The Motorola EM326g is currently available only for Net10, but rumored to be released for TracFone sometime this year. It’s the first slider phone for Net10, and follows on the heels of the release of TracFone’s first slider phone, the Samsung T301g.
Motorola EM326g General Overview
This one is positively packed with features as far as Net10/TracFone models go, including all of the following:
- Camera – at 1.3 megapixels, it’s a much higher resolution than previous camera phone models from TracFone and Net10.
- Mp3 player
- Web Broswer
- Memory card slot for storing music files and pictures
- Bluetooth, including the ability to connect to computers and other bluetooth phones for the transmission of data files
- USB connectivity – transfer files between the EM326g and a computer by USB
- Java-based games – significantly more advanced games than on previous models
- FM Radio
- Speaker Phone
- Downloadable ringtones
To find out if this phone is available in your area, click here.
The Motorola EM326g is a compact 3.8” long by 1.9” wide and just .5” thick. It’s smaller than the very popular w375/w376g, with the most notable difference being the .25” variance in thickness. This thinner profile, along with the rounded corners of the EM326g, make the new slider seem much more compact than the older w376g or the LG 600g.
At 3.05 oz with the battery installed, the EM326g is also noticeably lighter than the w375g/W376g, which weigh in at about 3.45 oz, but not as light as the 2.9 oz. LG 600g. Personally, I prefer the feel of 326g over the w376 or the 600g in my pocket, due to the .5” thinness of the 326.
When slid open, the EM326g measures 5.3” long, about an inch shorter than either the w376g or the 600g. Further, the straight slide-out operation of the 326, along with the shorter length, means that the microphone will be about 1.5” farther from your mouth when talking on the 326 as compared to the 376 or 600g. This may be a factor in the decision process for some as it may affect the sound quality for those with whom you are talking, but I’ll cover the call quality in a later section of this review.
External/Appearance
I like the appearance of this model. It has a simple, clean look. When closed, the circular chrome directional pad gives a pleasant visual aspect. Personally, I believe that the T301g looks a little boxy and dated compared the the smooth curves of the new Motorola. And on either of the slider models, the hiding of the numeric keypad is something that I personally like.
The screen on the EM326g is about the same size as the w375/76 and LG 600g, though not as big as on the T301g slider. Still, the screen is adequately clear for a display of its size, and does a satisfactory job of displaying the 1.3 mp photos taken with the camera.
The screen displays all the information you need from it – current date and time (optional), signal strength, home/roaming, bluetooth on/off, battery meter, new message indicator, voice mail indicator, alarm clock indicator (if you have an alarm set), ring style, and airtime info (unfortunately, I don’t see any options to remove the airtime balance and due date from the screen). Similar to the T301g slider, a quick tap of one of the buttons, when the keypad is locked, will illuminate the screen to reveal pertinent information, without unlocking the keypad.
As I mentioned above, I prefer the feel of this phone in my pocket to either the w375/76 or the LG 600g, due to it’s slimmer profile. The rounded corners and glossy finish allow the phone to easily slide in and out of your pocket. The EM326g also has a nice solid feel to it, without being too heavy. The slider mechanism is smooth yet feels reliable. Based only on appearance and feel, I prefer the EM326g to the T301g slider.
Well, that’s all for now. I have some more testing to do before I can publish the meat of the review, where I’ll discuss how the EM326g works and sounds as a phone. When I do get that posted, I’ll also post a link to it from my Motorola EM326g Review Index Page.
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Nice (detailed) 1st review on this new Moto slider! I can’t wait to see TracFone recieve, and start announcing this phone too
. Now I would just like to see both prepaid providers get a Motorola Razor…(cause ”Straight Talk” doesn’t completely count,LoL!), and can’t wait till they finally get the (soon coming) side-sliding, QWERTY Samsung SGH-T401G [hopefully!!]. But anywhos, great review as normal 
Does it allow MP3 ringtones?
Yes.It does
Thanks for the review! I do have a few questions though. I know that the EM326g is under Net10, but are you able to get it and use it as a Tracfone? Or does it have to come out as a tracfone first? If so, do you know when? I have been a Tracfone member for a few years now and I like their minute plans better than Net10. If it’s possible I’d love to get the EM326g under tracfone. Thanks again.
