Design and Quality

Motorola Flipside phone is a plastic device with a chrome bezel lining around the edges. It has a soft touch exterior, fitting well into the hand. The display is dominated by a 3.1″ HVGA capacitive touchscreen, having 320×480 pixel resolution. Colors on this device look average. However, screen visibility outdoors is quite poor and viewing angles are limited. Below the screen there are four capacitive buttons (menu, home, search and back) surrounding a large optical trackpad. The screen responds well to touch and the size of the trackpad makes navigation smoother. While the left side of the device holds the microUSB port and LED indicator light, the right side houses the camera button and volume rocker and the top contains the 3.5mm headset jack, microphone and power button. Overall, the device has a standard build.

Specifications

Motorola Flipside measures 57.5mm x 109.5mm x 15mm and weighs 145 gms. It has a 2GB microSD card included and can support a maximum of 32GB.

Features

Motorola Flipside runs on Android 2.1 and this can be very disappointing for users who are expecting Froyo. However, the MOTOBLUR interface is good, allowing some customization and better performance. The Motorola Flipside integrates with the contacts app recent social networking updates. Though the address book holds multiple entries per name, it is limited by memory availability. Accessing social networking sites is helped by MOTOBLUR while email services are standard on this device. There is a universal inbox option that can bring together email from all inboxes together. AT&T apps like AT&T Maps, AT&T Navigator and apps like MObiTV, Voice Dialer are some that are found on this device. Connectivity options include Bluetooth and GPS. Unfortunately, call quality on this device is quite unsatisfactory. Voices sound hollow and unclear.

Keyboard

The screen of the Motorola Flipside phone slides across to the reveal the full QWERTY keyboard. The keys are well spaced apart and offer a good tactile response when pressed.

Camera

The rear of the Motorola Flipside holds a 3MP camera lens and a self portrait mirror. Images can be taken in three resolutions but unfortunately look washed out at times. There are photo editing options available to improve the quality of images.

Battery

Motorola Flipside MB508 has a rated talktime of 440 minutes and a standby time of 288 hours on GSM. Battery life is definitely something to be concerned about as users will have to keep charging the device daily or even more than once a day.

Though Motorola Flipside offers some good features, there are issues like poor call quality and a staid design that needs to be considered before purchasing this device. For those who are not too fussy however, Motorola Flipside may be an option.

Design and Quality

Motorola Quench XT3 looks sleek and fits comfortably in the hand. The smooth plastic build and rounded edges, with a silver band around it, make it look like a more expensive device than it is. This grey smartphone has a 8.1cm HVGA touchscreen having 480×320 pixel resolution. Unfortunately, screen responsiveness is not too great. Often the screen does not register taps whereas, at other times, a slight inadvertent pressure opens applications. Immediately below the screen there are the Home, Menu, Back and Search buttons. There are also two physical buttons below these four buttons, for receiving and ending calls. They surround a trackball that helps is navigation. While the right side of Motorola Quench XT3 contains the camera button and volume rocker, the left side houses the microUSB port. At the top there is the power button and 3.5mm headset jack.

Specifications

Motorola Quench XT3 runs on a 600 MHz Qualcomm processor and has 256MB RAM. This device measures 56.8mm x 114.9mm x 12.6mm and weighs 114 gms.

Features

Motorola Quench XT3 runs on Android 2.1 OS. Most users will be happy to receive this operating system on a mid-range device. Unfortunately, the onscreen keyboard is not too responsive at times. Google services such as Gmail, Google Maps and so on are preinstalled and can be easily accessed. Calling is made easier with smart dialing. Connectivity options on this 3G device include WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. Call quality is good on this device.

Camera

Motorola Quench XT3 has a 3MP fixed focus camera lens at the back of the device. Digital zoom and flash are present. Image quality is average, looking better for midrange shots. There are also several photo editing options for altering images.

Battery

This smartphone has a talktime of 492 minutes and a standby time of 560 hours on GSM. Users are recommended to keep their chargers handy as this device needs to be charged daily.

For those who are looking for a decent entry-level smartphone, Motorola Quench is a good option. Not only does it look sophisticated, it also offers some good features for the price that it is offered at. However, there are issues with the screen of this device that need to be considered before purchase.

