Motorola RAZR V3M - CDMA Cell Phone Reviews

Audio Playback: Playback of songs is acceptable but far from fabulous through the phone’s speakers. If you want to listen to songs in full stereo, you can’t just plug in a normal stereo headset since the phone lacks the appropriate jack. Instead, you’ll need to purchase a separate Motorola headset.

Camera/Video: In this category is where you’ll find one of the biggest differences between the Motorola Razr V3 and V3m. The Razr V3 has a VGA camera and while it plays back video it can’t record any clips, whereas the Motorola Razr V3m boasts a 1.3-megapixel camera (you can find the same feature in the V3c) and the ability to record short videos. Additionally, to support the bigger files captured by a megapixel camera, the Motorola Razr V3m has up to 30MB of memory. About that camera, we were impressed with image quality when viewing pics on the camera phone, however, when we viewed the same image on a computer screen the picture looked slightly pixilated.

Messaging: Sending messages on this cell phone is straightforward -- no need to consult the manual. You can send messages to another phone number or an e-mail address. As is the case with the Sony Ericsson Z520a, you can send text messages while on a call if you are using the Speakerphone. We particularly like the Motorola Razr’s predictive text app, which quickly retained words we used most often and 80 percent of the time predicted the correct word.

Music: New to the Razr V3m is the inclusion of an MP3 player that does a decent job at playing back tunes. You can playback MP3s or AAC files (many people with iPods store songs in this format). Besides the ability to playback music a key feature here is the expandable memory option, which you can use to store up to a 1GB (you’ll probably be able to store at least 50 songs) of music or photos. Sorry, you’ll have to purchase a TransFlash storage card (a miniature storage card that is approximately the size of a finger nail) separately. But finding the storage card slot can be a bit challenging.

There’s also plenty of organization features included in the V3m. For example, music can be stored in folders that can be organized by Artist, Genre or Albums. Finding the music option on this Razr cell phone can initially be a bit confusing.

Connectivity/Bluetooth: We were able to pair the Motorola cell phone with a Motorola Bluetooth headset, however, we needed to consult the manual to set it up correctly. We should note using the Bluetooth feature decreases battery life dramatically. The good news is you don’t need to open the Motorola Razr to see if Bluetooth is in use; a blue light appears on the right hand corner just above the external display.

Perhaps one of our favorite elements is the ultra-bright, colorful screen. It definitely stands out when it’s opened and is highly visible in most lighting situations. In fact, occasionally we’ve even used it as a flashlight for guidance through dark rooms. Our only quibble with the cell phone’s design is the screen easily attracts face grease. That said, many cell phones suffer from this flaw.

Keypad: About that trademark flat keypad: Yes, it’s definitely beyond cool. With its blue backlit numbers and lines, it looks like something out of the movie, Tron. While you might think it would be hard to dial on a flat keypad, we found it pretty easy to do. It’s probably because the actual keys are so large, making it difficult to misdial. We should note that the keys may be a bit slippery for some users – especially if you like the feel of raised keys. We were even impressed with how well the four-way navi-key worked. Once you get the hang of it, using the navi- and soft-keys (the two dedicated buttons at the top of the keypad that correspond to screen commands) become second nature.