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June 20th, 2009
By Ari Driessen 
Meet the Motorola Rival. The Rival looks cute and cuddly – and my psychedelic purple demo model (also comes in a “Tin Silver” that isn’t so loud) is the epitome of what you would imagine a 14 year old “Texting Tammy” clutching 24/7. Looks can be deceiving, however. And this maxim certainly rings true with the Rival. This QWERTY slider packs a surprising amount of power, and would not only thrill your teenage daughter, but would please anyone looking for a phone with a long list Smartphone-esque features that also comes at a smart price.
The Rival is short and stocky. Weighing in at 4.4oz, its heft is pleasing and alludes to the possibility that the Rival may be much more than meets the eye. The phone is about three fourths of an inch thick, and about 2 inches wide and only 3.8 inches tall. It’s sure to fit comfortably in a pocket, and can even slip into a small purse, or even a wristlet (yeah, I’m up the lingo).
The phone either has a black body with purple lining, or a silver body with red lining. The front is home to a nice and bright 2.2 inch, 65k color screen that also boasts some touch functionality reminiscent of higher-priced Smartphones (more on that later). There’s also a send key that brings up a recent calls menu, an end key that returns you to the home screen, a back key, a key that brings up an on-screen dial pad, and a four-way navigation key.
On the left of the phone is a volume up and down rocker that, when not in-call, is used to set the phone’s profile (silent, vibrate, loud, etc.). A button below the volume rocker activates the speakerphone. A miniUSB port for syncing and charging can also be found on the left, along with a fastening slot that allows the Rival to be hung around your neck or fastened to a wrist band. On the right is a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, a key lock button, voice command key, and dedicated camera key. A 2.0 megapixel camera/camcorder can be found on the back.
Sliding the Rival open reveals a nicely laid out full QWERTY keyboard with plenty of shortcut keys. There’s a dedicated key for text messaging, another for mobile instant messaging (the Rival supports AIM, Yahoo!, and Windows Live Messenger), and even a key that brings up a menu of emoticons (OMG!).
When open or closed, the Rival is navigated with the same four-way directional key and a centered select button. Some menus and features are also navigated by tapping either the right or left of the screen. In both portrait mode or with the keyboard open, a pair of bright white dots illuminate to indicate where on the screen to press to select a given menu item. At the home screen, for example, tapping the left dot opens a messaging menu, while the right dot opens the contact list. The main menu and sub-menus are intuitive lists that allow for quick navigation and access to settings and applications. The four-way directional key can be customized to provide shortcuts to frequently used applications and features. Pushing left, for example, launches the browser by default.
The dial pad button on the front of the Rival opens a touchable, on-screen dial pad that worked flawlessly. The phone even vibrates slightly as you enter each digit. The Rival’s phone book has room for up to 1000 contacts, with spots for five phone numbers, and two email addresses. Of course you can also associate a picture and ringtone with each contact. The Rival also supports Verizon Visual Voicemail ($2.99/month).
The Rival is also equipped with full-fledged voice command functionality. You can speak the name of a contact or a phone number to call, say the name of a menu or feature to open it, or even speak the name of a playlist to begin playing it. Unfortunately, however, the Rival does not allow you to speak the name of a song or artist and jump to it.
Although it no doubt holds its own when it comes to many other more advanced features, the Rival is still a messaging device at heart. With dedicated messaging keys, a messaging interface built for speed with multiple recipients in mind, and the ability to sort and navigate text messages by conversation or time received/sent , the Rival is an easy-to-use messaging machine. The phone also supports Mobile Email ($5/month) for convenient on-the-go access to email from most major online providers as well as IMAP and POP accounts – without the hassle of having to use a web-based interface. I gave Mobile Email a try with my Gmail account, and was pleasantly surprised. I was even able to be alerted when new messages arrived (albeit not immediately as would be expected from a BlackBerry, for example).
For a phone of its ilk, I was happy with the mobile browser. It was great for browsing mobile pages (such as CNN’s mobile edition), and page loads were speedy over Verizon’s EVDO network. The Rival will do a great job with basic mobile browsing needs such as reading news or checking the weather, but with a small screen and limited mobile browser capabilities, don’t expect an experience comparable to that of a true Smartphone.
