razr v3i

V3i has always been appreciated for its sleek design and attractive colours. The latest addition in the Indian market is the pink model; many new colours are on their way.

As the company that gave the world the slim cell phone, Motorola has been milking its Razr line for all it's worth. Besides coming in a multitude of colors, the Razr now has two CDMA versions: the Razr V3m and the Razr V3c; there's also a 3G GSM handset in the Razr V3x, and now a series of new models based on the Razr form factor. Yet even with such success, we're a bit perplexed by the Razr V3i. After the short life of the ill-received Rokr E1, we were wondering if Motorola would continue the Apple relationship. But Moto charged ahead with the Slvr L7 and now the V3i. While the iTunes Razr offers a huge improvement over the Rokr's boring design, it doesn't come without drawbacks. Besides patchy call quality, sluggish music player performance, and a sky-high $249 price tag with a two-year service plan, the V3i still has the annoying iTunes restrictions that turned us off to its predecessors. What's more, the form factor is getting to look a bit old. Despite these complaints, however, the combination of the world's most popular cell phone design with the world's most popular music downloading service will be music to many ears. Though it's descended directly from the original Razr, Cingular's Razr V3, the Razr V3i is more similar in appearance to the Razr V3m for Verizon. Like the V3m, the V3i is slightly bigger than the V3 at 2.1 by 3.9 by 0.54 inches, and it weighs a tad more at 3.5 ounces. It also shares the V3m's dark gray coloring, which is more appealing than the V3's standard silver hue (the V3i also comes in dark blue, maroon, and violet). Features on the front flap are standard for much of the Razr line. There's a one-inch (96x80 pixels) external display supporting 65,000 colors, and a tiny camera lens at the top of the hinge. There's still no camera flash, but the external display acts as a self-portrait viewfinder. The external controls are the same as well, with the voice commands button on the right spine and the volume rocker and smart key/camera shutter on the left spine. Like with the V3m, Motorola was able to cram a Micro SD card slot into the V3i. We appreciate such an addition on a slim phone even if it means you have to remove the battery cover (but not the battery) to access it. We like the memory card slot, but you must remove the battery cover to use it.