9 new cellphones from Motorola

Motorola New Cellphones

The Razr2 V8 with its snakeskin design, is a potential holiday gift.

Motorola, badly in need of hit products to spark a turnaround, announced nine new cellphone handsets last week to be available this quarter.

Among them is a luxury version of the Razr2, the latest successor to its once top-selling model.

The Razr2 V8 is being touted as a potential holiday gift with gold plated accents, snakeskin texture, ultra-slim design and storage of up to 1,000 songs among other features. It costs US$250 (S$367) to US$300.

The company said four of the seven new W-series phones - the W160, W180, W213 and W377 - feature FM radio which requires headphones. Six of the handsets contains Motorola's proprietry CyrstalTalk technology, which automatically adjusts audio for clear calls in noisy environments.

'These devices are designed for consumers who are purchasing their first mobile, for those who simply want to talk and message on an easy to use phone or for those who are looking to upgrade to a simple phone,' said Mr Stu Reed, president of Motorola Mobile Devices.

The company also introduced the Moto U9 a lightweight phone and music player with a clamsheel design and stereo Bluetooth wireless technology, a two-megapixel camera with 8x zoom and text messaging capabilities.

New Motorola Phone

Review of New Motorola Phone, Motorola Razr2 V8.
This new motorola phone; Ultra slim and ultra cool

The Razr2 V8 has a 2-megapixel camera, and 512MB of storage space.

Motorola's Razr2 V8 already looks very slim for a clamshell design, but it becomes even slimmer when flipped open.

Though it felt sturdy for something so svelte - just 11.3mm thin - that also hampered usage: the phone can't be flipped open with one hand easily because it is so thin.

The Razr2 V8 blends the best functions of different phone types to produce an excellent package. While as pancake flat as other ultra-slim phones like the Samsung Ultra Edition series, Motorola has designed all the essential tools - from button sizes to display screens - bigger.

The phone interface takes a little getting used to because of a few new buttons on the keypad like the music icon on the left and the delete button on the right.
For instance, I accidentally sent an incomplete message when I was trying to delete a typo error because the Send button was located directly above the delete button. On most phones, the Send button is synonymous with the OK button on the top left of the keypad.

A feature that surprised me was the external display which was touch-sensitive: a tap of my finger on the screen allowed me to control my MP3 tunes nestled away inside the 512MB of internal storage space, while the phone blared out the music clearly even amid the noisy bustle of a crowded shop.

The external display also serves as a means of reading incoming SMS messages, and can also display images taken by the 2-megapixel camera when the phone is shut.
In fact, it doubles as a mirror and is a handy means of taking an accurate self-portrait picture minus the trial-and-error shots of having to 'guesstimate' where your face is in the camera frame.

Of course, the camera works best when the phone is flipped open, allowing for up to 8x zoom. The internal storage space allows for about an hour's worth of videos.
My main gripe about this phone is that it is unexpandable - there is no slot for external memory cards, leaving me in a quandary over whether to load more MP3s for my listening pleasure or reserve the space for pictures and videos.

- By Eugene Loh, a freelance writer.

FINAL SAY
The Motorola Razr2 V8 will suit your needs if you are looking for some class and sophistication in a well-rounded phone.