Motorola ROKR EM25, EM28 and EM30

Discontinued / cancelled
5th August 2008

At the risk of really annoying our readers at Motorola, the staff of Mobile Gazette would like to point out that the Motorola ROKR EM25, EM23 and EM30 handsets are probably of little interest. The thing is, that we know that some of our readers are interested in new devices from Moto because they are desperately hoping that Motorola will make up for the hugely disappointing MOTOZINE ZN5 with something more impressive.

Let's start with the Motorola ROKR EM30 (pictured right). This appears to be a cut-down version of the ROKR E8 with no 3G support, but still featuring the widescreen display and modeshift technology, capable multimedia player, FM radio and standard 3.5mm audio socket. For most consumers, the E8 would be a better bet assuming that you have 3G coverage.

If you thought that the EM30 wasn't very exciting, then you haven't seen the Motorola ROKR EM28 (left). A basic clamshell phone with a 128 x 160 pixel display, multimedia player, 1.3 megapixel camera, expandable memory and Bluetooth, the EM28 is a basic clamshell with a reasonable multimedia player grafted onto it. We are aware that Motorola aren't the only people trying this trick - both Sony Ericsson and Nokia make this kind of low-end music phone. The difference is that Nokia and Sony Ericsson both have desirable brands, and the "ROKR" sub-brand has been something of a failure. At least the EM28 doesn't look too much like the dreaded RAZR.

Finally, the Motorola ROKR FM25 (right) really plumbs the depths of the music phone market. With an ultra-basic 128x160 pixel display, dual-band GSM and GPRS data (no EDGE or 3G here), the FM25 does at least have the saving grace of a multimedia player, Bluetooth FM radio and 3.5mm headphone jack. If Motorola want to make a ROKR phone any cheaper then they will have to give it a monochrome display.

All these handsets are due to be released during Q3 2008, Taiwan has been tipped as an early market and we suspect that China and other developing nations will follow shortly. The lack of 3G really and the relatively primitive specification of these handsets indicates to us that Motorola are not really interested in European and US markets any more. We doubt very much that the EM28, EM25 and EM30 will make much of an impact outside of China and neighbouring countries.