Design and Display

Motorola Fire XT has a 3.5″ capacitive touchscreen that dominates the display. The screen has 320×480 HVGA pixel resolution which is disappointing. With support for 262k colors, image and text look average on this device. It has a plastic build with rounded edges. The volume rocker and power button are located at the side of the Motorola Fire XT. Above the screen there is the front-facing camera and below the screen there are the usual four touch-sensitive buttons: Menu, Home, Back and Search. Unfortunately, the screen attracts dust and grease very easily, so users will have to be careful.

Specifications

Motorola Fire XT runs on an 800MHz Qualcomm processor. This device measures 114mm × 61.9mm × 11.95mm and weighs 84 gms. It has 512MB RAM and 512MB ROM and memory can be extended upto 32GB with a microSD card.

Features

Motorola Fire XT runs on Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread. Unfortunately, the device is not too responsive and users may face lag issues. For entering data, users can choose between the Motorola or Android keyboard or use the Swype keyboard. Unfortunately, with a poor screen resolution image and text look dull and washed out. Moreover, the text gets distorted at times. Users can group apps and use them according to their choice. Accessing email is a bother due to the slow speed of the processor. The music and video player are standard but unfortunately, due to the poor screen resolution, users will not be able to enjoy watching videos on this device.

Camera

Motorola Fire XT sports a 5MP camera at the back of the device. This camera comes with LED flash, autofocus and zoom. Unfortunately, the screen resolution plays spoilsport here too, with images looking unclear.

Battery

Motorola Fire XT has a talktime of 5 hours and a standby time of 20 days. Users will have to charge their device daily after heavy usage.

Motorola attempted to reach out to a larger number of users through the Motorola Fire XT, but in their attempt to bring a budget device they ended up compromising on screen quality, camera and processor speed. Obviously this will adversely affect consumer choice, making them pick up the Motorola Fire XT only if they are left with no other choice. With other budget phones offering more, most users might choose to give this device a miss.

Design and Quality

Motorola Motokey is expected to have a 2.4″ screen having 320×240 QVGA screen resolution. This touchscreen device will also have a full QWERTY keyboard beneath the display. The social networking Facebook button is located at the bottom left of this device, illuminated in blue. At one press of this button, users will be able to update their status updates, upload photos and start chatting with friends.

Specifications

Motorola Motokey will roughly measure 105mm × 60mm × 9.98mm and weigh 87 gms. This device will contain about 64MB RAM and 128MB ROM. While this is not much memory, it is enough to appease basic users.

Features

Unfortunately, Motorola Motokey being a budget device will not run on the Android OS. Rather, it will run on the OS seen on lower-end models. Connectivity options on this device include Bluetooth and WiFi. This phone also features a music player and FM radio. This device will also offer access to Gmail and Twitter. It will  have support for IMAP email and POP3.

Camera

Motorola Motokey is expected to carry a 3MP camera lens at the back of the smartphone. Obviously, with a 3MP camera, stellar image quality cannot be expected. However, basic shots can be taken, with the camera feature including digital zoom. Photos can be easily uploaded by the social networker, after using this camera.

Battery

Motorola Motokey will contain a 910 mAh battery and have a talktime of 180 minutes and a standby time of about 240 hours.

Motorola Motokey is live on the Motorola website and is available in a smoke grey color. The price for this device has not been announced yet, but considering what it has to offer, it can be expected that the Motorola Motokey is not going to burn a hole in the pocket. Overall, this smartphone offers decent features to users. For the eager social networker, who does not care much about the other functions of a smartphone, this may be an option to consider.

Design and Quality

Motorola Charm has a typical portrait touchscreen QWERTY design on one side and its trademark Backtrack navigation trackpad on the other side. The latter is very useful while browsing the internet. This smartphone has a plastic construction, with a silver bezel running around the edges. It feels sturdy enough and, with a soft-touch coat at the back, it can be held easily in the hand. Unfortunately, users may find the screen size to be small at 2.8″. Moreover, with the QVGA screen resolution of 320×240 pixels, the text looks unclear and colors look washed out. Although the screen responds well to touch, screen visibility outdoors is a problem. While the left side of the Motorola Charm contains the volume rocker and microUSB port, the top houses the power button and 3.5mm headset jack.

Motorola Charm Specs

Motorola Charm measures 67.2mm x 98.4 mm x 11.4 mm and weighs 110 grams. It comes with a 2GB microSD card, with memory capable of being extended upto 32GB. This smartphone runs on a 600MHz processor.

