Hands-on with Motorola's RAZR V3 for Cingular
posted December 6th 2004 2:23PM
Ok, so I couldn't resist it anymore and broke down and bought Motorola's new RAZR V3 superskinny cellphone. Click to see a mess of pics and some initial impressions.
DesignWithout question, the biggest draw of the RAZR V3 is the looks, and in those incessant Cingular ads the RAZR slices and dices away, as if it really were razorsharp when it's unfolded. What you don't see in the ads is that the phone is a bit wide. Not obnoxiously wide, thankfully, but wider than my last two cellphones, the Motorola T720 and a Nokia 8290. I found that it's still easy to hold even while talking for 30 minutes, and there's no external antenna marring the RAZR V3's shapey looks.
Motorola made the casing out magnesium and aluminum to keep the RAZR at a scant 3.3 ounces. The phone has a solid feel, with no creaking or cheap plastic feeling during normal use. It is easy to flip open or close with one hand, I prefer to open it up with my middle finger of my left hand as it is less stress than bending my thumb in an odd way to open the phone. One-handed operation is important to me, as I often do several things at once and try to be as efficient as possible.
I left the phone out in the living room and it got quite cold rather fast, no doubt due to its aluminum housing. There have been reports of the phone getting pretty hot sitting out in the sun as well, but as this isn't sunny season right now in Seattle, I have yet to find that out first-hand, and probably won't until sometime in the middle of next year.
The mini-USB port also jets out just a bit on the back of the phone, ruining the smooth design in the back. I'm surprised they didn't position the port just up a bit and further down, as that would have made the design on the back more symmetrical.
PackagingWhile Cingular might be offering Motorola's RAZR V3 for $500 (with two-year contract), they do skimp a little bit with what they include in the box. Regular retail versions of the RAZR V 3 include extras like a nice aluminum case, a Motorola PhoneTools CD, a USB sync cable, and 3 Java games. What Cingular does offer, though, is just about the cheapest price you'll find on the slickest-looking new cellphone available this holiday season. They do lock the quad-band (GSM/GRPS 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) to Cingular service only, but there are stores that provide unlocking service or if you are so inclined, you can probably hack it yourself. Unlocked RAZR V3s are going for around $650 on eBay.
The packaging is very weak and is boxed like any other Cingular phone, there's no wow factor at all to give the user of what they are getting. There's not even a side shot of the phone on the box showing the RAZR slimness. I usually keep product boxes and I'll probably keep this one, but the box is just flat-out plain and boring.
Screens
The main screen is absolutely gorgeous, a 176x220 pixel TFT LCD screen with 262k colors. It's a beauty and there's three skins included to choose from (Moto, Scarlet, and Silver) of which I'm partial to Silver. It's the most 'business' like color and isn't overly colorful like the others. The front cover LCD looks good and also doubles as the self-portrait LCD (no look at the silver reflection here) after you turn on the camera and close the lid. Look, there's Yoda, my Yorkshire Terrier, posing for my wallpaper.
Startup
The startup time is quite lengthy, I timed 32 seconds from when I pressed On to when I got to my default page with my custom wallpaper. That seems unnecessarily long, so I'll just turn the ringer off where cellphones aren't welcome rather than turn it off.
Keypad and Buttons
The keypad buttons have a tactile feel to them, I've found them to have a slight sticky feel to them even after cleaning. While the buttons are flat and do not stick up from the keypad, you can push them in and get a good responsive feel. I found the buttons on the top lid (on the side of the phone) to be a bit of a reach, as you have to move your thumb quite a bit to press those buttons on the left. The top left button on the lid is for Voice Records, the button below that is for Volume (up and down). The button on the right of the LCD is for Voice Name dialing, which is in an easy position to press. Since the keypad lights up blue, it's easy to dial and use the phone at night or in the dark.
When you flip open the phone, the Camera and AOL Instant Messenger are default options which are prominently displayed and selectable by two of the three top buttons. The usual navigational icons (up, down, left, right functions) are hidden by default, but if you press any of them, the selected option will appear. All of the default menu options can be changed in the Personalize section of the phone.