A microSD card slot can be found under the back cover, and supports up to an 8GB card for plenty of space for most music lovers. The media interface was a little cumbersome to navigate, and took a couple seconds to load, but no major qualms. Expect the usual feature set – the ability to create custom playlists, enter shuffle mode, or repeat a song over and over. With a standard 3.55mm headset jack, there’s no need to purchase an expensive set of special headphones. The Rival supports VCAST Music with Rhapsody for downloading music on-the-go (songs are $2 a pop) as well as VCAST Video (streaming access to full length popular TV shows, music videos, and other entertainment).
The Rival has an onboard 2 megapixel camera and camcorder. It’s without a flash or self portrait mirror. Photo and video quality was mediocre to be sure. Images in bright sunlight were sometimes washed out, and indoor images were often dark and blurred — even if the phone was kept absolutely still while the photo was being taken. The Rival is fine for the occasional memory, but don’t expect digital camera quality.
The Rival has full Bluetooth functionality, supporting Headset, Handsfree, Dial Up Networking, Stereo, Phonebook Access, Basic Printing, Basic Imaging, Object Push for VCard & VCalendar and File Transfer profiles. The Rival also supports VZ Navigator ($2.99/day if you find yourself lost with nowhere else to turn, or $9.99/month).
With its functionality and advanced feature set, the Rival well…rivals many other more expensive devices on the market in everything but price. It’s a strong messaging phone that incorporates more advanced features such as a full-featured media experience, voice command, Mobile Email support, and a camera with some extra goodies – all in a small and attractive package. Whether you’re fifteen or fifty, the Rival is a great buy for the wireless shopper that wants it all but doesn’t want to shell out the big bucks.
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August 7, 2010
This was the absoulootley worst phone anone can buy. It lags, the touch buttons are super sensitive. and the phone decided to open some tabs all by itself. When sliding it open sometimes the 2 touch pads do not apear and i can not use them, When i send a text it stops sending in the midddle of the sending process. and i hav to look for my messages in my inbox because my phone does not alert me when i get a txt. i cant believe i still hav this crappy phone.
July 31, 2010
This phone is a piece of garbage. the screen freezes and turne white it goes to other screens without me touching it and one of my hinges have broken..TOTAL CRAP!
July 12, 2010
I loved this phone. nothing went wrong.
July 11, 2010
i bought a motorola rival A455 on may 20/2010 and the INSIDE of the led screen literally cracked while it was sitting on my coffee table. went back to the telus store i purchased it from and got told it was physical damage so they will not fix it or replace it?????? this is ridiculous. why would it not be covered under warantee at the very least? its not even 60 days old. i should be able to return it as faulty. how can i get this replaced? i am very disgusted with the service i got at the telus centre. what do i have to do or who do i contact to resolve this. asap not “in a week or so…..”
August 4, 2010
Call the warranty center I just did as i had the same issue (nightstand) they said it would be covered
July 10, 2010
NEVER EVER get this phone it’s horrid. I’ve had like 5 maybe. The screen turns white. The top broke off one. Freezes all the time. It’s slow. Turns off when I try to reply to a message. Within 1 day it was pressing buttons on its own and on day 2 it was shutting off randomly. I really like the phone but it’s quality is horrible.
July 8, 2010
This phone is TERRIBLE! First month I had to buy a new charger because it was “unable to charge.” Then I had to replace it because the screen went completely white. My brother had the same problem with his and had to replace it as well. Now, my new one which I have had for less then a month, freezes and goes to different screens that I did not choose. This is ridiculous, I will not be purchasing another Motorola phone again.
July 7, 2010
Can anyone help me,I have some ringtones on this phone and when i try to set them as a ringtone ,it always says unable to set as a ringtone…bad phone i say…HELP ME
June 25, 2010
Bad phone! Bought this phone for my daughter within 10 days the screen goes white. Big problems with Verizon trying to replace it. Finally go problems resolved and got a new phone. Within a month the new phone does the exact same thing. Verizon won’t replace it they say it was abused. The phone was not abused it just went white for no reason.
June 18, 2010
I have had this phone since May 14 and it hasn’t been working since June 6. The screen freezes up, it turns on and off by itself, and it won’t take any pictures. And no, it isn’t because I haven’t taken care of it, I’ve only dropped it twice! DO NOT GET THIS PHONE!!
June 18, 2010
Don’t ever, ever, EVER get this phone ! It’s the worst phone in the world. It freezes ALL the time, it doesn’t send my text messages, it turns on by itself all the time, the buttons don’t work sometimes. & last but not least…The top fell off and i’ve read..im not the only one ! Don’t ever purchase this worthles phone.