-Natalie
I haven’t found any reliable indication of when, or even if, this phone will be available for trac. I know a lot of people are certainly hoping so, but I haven’t seen any concrete evidence yet.
One more quick question. Does the EM326g have video and/or voice recording?
I’ll cover this in more detail in parts 3 and 4 of my review, but the simple answer is that it does NOT record video, but CAN record audio.
voice only ..no video…..how big is the screen…is it normal or small…or or ok
I would say the screen size is “ok.” Not as big as the Samsung T301g, but about the same size as the Motorola w375, w376, w377.
Ya it has audio recording, but no video
After reading your awesome revue, I decided I had to have the EM326G. I still use the old Moto V170 & it’s waaay past time to upgrade. Well, I went to the net10 website on thursday,June 18 & ordered it online, along with the free Fedex 3 day shipping thanks to 2 codes that helped me save a few bucks. Well, here it is, Monday night on the 22nd & still no phone.
I contacted customer support this morning which was less than speedy & inquired if there was a problem because they require you to be home to sign for the package [heads up] when it arrives. So I wasted 2 days already as they got back to me at the end of the day today & told me my order shipping was still “being processed” and that a tracking number was not yet available.
So now I don’t know when I will get it. I recommend that if you can pick one up at a store or there’s one on eBay which I passed on only because theres no word what shipping service the seller is using & I didnt want to wait a week – which is ironic because since they havnt even shipped it out yet, it’s going to be 3 days when they finally do. So Pay the few dollars more, get it in the store & have it. Or do what I did & get a non-personal customer support letter regarding the not-so 3 day shipping deal. Had they stated up front this “processing time” I would have at least checked stores first.
Jeff
Yes…! The same thing happened to me and I placed my order June 17th (morning). I called them twice (last Friday and this past Monday) and was on the phone each time for and hour or more. It’s a lo-o-o-ng story, so I was go any further with it. Finally Monday night, I just went to the local Sears and bought mine. They promised me free minutes for my troubles which they have yet to make good on. Anyway, I’m, enjoying my new phone.
I think that TracFone and Net10, which share a shipment center as far as I can tell, were swamped with new orders recently. The package deals of the 60-minute cards and free refurb phones really sold quickly over the last few weeks, so that may have had something to do with it.
It doesnot Allow file transfer Vis USB or Bluetooth according to NET10s Webpage.
This is from the description of the phone on Net10s Webpage when you click on the Details Button.
Motorola EM326g
Includes 300 Minutes and 60 Days of Service upon activation
Single Rate for every call -10¢ a minute always: local, nationwide long distance and roaming
International calling to over 60 destinations for an additional 5 cents per minute
Text Messaging – only 5¢ per message
Bluetooth® Wireless Technology
Stylish Slider Design
1.3 Mega-Pixel Camera
MMS Picture Messaging
Buy Downloadable Ringtones and Graphics using airtime minutes
FM Radio (requires headset, not included)
MP3 Player (cable and SD card not included)
Color Screen
Voicemail, Call Waiting, and Caller ID
Text Messaging
Handsfree Speaker
Lightweight – 2.99 ounces
Key Pad Lock
Auto Redial
Voice Recorder
Vibration Alert
Flashlight
Phone Book with up to 1000 Entries
Includes 25 Polyphonic Ringtones
Alarm Clock
Battery Talk Time Approx. 8.1 hours
Standby Time Approx. 12 days
*This phone does not support PC connectivity via Bluetooth® or USB
Dallas – I covered this in the blog post I just published today, which you can read here:
http://pbush14.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/motorola-em326g-review-part-3/
Basically, Net10 is just flat wrong. I’m not sure why they have it wrong, but they do.
You say that files can be transferred between PC and phone.
My em326 transfered both sound and images from PC to Memory Card………..UNTIL I activated it. Now it seems the card is blocked after activation.
Is your phone activated and if so does it still transfer files?
Can you have multiple phone numbers per contact or do you have to set up a contact for each number.
Also, can you assign a different ringtone to each number?
Hi Nate
I am pretty sure that you can have multiple numbers for each contact, but I’ll have to check later tonight to make sure. Also, you can definitely assign a different ringtone to each contact.