Cingular Branding
I find the Cingular branding to be obnoxious. There's the cingular logo (at least it's in white and not over the top) on the back of the phone, and when the phone is in use, the bright orange Cingular logo shows up on the top cover LCD until you close the phone. It's one thing to have the LCD display the cellular network you are on, but the orange logo turns you into an easily seen walking billboard for them. I'd definitely be interested in learning how to hack the phone to remove or change this picture.
Digital Camera
The RAZR V3 can take VGA resolution pictures, at 640x480 resolution. There is a 4x zoom, but it's digital and as digital zooms go, it's pretty awful. The pictures it takes are of a okay quality, but the camera is definitely not this phone's strong suit. It's there and it works, but in the age of cheap multi-megapixel cameras, the RAZR's onboard camera isn't that impressive. When considering that Nokia has quality 1.3 megapixel cellphone cams, it's yet another knock on this phone's camera. Here's some images (resized) taken with the RAZR's camera:
Call Quality
Call quality was superb, very clear, especially for not having an external antenna. It's definitely the best call quality that I have personally experienced on any cellphone, and the friends I called commented I sounded fine. One in particular said that he couldn't tell I was calling from a cellphone, whereas before he had always complained when I called on a cell that I sounded like I had just drank a fifth of vodka because of the raspiness in my voice from bad cellphone voice quality.
I do have to note, however, that while the earpiece is very clear while talking, if you move your ear a bit and cover up the small speaker hole, it becomes very muddled and hard to hear. So you don't want to be jostling too much while talking, or you could miss some important details.
Ringer
I left the ringer to both ring and vibrate when I get a call, and in my pants pocket, the speaker is loud enough that I notice and the vibrate buzzed me enough, much better than my previous phones. I do like the fact that I can set any MP3 as my ringer, but I haven't decided what I want yet, though, perhaps some Britney Spears will do.
Memory
Built-in storage is only 6MB, and to top it off, there's no memory card slot at all. So while the RAZR can play MPEG-4 videos, MP3s, and view JPGs, you're not going to be able to store many of the space hogging videos or MP3 files on the phone. This is a glaring omission, and with some Nokias having 96MB onboard, with even more possible with a memory card, 6MB is just flat-out pathetic.
Battery
The RAZR V3 battery is rated for 7 hours talk time and 10 days of standby, during my testing (talking quite a bit, taking many pictures, Bluetooth file transfers, and playing around with menus) I found that the battery lasted about a day and a half, which is quite a bit, as this would translate to three days with my usual phone usage. I'm satisfied with the battery life, you can't expect too much out of 680mAh battery. The back cover is a bit awkward to take off and put on, I still can't do it smoothly. Removing the battery cover will need a fingernail, it's a tight fit to push in the cover release button.
WAP/Internet
The WAP and Internet experience on this phone is passable, I'm not one for much WAP use at all, I just can't stand typing without a keyboard of some sort. Since my Cingular plan is not at all geared towards data usage, I did not try to pair it up and use it as a Bluetooth data modem, which I'm not sure is even possible with this phone.
Bluetooth
I was able to successfully connect via Bluetooth to my Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop, a Dell Axim X30 Pocket PC, and a Motorola HS810 Bluetooth headset after some initial difficulty. I still think it should be easier (I spent quite a while getting them all to talk to each other), and the Motorola manual was pretty lacking when it came to Bluetooth instructions. For the record, the default passkey for the RAZR V3 is 0000 (are all Bluetooth passkeys set to 0000 as default?), which I couldn't find anywhere in the manual. That is, I set the passkeys to 0000 on every device and it worked in my case. Bluetooth connectivity definitely should be easier to use.
Using Pocket Informer 5 on my Axim X30, I am able to send a number from my contacts list to be automatically dialed on the RAZR. Pretty neat and useful, however, due to the phone's limitation, I was not able to use my Motorola HS810 Bluetooth headset if I wanted to use the Axim X30 to dial. I believe it's the phone can only have one Bluetooth connection at a time, since I successfully used Bluetooth with two devices simultaneously on my laptop, sending a file from the RAZR to my laptop while syncing my Axim X30 at the same time.
