Updated 14 Feb, 2012, 6:01 pm IST

REVIEWS / MOBILE PHONES / MOTOROLA MOBILITY INDIA PVT LTD

Motorola RIZR Z3

04 Feb, 2007, 11:46 am IST | Aalaap Ghag | Mobile phones

Keypad
The keypad is the same as the RAZR. It is well demarcated and arranged. It is very intuitive to use even without looking at it. The white lines marking out the buttons and also the white numbers and text are very uniformly lit up, making them easy to read in the dark. The keys also offer excellent tactile feedback.

The navigation pad is very well-sized and as a result, very comfortable to use. The center OK button is a little mirror, which seemed a little odd, given the otherwise modest finish of the phone, but the disc doesn’t stand out and as a result, looks just fine. The soft keys, call/end keys are all all conveniently sized and placed. Not once did I click the wrong key by mistake.

On the left of the phone, you have volume controls and a ‘smart’ shortcut key which can be configured to launch whatever you want on the phone, for eg. Bluetooth. The four direction keys and soft keys can also be configured to do specific actions.

On the right side of the phone, you have a voice command key, a camera shortcut/shutter key and the miniUSB slot. The miniUSB slot cover is quite flimsy and doesn’t fit into place very easily. If fit lightly, it’ll keep falling out.

Multimedia
The RIZR unfortunately doesn’t have an FM radio tuner, but it doesn’t lack any of the basic multimedia capabilities. There’s an MP3/AAc media player that can be sent to the background while you use the phone for other stuff. When playing music and using the phone in a closed state, the navigation pad can be used to change the tracks, but there’s no play or stop button. You need to go to the media player application to stop it, which can be a bit annoying.

The sound quality is very good. It sounds very clear and sharp, just the way it should. It’s also loud enough, though the ringtones are somewhat low in volume. Even when music is used as a ringtone, it sounds a little weak and its very easy to miss calls if the phone is in the pocket.

In spite of it being 2007 now and after having launched two phones with FM radio, the RIZR still fails to include one. Millions have wished for a radio in the RAZR, but the KRZR and the RIZR, neither have an FM radio tuner.

Camera
The 2.0 megapixel camera takes average quality pictures of objects in a distance, but the quality of objects close by is much better. Color saturation is also better at closer range.

The LED flash is also best use in close range, because, even though it’s powerful, the throw distance is not much. The flash can only be turned on or off; when on, it stays on all the time even when you’re composing the shot. This is fine, but there are times when you’d want the flash to light up only when you click the shutter button. No such luck with the RIZR.

The camera can also record video at 128x96 or 176x144 at 15 fps with sound. The length of the video clips is limited to 10 minutes. Video quality was once again average.

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Tags: Motorola , RIZR , MOTORIZR , Z3

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