Mobile News and Phone Reviews

The MOTORIZR Z8 is Motorola’s most advanced phone yet. It’s a 3G smartphone in a slimline slider format. It offers high quality video calling, an excellent media player, high-speed HSPDA data access and the power of Symbian applications. Whether it’s for entertainment or business the Z8 has plenty to offer, and it makes a refreshing change from the brick-like smartphones we’ve seen in the past.

The Motorola RIZR Z8 is an ambitious product. It takes the ultra-slim RAZR phone into the high-end world of the 3G smartphone. This is a phone that has the same kind of features as the brick-like Nokia N73, yet it’s hardly any thicker than the original RAZR phone. It’s Motorola’s first Symbian phone since 2005, and the most highly powered of its current range of phones.

Physically, the Z8 is a development of the RIZR Z3, being a slimline slide phone. It’s slightly thinner than the Z3, at just 15mm, but is wider and longer. The shape of the phone is unusual, as the rear edge of the phone is angled slightly when opened, giving it the appearance of a clamshell. It’s an interesting design twist, making the phone easier to grip and more comfortable to hold to the ear than a conventional slider. The screen is excellent, being a bright TFT display with an amazing 16 million colours and one of the highest resolutions around. At 2.2 inches across, it’s a very good size too - significantly larger than that of the RIZR Z3. The keypad is slightly cramped, but gives good positive feedback and isn’t a problem to use unless you have very large fingers.

Technically the Z8 is far more advanced than the older generations of RAZR phones. It’s a 3G phone with a high-speed HSPDA data speed of 3.6 Mbps, making it possible to download video, music and emails at broadband speeds. It also enables high quality video calling, using a full VGA-resolution second camera running at 30 frames per second for a flicker-free video calling experience. A 2 megapixel camera is provided for high resolution still photography, and this is equipped with a flash for low-light photography. The camera is fixed focus though, so cannot compete with the camera of the Nokia N73 or Sony Ericsson K810i, which both have autofocus cameras.

Musically, the Z8 is very well equipped. The media player supports music in MP3, AAC, AAC+ & AAC Enhanced formats in high quality stereo. The music player handles playlists and shuffles, and can synchronise with your PC via high-speed Bluetooth or USB 2.0. There is support for a wireless Bluetooth stereo headset (not supplied) or a conventional stereo headset. The media player also supports video playback of course, and in fact the phone is supplied with a MicroSD memory card containing The Bourne Identity (one of our favourite films!). The Z8 supports memory cards with up to 4 Gbytes capacity - sufficient for around 1,000 songs. On top of that the onboard user memory is a very generous 80 Mbytes.

We’ve already mentioned the high-speed HSPDA data access (3.6 Mbps), available in 3G regions. With 2G, EDGE is supported with download speeds of up to 236.8 kbps. An Opera web browser is supplied, with full mobile HTML support and the phone can handle email too. The phone is quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) so is usable worldwide.

As a Symbian phone, there is potentially a wealth of third party applications available, making the Z8 more like a mini-laptop than a phone. One word of warning though - Symbian systems lack the simplicity, speed and robustness of a simple phone interface. Fortunately the Z8 is equipped with plenty of RAM, but even so the Z8 does have a tendency to freeze or shut down.

The most similar competing phone is possibly the Nokia E65, which is also a 3G Symbian slide phone, but with more of a business focus. The Motorola RIZR Z3 is a budget version of the Z8, lacking the 3G and smartphone capabilities. The Motorola MAXX V6 is a 3G clamshell phone that shares many of the features of the Z8, but isn’t a smartphone. If you want the best Motorola currently available, then the Z8 is probably the phone for you, but be aware that a 3G Symbian phone demands more from its owner than a normal phone! Be prepared to spend time learning how to use the phone, and we aware that the operating system isn’t 100% robust. You can get the Z8 free on contract with a free memory card from Dialaphone.

Features of the Motorola RIZR Z8 / MOTORIZR Z8 include:

• 3G Symbian smartphone
• 2 megapixel camera with LED flash and 8x digital zoom
• Video camera (30 frames/second)
• 3G video calling (using second VGA camera)
• Display: TFT, 16 million colours, 320 x 240 pixels (2.2 inches)
• Music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, AAC Enhanced formats)
• Hands-Free Speaker Phone
• Speaker independent name dialling / voice commands
• Speed dialling
• Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, Email
• Pre-loaded games
• Caller ID with image
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB 2.0
• Memory: 80 Mbytes plus MicroSD card (expandable to 4 Gbytes)
• Opera HTML web browser
• Data: GPRS Class 10, EDGE, HSPDA (3.6 Mbps)
• Quadband (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) plus 3G (WCDMA 2100)
• Size: 51 x 110 x 15 mm
• Weight: 112g
• Talktime: up to 5 hours (3G)
• Battery standby: up to 16 days
• Music Playback: up to 12 hours