Gripes
Yes, even this chic phone isn't flawless. The front cover does not sit flush with the bottom of the phone. I'm not sure if it's just my phone, but when closed, the cover sticks up about 1 or 2mm and isn't smooth when running your fingers up and down. When I push the cover down as much as I can, the cover will sit flush, so it may just be my particular phone (I have yet to see the phone in person at a Cingular store). There also seems like there are some imprints on the LCD screen of the keypad graphics. I don't think the LCD has been scratched at all, but it is something to watch out for in the long run.
Ideally, I'd like the top cover LCD to always be on so that a thumbnail of my wallpaper and the time would always be bright, but I couldn't find anything in the options menus to do so. It would also probably be a battery drain, but it'd be nice if I could choose to have that. As it is now, the
LCD backlight turns off 10 seconds after the lid is closed. After the cover is closed, the top LCD shows the current time and wallpaper. But without the backlight on, it's rather hard to see the top LCD without some light shining on it. In a completely dark room, there's no way to see the time without flipping the cover open. As I use my phone quite a bit to check the time (no watches for me), I would like to easily see the time without having to fumble with it.
Also, the center Select button, in the middle of the directional arrows, is a bit hard to use, as the circle button is quite small. Using a thumb to control the navigational buttons as most would do, I found myself to accidentally press down or left instead of the center Select button. Fortunately, in almost all menus, you can choose to use the bigger top right button which is also the Select button. You could use your thumbnail to use the circular Select button, but then you may scratch the keys, which I've read can happen. And that'll be one sad day if you scratch up this beauty at all.
Conclusion
Overall, I like this phone a lot. Yes, I'm a sucker for good design, but the phone functions as it should and its features work as advertised. Did I mention the phone looks cool? Do I even have to mention that? Motorola has a winner here and I'm sure that more designer fashion phones are headed our way since this phone will be a success. The only real critical aspect missing in the RAZR V3 is the lack of a memory card slot, or perhaps more onboard memory. The average fashion phone buyer may not care about memory and only about looks, but the fact is there are power users that like nice-looking phones as well, and many will be put off by the lack of memory.
The phone is definitely pricy and it isn't for everyone, so one should definitely try to scope it out in person before purchasing. I do think it's a bit overpriced, maybe by $100 or so, but you often do have to pay a bit more to have the absolute latest gadget as you well know.
Dan Wu's personal reviews and commentaries can be read on his personal site, http://www.wooba.com.
If anyone has any idea or suggestions for how to remove cingular branding from the v3 please please, please let me know.
Just bought a black v3 and I like it. Am I being dumb but is there a way of switching off the iTap predictive text?
Help! Is there anyone who know of a 3rd party recording java app for this phone? Can't belive my old z600 would be superior when it came to something as trivial as recording sound!
I love the fact that I can g to the Philippines get a cim chip from that country and I'm in business. However when using the bluetooth, the battery runs low in less than a day.
Thank you for a great review and comments. I do have a really basic question: How exactly can I search for a contact on the Razr? (apparently you can do it with one letter, but I can't even seem to be able to do that).
The Razr V3 is one of a kind. You can surely appreciate every details on this phone, but mostly, its versatility to be modded and reprogramed. Some of the "out of the box" missing feature can be easily added for full phone functionality. For instance "search in contacts", customized menus, GPRS inactivated for battery saving, video recording and an extra 2 Mb in space. Cheers Motorola !
I have a motorola rzr which i think is really sleek but I cant seem to have videos play back or even record can someone help me.Also cant access AOL and AIM
How did you get 7 hours out of the battery? I
am using the Motorola 710, 700 mil battery and
only get 2 hours tops. Somebody is BSing somebody and it isn't me.
Deleting anything is such a hassle. The user's guide is well organized, but lacks completeness. To delete contacts or pictures, you have to go to either the address book or MyMedia-Pictures, select the item you want to delete, and then hit the Menu button (the button right above the up arrow). There you can scroll to the delete option.
I am happy with the Razr, but I think the user interface is not as easy learn. But once you do something many times, you'll finally remember.