June 5, 2010
I have nothing nice to say about this phone.We have a family plan and all of us have this phone, All four phones have had to be replaced more than 3 times and the chargers have had to be replaced for 3 of the phones. They freeze all the time and the screen will turn white, it will sometimes say unable to charge, it doesnt send messages very fast at all. I purchased a pre-owned phone for one of the lines because I am so sick of messing with all this. Once my contract is up we are done with Verizon! Good luck to all of you if you get this phone
June 3, 2010
I give the motorola rival 5 stars. Excellent call quality, long battery life, nice slide out keyboard, very good touch screen. My friend recommend it to me he owns one for 8 months now. He had no problems. I never had problems I love mine and I recommend it
November 21, 2010
your lucky. mine is absolutely worthless. i had it for one day & it was turning off by it self & acting like retarded.
June 1, 2010
rival a455 is a piece of crap and so is motorolas service and support
May 30, 2010
I got the phone for Christmas. About a month later, it would take forever to send a message. Sometimes, the screen would change without me touching it. Last month, it started sending duplicates of EVERY text message. It was a great phone til all of this started. I’m probably going to be replacing it in a few days.
June 18, 2010
same here i was like wtf u know!!!!
May 30, 2010
ever though that maybe you guysust arent very carful with your cellphones. how many times have you dropped it? im saving up my money to get this phone, and im only going to be using it for talking and texting so i think i will be fine!
May 18, 2010
hello i got the phone and i got text mesaging and every time that i want to send a picture or a video it says that it is unable to do that so help me please
May 15, 2010
i got this phone the last week of january and two and a half months later it started acting weird. it woulnt charge, the charger was VERY senstive, one touch and if stopped charging. it wouldnt take pictures and would say ‘unable to capture image’ the touch screen freezes up ALL the time and it shuts off randomly. the screen goes white and i just got it replaced. when i got home it STILL wouldnt charge and it sends messages, or goes to the menu in the middle of typing them out without me pushing the buttons. this phone is a piece of crap. NEVER BUY THIS PHONE!!!!!!!!!!
May 28, 2010
heyy maby your fone has water damege!!
May 15, 2010
I HATE THIS PHONE!!!!! i had a lg chocolate before this fone and i kinda miss it alot!!! i have nothng good to say about this fone! the keys are too small the fone freezes the top fell off th keypad and the guy suggested this fone at the store he lies!!!!!!!!!! i cant wait for my next upgrade, but untill then im just gonna have to live with it
May 15, 2010
i hate my phone so much. it doesnt wrk this phone needs to be taken good care of and isnt a good phone for clumsy teenagers. i split a drop of water on my phone and dropped it a couple of times and the front keypad doesnt work.the guy at the verizon store sed they havent had any problems with it but every person thta i have heard of that has it has had a negitive expierince, so i say VERIZON, GO DIE IN A WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 15, 2010
whatever you do: DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE!!! i have had this phone since april 1st and all i have is complaints. first of all, when i recieve or send messages, the screen goes white for no reason. the phone freezes up alot too, and it turns off on me for no reason! i was reluctant about getting the rival because i have some friends and family that have this phone and i researched this fone and others for weeks. all of my refences said dont get the phone. at the store the guy talked me out of getting the envy 3 and told me to get the rival! he told me that the 2 phones are”similar!” i told him everyone i know that has this phones hates ait and he told me that if ANYTHING happens to this phone i can come back and get a a replacement for freeeeeeeee! when i was taking my phone cover off, some of the hinges on the top got loose. my mom offered to take me to get a new one but i didnt think the whole friggin top woud fall off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im still on my first hone but today im gonna go c if i can get a replacement fone today!!!
May 9, 2010
DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE. it freezes up. the touch screen parts of the phone stops working. it will not charge most of the time it wont charge.
I have had 5 of these phones and all of them have stopped workinG! DO NOT,UNDER ANY CURCUMSTANCES, GET THIS PHONE. if you find it in the street, throw it away!
THE MOTOROLA RIVAL SUCKS!!!!!
May 5, 2010
Bought this phone for my daughter in late Dec. 2009. It is dead with a white screen. Removed battery and still it is junk!!! Do not buy this phone it worked good for maybe a month.