Features

Motorola Charm runs on Android 2.1 OS, without Flash support. While most functions can be performed smoothly, users may face a lag at times. There are seven homescreens users can choose between, and, with this being a MOTOBLUR device, social networking is also taken care of. Apart from the pre-installed apps, users can visit the Android Market for more. Accessing email is easy on this device. Motorola Charm supports dual-band and quad-band networks and is packed with Bluetooth 2.0 and WiFi for connectivity. Call quality is good on this device.

Keyboard

The QWERTY keyboard on the Motorola Charm does not disappoint. The keys are large enough, they offer a good tactile response and they are raised and curved, to distinguish them from each other. Dedicated keys for functions such as Camera and Search are available among other options. There is also the onscreen Android keyboard, but users may find it to be too slow in responding, at times.

Camera

Motorola Charm sports a 3MP camera with fixed focus and digital zoom. There are no camera modes to choose from, apart from a panorama mode. Image quality is quite poor. Video recording is equally disappointing.

Battery

Motorola Charm has a rated talktime upto 405 minutes and a standby time upto 267 hours on GSM.

For users who are not too fussy about the screen size and resolution, the Motorola Charm may be a budget option that can be considered. This device is a competent entry-level smartphone on many counts.

Display and Quality

Motorola Brute i686 is quite similar to its predecessor i680. It is slightly bulky, but makes up for this by its military-certified tag which claims that this device is resistant to shock, vibration, dust, fog, temperature extremes and other conditions. The metal device is covered in a rubber case which makes it easy to hold and protects it from scratches. The external display has 160×120 pixel resolution and support for 65,000 colors. When flipped open, Motorola i686 has a 2.2″ LCD display having 176×220 pixel resolution. The lower portion of this device has the numeric keypad. Keys respond well when they are pressed and they are spaced apart for user convenience. While the right side of the Motorola i686 contains the microUSB port/ charging port concealed by a rubber flap, the left side houses the push-to-talk button and volume rocker and the top of this device contains the headphone jack.

Specifications

Motorola Brute i686 measures 2.09″ x 3.92″ x 1.02″ and weighs 5.6 ounces. It comes with 180MB user memory and can support a microSD card upto 8GB.

Features

Motorola i686 is a dual band device running on Sprint’s Nextel network. At the bottom of the screen there are shortcuts for accessing apps easily. Call clarity on this device is good and even voices heard on the speakerphone are quite clear. Push-to-talk works well and makes staying in touch easier. The phone book can store upto 600 contacts, with multiple entries per contact. The music player is standard but it is quite sad that headphones are not provided with this device. Unfortunately, multimedia options on Motorola i686 are not too great. Web browsing is also not the best. Connectivity options include stereo Bluetooth and GPS.

Camera

Motorola i686 has a 2MP camera with fixed focus and an LED flash. There is no dedicated camera button on this device. Unfortunately, picture quality is average and images look washed out at times. Video recording occurs on this device but is of average quality.

Battery

Motorola i686 has a talktime upto 350 minutes and a standby time upto 150 hours.

On the positive side, Motorola Brute i686 is a durable device with the basic features intact. However, for those users who are looking for a good web experience and a good camera, this device is quite disappointing. Unfortunately, it has not come a long way from the Brute i680.

Motorola Razr V3 Design and Quality

Motorola Razr V3 has a sleek anodized aluminum finish that looks smart and feels smooth and comfortable in the hand. This slim device is very light and fits into the pocket easily. The hinge on this flip phone is tight, making it snap open and close promptly. A small external 4k display shows the time, battery life, network availability and incoming calls and messages. The front flap of the Motorola Razr V3 holds a volume recorder button on the right and a volume rocker and camera button on the left. When flipped open, the screen appears bright with a TFT display of resolution 176 х 220 pixels. However, screen visibility outdoors may be a problem. A directional toggle placed below the screen helps in navigation and is surrounded by the Talk, End, Messaging and Browser keys.

Motorola Razr Specifications

Measuring 98mm х 53mm х 13.9mm, the V3 Motorola Razr weighs 95 grams. This device supports quadband networks and has 5MB RAM.

Motorola Razr Software

The Motorola OS runs well and is user-customizable. V3 Motorola Razr uses WAP 2.0 for internet browsing and this can be slow at times. Email can be accessed easily and SMS and MMS work well. The phonebook on the Motorola Razr V3 can store thousand entries on RAM and 250 on the SIM card. Contacts can be organized and grouped for convenience. Voice dialing feature is available on this device.