I have Mac OS X, 10.4.2. I was very easily able to sync my phone and mac addressbook. No problem with iSync. May be a newer software is needed?
In fact, I added my all my numbers to my phone that way. Had to fiddle with the speed dial, but that's it.
I think if you expect your phone to be a camera, or a small pda, this is not the phone for you.
If what you want (like i did) is just a phone that fits in your pocket, it's the best. Yes it's wide, but it's no bigger than my wallet.
If you carry a purse, the small may not be small, but if you are not of the purse carrying kind or gender, the thinness is great.
I think the whole phone's getting bigger is because so many people want them to do 20 other things. If anything a better address book and more memory to store whole vcard info, and ditch the camera would be my vote. I was with verizon, wanted a new phone, but all they had were these huge combo gizmos.
Also, it's fun to hack this phone, which if your computer geeky, is total cool. Only problems seems that the hacking requires a PC.
I want to know how can I set my IM in my Razr V3 also I want to see If i can free memori on my razr deleting or removing some of the locked files in my phone...
I would like to know how? Anyone?
I just got the V3 Motorola today. I think it's not a bad phone, it looks great and does all the things a phone is supposed to do, with a few extras.
I'm reading these postings and it seems like some people are working for rival mobile phone companies. I mean come on, it's one of the best looking phones to date. Those Nokia phones (besides that stainless steal one which is great, however too heavy and large) are ugly and still look good compared to the Sony Ericson phones.
Get a laptop, or a pocket PC if you want to use a computer, this is a phone. It's clear, has easy to use speaker phone, it's so small and light half the time you don't even know you've got it till it rings. Hell, it's even got a camera on it.
When Nokia or Sony Ericson can make a phone this cool, i'll buy it for sure. Until then, this will have to do.
If you've ever lived with a Nokia or SE phone and make the switch to Motorola, you lose a lot of features that you've grown accustomed to. I bought this phone for the hardware -- great design, great sound quality -- but the software is archiac compared to Nokia or SE. Maybe it's because I was a programmer, but good software design JUST ISN'T THAT HARD. Motorola should be able to design a decent phonebook, make the picture viewer full-screen, and come up with a way for me to sync with Outlook that actually works (Mobile Phone Tools is a piece of crap -- just check out the forums on the BVRP website).
Hardware design, on the other hand, really impresses me -- I almost don't expect Nokia or SE to come out with anything that can rival the V3. And kudos to Motorola for that.
The design of the phone is cool enough that I can live with the software's shortcomings, but it's frustrating nonetheless. If I could throw Symbian on this phone, I'd be in heaven. In the meantime, I'm going to bitch and complain as much as I want until someone can come up with the phone I really want -- if I don't, how are the phone makers going to know what I want?
Yes it is lovely to look at. Yes it is lovely to use. Yes it is lovely to use.
BUT twice on two handsets and on a collegues of mine it DELETES the WHOLE PHONEBOOK.
yes everysingle number you have painstaikinly put in are deleted, over night just like that!
I will not be accepting a replacement again, I'm going back to Nokia.
I love my V3, I do have one gripe. I bought the V3 shortly before leaving the U.S. The cingular representative said that It will work In greece, which is where I am now. I asked if I could use a Sim Card as well as my Cingular Sim car for this phone and he said it would work. Well it doesnt and being 13000 miles away from where I bought it I heard about unlock codes. Can I take the phone somewhere or unlock it myself. I plan to keep my cingular contract its just my other phone, a v400, thats also quad band with a Greek sim card just took a dump. Cant really afford to buy another phone. Any Ideas?