Hi Again Nate
Well, I was wrong on both accounts. Each contact can have just one number assigned to it. You can designate that number as General, home, office, mobile or fax. But if you had two separate numbers for someone, you’d have to create two separate entries.
And on the ringtones, you cannot set separate tones for each contact. What you need to do is add the contact to a group, and set a specific ringtone for that group. You do have 15 groups to choose from, though, so some of those groups obviously could have just one member, therefore giving a ringtone that is specific to that one contact.
I went to the net10 website and read the features of the phone. It seems that transfering songs the phone is possible.
It supports PC connectivity via Bluetooth or USB, check the bottom.
(From the net10 website)
http://www.net10-store.com/bpdirect/net10/PhoneDetails.do?action=view&productVariantExtensionId=5185431
Includes 300 Minutes and 60 Days of Service upon activationSingle Rate for every call -10¢ a minute always: local, nationwide long distance and roaming
International calling to over 60 destinations for an additional 5 cents per minute
Text Messaging – only 5¢ per message
Bluetooth® Wireless Technology
Stylish Slider Design
1.3 Mega-Pixel Camera
MMS Picture Messaging
Buy Downloadable Ringtones and Graphics using airtime minutes
FM Radio (requires headset, not included)
MP3 Player (cable and SD card not included)
Color Screen
Voicemail, Call Waiting, and Caller ID
Text Messaging
Handsfree Speaker
Lightweight – 2.99 ounces
Key Pad Lock
Auto Redial
Voice Recorder
Vibration Alert
Flashlight
Phone Book with up to 1000 Entries
Includes 25 Polyphonic Ringtones
Alarm Clock
Battery Talk Time Approx. 8.1 hours
Standby Time Approx. 12 days
*This phone supports PC connectivity via Bluetooth® or USB
I was just going to post the same thing after I saw that they updated the info on the phone and changed it to say that the phone does support file transfer via the USB cable or Bluetooth.
I guess they realized their mistake by them selves or after a lot of people called them to point out the incorrect info they had on the phone.
is the keypad have the same feel to it as the w377g?
Alicia – yes, the keypads feel pretty similar.
where can i buy this cellphone? what stores are they available in?
aurora –
For some reason this phone has been pretty hard to find in stores. I know that KMart and sears have carried it, but I haven’t personally seen it anywhere else. I do know it’s readily available on Net10’s site, and you can get a discount there:
http://pbush14.wordpress.com/reviews/motorola-em326g-review-index/motorola-em326g-best-price/
do you think this will be released under tracfone by october/november 2009?
I don’t know about the EM326g coming to Trac, but I’m really hoping that SOME new phone comes out before Christmas. It very well could be the 326g, but I don’t have any evidence to support that at this time.
I can’t wait to get this phone.
A lot of times, phone companies or CSP’s will be wrong and the phone will have additional features you thought it did not have. This might be to keep it under certain FCC guidelines but I’m not sure.
This is THE best phone for the money, AND it comes with 2 months of service.
Right now I have the lg300 because they didn’t have the em326g at walgreens, but once my 2 months runs out, I will activate the em326 with my old number and save tons of money after I ditch sprint.
Does anybody know: Where to get games? Free games? Bluetooth applications such as bluejacking? Anything else?
hi casemods –
you can upgrade to the EM326g now – your remaining minutes and days of service will roll over to the new phone. I recommend doing the process through Net10’s site – choose the option to ‘activate with a number from your current net10 phone.’ Going from the 300 to the 326g should be done in just a few minutes, no more than an hour.
When you drop sprint, could you stop back and let us know how much you’re saving each month? (or do it now and estimate your savings?) That would be great:
http://pbush14.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/tracphone-success/
Finally, I haven’t done too much experimentation with this phone. After I completed my review, I gave the phone to my wife for her to use as her primary phone – she loves it. But she also doesn’t use it for playing games or anything much beyond calling and a few pics and some music. I would be in the doghouse if I tried something funny with her phone and screwed it up. If you find anything that works with games or anything, though, please let me know – I’d be happy to hear about it.
Also, that racing game that comes on the phone is pretty impressive for a TracFone/Net10 phone, at least I thought so!
