Motorola RAZR V3
Phone Scoop Review
Jul 11, 2005 by Eric Lin
In-depth review of Motorola's iconic RAZR V3 high-end clamshell GSM phone for Cingular and T-Mobile. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
OK phone, more flash than useful
I've had this phone for close to a year now, and it's been ok. It's fancy and sleek, but in terms of the usage, the battery life got shorter as time went on, and some small things that were kinda annoying. For example, if I set an alarm to go off at a certain time each day, like in the morning when I goto work, it'd work the first morning, but it would be very unreliable after that first morning. So I have to delete the alarm and set a new one each night. It's not the best phone if used heavily for business stuf, but the design is nice and if you can get it for under $150, it's still worth it.
Nice while it lasted.
I've had this phone since November, but I've had a warranty exchange on it twice already. My first problem was that the screen would shut off randomly and not turn back on unless I took out the battery and turn the unit back on. This happened just 1.5 months after I had it. The second buzzed like crazy in my earpiece to where I would get frustrated listening to the person on the other line, and they could even hear the buzzing too. So now I've got my 3rd, and to tell you the truth, it's perfect so far. When it's not malfunctioning, the RAZR is great.
Pros:
-It looks amazing, feels amazing, and it the perfect size for going out or stuffing in a bag or purse.
-Although I use the camera and video capture VERY rarely, I've been pleased as to how quickly the applications start up, their quality has suited their purpose.
-Bluetooth! I don't use those headsets, but sending pictures and music clips is really fast and convenient on the RAZR.
-Nice large display, and good little outer screen
-Good texting interface. Has an autocomplete and recognizes what words you use most often, etc.
Cons:
-Hard to find a unit that won't act up (as I have had 2 replacements now)
-Weak vibrate. I could hardly tell people were calling when I would have it in my pocket.
-Susceptible to scratches, dirt, fingerprints, etc. Makes it seem kind of fragile.
-Light interference during calls when the backlight is on. There is a distinct high pitched sound in the background until the lights go off.
I would have been happier if Motorola had taken the time to perfect this phone's issues. I was on Cloud 9 when it was functional, but wanted to trash it every time it malfunctioned.
Not all it's cracked up to be
I switched from Sprint to Cingular and was looking to get a nice clamshell with a decent camera and speaker quality. I went with a Black V3. I have to say this thing was a pretty big disappointment.
First, even at the loudest setting the earpiece volume was pretty quiet. Apparently this can be fixed via a hack but I didn't want to mess around with my new phone. Speakerphone volume is equally quiet. You can't answer the phone in speaker mode while closed so that was another strike against the Moto. However, the biggest issue I had was spotty reception. Cingular is pretty strong in my area but I was getting 50% signal strentgh in areas where most phones show 100%. Similarly, the signal would bounce from 0-5 bars in some areas which was really annoying. Another annoyance was the fact that the keypad left imprints on the screen, minor yes but still annoying. The vibration mode was also pretty weak.
the Camera was suprisingly decent for a VGA camera and it was easy to setup bluetooth on the phone between my mac and the phone.
I found the position I held the phone in quite uncomfortable, like I couldn't find a nice way to hold it against my ear and fit it in my hand. The keypad was very good however and I had no problem texting on it. iTap worked extremely well also. Lastly, of course it felt great in the pocket because it was so thin.
In the end, the phone sub par signal killed the phone for me. I ended up returning it for a W600i which improves on the moto in just about every way with the exception of speakerphone volume (again not quite as loud as I'd hoped). All in all, I'd say if you love the form factor maybe give this phone a try. Maybe mine was just a dud. Just keep your reciept in case you want to swap it for something else (I was torn between a Nokia 6682 and the W600 but ended up going for th W600).
***MUST READ!!***
I've had my Razor for 6 months now. It's an incredible phone to say the very LEAST! I'm a busy college student who's obviously got too much on her mind to remember anything: I left this phone on top of my car, drove off and it's still in fine working order (seriously, don't attempt to reenact!). Either I'm really lucky, or Motorola is finally getting it's act together!
Overall, this phone has held up so well for a busy college student/business woman/working part time. Productivity and style is key for the Razor!
PROS:
**titanium casing = strong freaking phone!
**clear calls
**drop fewer calls on this phone for my service area than any phone i've ever had
**pictures are glorious
**bluetooth capable
**LOUD, high quality ringtones!
**customizable softkeys (can get to my calc and cam very quickly!)
**talk time is great
**stand-by time is great
**user-friendly main menu (CAN BE SEEN AS ICONS OR LIST!!)
**the list goes on
CONS:
**i text so often, the enamel on the keys was wearing off @ month 3 (but normal usg, the keys should hold up better)
**speaker could be a little bit louder... i'm always driving on the freeway/highway sometimes it's hard to hear!
**can only assign ringtones to groups of ppl in your phone book if they're stored in the phone (as opposed to being stored in the sim, which is safer if the phone is busted and all your numbers are on your PHONE).
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Wonderful phone overall. I would be hardpressed to find out that any other company was doing the Razor better! (I work for VZW, and they're Razor gave us oodles of problems!)
This phone is awesome.
I just got the gray Motorola Razr phone through Verizon for my birthday about a month and a half ago. I love this phone. Every body keeps on talking about the problems they started having with their phone after a few weeks, but I haven't had a single problem yet. I have never had a dropped call, and even though my bars are sometimes low, I can always hear everything perfectly. Here are some pros and cons to the phone.