Pete
AIM on Cingular with Motorola RAZR v3, can send, but can't receive IMs:
10/14/05: I started out on Cingular's online tech chat section to diagnose the problem, but they couldn't help. They suggested I call 866-490-2666. Reached Warren, 10:00 a.m. to 11:47 a.m. (90 minutes!), explained problem (can send through AIM, not receive), we thoroughly diagnosed the problem, we tried a different messaging number (changed +13123149810 to +14047259015 and we changed the email gateway from 121 to 36245), but this did not work. (Online, I found additional messaging numbers: +16363848815 and +13123149870 but these also do not fix the problem). We SMSd back and forth to 9739538087 to confirm that SMS still works (it does). He suggested that I take my SIM card and try it in another RAZR V3 to see if we can duplicate the problem. If the problem is a duplicate, then he says it is a Motorola issue (800-331-6456) (seems like a cop out to me). If it is unique to my phone, then I would need to obtain a replacement (800-801-1101) (I doubt this is the problem, but I guess I'll try). He created a log number [edited] for the "data group." He said to tell future representatives that I spent 90 minutes on the phone with Advanced Network Services, went through SMS and AIM and could not solve problem.
Anyone have any luck receiving IMs using AIM on Cingular with Motorola RAZR v3?
I can't tranfer pictures from V3 to my PC but I am able to tranfer pictures from my PC to V3 using Bluetooth. I've closed my firewall application but it still doesn't work. Any suggestions?
DAN WU: have you tried tapping the smart key to light up the outer display while the cover's still closed to see the time?
GREAT PHONE for most people. MY biggest gripe is that Cingular Voice Mail Retrieval # is different from cell #, unlike every other phone I've ever had. Had to call emergency tech support on weekend.
CHANGING CINGULAR ANIMATION: if your not squeamish about hacking your phone (trust me, it's easy), try http://xlr8.us/hofo/ in the special cases section.
Following up on post #88 above...
Back in December of last year ('04), there were some really good-looking posts regarding hacking the RAZR V3. (e.g. post #31) But those posts are no longer accessible!
Anyone have any updated information??
Thanks in advance!
I have to agree that for that price, 8MB of RAM and a blurry VGA camera is nothing short of idiotic. Add in a memory card slot of some sort, bump up the resolution of the camera, add a flash (if it doesn't have one already), add in MS's Smartphone OS, and drop the price by about $200, then you'll have something.
This thing isn't even a smartphone and they're charging $700? Gimme a break.
Just upgraded to Razr V3(in UK). What a nightmare! Looks great, works as basic phone, but forget the rest. Syncing with PC costs extra (unbelievably you need to buy upgraded software from Motorola) and it appears to have totally shafted Outlook on my PC. Don't most people want to sync addresses and calendar? Why make it so hard?? If I don't get the outlook syncing sorted soon I am taking it back!
I recently purchased a V3 to add to my family shared plan. So far I love my phone. I havn't run into any issues and it does exactly what it's supposed to do. I was not looking for a PC or a digital camera when shopping for my phone. I already have a PC and digital camera. I even have a laptop that I can take with me where ever I go. I was not looking to spend a ton of money on a cell phone either. I recomend to everyone (especially those that recently spent more than what they feel the phone is worth) to shop around and compare prices prior to making thier next purchase. After doing this I found my V3 for $69.99. There was no rebate involved and I didn't have to purchase it on line. I would not have even considered buying this phone if I hadn't found such an awesome deal on it.
Also for those of you who like the looks and size of the V3, but not the features or lack of memory, be on the look out for a new and improved version. It probably has all that you are looking for, and just in time for the holidays too.
I noticed someone complained that motorolas aren't compatible with macs via bluetooth. I'm happy to report that's false. I paired my powerbook G4 and my moto razr V3 in about 10 seconds. The download and upload times are also surprisingly quick. I swapped photos and MP3s between them seemlessly. It seems the V3 and mac are a great combination same as ipod and mac.
Also, i'm not sure when you got your phones or why it's so expensive in over there but I just got mine for 70 euros by upgrading with Vodaphone Ireland. Although I should point out that the costs involved in bills etc... in the US are much more competitive than here in Ireland.
Also their is no default passkey for anything. It's a once off thing so as long as you enter the same code on all devices it proves you're not pairing with a random stranger's laptop. Again this would have been clear if you were pairing with a powerbook etc...
Hi i love this phone only thing like you say is the camera it is nowher near as good you have to hold the phone really still when your taking a picture or it goes blurry whereas my Sharp GX20 was a fab camera. Also I dont know how to work the Bluetooth.. So if anyone has any ideas please email me and let me know how to use it. As i Aint a clue how to use it. Do you need a headset for deffo or not to use the bluetooth?
