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
$200 Tin Can
I've had the Black RAZR on Cingular for about a week and I'm sorry to say, it is a disappointing phone.
Pros: Cool looking, size, Black phones are rare, loud ringer, long backlight for the keypad and screen, reception
Cons: CALL QUALITY IS AWFUL, flip hinge is awkward and pokes into my cheek, motorola UI is not very user friendly
Basically, the RAZR is a beautiful looking phone, but the actual 'phone' part is disappointing. I have struggled talking to almost every person I've called b/c the call clarity is so poor. Not only is the ear piece volume low, but the person on the other end sounds like they are talking with their hand over their mouth. And, I'm not some old fart with hearing problems, I'm 24!! I know there is software to 'hack' the phone to increase the volume, but I'm not going to that sort of trouble after I've already paid $200+ for a phone. I had a Nokia 3100 before the RAZR, and the call clarity was much better, and I got that phone for free!! Also, unless you've used a motorola before, you may find the interface to be a little quirky. You can only search for phonebook entries by the first letter of the entry, not multiple letters. You have to do a lot of scrolling unless you can memorize a bunch of speed dial numbers, or voice entries.
I'm extremely disappointed b/c I really liked this phone, but in the end, the RAZR came up short in the most basic feature of a phone--communication.
V3 - buyer beware!
I bought two Razors - less than a week later, one got wet. This voided the warranty, and no one would fix it. The Motorola authorized technician admitted that many of the razors turned in for repair were not covered under warranty, and that the cheapest repair was over $200! He also said that the aluminum skin made it much more fragile (there are people who actually cracked the display on the first drop) and less weather proof than the 551, which is essentially the same phone in a more typical moto chassis. Cingular does not offer insurance for the Razor, so, basically, I had a 2 year contract and a phone that no one would fix. The only solution that they could offer was for to buy a new phone at list price ($400 for a new V3). What did I do? I paid the $150 penalty for early contract termination, and went back to T-Mobile!
Yes, it's lame that I got it wet - but I have been using cool cell phones for 20 years - from Blackberrys to Nokia 9000s - I have owned Motorola phones as far back as the orignal flip phone - none have been as ridiculously fragile. In the life of a cell phone, it gets some rough treatment. Who needs one that you might void the warranty by cracking the lcd display if you forget that you stuck it in you pocket when you sit down?
GREATEST PHONE
Ive had this phone for the past couple weeks, and its been nothing but great...yes i agree with a few of you that cingular sucks, the exact reason why i chose to buy an unlocked version through ebay...it has none of the cingular junk loaded on it and no cingular markings, i jus popped in my att sim card and it works perfect...
pros:
-wonderful reception quality best of all the phones ive owned with exception to the motorola timeport.
-speakerphone is loud and has good quality.
-the UI is easy to use.
-very clear sound quality (att in chicago)
- of course the design, i get stopped all the time, people absolutley love how it looks.
cons:
- the price, it puts a hefty dent in your pocket, but if you can afford it i say go for it u wont regret as long as u dont get the cingular version.
i conclude this review with, for those people who complain that this phone doesnt have enuff features for a phone worth 500 dollars, think about other phones that are feature packed they dont do their primary job well which is being a phone.
all in all i love this phone!!!
Finally, a US carrier offers us the best phone on the market
Switched from a SonyEricsson T610 on T-Mobile and I'll never look back. Motorola has finally released a phone that puts the world on notice. Yes, it costs now, but wait a year and they'll be paying you to activate with this phone. We haggled a store down to $350 here in NYC, so you don't need to cough up a half-G for one if you're savvy.
PROS: Best possible form factor, thin, wide, totally usable, comfortable, durable; great reception; amazing screen(s); excellent sound quality; speakerphone; fast UI; Bluetooth; MP4 video; MP3 audio; killer Buck Rodgers keypad; envious glares
CONS: Only 5 mb of memory, easily filled with MP4 and MP3 files; camera is not great; battery does not last more than 24 hours of heavy use; Mac OS X iSync limited to USB cable; Bluetooth implementation is generally not as good as SonyEricsson/Nokia's; envious glares
Many are griping that it doesn't record video. Once you figure out how to encode MP4 to the 3GP standard, you quickly overlook this, and have a blast sending hilarious video clips over Bluetooth, enjoying content that you'd never be able to make yourself with a 10 second video clip recorder.
If you fully adopt the potential features of Bluetooth, including sync, remote SMS and called ID, etc., you'll quickly realize that you don't need to carry around a bulky PDA (ie. Treo 650). This is for people who use their phone as a phone, and the form factor and design is perfectly balanced towards primary use as a phone, secondary use as a personal planner, Java game device, portable media player, camera phone, etc.
It will be exciting to watch the other makers respond to the V3. Yes, the market does need better clamshell phones with features usually found in candybar and smartphone form-factors. Yes, (Verizon!), people do want nice phones. Cingular was pure genius getting an exclusive launch contract on the V3. Apparently, subscribers are flocking from Verizon to Cingular now, just for a great phone.