Pros:
1. You can put the phone on speaker and then flip it shut and you can still talk, so that way you can talk without holding the phone up to your ear if your hands are full. ( or just really tired. )
2. The phone can hold up to 1000 contacts, so it has room for every number you need to know.
3. When you are taking a picture, you can shut the phone and you can still take a picture or something ( like yourself ) and it all shows up on the screen on the outside of the phone, so you know what you are taking a picture of.
4. The phone doesn't come with any special ring tones or games or anything like that, but you can download all of that stuff.
5. There is a calender and alarm clock and many other things that may come in handy.
6. You can create shortcuts so you can get to the things you use most faster.
7. There are numbers you can call to find out how many minutes and text messages you have used for the month, but you can also get on the Internet for free to find that stuff out.
Cons:
1. There is no flash on the camera, and sometimes the pictures come out fuzzy.
2. The center menu button is pretty small, so if you have large fingers it may be hard for you to push.
3. You can only record 15 seconds of video when you are making a video.
4. The phone scratches really easy, i have only had mine for a month and a half, ( like i said before ) and i have many scratches on the main screen and the key pad.
These are just some of the pros and cons, I'm sure there is more, but i am not thinking of them right now.
Has great potential, but could be so much better
PROS:
* Super-thin, even though it's wide it hides in pocket nicely.
* Decent camera and video camera (easy to upload when using Motorola Razr Tools and USB cable)
* Can create own ringtones with MP3s using the Motorola Razr Tools (not included)
* Good storage space for pics, mp3s
* Huge internal screen
* Bluetooth works well
* Nice speakerphone, could be louder though
CONS:
* S-L-O-W user interface. Delays from the time you select an option to when that option opens (not instant, like they usually are). You can press down, select, down, down, down and it's just then opening the first selection. Also, when answering, the phone will ring for about a second and a half after pushing the button before the ringer stops. VERY annoying in public.
* Buttons are on the side of the thin, flip up section, not the base - this makes using them very difficult when the phone is open.
* Will not work unless it's turned off and on at least once a day. (this could be a Cingular issue though)
* Keypad and "joystick" pad very difficult to use. The "select" button is so small, I usually end up hitting up or down by accident.
* The thin sleekness of it makes it hard to hold and easy to drop. Had to get a Body Glove case for it which defeats the purpose of it being so thin. Some grip would be nice.
* Video 3gp format makes it tough to send to people through email. That format won't play like a mpeg or wmv file will.
Black RAZR
Pros
-Design
-Size
-Quality of the material used
-USB charging/access
Cons
-UI is not that great despite what other people say. I prefer samsung/sonyericsson much better
-Battery life. I find myself constantly charging this phone at least once every day or two
-Random drop calls. I have a cingular blackberry and i don't have any issue with dropped service
-DUST!!! I've never encountered a phone that accumulates this much dust or any for that matter under the screen. Local cingular rep tells me to buy a case to prevent dust from getting in. I can't even read the text on the screen anymore
This phone only succeeds in design/looks but it's a big failure in everything else. This is my last motoral phone that i'll ever buy
I LOVE My Pink RAZR
This phone is amazing! I can't see why most people hate it- maybe its just the pink version. I was so ecstatic when I first got it. I opened the box and saw my beauty in a box lined in faux velvet. That's the way this phone deserves to be packaged! And I was delighted to learn that this phone came with a pretty PINK case- which is a lifesaver, because of that case my phone still looks flawless. So anyway, I popped my SIM card in there, jammed the batter in, and fastened the battery cover (which is very secure!) It worked immediately upon turning it on, and I was astonished. The screen was large and gorgeous, and the phone just looked magnificent. Here's what I thought about the usage of the phone.
PROs:
-The phone. Period. I get so many compliments. Seriously, this phone is HOT :P
-Internal display is large and beautiful
-Buttons are really easy to press
-Picture caller ID
-Camera is fun and pretty good quality for a phone
-Yes, the pink RAZR has video recording!
-Voice recording works really well
-Voice dialing is really good
-Very loud ringtones
-Very good call volume
-VERY nice reception (Dayton, OH with Cingular)
-IMing... always fun
-Extremely customizable
-External display is very nice to have
-iTAP is easier to use then T9
-MP3 Ringtones sound fabulous!
-I can do SO much more with it than my old Samsung x426. The RAZR kicks Sammy's butt!
CONs:
-Phonebook is very hard to set up
-Attracts a lot of fingerprints
-If you having used Motorolas before, the interface takes some getting used to. But this isn't necessarily a con.
All in all, this is an awesome phone. If you're thinking about getting it, then get it. It won't disappoint you!
Brand New to the Razr
I had to replace my previous phone and I liked the looks of the Razr. The slimline design works great for me. I was kinda scared at first after reading some of the reviews but my personal experience in the short time I've had the phone has been pleasant. Its more advanced that my other so it has taken me awhile to program my address book. I like a somewhat simple phone that I can tinker with. I am not quite used to it yet and found that there are some design flaws.
PROS:
light weight
nice color
great sound
loud ringtone
CONS:
the outside screen light turns off
limited memory
no games (what is this all about?)
hard to program without manual
side buttons should be in a more convenient place, hard to turn up volume with talking
earpiece doesn't go loud enough & had some complaints of it echoing on the other end
also it seems to suck the life out of it
TOOOooo wide!!
All in all I like the phone but I also don't do much with it other than txt messages and general calling. I will be putting insurance on it (just in case)
