Review: Motorola's RAZR V3x UMTS Handset

Sample photo

Sample photo

Normal mode

Macro mode

Multimedia

The main display is a huge 2.2" TFT which is capable of displaying 262K colours, and has a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The screen is really sharp and bright. It is readable with no obvious colour washout even under harsh sunlight. The external display is a 65K STN display with a resolution of 96 x 80 pixels. It lacks contrast and colour saturation. However, it does get the job done but doesn't impress.

The music player included in the V3x is the usual one found in all previous Motorola phones. However, our review unit came with a Java based Audio Player. It is a pretty simple application and it uses the D-pad to control the basic aspects such as Play, Skip, and menu selection. You can easily create playlists and there are options to turn on Repeat or Shuffle mode. Audio quality was pretty good via the included stereo headset. However, an equalizer might have been helpful for users to tweak their music to their liking. Another complaint that I have regarding the audio player is its inability to allow users to multi task. It is impossible to perform other tasks on the phone when music is playing. The Java app can be suspended, with music stopped, if you want to access other parts of the V3x's menu.

The 2 megapixel digital camera in the V3x is definitely a step up from every other camera unit found in other Motorola handsets such as the V3c and V710. While it has a soft overall look to its photos, the automatic white balance and color saturation was accurate most of the time. The Macro mode worked well, taking pretty sharp pictures of close-up objects but there's room for improvement for the LED flash which was pretty worthless as it just wasn't bright enough. The digital zoom acts smartly, cropping the full res photos to achieve its effect instead of resampling the image. Overall, I was very pleased with the camera as it produced decent pictures especially when it isn't an auto focus unit such as those found in the Sony Ericsson K750i or Nokia N90.

The camera UI is pretty similar to the one found in the Motorola V3i whereby using just the d-pad, you can very easily adjust most of the major settings for taking a picture. Pushing up or down on the d-pad switches the on-screen control from zoom to exposure to color style to white balance. As the menu is transparent, you can make all these changes while you are looking at the subject on the display. Excellent.

Motorola RAZR V3x

Motorola RAZR V3x

Motorola RAZR V3x

Motorola RAZR V3x

Video clips can also be recorded with the camera, though only in one of two relatively low resolutions (176x144 and 128x96). However, with the abundant 64mb of on-board memory and expandable memory, the V3x will be capable of storing a lot of pictures and videos.