I'm trying to consolodate all the numbers for a given name as noted in post #34 But the option of "Sort by Primary" isnt avialable. I bought my phone today is that option available on older models only? My only sort options are name, speed number, voice name, or e-mail. Am I really stuck with a mile long phone list?
Hi im tony im having trouble finding mp3s to be used as my ring tones i dont know where to go to get any and the only ones i have i bluetoothed from a friend. Any ideas or places or things i can do to find or make more ring tones. By the way i dont have web browser well i do but i dont want to pay for using it haha thanks tony
I have Moto Razr V3. I am facing a unique problem with the handset. My phone hangs, I mean I cannot operate any keys. It is almost as good as dead. I cannot perform any functions. If anybody has a solutions for the problem please email me at shripaldaftary@yahoo.com
anyone else had problem moving the icons from the home page into the centre? Mine I stuck "left justified" even if I choose "centre" in the personalise options. Also, is there a way to change the soft keys from "style" and "camera"?
Is there any way of adding street addresses to the Address Book?
I've recently (two months ago) purchased a black razr on the Cingular service and I have to say... The phone plain rocks! The menus may not be quite as user friendly, and there isn't quite as much memory as I'd like, but the phone is good at. Well it's good at being my phone :) The design is pretty rugged, the speaker (ringer) is loud, and if you buy the optional motorola phone tools (I got mine from ebay for 10.00 shipped for the cable AND software) then you can add ringtones etc for free. All and all I love this phone.
I am really having a problem with trying to send my music (MP3) from my PDA to my Razr via bluetooth. I have a Dell Axim x30 and it connects fine, but when I attempt the send the MP3 file, it like goes into outerspace and I can't apply it as a ringtone in the Razr. Any one have any suggestions? I am really trying to make use of this Bluetooth :)
Thank you!
tweak up your phone.. you ll be amazed with V3 .. go to www.motomodders.net or motoX.com. You can even ring and vibrate at the sametimes hehehe
My Motorola V3C razr is in the mail. And i cant wait. I do have a question. Verizon has crippled bluetooth to the point that you can only make calls with other bluetooth devices as i've read. That plug on the side, is that the power, usb or both? My Dell DJ uses the same plug for usb and power, and its the exact plug there. Anyway, the v3c actually has 30mb of onboard space. Other improvements from the v3 to v3c include 740 mAh Li-Ion battery, and 8x digital zoom (if u consider that an improvement.)
hey how do you get that annoying cingular logo off of the screen on the front of the phone???
hi all!:)
i read 2 comments about having problems with some kind of "buzing sound",when the light behind the keyboard is on!i have the same problem,and it really bothers me,any idea?!
and one more question,how can i upload java games to my phone?
thnx alot!:)
Anyone know how to CHANGE ( i.e. Replace) the icons on the Moto V3 home screen - as opposed to move them. One of the previous contributors tried but that only allowed you to hide/centre etc.
I could do this on my old Moto T720.
does anyone know how to upload pictures from the rzor camera??
Hey, this is a neat phone I agree... The motorola Razor v3 has a lot of features, but I am disappointed that it isnt recognized as a disk drive when plugged into a computer. I mean they could have added a SD card slot.... No? Well, its a damn shame they didnt make it easy for a person to transfer video phonebook or images. I did see a lot of this in earlier phones where you had to pay, but come on... Not days they they know its easy to incorperate a fast "standard" transfer to a PC... I think the money hording should stop. Anyone have a link to the free USB transfer software?
~Ryley
How do i delete my speed dial list?
I recently got the Razr V3C i had Verizon port over my phone book but now i have over a 100 phone numbers in my speed dial list.. Does anyone know how to delete the speed dial list without having to move the phone number to another location?
i just recived one of the razr phones it was purchased at cingular, it was given to me as a gift i however have tmobile, does anyone know how i can unlock the phone myself?
thanx
more info here
http://www.camera-phones-spot.com/motorola_camera_phones/motorola_razr_v3/