I received the phone today and it looks good so far except I can’t figure out how to turn off the blasted beeps that accompany every key touch. Surely there is a way and it is probably obvious, but I haven’t found it. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Goto Menu, Settings(9), Audio & Ringtones(1),Volume(2), Keytone (4) and then set the volume to off
Hmm, I don’t have an “Audio & Ringtones” option under Settings…
I still can’t turn off the annoying keytones.
“Roberto Clemente” – after settings, look for “ring styles,” then “detail,” then “key tone volume.” Here’s a document describing the entire 326 menu:
http://thejmart.com/em326menu.htm
I’m hoping to get this soon I found it on walmart site but can you use songs from the mp3 for ringtones? If you have this phone please let me know cause that would make all the differants in me spending the money for it.
I noticed that you said you didn’t see an option to turn the airtime info off. I also didn’t see anyone else comment on that so i figured I would let everyone know that you CAN indeed turn the airtime info off. in fact, you can turn off just minute balance, or just service days. or both. (Prepaid > Airtime Display)
Thanks for the info on turning off the keytone. Does anyone have a link to a command map for the EM326g. I found one last week but failed to bookmark it and now I can’t find it. It was pretty handy for finding the options that you have to drill down to find. The manual is pretty useless. Thanks.
how do i use or activate the bluetooth i cant use it it says discovrable 3 min i am confuse some help me plz i need help really want to use that bluetoth pluse i really need it
Katy – what device are you trying to connect to your 326?
This phone is a piece of Crap, I am on my second one. It arrived today to replace the defective one I got a few weeks ago. Net 10 can’t even figure out why they can’t activate this one. I had to buy a $10 tracfone, so I could at least have some service. Mean while, the days are ticking away on my Net 10 account with over 1000 mins, and I can’t use the phone.
Was your SIM card installed backwords, because when I got my phone, the card was installed the wrong way.
Same. mine was in backwards. noticed when i opened it up to pop in a micro SD
Is there a way to change the soft keys?
I don’t use the browser at all so there is no point in having it there..
not that i know of. the best you can do is lock the browser so you don’t accidentally use it.
can you tell me how to lock the browser? I accidently hit it and it costs 1 each time. I cant figure it out. I am able to use the bluetooth for pix and other things. I did figure out, you must turn your headset off before using the computer bluetooth. It doesnt work otherwise. But i put music on mine and sent pictures via bluetooth.
Debbie –
Go to this menu location:
Settings >Security >Lock Application >Browser
Once in the Lock Application menu you can select any application from the list to lock. After you lock an application (such as the browser), the security code will have to be entered in order to launch the application. The default security code is 1234, which also has to be entered when you go into the Lock Application feature.
will somebody help me i cant take my pics from my phone to the computer…it says i need sometype of disk….arrrrggg idk HHHHHEEEELLLPPPPPP,,,,,,HELp && if ya do i would love you 4evaazzz
How are you trying to transfer the pics? Bluetooth, or USB connection? And do you currently have a microSD memory card installed in the phone?
I am having the same problem trying to transfer pics from camera to computer via USB cord. I do not have a micro SD card in the camera. Pics are stored on the camera memory apparently.
My windows XP recognizes the USB connection, but it says something about an I/O error when i try to access the phone as a storage device through windows.
Anyone know how to solve this?
I heard that it has a full size headphone jack…is this true?
Yes, this is true. It’s good for listening to music on the phone, but also you’ll need to keep in mind that if you also want to be able to use a headset with a mic for talking on the phone, you’ll need to look for the specific label on any headset you buy that states that it has a 3.5mm jack. Or there might be an adapter you can buy, though I’m not sure on that. Most headsets that I’ve seen are 2.5mm.
Well it has a full size 3.5mm headphone jack, but when I plug my 3.5mm headphones into the phone, the connection is still kind of loose and the phone doesn’t recognize the headphones.
I am very confused with this phone.
Headphones don’t fit/work properly.
I can’t figure out how to transfer pics from phone to computer via USB…
oh well at least I can still make phone calls with it.
Somewhere in the settings menu there’s a place where you can choose between “usb modem” and “usb disk.” Make sure it’s set to USB disk before trying to download pics. Also, a 2GB microSD card should cost less than $8, and a smaller card is even less. It might be worth the investment for you.
