Motorola Milestone XT720

Motorola is finally back with its new Milestone release, the XT720. Now, this here is quite a piece, ad I must say certainly somewhat quicker than its predecessor, the Milestone. This phone also comes packed with a host of features, all of which we’re going to dive into very soon.

Form Factor:

Compared to its predecessor, the XT720 features an ergonomic design. Its slightly sharp around the edges, but that adds up well as far as I’m concerned. The phone features a 3.7-inch high-resolution touch screen, which is absolutely delightful to work with. Now, the previous model of the Milestone featured a slide over keypad, which I believe is good thing. Now although the XT720 is much slimmer than ts predecessor, thanks to the absence of this keypad, I still think a physical keypad can make a world of a difference to usability. Apart from this, the phone features a USB port by its side, which again is very handy. The top is where you'll find the power toggle beside a 3.5mm audio connector, while on the right are the volume controls, shortcut to media gallery and a camera shutter. The only other downside here is the lack of a hot swappable memory card, which I did not particularly like.

Features and Performance:

Interface:

As far as the phone’s interface is concerned, absolutely every kind of motion is a smooth as silk. The phone definitely gives out that really ‘sexy’ vibe when you’re giving it a test run. The widget screens are wide enough for you to pack in your applications, whereas the application screen itself is loaded with goodies.

The phone has quite a robust memory system, considering I always had about 4 applications constantly running, and the processor lets you run all your applications without any hiccups whatsoever.

This phone also does a great job in contact integration with google. Most of my contacts were immediately synced as soon as I got online, which is a great feature. Social networking on this phone, again is quite a blissful experience.

Media

One of the most talked about features of the Milestone XT720, is the 8MP camera that it features. The camera features xenon flash, and is great for outdoor photography. In addition to this, you can also turn your phone into a camcorder, which features HD recording at 720P (Note that in the XT720, the 720 represents 720P). These camcorder recordings can even be played on your HDTV, using the standard HDMI cable that comes bundled with the phone.

The phone’s audio player is also great, and could give an iPod a run for its money (or in that case the iPhone). The audio jack is featured on the top of the phone, next to the power button, and is positioned quite conveniently. The FM radio also manages to catch clear signal, and hits the spot anyway thanks to the great audio engine.

Connectivity:

The XT720 features Wi-fi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1, HSDPA 10.2Mbps, aGPRS, and 3G. Wireless connectivity was seamless, and a lovely experience. Setting up the GPRS is also quite problem free. There was an issue with Vodafone, where there were no preset settings for the XT720, however, the phone kind of found its own way out of all these issues, and just latched onto the Edge network.

Bluetooth works great, and is quite hardy, even more so than most laptops these days.

Apart from this, the phone features great GPS functionality out of the box, and has no problem immediately popping out your location on Google Earth. Google’s latitude can also be downloaded via the application market and continuously updates your location on various social engines.

The phone connects to PC/Mac via USB cable and features a very intuitive management system. You can choose to connect your phone for specific tasks such as application installation, memory, or only charge.

Miscellaneous Features:

The phone also comes preloaded with a few applications such as QuickOffice, Motonav, Moto Phone Portal, a PDF reader and so on. Motonav is basically a turn by turn location instruction application, which is especially useful if you’re really use to using a GPS to navigate (not this applies very well to 1st world countries). The moto phone portal allows you to connect your phone to you computer and back up various sorts of information to Motorola’s servers.

One software add-on in the XT720 not found in the original Milestone is that of a magnifying glass for text fields. Those who have used an iPhone will find this familiar. Essentially, this brings up a small magnified area above your thumb, showing where your cursor is so you can finely adjust its location. It's an important feature if there's no physical navigator like a trackball or arrow keys.

Battery:

The battery life on the XT720 is nothing short of impressive. Its predecessor, the Milestone, did have an issue as far as battery life was concerned. Lasted close to 3.5 hours maximum usage. However, the XT720 does extremely well, with its battery lasting out close to a day, with maximum usage.

Conclusion:

All in all the Milestone XT720 is a joy to handle and a great android phone at that. The only issue with the phone is its extremely steep price point (MRP of Rs 27,490/-), but at this point, this is a standard for most hi-end android phone’s. As far as comparing it to its predecessor goes, the XT720 wins hands down, and I would urge interested readers to go get this one as opposed to its predecessor, the Milestone.