If you had to pick a runner-up for the title of Most Anticipated Phone of 2007, the
RAZR 2 series might be it. Not because there's anything particularly revolutionary about it -- there's not -- but simply because it's the follow-on to the RAZR, the phone that singlehandedly challenged manufacturers to make handsets impossibly thin, vaulted mobiles from mere tools to status symbols, and brought Motorola out of a death spiral. Ironically, Moto finds itself right back in the same pickle today, having spent far too long riding the original RAZR's success into the ground. It needs a hit, and it needs one now. If the RAZR 2 doesn't deliver that hit, though, it won't be for lack of carrier interest -- all four US carriers have launched or will launch (T-Mobile, we're looking at you) one version or another of the device, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Here, we take a quick look at Sprint's version, the V9m. Is it the savior Motorola so desperately needs?
Let's cut right to the chase: the V9m is a fine handset. It's really (
really) attractive, performs admirably, and has a host of features that put it in the upper echelon of dumbphones on the market today. Problem is, the same could be said for lots of phones -- far more than when the V3 launched. The V9m simply doesn't stand out the same way its predecessor did. That's not a problem for consumers, of course; we're always up for having another solid choice available when we walk into Carrier X's retail store. That might be a problem for Moto, though, since their odds of putting up RAZR-like numbers with the V9m are slim to none.
That being said, there are two key features in the RAZR 2's arsenal that give it a little breathing room from the pack: the gloriously large external QVGA display and haptics support. One's practical, one left us unimpressed, and both are underutilized. Any guesses?
Yeah, the haptics really weren't doing anything for us. Basically, the idea is this: hitting the touch-sensitive areas of the external display or any of the side keys causes the phone to emit a little "bzzt" sensation. It's hard to describe, and it's different from a normal phone vibrate function, but at any rate it's supposed to grab your attention and give you positive feedback that you've successfully triggered the key. It's cool, but we'd like far more control over how and when it's used. Since the V9m shares the same etched metal keypad as most modern, high-end Motos, tactile feedback is at a minimum -- but we couldn't figure out a way to set 'em up for haptics.
We also noticed that the haptics hardware seems to give the phone a weird, strangely disconcerting springy sensation. If you pick it up and tap it, you'll know what we mean -- it sorta gently vibrates for a couple seconds. Who knew the phone would double as a tuning fork?
Turning our attention to the displays, they're great. Much as the V3 set the standard for thickness, we hope the V8 and V9 set the standard for external display size; Motorola was obviously going for the shock-and-awe factor by dropping a 2-inch QVGA display on the
outside of a clamshell, and by golly, it succeeded. The problem, though, is that it's not used for much. Besides the standby display you get a Sprint TV player, music player, and camera viewfinder, and that's it. As far as we're concerned, you should be able to do anything on this lovely display that you can on the primary display that doesn't require a keypad -- and that's a lot. Let's not forget you have up / down directional controls and a select button along the left side plus three touch zones on the display itself, plenty of input capability to ramp up functionality.
The internal display could've been a bit larger. The QVGA resolution is fine for a phone in this class, but there's a significant black border between the sides of the display and the sides of the phone itself. It looks a little strange, but it's certainly not a deal breaker.
As a phone and a music player -- arguably the V9m's two core modes -- it does well. We found that the earpiece and speakerphone were both loud enough for everyday use (though barely; we'd have liked a little more fudge factor) and Bluetooth worked like a champ. We paired the phone with Motorola's own
S9, a sporty headset with A2DP capability. Our ears may have been deceiving us, but it seemed like the stereo audio quality through the V9m's music player was better than in any other S9 pairing we've ever tested. It was superb -- we'd say it rivaled consumer-grade wired headphones -- and had incredible range. A2DP devices typically suffer from terrible range, but we were able to move to an entirely different room, separated by a wall, and still rock out.
So yeah, we don't have many knocks for the phone. We'd have liked to see the microSD slot be accessible without removing the battery (tsk tsk, Motorola -- most manufacturers learned this lesson ages ago) and the phone uses the very new
micro-USB standard, rendering all those mini-USB charges you have lying around obsolete. In a couple years it won't be a problem, but for now, a phone equipped with a micro-USB connector is no more convenient than a proprietary connector.
With any luck, Motorola will spend less time releasing the RAZR 2 in an endless variety of colors -- the fate the V3 suffered -- and more time learning from the RAZR 2's lessons and adopting improvements for future products. A steady stream of new products, Motorola. Please.
posted Sep 23rd 2007 1:06PM
I meant to write this last time you did a hands on, but your camera you are using, or your lighting, is atrocious, makes it near impossible to see any of the details.
I thought this set came out pretty well, actually -- of course, brightness and contrast vary significantly from monitor to monitor, and I can see how they could be a little dark. Granted, I usually have some trouble getting sufficient ambient lighting, but I try to avoid flash at all costs. Can you give me some specific examples of photos you're having trouble with?
Chris
Yeah, actually, the small pictures are extremely dark on one of my notebooks. Duly noted - I'll try to adjust on the next round.
