Motorola MOTOFONE F3

Motorola has been making phones in a reverse order of sorts lately: they had their uber-expensive, fashion-conscious RAZR V3 (Rs. 30,000 at one point in time), followed by the mid-level SLVR series, and most recently, the cheap, budget-conscious FLIP W220. But their latest phone—the MOTOFONE F3–takes 'cheap' to a new low: Rs. 1,649.

The MOTOFONE F3 is based on the SCPL platform. SCPL is a new platform by Motorola that will pave the way for devices a lot thinner and sleeker providing better quality audio and network reception, and also extremely low power consumption. The devices will also offer options for a special user interface for different regions and a low price. The SCPL devices will also run a (heavily) trimmed version of Linux, instead of the proprietory P2K OS found in all Motorola phones (except the ones that already run Linux). If you want to make an association, an SCPL ('scalpel') is a more refined version of a RAZR ('razor'), and that’s exactly what this line of phones is trying to convey.

India is the first target region for the ultra-low cost MOTOFONE F3. The phone is being launched by BSNL and Airtel at the moment. The F3 isn’t meant for the metros where all of us take features like MP3 playback, cameras and internet access for granted. It is meant for rural areas where the main requirements are a prolonged battery life, high durability, better network performance, and of course, accessibility. The F3 addresses all these issues very well.

This is a really slim phone—its just 9mm thin, which is the thinnest from Motorola, though not as thin as the Samsung Ultra Edition 6.9 (which has a 2-megapixel camera and MP3 playback support). But for its price, the F3 is the slimmest yet. It has a flat keypad with raised lines demarcating the rows. I felt that those lines came in the way when using smaller keys like the OK/Menu key and the dedicated phone book key, but not for the rest of the keys. The fact that the keys are flat and not cut outs should prevent the dust from entering the phone. This is a pleasantly attractive phone to look at, and equally pleasant to hold.

The Build quality of the phone is nothing outstanding, though it doesn't feel cheap from any angle. The battery cover did creak a little on firm gripping, but we think it'll do just fine. We didn't have the heart to drive a bullock-cart over the phone and see if it still worked fine.