May 4, 2010
I got this phone for christmas as a gift from my parents. Had it for five months and it has started messing up. The screen turns white and stays that way for hours. The screen also divides into three pieces and does all sorts of crazy things. The camera doesnt want to take pictures often because it says it is “unable to capture image”. This phone is not a good phone for teenagers. It must be taken very very very good care of. Ive dropped it twice but im sure the damages werent due to this. The slider is loose from the keypad part of the phone and feels like it may fall off any day now. Do yourself a favor and do not waste your money on this phone.
May 4, 2010
This phone sucks my touch thing goes off w.o me touching it
November 9, 2010
mine too !!!
May 2, 2010
this is the worst phone ever. I tried to type and it wouldnt let me. then I just went to verizon because the third wasnt working and they lied and said they havent had any issues with it!!!
April 23, 2010
I have had this phone for about 2 weeks and it works perfectly! I have had no problems other than the touch screen is a bit sensitive. I have not had issues with incoming or outgoing calls. Reception has been fantastic and texting works good. The battery is great and it has not froze on me or shut off randomly. I had a Motorola Q before this phone and it made my life a living he$$! It was absolutely the worst phone ever made.
August 17, 2010
trust me it only works good for bout a month!
April 21, 2010
i havee had this phone for about a year now,and i think it rocks!! it never freezes!! and it sends a txt message in like 2 seconds!!!!!! i have NO IDEA what u guys r talkin bout.
November 9, 2010
u have issues this phone sucks !!
April 15, 2010
i went me one for my birthday
April 6, 2010
omg ok so i got his fone like in last august and it takess like 5 minutes to send a shorttxt that like just says hi, and cuz it takes forever my friends think im ignoring them, but im not, its the stupid fone!!!!!!!!!11 im sooo pissed off that iwas stupid enough to buy thisfone………..oh, wait ..it was freeeeee ……wel its definitely worth its
money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and it works on and off
April 4, 2010
wow i dont like what i am seeing about the phone the only prob i have is that i cant get the micro sd hc 8 gig memory card to work every time i try to put anything onto it it says cancelled by phone any1 else have any prob getting the memory card to work and if so how did you thanks ahead of time lol hope some 1 has a way to fix it
April 3, 2010
We purchased three phones when I signed up with Verizon last August. All three have been replaced. Two of the three are going on their 4th replacement. I’m done! I refuse to pay $50 for replacement phones that will not work. Verizon also said that the phones were abused. Not true! They were sitting in my sons’ pockets when four of the screens went white. Two have had sliders come apart. How can Verizon continue to sell these phones knowing they have problems? I substituted the last phone with an old one of my husband’s. Imagine my suprose when I was charged an additional $60 for a “smart phone” that is not used with the internet! To add insult to injury, I just got my bill. I am now charged $219 for the defective phone I returned in January becuase they claim it was not returned with 10 days!
April 1, 2010
this phone sucks,it is no good if u want to buy it don’t u just waist ur money this is Wat happened :the screen freezes up for no reason, it sends messages in the middle when ur sill typing it,the touch screen buttons get pressed without myself pressing it, when u get a message you can see the envelope to get the message but you have to wait a wile till the message pops up ya also it takes a long time to turn on and i hate it the camera is horrible it doesn’t take good pictures this is y i don’t like this phone oh and a one more things ok i do not get this y is their 3 buttons for the touch screen and you can only use that and then when you dialing a number you can use the whole screen wat kind of phone is this that y im going to get a new phone..
April 1, 2010
Well I’ve had mine since September and it does freeze up sometimes… Once it wouldnt let me take pics or see pics because supposedly the pics were “damaged” but I erased some and it went back to normal. I guess other people have been having lots of problems too but I guess you just have to take really good care of it and try not to overload it by pressing lots of things at one. Try charging it really often and turn it off and on to get it going again. Its a decent phone and it does work but it needs lots of care. Hope this helps!
March 31, 2010
um im suppposed to go buy this phone in a couple of days but i don’t really havt the money o replace it if it breaks. but im gonna get it with telus think that will make a difference?
March 22, 2010
Four months…me too! White screen!!! Do not get one of these.
March 21, 2010
uh, I’m scared i might get this phone this week. and because of all these bad comments, I’m afraid to get a sucky phone. maybe a case would help?!??
March 19, 2010
This phone sucks, it likes to send messages in the middle of typing them, the screen freezes and it likes to send blank messages. the wind seems to set to touch screen buttons off. There have being times when i get a text messages, then the phone freezes for a bit then when it will come out of it and automatically reply by itself, my friends have been getting annoyed with all of the blank text messages they keep getting from me. DO NOT BUY THIS PHONE!!!
