Motorola RAZR V3 - Black (Unlocked) Mobile Phone

The Motorola RAZR V3 was one of the most talked-about phones of 2004 and is still a real head turner. Why? Because it's the thinnest phone currently available in the UK. There are others that come close, but at 13.9 mm it's dramatically thinner than your average mobile measuring 20 mm or more. And it's a clamshell, so when you open it up it gets even thinner!

Motorola are clearly very conscious of the look of this phone - it's not thin by accident. A huge amount of attention to detail has been put into its design, from the beautiful anodized aluminium finish, to the unique precision cut keypad that looks good and helps to shave some extra millimetres off the V3's vital statistics. The phone is striking to look at, apart from the "thinness factor".

The use of metal alloys in the construction of the V3 sets it apart from the plastic used in so many phones. It looks and feels like a very high quality phone. The keypad deserves some discussion. It has a revolutionary precision-cut design, with the numerals chemically-etched to keep the pad flat. It feels different to other keypads but is not a problem to use. In the dark, the whole keypad lights up with a blue glow giving a very cool effect. Despite its size, the V3 is a well featured phone, although not as fully featured as others in its price range. Let's start with the display. The external screen is a full colour screen, but nothing out of the ordinary. It displays useful information like incoming calls, battery life and signal strength. Inside however is a fantastic 262,000 colour TFT display that is comparable to the display used in the excellent Samsung D500.

The V3 also comes with a digital camera, video playback (but not recording), full Bluetooth™ wireless connectivity, polyphonic ringtones (including MP3 ringtones), Java games, a speakerphone and quad-band capability for global roaming. The phone has been designed to be practical as well as beautiful, and is easy to use with intuitive menus, similar to the Motorola V600. The aluminium alloy case is not only lightweight, but strong too, and should survive everyday bumps and scratches.

The V3 is a great phone, designed primarily for its looks, but with a pretty good specification too. As always with this type of phone, the functionality is reduced because of the phone's size, but it has a reasonably good feature set. When first released at the end of 2004, the V3 was expensive and exclusive, but now the price is more reasonable and it has become a very popular phone.

Features of the Motorola V3 include:

Internal display: 176 x 220 pixels (34.8 x 43.5mm), up to 262k TFT colours, with graphic accelerator
External display: 96 x 80 pixels, 4k CSTN colours
Integrated VGA camera (640 x 480 resolution) with 4x digital zoom
Video clip playback (MPEG4 with sound)
Bluetooth™ wireless connectivity, plus enhanced mini-USB
24-voice polyphonic ringtones and MP3 ringtones

In a nutshell: The RAZR V3 was the original superslim phone, and is still a great-looking handset. The V3 has a basic camera, MP3 ringtones and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, but is missing more advanced features such as a music player, video camera and memory card. Still, it's available incredibly cheaply now, so if you want a basic phone that's slim and good-looking, the RAZR is still a good bet.

The Motorola MOTORAZR V3 Cell Phone is by far my favourite mobile. It looks good, feels good and for me the flip lid protects the screen and keyboard. I have had a blue, black and now, a pup;e colour.My latest purchase of that model was hugely disappointing and I shall be returning to my source. Principally I am concerned about the quality and manufacture. The purple colour is two-tone rather than a single even clour. The flip lid is a darker colour than the case. Within a very short time, the left side 'stud' that pins the hinge fell off. The hinge is,therefore, 'wonky'. I shall purchase another but choose a different supplier.

Lets face it, its a bit old now. but still super slim and a classic sexy phone.

no features, but loads of class. will continue to be a popular phone for many years.

GENERAL 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
Announced 2004, 3Q
Status Discontinued
SIZE Dimensions 98 x 53 x 13.9 mm, 65 cc
Weight 95 g
DISPLAY Type TFT, 256K colors
Size 176 x 220 pixels, 9 lines
- Second CSTN display (96 x 80 pixels), 4096 colors
- Anodized aluminum case
- Downloadable logos
SOUND Alert types Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones, composer
Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack No
MEMORY Phonebook 1000 entries, Photo call
Call records 10 dialed, 10 received, 10 missed calls
Internal 5.5 MB
Card slot No
DATA GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
EDGE No
3G No
WLAN No
Bluetooth Yes, v1.2
Infrared port No
USB Yes, miniUSB
CAMERA Primary VGA, 640x480 pixels
Video No
Secondary No
FEATURES Messaging SMS, EMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML
Radio No
Games Skipping Stones, Golf, Billiards + downloadable
Colors Silver, Black (Special Edition)
GPS No
Java Yes, MIDP 2.0
- MP4 video
- Predictive text input
- Organizer
BATTERY Standard, Li-Ion 680 mAh (BA700)
Stand-by Up to 280 h
Talk time Up to 7 h

Although this phone was the choice of presidents and film stars when it was introduced it still has some drawbacks as there are external buttons that can be pressed when it is in ones pocket. In particular the ring style can get adjusted to "silent". At least it does not redial and voicemail from ones pocket unlike the infernal L6. IMHO phone manufacturers have lost their way as there are still a lot of people who just want a clamshell phone with NO EXTERNAL BUTTONS to waste their money. Alcatel did one a few years ago that was shaped like a clamshell and only cost £5 but within 24 hours there were none left on the planet or so it seemed. This is my third V3 as the first one that cost £80 was stolen when my car was burgled. The second one (after having had numerous rubbish phones) was OK until it was dropped. It still works but battery life is now rather poor and its the phone not the battery that is doing it. The phone isn't waterproof or splashproof but I've had a Sonim XP and a Samsung Solid and they were no good either. I really would like a clamshell phone that has no external buttons and is splashproof but none are available. Absolutely pathetic so I have to make do with the V3.

There are not that many good flip phones available in the market. Motorola V3 is a very nice and simple flip phone. It is not a complex and full of features, but still it is a nice little phone.

Pros:

Simple to use. Small and Light Weight, GSM Triband, Double Display,
Composer, MP3 and Ploy Phonic Ringtones, Vibration, Speaker Phone,
Phonebook, Bluetooth and USB Connectivity, VGA Camera,
SMS, MMS, EMS, WAP and xHTML Browser, Java Support,

Cons:

No 3G Support, No external Memory Support, No Wifi, No EDGE, No Radio,

If you are looking for a simple and easy to use flip mobile phone, that is robust and reliable than Motorola V3 is the phone for you. It is not full of features but it is enough to make and receive calls.