Also, I’ve tried a variety of different headphones and they all work properly in mine. Make sure it’s a standard music headphone jack, like you’d use in an mp3 player or whatever, and NOT the kind you’d use in most cell phones. I’ve heard that the iPod mic/headset works well with the em326g, but haven’t tried it myself.
After reading your review here I purchased this phone on eBay. Do you have any suggestions for a compatible bluetooth headset? I have looked at several cell phone accessory sites and this model isn’t shown. It isn’t even on the motorola.com website. The closest model I have found is the em330 but it doesn’t look anything like the em326g.
Bev – I don’t think you necessarily need to find something that’s “compatible.” It should work with just about any current bluetooth headset, I think. Unless you are talking about Stereo? If that’s the case, I”m not sure. I do know this phone is pretty similar to the EM325 rokr from Motorola. You could try looking for devices compatible with that model.
I am only looking for a regular Bluetooth headset, not a stereo one. I have looked for the EM325 rokr model with no luck. The only comparable Motorola ’slider’ phones are the ROKR Z6 and Z6m on the Motorola site. I’m sure you are right–any Bluetooth headset should work. But I find it disconcerting that Motorola does not even show this phone which means they probably do not support it either.
I have to take back what i said about the em326 not being on the Motorola website. I went to the Mobile Phone Support part of the site and just by guessing found it in the “MOTO” series of phones. Thought this info may be useful to the readers here.
Hi. I love the phone. But I get a weird message when I insert the 1G SD card into the phone: “Memory Card file system error” — it doesn’t even ask me to format it. I tried formatting it via windows but same message. Any of you had this problem? Thanks!
Yeah, done that. I called Net10 and they said that I should change the MicroSD. I’ll buy a new one soon and will tell you if it’ll work. Thanks for your reply.
I’ve only tried one microSD card in my EM326g, and it worked right off the bat, so I’m afraid I can’t offer any suggestions on this one.
I got a 4 GB Micro SD card and when I inserted it in to the phone, it says that it’s locked.
How do you unlock it?
TB – I am pretty sure this model only supports card sizes up to 2GB. So it may be that the card is too large (in capacity, not physical size) for your phone. Have you tried a smaller size?
Does anyone know how to remove a bad scratch on this phone. its pretty bad, like when the screen shows something moderatly bright the scartch is like a “rainbow line” and it really annoys me, is there anything i can do to remove this? P.S. i already tried toothpaste: didnt work
Yeah, I got a 2GB and it worked, I didn’t see the 2GB only on the manual.
Thanks
When I get a text message, it comes up message 1 instead of who it’s from. Is there any way I can change this?
D.Troy – I don’t think there’s any way to change that.
i am looking to upgrade my NET10 nokia which has functioned like a real champ for two years now. to me, my nokia is nearly indestructible. but i am interested in a newer phone w/the extras as listed for this motorola.
however, i also have a question about the texts. D Troy asked about texts appearing as “message 1″ – does this show up on the screen when the message is received (notifying you that you have a message) or does this show up in your LIST of received messages?
i need to know because this may be the deal breaker for me. since net10 is pay as you go, it costs 5 cents to open a message. in order to make sure i am receiving a legitimate text from a friend…and not be charged if i am not…i wait to see which number the message is coming from.
is this now eliminated with the motorola? we can’t see who sent us the text before we open it???? we get charged for that, even if it is spam.
deal breaker, if so.
Sharon – I don’t have the EM326g in my possession at the moment, but if I recall correctly it displays the first few characters of the message. This can usually be helpful in determining whether the message is “legitimate,” but not as helpful as seeing the “from” number before you open the message. I could be incorrect on this, but I’m pretty sure it’s accurate. I’ll test it tonight when I have the phone with me again, and post back here.
Just got today and just activated — so please excuse my lameless — but I was trying to figure out the hands-free speaker feature but can’t see it. Would I have to be an an actual call not just fiddling around?
I ordered direct from Net10 and received in just 2-3 days (free shipping and YOUR $8.00 off) as it was not in my local stores. Their website kept me informed of the shipping data. I like everything about the phone that I’ve tested out so far. Bluetooth works as does the camera feature. Great review, thanks and having the manual will be great!