March 3, 2010
i first got this phone 4 months ago. lasted me those 4 months. on my second one now. both times screen randomly goes white, the touch screen buttons get pressed without me pressing them, and the phone freezes all the time. got a new one because the first one had a white screen constantly, no matter what i did. had it like that for a week before i got a new one. hate it. do not buy this phone
March 3, 2010
this phone sucks the screen turns wallaby and then breaks of and Verizon refuses to replace it the phone shuts off on its self it freezes when you are calling someone and get a message only good thin about it is you can use it a a mirror lol the phone also has bad pocket keys it and also the screen goes blank and the phone falls apart easily have went through 5 in 6 months i wouldn’t recommend this phone to anyone unless they got alot of time on there hand and alot of money for replacements
February 21, 2010
I bought this phone in November and was very excited about it but since it keeps freezing up and moving screens on its own. Everytime I take it back to Verizon they keep it and tell me it needs a major upgrade. Whatever it had 2 upgrades done in less than 2 weeks. Do not waste your money on this phone.
February 20, 2010
Got this phone last September; although it has many good features, its the worst phone I’ve owned. The touch screen can be a nightmare to use, even to dial numbers. It freezes up constantly for no reason. I receive triplicate messages.
Please save your money, time and energy, don’t buy the phone!
February 19, 2010
I got mine in Nov. The touch screen was difficult and the screens kept changing from one to another. Now the whole thing has died after sputtering for a couple of weeks. Thank God I had an upgrade available. What a piece of junk.
February 16, 2010
WORST PHONE. i’m on my third and it is just a piece of junk. i was super excited about it at first because it was my first keyboard phone (what a disappointment) so i disregarded the problems. the screen would go white when i tried to open a text message and it would stay like that for HOURS at a time. i couldn’t even turn it off! my second phone started becoming loose within a week of buying it. i had it for about a month before it completely fell apart. we took it to verizon and i had to pay 50 dollars for a replacement. my brother has the same phone and has been having problems with messages being sent without him pressing send and his messages would delete themselves while he was still typing them. now on my third phone, it shuts itself off, its very slow, and the screen goes white. we’ve decided to cancel our service because verizon won’t replace them with new ones unless i go through three in three months. i wouldn’t recommend this phone to anyone.
February 15, 2010
i hope this phone will last me, i just ordered it through telus, so maybe it will be differnt then all of every body elses experceiences.
February 7, 2010
ive gone through 4 with the screen going blank twice..and then shutting off when trying to reply to a txt
February 19, 2010
ME TOO!!! mine shuts off when im in my inbox. everytime. the names of ppl in my inbox randomly change and i get weird symbols. i get duplicates of messages i just sent and recived with dates from 1980, it lags, i just got this one 3 weeks ago. im on my third already.
February 5, 2010
Didn’t anybody have anything good to say about this phone? I just got two of them for my nieces. I wonder if their going to get mad at me.
April 5, 2010
this phone is actually good. i got mine 5 months ago and no problems.
February 4, 2010
This phone actually does have a self portrait mirror. When you open it up, it is on top of the camera. The description is false.
January 31, 2010
i’m on my 3rd and it doesnt work at all, it freezes up all the time, shuts its self off randomnly, changes its volume by itself, the top is wobbly and if i get a txt message during a call it hangs up on the phone call. this phone sucks
January 8, 2010
My daughter is on her FOURTH. Screen went white on first phone. Second waffled in and out of functioning – blank, white. Third same, and the slide top wobbled. On the way to the store to complain the whole slider came right off! Now on an insurance replacement. Verizon wouldn’t replace due to ‘physical damage’. If it can’t hold up to a teen texting constantly, it’s not worthy of selling. 3rd one was ten days old! Only solution is $250+ purchase. Next letter is to Motorola.
January 8, 2010
r4ds
Went through 3 replacement phones until I switched my warranty to a Samsung. Froze up constantly, literally fell apart several times, and was just a shoddy product.
January 7, 2010
Used the rival for 4 months. The screen went white and verizon refused to replace it. They said the phone was abused. It was never dropped or smashed in any way. In the last 2 days I have seen many, many statements online which said they had the same problem. I would not recomment this phone unless you want to buy a new one everyfew months.