Motorola RAZR 2 V8 review

Dial-a-Phone rating = Dial-a-Phone rating : 5 out of 5
Average customer rating = Average customer rating : 4 out of 5
(There are 5 reviews, read the reviews here)

Add a review for the Motorola RAZR 2 V8
Dial-a-Phone review of Motorola RAZR 2 V8

The Motorola RAZR V3 will be forever hailed as a design classic and one of the first true 'fashion' phones. Motorola built on its massive success and launched a variety of similar variants, none of which broke any new ground but still sold by the ton. This is the new Motorola RAZR2 V8, the successor to the V3 and new catwalk star of the mobile phone world.

As compact and smart as the V3 was, the external casing was a little busy – rocker switches here, badly mounted screens there – something that Motorola have addressed well when designing the new V8. This time the clamshell runs the complete length of the phone and the sides are not broken up with any buttons, instead features are accessed via a 2 inch external touch screen that vibrates ever so slightly to indicate you have pressed a button. From here you can operate the camera, view SMS messages and use the MP3 player.

Opening the phone reveals an evolution of the V3's famous keypad, still resplendent in futuristic silver, and the large 2.2 inch QTFT 262,000 colour screen. The design overhaul has continued here too, with a much smoother look enhancing the phones' modern feel. Using the V8 indicates that there have been some improvements in Motorola's oft-criticised software, as not only is it easier to get to grips with, it's also faster and evidently more stable than the V3's notoriously sensitive system.

A 2MP camera is mounted on the V8, which can also capture video but lacks a flash, and the aforementioned music player seems similar to that used on the old ROKR phone, but without all the sound adjustments. In fact, all there is to tweak the sound produced by the phone is a bass-boost. Naturally the V8 comes with an Opera browser and email, office tools, Bluetooth and up to 2GB of memory, which is where the V8 loses some points. There are two versions of the V8, one with 512MB and one with 2GB of onboard memory, but neither of which have an expansion slot ready for an expansion card, an oversight that smacks of cheapness on Motorola's part.

Leaving this aside, there is little else to fault the new Motorola. It looks fantastic and has kept enough of its predecessors styling cues for there to be a 'family' connection, the call quality is exceptional thanks to Motorola's CrystalTalk quality enhancement but best of all is that it hasn't succumbed to the bloating which affects other upper range mobiles these days. In fact, when compared with the V3, the V8 has a slightly smaller footprint and only weighs a small amount more, 117 grams plays 95.

Motorola could have just sprinkled some glitter over the V3, called it the new model and people would still have bought it, but instead they have taken everything that made the V3 so popular (design and size) and enhanced it with the latest features, added some interesting new touches and given the casing a bang-up-to-date makeover. Forget about the memory limitations and just enjoy owning one of the best phones to come out this year.

Motorola RAZR 2 V8 specs and features

  • Quad Band
  • 2 Megapixel Camera
  • MP3 Player
  • 512MB internal memory
  • EDGE
  • GPRS
  • Messaging: SMS, EMS, MMS, Instant Messaging
  • WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (Opera 8.5)
  • Dimensions: 103 x 53 x 11.9 mm
  • Weight: 117 grams
  • Standby Time: Up to 330hrs
  • Talk Time: Up to 7hrs 50mins

Add a review for the Motorola RAZR 2 V8

Average customer rating from 5 reviews : Average customer rating : 4 out of 5

Customer rating : 5 out of 5 
By Max, 31/05/2008
I have had this phone ages and not one thing has gone wrong! The buttons starting to click but same on old V3 and touch screen is magnificent Don’t turn on talking phone unless you absolutely need to or you will have the problem of the phone mispronouncing everyone’s names and then reading your messages out loud so avoid THAT!!!!
Customer rating : 4 out of 5 
By Munchie 2k8, 13/05/2008
I have this phone and it's amazing! Don't listen to anyone who says this phone is rubbish - its not (but I did think the same when I first bought the phone!) It’s actually really good. You should buy this phone.
Customer rating : 4 out of 5 
By Jimmy, 16/04/2008
I recently purchased this phone, and being my first Motorola I had concerns as regards to using it fully. With its sleek design and low weight, I loved it the moment I held it! What really impresses me is the touch-external display with an outstanding 256k screen resolution. The mp3 player is excellent! It produces high-quality sound that is also very loud!! It being a Linux based handset is very helpful. It allows the user to do stuff that couldn't be done with the previous model, the v3. This includes listening to music, via the Windows Media player, while doing other things like writing a text message. There have been numerous reviews as regards to the battery life. As a v8 owner, I would like to say the battery is well above acceptable. Things that let the phone down include: an average camera (2MP), no memory card slot (I recommend buying the 2GB version), a non-3G compatible handset, and the problem of freezing-this only happens if you press so many buttons at once or too quickly, otherwise it's fine). Overall this is an excellent phone and at a current R.R.P. of £129.99, it's worth every penny.
Customer rating : 4 out of 5 
By Paul, 27/02/2008
There will always be whiners, and then there will be true power users who know or can find out how to dig into the (YAY!) Linux OS that runs on this phone and customize anything and everything they want to, far more than any other phone on the market now. Of course, if you need your hand held through every step of the process, you have no business buying a Linux-based phone; go play with Mommy Microsoft. People who know their computers, phones, PDAs and other tech toys will be proudly showing off their totally personalized RAZR 2 V8's while everyone else is repeating the old vegetable juice ad slogan, "wow, I could have had a V8."
Customer rating : 1 out of 5 
By John, 20/02/2008
Great design, nothing more. Buggy software, slow menus, UI customisation is limited comparing to earlier Motorola models, camera is not soo good, no 3G, no external memory, weak battery. Useless huge external screen because of touch screen limited function (works with player only). Not able to customise side buttons anymore. I've been using Motorola phones for years (V50, V66, T720, V525, V3) and now with V8 I'm quite disappointed with new (Linux) software. I think this is the last Motorola phone I have.