The RAZR 2 V8 is even slimmer than the original RAZR, and uses premium materials in its construction to update its look. Novel features such as an external touchscreen for playing music, and CrystalTalk technology for enhanced call clarity make it well worth a try. The camera is average, but the music player is good, the memory and battery life are fine and the phone offers a good all-round mix of style and functionality.
After 3 years, the original Motorola RAZR is still in the shops, and that’s a rare achievement in the mobile industry. The RAZR spawned various follow-ups, including a range of 3G phones, but now a new milestone has been reached with the launch of the RAZR 2 V8. The V8 is even thinner than the original RAZR, at just 11.9mm thick, and when opened it’s astonishingly thin. Yet it’s heavier than the original, which gives it a really substantial feel. Part of the reason for the heaviness is the use of stainless steel in the casing. The phone also uses premium materials such as chrome and chemically hardened glass. Although it looks similar to the RAZR, it feels more upmarket, like Nokia’s premium 8800 Sirocco. The keypad is larger than that of the original RAZR, and the keys are more tactile too.

But the RAZR2 is not simply an upgraded RAZR phone - it is a quite unique device, as we will explain. One of the most striking features of the RAZR2 is the size of its external screen. It’s an ultra-high resolution 2 inch display, which makes it the best external display in its class - possibly in any phone. It’s also a touchscreen, making this phone the first of its kind. The touchscreen controls appear on the external screen, like the LG Prada or the iPhone, and are context-sensitive. For example, if the music player is on the touchscreen can be used to select tracks, etc, meaning that the phone can be used as a media player even with the clamshell closed. Other functionality is available through the external screen, such as reading and replying to text messages. This is a really nice concept. When not in use as a touchscreen, the external display shows information such as the date and time, or incoming calls.

The V8 is also the first commercially available Linux-based phone. Linux is an operating system used on computers (especially webservers and workstations) so putting it on a mobile phone isn’t an obvious move. However, the result is a fast, responsive system that supports multitasking well (so you can play music whilst using other phone functions, for example). We have no complaints about it.

Another new feature in the V8 is Motorola’s new CrystalTalk technology. This is a mix of hardware and software improvements that are designed to enhance voice clarity and reduce background noise. Does it work? In a word, yes. The V8 offers call clarity that beats previous generations of Motorolas and puts it up there with the best from Nokia, Samsung or Sony Ericsson.

The media player installed in the RAZR2 is Windows Media Player® 11, which is an excellent music player, with wide support for virtually all music formats. You can create and manage playlists from the phone, and synchronisation with a PC is simple. It’s a shame that there’s no radio though, and also the bundled headphones aren’t the best on offer. The memory available is either 512 Mbytes or 2 Gbytes, depending on which version of the V8 you choose. It isn’t expandable, so we’d recommend that you choose the 2 Gbyte version, as you won’t be able to change your mind later!

The RAZR2 also has a camera and video recorder, but at just 2.0 megapixels and no flash the camera is at best average.

The V8 supports Bluetooth wireless connectivity (version 2) with support for Bluetooth headsets, and also microUSB 2.0 connectivity, giving fast data connections with a PC.

Battery life is acceptable, although the big LCD displays do tend to eat power. Depending on how much you use the phone, you’ll probably get between 1 and 3 days’ use between charges.

Summing up, the RAZR2 V8 is a really interesting phone - far more than just a slimmed-down V3. The external touchscreen is a really nice concept, the CrystalTalk feature works well, and the media player is excellent. Connectivity is good and so is memory (provided that you choose the 2 Gbyte version). Battery life is fine. We like it!

Features of the Motorola RAZR2 V8 include:

• 2.0 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom
• Video camera (176×144 pixels, 15 frames/second, MPEG4 format)
• Internal display: 262,000 colours, 320 x 240 pixels (2.2 inches)
• External display: 262,000 colours, 320 x 240 pixels (2 inches)
• Music player (MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, AAC Enhanced, WAV, AMR NB, XMF, MIDI formats)
• Hands-free speaker
• CrystalTalk
• Automatic answer (headset or car kit needed)
• Speaker independent name dialling
• Conference calling
• Voice recorder
• Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, email (POP3/IMAP4/SMTP)
• Pre-loaded games
• Caller id with image
• WAP, GPRS Class 12, EDGE
• Opera web browser
• Calculator, Alarm Clock, Wallpaper, Screensaver
• Memory: 64 Mbytes RAM plus 512 Mbyte additional memory (2 Gbyte optional)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
• Quadband
• Weight: 117g
• Size: 103 x 53 x 11.9 mm
• Talktime: 470 minutes
• Battery standby: 330 hours
• Music playback: 11 hours