The Motorola V3 Razr is the mobile phone equivalent of a wafer thin mint, a magnesium / aluminium mix the phone is all metal which gives it a unique feel and balance, even the outside display is made of glass rather than cheap feeling plastics something the designers wanted to avoid at all costs. The keyboard takes a little getting used to but there is no real pressure needed to press a key instead touch sensitive areas are separated by a rubber like insets which give each key some definition on the otherwise sleek pad.

The wafer thin exterior of the V3 Razor conceals a powerful mobile phone, the quad band device holds onto signals like a terrier that's been starved for a week and then set loose on some dog food for yappy type dogs. Its RF performance is perhaps better than our V600 and as good as a Sony Ericsson P800. The 98 x 64 pixel colour screen sounds a bit pathetic until you realise that this is the outer glass screen not the main screen and then the 3 lines of text and full colour seems like an amazing feature that's secures the V3 Razr as a luxury phone.

Inside the thin shell (14mm) the main screen boasts a 176x220 pixel 65k colour resolution which is about the best we've seen on a phone to date that isn't a PDA wannabe, it performs well even in direct sunlight. The volume and magic word keys are embedded in the side of the Motorola V3 a bit like the V600, but they seem to be better protected against accidental presses something the V600 is prone to.

Connectivity is taken care of with Bluetooth 1.1 for pairing with headsets and other BT enabled devices, plus there is a mini USB jack for cable sync and other peripheral attachment. Like most phones there is a camera built into the outer shell which offers VGA resolution, perhaps this is a weakness as its competitors will be on the market with cameras of over 1 mega pixel by Christmas. The V3 comes equipped with both Java and a full WAP browser making it ready for use with GPRS networks and giving it the entry level connectivity required in the business market.

The other key weaknesses are the moto navigation software, sadly its as poor as ever, there are some changes for the better but the phone book still stinks and requires you to have an entry for each number even for the same contact. There is of course the strange issue of providing a cameraphone but with no means of adding external storage, once again there is no SD or MMC card slot and you will have to make do with the 5.5mb available on board and use USB or Bluetooth to remove images.

On the plus side the battery life has improved with it possible to get 3 hours talk time and a full days standby, try getting that form your V600! also after much nagging Moto have increased the ring tone volume so no more missed calls in a noisy pub or club.

But you probably won't buy the Motorola V3 Razr for any of those real reasons instead your gadget heart will, mainly because it it looks fantastic in fact it looks like something a modern James T Kirk would use when within reach of one of earths GSM networks and at well under 100 grams and 14mm thick it makes a stunning impression on everyone who sees it and then those who hold a V3 Razr won't put it down.

More mobile phone reviews -

[ Up ] [ Nokia 6230 Review ] [ Nokia 7200 Review ] [ Motorola V3 Razr ] [ Sony Ericsson K750 Review ] [ Sony Ericsson W800 ] [ NEC 343i Review ] [ Nokia 6280 Review ] [ Sony Ericsson W810i Review ] [ Nokia 6131 Review ] [ Mobile Phone Reviews 2 ] [ Sony Ericsson Z710 Review ] [ Samsung D830 Review ] [ Sony Ericsson W950i Review ] [ Sony Ericsson K800i Review ] [ Nokia N72 Review ] [ Motorola Razr Maxx V6 Review ] [ Nokia 5500 Review ] [ Nokia E65 Review ] [ Nokia 5300 Review ] [ Sony Ericsson W850i Review ] [ Nokia N73 Music Edition ] [ Samsung E900 Review ] [ Motorola SLVR L7 Review ] [ Nokia N70 Review ] [ Sony Ericsson W550i Review ] [ Rokr E1 iTunes Phone ] [ Nokia N90 Imagephone ] [ Sagem VS1 ] [ Sony Ericsson K700i ] [ Motorola C115 Review ] [ Nokia 2650 Flip ] [ Nokia 8800 Review ]