feature but it works so well I find myself using it all the time and being able to use the std headphone plug is a huge plus. I put a 4 gig card in and have tons of room for my tunes. I found that the USB cords I had laying around for other components (Camera/GPS)worked fine for plugging into my computer to add tunes or downloading photos I took to my PC. The slide seems a little loose, but I checked it against the phones at the ATT store and it seems to be normal. If you can't tell yet, I love this phone, the fact that it was free makes it all the better. Rating: 5 (Steven Pitts, 2010-01-23) Product reviewed: Motorola Karma QA1 Phone, Black (AT&T)

Pleased, for the most part This is not an elaborate review, but just some pros and cons I've found. Firstly, I have had a Blackberry for the last couple years - and it was hard to switch to a non-Blackberry phone. There's still a part of me that thinks that no other phone can compare. Cons: - The battery cover comes off very easily. - The speaker is not as loud as I would have expected and when my phone is in my car mount, I have to turn it around backwards to I can hear the other person. This, in turn, puts the mic opposite and it is fairly a lose/lose situation. - Within days, the locking mechanism of the slide broke and the phone will not properly lock. Any small touch puts the phone into lock and then immediately unlocked. Because of this, I would miss an alarm, phone call, message, and other similar features because the phone thought I answered, or dismissed. Amazon is replacing the phone and I am awaiting to see if the replacement is the same. - Being used to having a Blackberry, I am disappointed that there is no notepad - a feature I used frequently. - Like most of AT&T's phones, installed games are only demos. Personally I think it's ridiculous. Pros: - The picture/screen quality is fantastic. Brightness is adjustable, which not only enhances viewing, but can extend battery life between charges. - You can set up to 5 alarms. - Battery life is better than I expected, but Motorola phones I;ve had in the past started with longer life and dwindled to nearly no life, lasting only a couple of hours. - The phone uses the regular MEdia Net and does not require getting the more expensive data package. AT&T has gotten better as far as having more full keyboard phones that use MEdia Net. This has only improved in the last year and a half. - The calendar has nearly equal qualities to the Blackberry. It shows free/busy times, you can add notes to an event (which is helpful since there is no notepad), and you can set reminder alarms. If I think of more, I will update my review. Rating: 4 (A. Faulhaber, 2010-01-04) Product reviewed: Motorola Karma QA1 Phone, Black (AT&T)

Excellent Phone For me, the most important aspect of a phone is its core function, i.e., for phone calls. Motorola's Crystal Talk technology has the most clear, natural sound quality, and this phone has plenty of volume for even noisier environments. The phone also physically feels like a quality product, unlike most other "free if you upgrade" phones. It is not classified as a PDA phone, so you can get the $15 unlimited data plan. Unlike many phones with similar features, there is no lag as you browse through the menu system. Three minor complaints, which may be due to the AT&T specific firmware: 1. Cannot upgrade Windows Live Messenger client. 2. Non-standard web applications (e.g., GMail) requires you to confirm each and every time you access the data network. 3. Cannot delete pre-installed AT&T applications even if you will never use them. Rating: 4 (Raymond Chan, 2009-12-24) Product reviewed: Motorola Karma QA1 Phone, Black (AT&T)

Great phone, but am worried about phone's quality First of all I really like the phone itself. Didn't want an iphone or another smartphone because of the monthly costs involved whereas I didn't have to buy extra services with this phone. The screen is big, and I'm not big on phone cameras anyway. Texting is easy, phone quality is good, no complaints about the phone itself. The only thing that went wrong was that the first phone I had's screen just went out for no apparent reason. I turned off the alarm and never saw the screen again even after turning it off and on and removing the battery and replacing it. This was before 30 days were up, and I returned it for another one since I still liked the phone. The phone was not dropped nor immersed in water. The new one has been fine except for a momentary blinking out that happened for a second while scanning the address book. I hope that the new Karma's screen does not permanently stop working. Rating: 3 (Natalie Boone, 2009-12-22) Product reviewed: Motorola Karma QA1 Phone, Black (AT&T)