MOTOROLA V3 RAZR

In a world where camera phones are competing to be colourific multimedia machines, Motorola has broken off in a fresh direction with the V3 Razr. The company's design team spent a year creating the minimalist aesthetic of this ultra-slim handset, which is aimed at the style-conscious consumer. The Razr is a prodigious follow up to the popular V series released last year. Motorola has retained the clamshell form, but eschewed plastic in favour of an all metal and glass design. The outside casing is made from aircraft-grade aluminium and magnesium. It's one of the toughest and thinnest mobiles on the market, with dimensions of 98 x 53 x 14mm and a weight of 95g. Motorola has even designed an aluminium box for packaging the phone. Where Motorola really broke the mould with the Razr is the keypad. One-third the size of a conventional button keypad, it consists of a single flat sheet of metal. Keys are separated by rubber piping, and a blue backlight illuminates numbers and symbols. The layout is roomy so even chubby fingers can navigate with ease.

The user interface takes some exploring to get used to, but we were pleased with the straightforward Bluetooth setup. Narrow but- tons down the edges of the display control the digital camera, voice calling, ring mode and speaker volume. They are finicky and hard to press, but convenient if the clamshell is closed. Motorola estimates battery life to be approximately seven hours for talk time and 12 days for standby, enough juice to last days on the road. The quad-band handset is GPRS and WAP-enabled to access the Internet.

Two colour screens allow users to make the most of multimedia applications. On the inside, the stunning 2.2-inch TFT display has a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels. Externally, the hardened-glass display has a resolution of 96 x 80 pixels and doubles as a camera viewfinder. The VGA camera is equipped with 4x digital zoom and a brightness control. It gives a maxi- mum resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, high enough to send images between phones but too low for 4 x 6-inch printouts. Camera phones are rapidly evolving and several of the latest models, including the Siemens SF65, boast 1.3-megapixel resolutions for printable shots.

Animated screensavers, a slideshow application and 3D games give a playful contrast to the sleek exterior of the handset. We had fun using MotoMixer to compose a unique polyphonic ringtone. The sound quality from the 22KHz speaker was impressive, considering you can't expect much bass from any phone. Playback of MPEG4 video was smooth, but the phone doesn't have a music player. In addition, the 5MB internal memory is small compared to the 18MB of storage on the Siemens SF65. Tough enough and light enough to go the distance, the Motorola V3 Razr successfully tiptoes the line between function and design. Pricing ranges from £50 to £290 (inc. VAT), depending on contract.

RATING 8
PRICE £50-£290 (INC. VAT) DEPENDING ON CONTRACT
SIZE 98 x 53 x 14mm
WEIGHT 95g
SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE 2.2-inch TFT
MEMORY 5MB
CONTACT 01793 541541 www.motorola.co.uk