We try out the rugged new clamshell in our Motorola Adventure V750 review. Does Verizon Wireless finally have a PTT portfolio worth seeing?
Review summary of the Motorola Adventure V750:
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 Verizon Wireless doesn't leave much choice when it comes to PTT phones. Either you go rugged and waterproof with the G'zOne Boulder, or you go rugged and stylish with the Motorola Adventure V750. The Adventure V750 is a better phone all around, though that doesn't mean it's perfect. But though the lack of waterproofing might mean improved call quality and better reception on this phone, we think this tough RAZR-like phone would be a real winner if it could take a swim from time to time. Still, the phone packs real multimedia features and impressive hardware into a fairly attractive (yes, we know it looks like a RAZR) shell. We would like to see Motorola break out a bit from the stodgy Verizon interface design and really bring this phone's media features up to speed, and then it would be a more compelling device for any audience. Release: August 2008. Price: $80.
Pros: RAZR-like design is still new to the PTT world. Very good call quality and calling features. Great navigation options. Very fast networking.
Cons: Speaker is clear, could be louder. Messaging and 3G multimedia features come up short. Waterproofing would make this a killer device.
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Full Motorola Adventure V750 Review:
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Design - Good
There is no RAZR in the official name for the Motorola Adventure V750, but that doesn't mean this phone's RAZR heritage isn't easy to spot. It's basically a rough-and-tumble RAZR, with all the design aspects we've come to expect. It has the tight fitting clamshell design; the pouty jutting lip; the keyboard is flat, almost; and it even has the external screen with dedicated music controls that we've come to expect on recent additions to the RAZR lineup, like the Motorola RAZR VE20.
As a rugged phone on Verizon Wireless' push-to-talk (PTT) network, the Motorola Adventure V750 is also built to meet the Mil-Spec 810F standards for shock, dust, temperature and other criteria, though it isn't ready to take a dip in the pool, like it's brother on PTT, the Verizon Wireless G'zOne Boulder. That's too bad, because it's otherwise a nicer phone than that rugged beast. We're not sure how much engineering and material would have to go into making the V750 immersion-proof, but we think that waterproof RAZR has a nice ring to it.
So, the V750 has its obvious design drawbacks, seeing how the RAZR form is getting quite long in the tooth, and unfortunately these problems extend to the interface as well. Verizon Wireless has stuck the Motorola Adventure with their most archaic interface design. Where can you find VZ Navigator, for instance? Certainly not up top, where it would be easy to find. Instead, the navigation app is buried under "Media Center," then "Browse & Download," then you'll find the program.
We also wish that the dedicated music keys on the Motorola V750 would actually start the music playing, but instead you have to open the phone, dig through the menus for the "My Music" option, which is actually the music player, and start playing, then close the flip. This could all be much simpler, much more convenient.
Calling - Very good
Call quality on the Motorola Adventure V750 was very good. This is one of the better walkie-talkie phones we've heard, at least during phone calls. When we made a normal call, our voices sounded crisp and clear, and our callers sounded great on the earpiece or the speaker. The speaker could be louder, but it avoids the tinny, muffled quality we hear from many other speakerphones. During PTT calls, we're not sure if the speaker suffers under the walkie-talkie network, or if the problems were coming from our other PTT test phone, a G'zOne Boulder. The Boulder's sound quality wasn't as good as the Motorola Adventure's, so we'd be inclined to blame the other phone.
Otherwise, the phone performed well in calling, with a couple quirks. Battery life was good; we got almost 5 hours out of a single normal phone call, which is better than Motorola's estimates. The contact list was very basic. We were surprised to find that the push-to-talk (PTT) contact list was kept separate from the regular contact list. Overall, the PTT experience was very quick and convenient, but felt a bit underdeveloped compared to what we've come to expect from Sprint's Nextel network. The calling menus and features are a bit more polished on the latter network's phones,
The phone had excellent speaker-independent voice dialing; it worked perfectly every time we used it. Bluetooth paired easily with all our headsets, including a pair of stereo headphones we used to listen to music. Conference calling was intuitive, with a single button press to join extra calls together.