Audio quality and volume on this device are quite good. Call quality is also decent. Connectivity options include Bluetooth. Polyphonic ringtones and Java 3D games are found on this device.

Motorola Razr Keyboard

The keyboard of the Motorola Razr V3 is average, with the blue backlight helping to distinguish the keys from one another. However, with a general flat appearance and slippery controls, it becomes difficult to distinguish between the keys without looking carefully. Further, fingerprints are easily left behind on the keypad. However, keys offer good tactile feedback.

Motorola Razr Camera

V3 Motorola Razr has a VGA camera lens with 4x zoom located above the screen. While image resolution, exposure setting and zoom capacity may be changed, image quality remains disappointing. Self photos can be taken using the outer screen as a viewfinder.

Battery Motorola Razr

This flip phone comes with a talktime of about 200 to 430 minutes and a standby time of about 180 to 290 hours.

The Motorola Razr V3 manages to impress but falls short in not containing a music player and sufficient memory. However, for those who are satisfied with the other features, this device offers good performance, packed into a trendy design.

Motorola Devour Design and Quality

Motorola Devour, shaped similar to the Droid looks like a block and feels relatively heavy in the hand. This device does fit into the pocket but its shape causes a bulge. However, this weighty smartphone with rubber edges feels solid in the hand. The display on this aluminum metallic smartphone is dominated by a responsive 3.1″HVGA capacitive touchscreen that has a pixel resolution of 320х480 pixels. Colors look bright and text is clear and legible on the screen. Below the screen there is an optical trackpad and other capacitive controls include Home, Menu and Back. While the volume rocker and voice command activator are located to the right of the device, the charging port is on the bottom left. The top of the Motorola Devour houses the power button and headphone jack.

Specifications

Motorola Devour runs on a Qualcomm MSM7627 processor at 600 MHz. It has RAM 256MB and ROM 512MB. There is support for extra storage upto 32GB.

Features

This smartphone runs on Android 1.6 OS, a more outdated version of the software, considering recent updates that have taken place. However, with valuable additions from Motorola, many of the updated features are found on the Motorola Devour. Navigating between homescreens and entering applications is smooth on this device.
MotoBlur is a very useful feature that allows users to integrate information from social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. This not only saves time but also looks more efficient and works faster.
Further, with Verizon’s EV-DO Rev. A facility, web browsing is quick and smooth. Gmail, Google Talk and Google Maps can all be accessed on this device. Other connectivity options on this device include WiFi and Bluetooth
Multimedia options on the Motorola Devour are good. One can listen to songs on YouTube or make use of applications that cater to media. Sound quality is quite good, both on the speaker and headphones. Verizon has apps like V Cast Music with Rhapsody that allows users to download songs.
Messaging features are standard and call quality on this device is good.

Keyboard

The keyboard on the Motorola Devour is better than that on the Droid, consisting of well spaced out keys. However, the Spacebar is squashed between the V and B keys and even the Shift and Tab key are not present on the left but on the right, requiring some time to get used to it. Also, the keys are not too tactile.

Camera

Motorola Devour contains a 3MP camera, with special effects available for editing photos. The camera lacks a flash and has fixed focus. Picture quality is decent but zooming in while shooting images often results in blurry shots.

Battery

The Motorola Devour has battery life comparable to other smartphones and can usually last through a day of usage before it needs to be charged again.

While the Motorola Devour seems to perform well, there are issues regarding its size for those who are looking for something sleek. However, this device does provide good web facilities and social networking opportunities.

Motorola i1

Motorola i1 Design and Quality

The Motorola i1 looks sturdy and fits well in the hand. This touch tablet has a grey and black appearance, giving it a scratch resistant rugged look. It comes with rubber edges and a hard plastic casing, with a soft touch at the back so that holding it is a pleasure. A 3.1″ capacitive glass touchscreen containing an HVGA resolution of 320х480 pixels dominates the display, making colors some alive with support for 262k colors. Users can adjust the screen brightness and vibration feedback. Under the screen are placed the sensor keys for menu, home, back and speakerphone. Physical buttons include Send and End, with a directional pad in the middle that can be used for navigation. Screen visibility is decent outdoors.

