Motorola V3i hands-on impression
Once the leader of the slim pack, Motorola's RAZR series is now under fire from all angles and struggles to maintain its allure in an increasingly crowded market. Beyond its unarguably good looks and a good display, it falters with regard to general usability and a poorly designed user interface, leading to a less than favourable impression from otherwise interesting capabilities such as its 1.3 Megapixel camera and iTunes compatible music player. Still, 3G performance is first-rate, even though its browser is woefully incapable of exploiting this benefit.
Specifications
Expanding its line-up of RAZR clamshell handsets, Motorola today announced four new additions to its existing portfolio comprised of the original RAZR V3 and the
3G-enabled RAZR V3x. In addition to less-noteworthy yet fashionable pink and ice blue editions of the original RAZR, the Megapixel-enabled V3i and a CDMA with EV-DO enabled V3c were also unveiled.
 Improving on the original RAZR, the V3i adds a 1.23 Megapixel camera over the 0.3 Megapixel variety of its predecessor as well as a microSD expansion slot for added storage. The latter also contributes to the newfound iTunes compatibility of the handset, a feature which was first introduced in the ROKR E1 launched this last September.
With these exceptions, the feature set of the V3i remains identical to the original RAZR including its quad-band GSM and Bluetooth support, 2.2-inch colour display, chemically etched keypad and trademark slim form factor.
 The RAZR V3c, meanwhile, represents Motorola's 3G alibi for the US and other CDMA markets courtesy of its support for EV-DO high speed data. Outperforming Motorola's RAZR V3x 3G handset for the European market by a factor of 6, the V3c must at the same time stand back to the 2 Megapixel camera of the V3x as its own is a mere 1.3 Megapixels in comparison.
Unlike the RAZR V3i and V3x, however, the V3c lacks not only the iTunes client software but also the microSD expansion slot, instead settling for 30 MB of onboard memory. A MP3 player is still present, though, as is other RAZR traits including the 2.2 inch colour screen, etched keypad and more.
Price and availability
All four models announced by Motorola today are to be available in various markets worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2005. The company did not comment on the expected pricing of handsets.
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