Sindre Lia has given the Motorola V70 a run for its money over the course of the summer, and concludes that it's a phone best suited for those who prefer good looks over features.
Review summary of the :
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The first thing that greets the eye with the Motorola V70 is its unique design where Motorola abandoned its famous flip-lid for a swivel lid. It's quite a nice touch, even though we suspect that the result wouldn't be too pleasant if the phone was dropped on the floor with the lid turned 180 degrees to form an I-shaped phone. In the name of all fairness there's a cloth bag for protection, but that only helps when the phone isn't in use. The V70 also comes with a 3.6V Lithium ion battery and an accompanying charger, a handsfree set of good quality as well as a manual.
 | The Motorola V70's lid swivels, not flips - perhaps this is a hint of future models from the company as well?
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With measurements in the very lower end of the range - 94 x 38 x 18.3 mm to be exact - and a weight of only 83 g, the V70 is a very, very small and light unit that has a tendancy to disappear when you least expect it to. Unfortunately, this has great impact on user friendliness, since the display is capable of only showing 2 or 3 lines of text at a time. The worst part is however the blue text on a black background, which really didn't match well with this year's nice summer weather.
The keypad sports a blue backlight that looks more elegant on pictures than in real life, since our review unit proved to have large areas that weren't lit. Also, getting to know the keypad was a feat in its own - horrible to use at first, but after a few SMS messages we were able to pick up the pace and write as quickly as on any other phone.
On the inside
The Motorola V70 has been equipped with a spacious phone memory capable of storing 500 names and phone numbers, and has in addition a calendar that's very simple to use, provides a good overview of activities and allows for alarms to be added to each entry. The main menu is also in good shape, and can be reached quickly through a hardware shortcut button placed directly under the display. To the left and right of this button are two hardware shortcut buttons that can be set to access the menu choices of the user's preference.
Unfortunately, the phone isn't among those offering the most functions in its price class (650 EUR and upwards). The most advanced offerings consist of standard functions such as voice notes, GPRS and a WAP browser from Openwave - which also means that the V70 doesn't have built-in connectivity options via IrDA or Bluetooth, resulting in users wanting such connectivity having to purchase a cable separately to synchronize contacts and notes.
Audio quality whilst in calls with the V70 is good, but I've experienced a bit of noise when the swivel lid has moved. The listed talk time of 3.5 hours and standby time of 6 days is a bit over the top if you're an active mobile phone users - in which case the values should at least be halved.
Conclusion
The Motorola V70 is clearly a top class designer phone, despite the fact that Motorola has chosen to use an external antenna. In terms of functionality, the phone doesn't have much of a brag list - but it's likely to be enough for those who care more about looks than features. Unfortunately, Motorola has pricing problems and the company doesn't seem to be able to sell a product aimed at professionals for less than 650 EUR, no matter how little functionality they offer.
- What's positive: Structured menu system
- What's negative: Small display, lacks IrDA and Bluetooth, pricey
| Features | 5/10 |
| Exterior | 8/10 |
| Ergonomics | 6/10 |
| Performance | 7/10 |
| Value: | 6/10 |
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iSW Score:
6.4/10 |
Price and availability
The will start selling for TBA () in November 1999.
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