On the left of the device are the push-to-talk and volume buttons while the camera button and battery lock cover are located on the right. While the PTT button allows one to communicate easily, the fact that the device has to be unlocked before it can be used (while preventing accidental calls) does result in some time lag.

Motorola i1 Specifications

The Motorola i1 measures 58 x 118 x 12.8 mm and weighs 131 grams. Military specification standards state that this device is rugged enough to endure humidity, temperature extremes, dust, blowing rain and vibrations among other extremities. The Motorola i1 also comes with 260MB memory, with support for a microSD card upto 32GB. It runs on a 600 MHz processor.

Motorola i1 Features

Motorola i1 runs on Android 1.5. As this version of the operating system is far behind current ones, certain apps may not run on this touch tablet. The slow processor also makes certain functions on this tablet slow. Thankfully, with Opera Mini 5 web pages load quicker. This device supports Gmail, GoogleTalk and Youtube. Other accounts can also be accessed easily.

Homescreens on the Motorola i1 can be customized, with the interface being familiar to Android customers, as this device lacks the MotoBlur software often found on Motorola. Among new widgets are the ones for clock design, Bluetooth and WiFi.

Call quality is quite good on this push-to-talk device. This device is also hearing aid compatible.
The onscreen Swype keyboard can be used to register input on this device. Users can type in portrait or landscape mode. However, sometimes typing may be a little slow, due to the processor.

Motorola i1 Camera

Motorola i1 contains a 5MP camera lens at the back of the device. This autofocus camera comes with an LED flash. The shutter speed is average and images come out better under proper light settings.

Motorola i1 Battery

Motorola i1 has a talktime of upto 210 minutes and a standby time of upto 100 hours.

While Motorola i1 does come with a good touchscreen and a decent camera, the iDEN network fails to live up to customer expectations. This may be a good business phone for those who are keen on PTT, but internet connectivity on wireless is slow.

As the first Android 3.0 tablet to enter the market, the Motorola Xoom has been much awaited. With a sleek appearance boasting of a huge touchscreen and many interesting features and applications, Motorola Xoom is sure to be a coveted item till it is surpassed by other devices.

Android 3.0: What’s new?

With the Android 3, also known as Honeycomb, the Motorola Xoom is estimated to be the best Android phone so far, rated above the Dell Streak series. The Android 3.0, specially designed for large screens makes operations work much faster. Widgets on the home screen help in flipping through the contents. The user interface is also friendlier and provides an enhanced 3D experience.

Motorola Xoom Design

Sized at (249.1×167.8×12.9)mm the Motorola Xoom looks slightly smaller than the Apple iPad and is a little difficult to hold in one hand, feeling slightly heavy with a weight of 726g. On the left side of the Motorola Xoom are two volume buttons which are quite hard to use as they are shallow. Even the power button placed next to the camera lens and flash has the same shortcoming and gets stuck sometimes. That apart, the design is conventional and one may have the feeling of having seen something similar before.

Motorola Xoom Specifications

With an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor running at 1Ghz per core, the Motorola Xoom is able to handle various functions easily. Browsing and distribution of computing chores to each core has become easier with a dual core processor. Internal storage of 32000 MB and 1000 MB RAM can be further increased by a microSD card upto 32 GB on the Motorola Xoom.

Motorola Xoom Features

Multiple websites can be simultaneously browsed through on the Motorola Xoom without facing any difficulty. The home and back buttons have been stylishly replaced by their virtual versions. The status bar runs along at the bottom of the device unlike other operating systems and the left side of it is filled with the navigation icons that the user will require. There is also a multitasking icon on the screen which lists recently used applications (with a saved snapshot of them) for user convenience.

The Motorola Xoom comes with many built in apps including browser, email, scheduler and so on. The music app works extremely well and the 3D look provides an excellent user experience. Google has also provided their own apps- Google Talk, Google Sky Map and Latitude to name a few. However, the app navigation and the navigation of the tablet have to be controlled from two corners of the Motorola Xoom and this ends up being quite taxing for the user, though this device feels like a real netbook.

A 5 MP camera and LED flash is provided at the rear of Motorola Xoom. However, it is not easy to use a device of this size to take photographs though the interface in Honeycomb works well. There is also a standard front facing camera.

Motorola Xoom Battery

With a talktime of 24 hours and a standby time of 336 hours, the Motorola Xoom is well equipped. However, it gets charged only by connecting it to the power adapter and not when it is connected to the PC. This is a definite setback.