Messaging - Mediocre
The Motorola Adventure V750 has some nice options for a messaging phone, but for a modern multimedia feature phone, it comes up short. There are options for SMS and MMS messaging, as well as preloaded clients for instant messaging and e-mail from AOL, MSN and Yahoo. The IM and e-mail clients were very basic, and not especially attractive, which made using them less enticing. We connected to these services quickly over the phone's fast EV-DO Rev. A network connection, but didn't find ourselves interested in using the V750 as a messaging phone.
The keypad didn't help matters. Instead of the standard Moto RAZR etched keys, the Adventure V750 uses a seamless keypad with blister-type buttons for keys. Bare-handed we found the blisters to be a bit small, and spread too far apart. Dialing was easy on this phone, even with a small work glove on, but messaging was more difficult, as it required more speed and action.
Multimedia - Mediocre
The Motorola Adventure V750 has V Cast Music and Videos, a fast network connection, dedicated music keys, stereo Bluetooth for wireless headphones and a microSDHC slot that can accommodate up to 8GB of memory. Those aren't the multimedia specs you'd expect on a rugged, Mil-Spec PTT phone. Unfortunately, the multimedia experience on the phone doesn't live up to the hardware's promise. The network is plenty fast, and downloading songs and music videos took scant minutes, not long at all. Unfortunately, the players for both of these features was so dated and basic, it was hard to enjoy browsing our music collection or skimming through music videos.
We also had trouble loading our own music. We use a Macintosh to store most of our music, but even though it used a standard microUSB cord to plug into our laptop, the Motorola Adventure wouldn't appear as a mounted drive on our machine.
Otherwise, everything looked and sounded okay, once we got past our disappointment with the players themselves. Videos were smooth with no stuttering, and the screen had a rich, dark contrast that gave up some details in favor of deeper color. Music sounded fine through our stereo Bluetooth headphones, which we had to use because the Moto V750 uses a 2.5mm headphone jack, and we don't have cans to fit.
For Web browsing, the Motorola Adventure V750 uses the simple Openwave WAP browser. It choked on our homepage, but coughed up the NYTimes mobile-optimized page in no time flat. Scrolling was very slow, and there were no options to make viewing pages easier, like zooming or full-page views. But with EV-DO Rev. A network speeds, this makes for another feature that's little more than a nice bonus in a pinch.
GPS Navigation - Very good
GPS navigation was a very good feature for this phone. The GPS sensor was finely tuned and had no trouble finding us quickly. We wish VZ Navigator had a better, more intuitive interface, especially when switching between map modes, but we won't complain about the rich feature set Networks In Motion has developed. The traffic optimized routes, which keep you updated on upcoming traffic and helps you plan your trip to make the best time, was very effective, and had useful suggestions. We've seen this feature before, but never has it worked so efficiently.
Camera - Mediocre
The 2-megapixel camera on the rugged Motorola Adventure V750 topped the 1.3-megapixel shooter on the G'zOne Boulder, but it still had issues. The camera tended to oversaturate colors, and details were lost to the fuzz on many images. Also, we found Verizon Wireless's photo management software on the phone to be a pain to use. It was slow and lacked even simple features for moving and editing multiple images.
In-car Happy Snap
This editor looks extra tan in this pic, and anywhere the light hits looks completely blown out. Oh well, our real problem is with the lack of detail, especially in our proud, masculine beard.
Grass Fed
It was good meat, so it might have been that red, but the bones and fat were not so ivory white. Noise is well-controlled, but the signs at the bottom are at the edge of legibility.
Watermelons
Outside, in mixed light, the melons look great. The bags of charcoal grow fuzzy in the bright sunlight, though. Still, the camera holds onto most of the bricks in the dark shade, and the colors look plenty ripe.
Kung-Fu Grip
Grey and dreary under our studio lamps. The camera clearly loves red and orange, but wants nothing to do with the dark action figure or his grey wolf buddy. Also, the assortment numbers up top are mostly a jumble.
Price and availability
The Motorola Adventure V750 is available now from Verizon Wireless for $130 with a contract agreement.
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