Nancy – I think that you do need to be in an active call to turn on the speaker phone. It should appear under the options from the main screen once you have connected a call.
Thanks! You’re right.
Hey love all the reviews BUT does it has calendar. All the reviews do not say anything about a calendar. Please expound
Yes It does have a calendar with alarms.
Well it has a calendar but I’m not sure you can set an alarm to a calendar event.
I wish you could remove your own posts to this forum because I leaped before I looked when I posted my last message. Whoopsy Doodle.
Having trouble sending an text to an email address. Is there a trick? I create the text, choose ‘new email address’, enter the email address, choose send and get a percentage count but then get ‘Unsent’. I’m charged for the send – but she don’t go no where. Any hints?
Net10 advises: Net10 does not support text to email on this Motorola EM326g. However, it does support pic message sent to email address (go figure). That’s why the option appears on the screen.
Nancy – I think that’s a load of BS, if you don’t mind me saying. The Net10 support people are really that knowledgeable about the phones; they’re just trained to follow a script. But if you can send an MMS message to email, you should be able to send standard text to email. Just follow the same procedures as for a MMS, but omit the picture and just do text. I think that should work.
Well, aren’t you wise for your young years! I just sent a MMS to my own email and it went right through — no pic attachment. It does, however, charge as if there were a pic – 2.5 min plus 1 min as opposed to .5 min for a straight text.
)
I have also tested sending a pic to an email address and that works fine and easy.
(Note: my brother suggested I could write a text on wordpad and take a picture of the screen and send that. Aren’t brothers useful
Thanks for your help. At least I know a way to accomplish it now.
Hello everyone, I love this phone but I am having a problem with accidentally bumping the outside buttons when it is in my pocket and I really don’t like the keyguard turned on, Is there a way I can change the browser option button because its always my luck that this gets bumped and takes minutes off my phone without me knowing :/
James – I don’t know of any way to disable the browser button. I think that you can call customer service and ask them to permanently disable your web browser capabilities, but I’ve never done so myself. I guess my suggestion would be to just get used to the keyguard settings – set it up so that the keys lock within 5-10 seconds of closing the slider, then automatically unlock as soon as you open the slider. This is my preferred setup.
From reading other comments, I think I understand correctly that pictures from my LG600g can be transferred via Bluetooth to my new EM326g. If so, how exactly does this work?
I was able to do this. First make sure both phones have bluetooth turned on, and then pair the devices using the option to “search for new devices” (or something similar). Once paired, you can select the files you want to send in the 600g menu and then go to option > send via bluetooth.
Is there any word if Tracfone is going to be offering the EM326g soon (or ever)? If now been quite some time since be became available to Net10 customers.
Ron – at this point, I would say it’s unlikely that we’ll see the EM326g for TracFone, as it’s been out for several months now. I hope I’m wrong, but I think we’ll just have to look for the other new phones for TRac
Just curious after reading about the scratch on the screen. Is this a hardened screen so that it can take never being protected or do you always have to worry about putting it in the purse next to something that might scratch/poke it? I’m about ready to buy this but still have a few misgivings.
How Much Memory Does The Moto Em326g Have Stored In It
The internal memory is about 9mb. You can also add a microSD card of up to 2 GB
Can the phone’s contact list be synced and managed with PC software like Outlook or some other third part contact management software?
Does this phone have a option to add a number to a reject list so if that number calls your phone it won’t ring?
That’s really strange. I didn’t have that problem myself. Have you double-checked to make sure that the phone USB connection is set as a USB disk rather than a modem? Go to menu>settings>USB>USB Disk
Bev –
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! You’ve found the needle in a haystack that so many people have been searching for. I’m going to post this as a separate blog post, and you’ll have many people saying an anonymous “thank you.” Much good karma is headed your direction thanks to your excellent detective work and decision to share your discovery. Thanks again!
And, here’s the direct link to the manual:
http://www.motorola.com/staticfiles/Support/US-EN/Mobile%20Phones/MOTO%20EM326/US-EN/_Documents/Static%20Files/EM326_GSG_68000201869A.pdf