Motorola RAZR2 V8
Discontinued 15th May 2007, Updated October 2007
We're going to start off by saying that
there's quite a lot to like in the new Motorola RAZR2
V8.
The first thing that most people will
notice on the RAZR2 V8 is the very large external display
- this is a 2" 240x320 pixel panel which is possibly
the largest external display we've ever seen. Another
clever feature is that the screen is touch-sensitive,
meaning that media playback can be controlled by touching
the softkeys on the screen. The external display has
been chemically hardened to protect it.
Open the Motorola RAZR2 V8 up and you'll
find a 2.2" 240x320 pixel main panel and the familiar
RAZR-style keypad. The camera is a little disappointing
- the RAZR2 V8 only comes with a 2 megapixel unit which
is less than we'd expect from an advanced multimedia
device such as this. Video capture is just 176x144 pixels
which again means that this isn't a particularly great
camera phone.
Of course, the RAZR2 V8 is a multimedia
device that can play back a wide variety of audio and
video clips. The V8 has a whopping 420MB of internal
memory available to the user, and there is an optional
2GB version too. On drawback is that the V8 has no expandable
memory. Stereo playback
is either by a wired headset or stereo Bluetooth.
There's a pretty comprehensive software
suite on the RAZR2 V8, including a web browser, email
client and a new user interface. There are some improvements
elsewhere too - Motorola have worked on call quality
and are also using "haptics" to provide tactile
feedback on the external display, audio prompts for
menus and a whole range of other usability improvements.
The battery life on the RAZR2 V8
is very impressive, with up to 8 hours talktime. The
V8 supports EDGE data as well as GPRS, but not 3G (the
RAZR2
V9 is a 3G variant). There is also a CDMA/EVDO
version called the RAZR2 V9m.
This is definitely not the original
RAZR
in any respect - but it shares the same styling and
that is probably the biggest drawback. It is very disappointing
to see that Motorola didn't try a fresh approach when
it come to cosmetics and it's quite possible that many
consumers will not understand just how different the
RAZR2 V8 is underneath.
Motorola say that the RAZR2 V8 should
be available in some markets from July 2007.
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Motorola
RAZR2 V8 at a glance
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Available:
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Q3
2007
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Network:
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GSM
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Data:
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GPRS
+ EDGE
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Screen:
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240x320
pixels, 262k colours (main) 240x320
pixels, 262k colours (sub)
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Camera:
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2
megapixels
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Size:
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Slim
clamshell 103 x 53 x
12mm / 117 grams
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Bluetooth:
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Yes
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Memory
card:
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No
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Infra-red:
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No
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Polyphonic:
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Yes
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Java:
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Yes
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Battery
life:
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8 hours talk / 10 days standby
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