Motorola Milestone

The Milestone doesn’t immediately come off as a very social networking friendly handset. For one thing this is the first and only Android handset that came without a preloaded Twitter app. Not that that’s an issue seeing as there are plenty of options available via the Android Market. Android for Facebook is on board and a Gtalk is available for chatting. Your address book quiet easily integrates with Facebook and your Google account merging contacts quiet seamlessly. Of course it’s not a 100% as one does tend to store contacts by nicknames etc. but it’ll take a few minutes to sort them out.

Setting up your Gmail or other POP/IMAP accounts account is always easy on an Android handset. You can also easily sync your MS Exchange account with the Milestone as well. It even has a Corporate calendar and Directory that syncs with your Exchange account. Motorola’s Media Phone Portal allows you to connect to your computer via USB or Wi-Fi for transferring your media or other files, another handy application. The Share option for uploading your pictures to various Social Network  sites or your Flickr or Picas accounts is still just a couple of clicks away.

If you’re thinking of using the handset as a modem for your laptop or PC, you can’t. The native browser is still one of the better options out there.

Misc. Features
The handset features quiet a few extras that Motorola has thrown other than the basic Alarm clock, calculator and calendar. A read only version of QuickOffice is available but there’s no PDF reader. It has a Text-to-speech feature like other Android based handsets. Motocar Home is a simple shortcut based app with extra large icons. It’s just a way to quickly access certain features presumably while you’re driving. The voice dialler would be the handiest. Another shortcut based app is My Sign. On grid like interface you can draw out certain letters that are associated with functions like Samsung’s gesture unlock function.

Camera
The 5 megapixel camera comes with a Dual LED flash and supports D1 i.e. 720 x 480 pixels (@24fps) video recording. The interface is simple and easy to get around. Features include quiet a few scene modes including Sports and Macro with a few effects thrown in. There didn’t seem to be any White Balance settings or any others like a timer. Geotagging images were an option though. Image quality on the whole was grainy with a bit of noise being quite evident throughout the pictures. The edges of objects weren’t sharp on most counts. Macro images were a different story as extreme close ups usually came out quite sharp.

Photo Quality

Needless to say the camera is not the Milestone’s winning feature. It’s average at best if compared to any other 5MP camera phone on the market.

Battery
Battery life was unimpressive. If you’re going to be using the handset for social networking, downloading emails and making a considerable amount of calls and messages regularly, you’re going to have to carry the charger with you all the time. I had to charge the handset daily as it when I left the handset constantly connected to networks and email accounts. However, if my data connection was inactive and taking just talk time into consideration, the Milestone dished out over 4 hours non-stop. Then again, an Android handset is not designed for just talking and messaging is it?

The Bottom Line
The price tag on the Milestone is Rs. 32,990 (MRP) which means the MOP could very well be around Rs. 30,000 putting it in the HTC Hero’s league. While it’s quite a hardcore handset and does have a considerably amount of speed to offer for multitasking, and lets’ not forget the awesome music player, it does have its drawbacks. However, irrespective of its short comings, the Milestone does bring quiet a bit to the table. Like I said, it’s not for the average user but one who’s looking for handset that looks intimidating enough to have onlookers fear or respect you immensely. If you’ve bought it, chances are you’re not going to regret it even if Motorola did leave out a few things here and there.