Motorola StarTAC ST7867W (Sprint)

CNET editors' review

Motorola's StarTAC ST7867W is small, light, and loaded with features. Measuring just 3.7 by 2 by 1 inches (when closed) and weighing a mere 4 ounces, this mobile supports a wide range of standard and advanced phone features, including wireless Internet access.

Design of Motorola StarTAC ST7867W (Sprint)

Operating this phone is quite simple, even if you don't read the manual. You navigate menus via three main buttons, with some assistance from a Smart Button and a couple of scroll buttons located on the upper left side of the phone.

The ST7867W's easy-to-read graphical display is enhanced by a blue, luminescent backlight. At the same time, the three-line LCD accommodates a variety of indicators and alerts, such as signal strength, battery level, type of service (A for analog or D for digital), messages (pages and voicemail), VibraCall Alert On, Silent Mode, and Vibrate Then Ring. The phone also displays the date and time.

Features of Motorola StarTAC ST7867W (Sprint)

We've told you how easy it is to use this phone; now we'll tell you what it can do. For starters, you can assign up to four numbers to each contact in the 99-name phone book. You can also activate various call timers, including an individual timer, which displays your most recent call in hours, minutes, and seconds; and a cumulative timer, which tracks your phone's total airtime (in hours) from the time the unit was activated. This is a convenient way to track your total monthly minutes.

The phone supports Turbo Dial keys, Priority Dial, and enhanced call logs for recalling the most recent outgoing and incoming numbers, including missed calls. As far as battery life goes, we found Motorola's claims to be fairly accurate. We got about four hours of talk time and seven days of standby time. That's pretty impressive.

If you're game, there's more. The ST7867W is data/fax capable; you can use the phone and the appropriate accessories to transmit data and faxes. Better yet, the phone is Web-ready, thanks to Phone.com's built-in minibrowser, which lets you access various wireless data, such as stock quotes, sports scores, airline information, and travel directions. Also worth noting is that although the phone doesn't come with any additional accessories, plenty are available, for instance a Wireless Web Connection Kit and a Clip-On Organizer. That's a nice bonus for those who value expansion options.

Performance of Motorola StarTAC ST7867W (Sprint)

The StarTAC ST7867W is a dual-band/dual-mode phone that operates on the 1,900-MHz CDMA network (Sprint PCS) and automatically roams to analog service when you're out of the digital network's range. Initially, we had some call-quality issues, but those seemed largely due to our location. We tested the phone for the weekend in an area of Long Island, New York, which had spotty service coverage. The phone did much better in the big city--New York, that is--where our connections were consistently strong and clear.