Razr..... bad phone
Pros... features and style true to form
Cons... Can't see display in daylight
And here's the big one. I've had this phone since Mar of '05 and it's been in for repair twice. Once for a cracked lens ($80) and now for moisture problems taking out the keys...This phone wasn't dunked, just in my pocket while jogging....
According to the repair shop, this is common and they can't get parts in fast enough.
So: "Buyer Beware, this phone is a flimsy POS"
Looks good, but not very useful
Pros:
- Phone looks great
- Very light and small
Cons:
- Doesn't tell you how many missed calls you have, very very inconvenient for you to check on missed calls. If people is urgently looking for you and calls you 20 times, you will only see their name once.
- Camera quality sucks
- No mp3 player
- No Radio
RAZR
This phone is one of the best looking phones and very durable. Here is the problem I work for the fire dept. and had a Nokia GSM phone through ATT last year throughout the Florida hurricanes. The phone worked great the whole time. All my buddies had to use my phone because there Nextels were not functioning, "totally unheard of" ya right. Well I saw the RAZR advertised through Cingular after they joined with ATT for $199 if you signed a 2 year contract. So I did but for some reason the reception is not even close than that cheap Nokia and I drop calls like flies on a cows ass. What is up with this does anybody from Cingular or ATT have an answer? It sure is nice to have an extra option to communicate with our 911 dispatch during these challenging times. Thank you.
Lovin' that RAZR V3
Lucky me! I got a black Razr. It is sleek and has all the features I want.
I have had a Motorola for a few years so the phone book that seems to bother others really is no problem for me.
The camera is of no real interest. I have a digital camera and video camera. There is not much I have seen that these will not do a better job on.
Pros:
The size-wide enough to hold without your fingers having no where to go
Shortcuts make it so easy to get to things buried deep in the menu system (ie: starting and stopping bluetooth or getting to the date book)
Beautiful graphic display on the main screen
Nice big entries in the phone book that are easy to see
Easy to see and use key pad
Easy to read and follow the manual (good thing to do while waiting for the first charge)
Love the voice recognition. So much better to use when driving (if you must use a phone while driving)
Nice array of features:
1 Speaker phone has good volume
2 Handset sound is very clear & plenty loud
3 Buttons on side are easy to use but not in a position to be accidentally pressed.
Cons:
I wish there were more ringtones built in. The ones that come with the phone are pretty lame. I am not a download geek and paying $2.99 per tone does not make me happy.
Bottom line... it took me about 3 hours to find all the features that make me happy and make them work. I really enjoy this phone.
This is not the lightest or the smallest phone on the market, but it is the most comfortable one I have used and you have to love that key pad. I have never seen a phone that "had it all" but this one comes pretty close, in my book.
SUCKS!!!! looks cool but SUCKS
Best looking phone ever made! This is my third one. The first two I sent back to Motorola. 1st one ear piece was cutting out and keypad would not light up. Reception was horrible. The second one, keypad light stopped working after a month , and reception sucked from the beginning. Now on my third. Motorola is very fair about covering it under warranty. But, the phone is worthless. I bought a cheap Motorola V188 and use it instead of the V3. The V188 works great!
I am going to box this phone up and give it to my Ex wife for Christmas!
This thing'll make you smile.
This phone is hilarious...just totally slays me.
I thought I might be wasting some money, and really just got the phone in consequence of reading someone's review at http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1151041 I'd never have even thought about getting a Cingular phone if I hadn't read that, but this is going to end up being one of my favourite all time phones, I'm sure. It's certainly the only phone I have ever felt fully comfortable carrying around in a pocket instead of a holster.
The phone's quite wide and easy to hold and use, because the reduction in the phone's overall physical volume comes from making it so thin. Amazingly light weight, and no plastic. Even the camera lens and LCD cover is glass or mica, not plastic. :)
Their choice in HOW to reduce the phone's overall size allowed them to give you a nicely sized display, too. Quite crisp and wasy for a 50-year old to read w/out his glasses. :)
Camera works fine, speaker phone is GREAT.
RF signal capture superior and behaviour in low signal areas quite good. :)
Bluetooth: Works great, but make sure you set up a shortcut to make turning it on and off an easy couple-click thing to do. Otherwise, the battery wears down very quickly as the phone keeps searching for devices when you are away from your Bluetooth devices. With Bluetooth disabled, the phone goes through a normal business day (including a few long calls) without a problem.
A note to gadget freaks, though: Although it's really quite neat, this is primarily a PHONE and lacks some beeps and whistles. The camera's not one of the 1.5mp ones, and the Internet connectivity isn't the fastest.
However, as a PHONE, this thing's awesome.
(Not too sure about Cingular yet, though. They seem a little amateurish with their sites and service compared to Verizon. As long as the coverage is there, I guess I can deal with that.)