Chris
That came out ruder than I attented after rereading the word atrocious a few times, they come out, dark. I'm on the standard hp 1730 17inch lcd they give us here at the vzw call centers, brightness has to be high to see these damn accounts lol.
I've noticed it on my monitor at home as well on a majority of the hands on photos, which is a hp flatscreen with clearview.
You may try an inexpensive solution like this light tent and an off camera flash or even sunlight would work well for illumination.
http://dealmac.com/deals/XPRO-Studio-Light-Tent-for-20/172969.html
Hey! Could be worse.
Uncle Walt through the low resolution, poorly lit web cam he uses to present himself as someone whose opinion about things technological matters is sad irony at best.
Walt, try filming with an N95 and transfer it. While still sub-maximal quality it would be better than whatever web cam and lighting you are using now.
Since the microSD is under the battery, is it accessible via bluetooth? In other words, can you transfer files to and from the microSD via bluetooth? I hope Moto woulndt be that stupid. I have an Upstage now and am thinking about this phone but I dont want to have to pop the battery off every time I want to change files.
It's like that on mostly all unlocked Motorola GSM phones (since V3i). If the restriction is there, it was placed by the provider.
Motorola never learns their lesson. I have been dealing with them for 20 years and they always cycle like this. Remember the original mobile phones (luggables), the brick, the Flip, the Startac? Someone is getting rich off the stock diving to $5 then rebounding to $60 in less than two years over and over. I can't even guess what will trigger the next up cycle. This phone won't be it so the down cycle continues.
i dont care how thin this phone is. Or how little it weight. The shear mass of this thing is redicouls. If you have two of them just open them strap one to each foot and find a snow covered mountian.
i've had this phone for about a week now on Verizon, and i'd give it a 4/10. As a phone its fine, but the added features don't live up to the hype. I will be returning the phone soon in exchange for the LG8700. I'll list only what I hate about the v9m as most relate to the hyped up misic playing capabilities. whomever is in charge of product/software testing for this phone is probably still hiding under the desk sleeping.
1. the glossy finish is a fingerprint magnet. im wiping this clean like 5x a day.
2. the front screen music player is crappy and apparently is completely independent of the phone menu music player. there is no way to select an artist, album or song from the front screen- it just plays all your songs in alphabetical order or shuffled. you need to open the clam-shell and launch the verizon music player to browse and select specific songs/album/artist. the front screen only 3 touch screen controls(rew/play-pause/f.f.). It makes no use of the 5 total side buttons to access/browse your song library.
3. if you launch the music player from the front screen (the moto player), and then open the clam-shell, it does not take you direct to the verizon music player so you can browse your song library. instead it quits the app. they act like 2 separate music playing programs accessing the same song library. you need to browse from the main screen at least 4 clicks in to re-launch the verizon player and browse. also, if you do listen to your song list from the front screen, you need to open the clam-shell to exit music player. it doesnt even have a quit button. worst of all, if you use the verizon player to select a specific album/artist, you need to keep the clam-shell open. closing the clam-shell will quit the verizon music player, not switch it to the front screen.
4. both the moto and verizon music players only recognize one album per artist. i've tested it with many artists/albums and the same thing happens. it loads only 1 album in alphabetical order, i.e. it will load kanye's 'graduation', but not 'late registration'. I found this website searchin for any info on this issue as its a major f*ckup.
5. the micro-sd port is underneath the battery. the port could have easily been rotated 90* and given access from the side of the phone for plug-n-play use.
6. for obvious profit reasons, a separate micro-usb cable is required to connect your phone to a pc if you feel the need to manage your calendar/contacts on something larger than a 2" screen. i was expecting an ipod-like charger, where the usb cable is provided and plugs into an outlet adapter.
7. the camera has nice resolution, but will only take a decent pic if you have absolutely perfect lighting. video resolution is horrible.
I must eat my words. after my long post of complaints, i stopped over lunch to exchange my phone only to learn that I had a lemon. the working demo model was functioning different than mine. the sales rep tried software updates but that didnt work so my phone has been replaced. the only cons that remain are:
1.) the front screen music player controls do not allow browsing, but i can live with opening the phone to browse and play (yes the front screen player and main screen player now work in tandem for me.)
2.) the player still only lists 1 album per artist. the rep checked my card- all files were mp3 and worked on his pc. he didnt know what was wrong. i'll try reformting my card tonite. does anyone else have this problem?
I have not had this phone, but I did have the VX8550 and it gave me all sorts of hell over my music files (which were ALL MP3). First, the songs would randomly choose to either display their tag information or not. Second, the phone crashed often - mostly in the music player. Verizon definitely has issues with its music software.
haven't tested the bluetooth yet. the user manual makes no mention of file transfer via bluetooth, only via usb cable. transfering songs/pics between phone memory (about 48mb) and card memory(up to 2gb) is ez.
Yes, you can transfer files through bluetooth. I have my V9M paired with my Powerbook, and transfer music files all the time.
This phone pairs perfect with the Motorola S9 Stereo headset. there is no difference in sound quality from a wired headset and the V9M paired with the S9.
This is a great phone!