Hello,
6 months ago I chose the Motorola V3 Black as an upgrade to my existing annual contract. It has certainly not been a gr88 experience I should say.
Having upgraded from the Nokia 6230 (which was one of the best by Nokia), probably my expectations were a bit higher and hence were not met.
Ok, first ‘The good points’:
1. Style: It is definitely a style statement. Heads turn when you use the cell in a public place.
Design: Being a clamshell has its advantages. No scratches on the screen, no dust on the keypad etc.
Size: It is of reasonable size & fits easily in the pocket.
Keypad: The best in the business. No fear of dust clogging up or liquid spills.
Predictive text: This is definitely a big boon when typing message. I never quite managed to use the Nokia dictionary, but this one was a breeze. Well done Moto.
Screen size: Being a clamshell, you get a huge screen and don’t have to strain your eyes. Also, photos taken on the phone look better on this screen.
USB charging: This is definitely a boon, since I travel a lot using my laptop and hence can leave my charger at home.
Quad band: This would enable the phone to be used on most networks in the world. Haven’t tested this, but have no reason to doubt what the guys @ Motorola say.
The bad/’need to improve’ points:
1. Atrocious phonebook search: Whoever designed the single character phonebook search, needs to be shot. It is nothing but a pain. You can only type the first character of the name you are searching. Imagine having 25 names starting with ‘A’ and having to scroll through each to search a number.
Alarm: Another functionality which is equally atrocious. You have to enable the alarm daily and cannot set it up for the days of the week, unlike a Nokia.
Reminders: For someone used to the ease @ which reminders could be set on Nokia 6230, the V3 is not the most user-friendly thing on the planet. Though this phone was never intended to be a data phone, reminders are now a basic & often used functionality & Motorola needs to look into this.
Battery life: Unlike a Nokia, this phone has a shorter battery life.
Memory: Less memory (only 5MB) and no scope for expansion. But I guess, this is the trade-off one has to make, for the ultra-thin size.
Radio/MP3 player: Not available. This is not a core cell phone requirement, but considering today’s phone, it is definitely desirable.
Susceptible to scratches: Put the cell in your pocket along with the keychain or some coins & what u get is a V3 with marks & scratches. Again, I would consider this as a trade-off one has to make, for the ultra-cool material used for the phone.
All said & done, the V3 is definitely NOT for someone who is looking for a data phone or would use this for business. Nokia is way ahead in that game.
Where this fone scores is on beauty & style. & the basic cell features (Calls & SMS’) are not too bad either.
I haven’t checked the recently launched Motorola PEBL. However I hope the folks @ Motorola do rectify some of the bad points of the V3.
Overall though, Motorola seems to be making a serious effort to gnaw into Sony-Ericsson’s market-share if not Nokia’s. Always helps to have a competitive market.