Ben's Bargains

Product: Motorola RAZR2 V9m
Manufacturer: Motorola
MSRP: $399.99
Lowest Historical Price: $0 [History]

Introduction
How many of you own or have owned a Motorola RAZR phone? Probably a lot of you, judging by the popularity of the original RAZR over the past few years. I recently had the chance to upgrade to a new phone, so I decided to give the new Motorola RAZR V9m (aka the RAZR2) a try. Check out the full review for my ruthless take on this phone.



Features
One of the most striking features of the V9m is the large 2.0-inch 320x240 pixel external display, which takes up a good portion of the phone's flip lid when it is closed. The main display is also 320x240 resolution, however it is slightly larger at 2.2-inches. Both displays are crisp and bright. The external screen has a touch-screen function that supports activating the onboard 2MP Camera, Music Player, or Voice Command features. Tactile feedback for the touchscreen is handled by a short vibration of the phone.

The build of the phone exudes quality. It's obvious that Motorola put forth a concerted design effort into the RAZR2 in an attempt to create a successful follow-up to the original RAZR. To that end, the RAZR2 sports a seamless frame and a hardened glass front screen. The hinge is beyond beefy, with Motorola claiming that it can support a load of 120 lbs (I didn't test this claim).



Call Quality
The voice quality of the RAZR V9m is impressive. It is the clearest sounding phone I've ever used, including landlines. The CDMA version of the RAZR2 does not include the CystalTalk feature, however even without this feature the audio from the V9m was loud and clear. The speakerphone feature is good as well, and I found myself holding the phone upside down when using this function. Overall I have all praise and no complaints about the call quality of the RAZR2 V9m.

Bluetooth
Verizon is well-known for crippling the Bluetooth capabilities of their phones, however the V9m seems to have mostly avoided that axe. It supports Bluetooth profiles for Headset, Hands-free, Serial Port, Dial-Up Networking, Bluetooth Stereo Support for Listening to Music, Object Push & File Transfer for device generated images, video & vCard.
Headset pairing is a cinch and the voice recognition is excellent, although it does get finicky if there is significant outside noise. The Bluetooth range isn't that good so you'll want to have the phone nearby while using a headset or listening to music.



In order to get EVDO dial-up networking over Bluetooth, I had to do a quick registry hack on the phone. Once that was completed, my Laptop PC was able to utilize the DUN Bluetooth profile and I successfully used the phone as a portable broadband modem. Since I have the V-Cast plan, using the phone as a modem does not result in additional data charges which is always an added plus. I have not begun hosting torrents, however.

Multimedia
The V-Cast network is pretty lame. You can get a few news stories to bide your time while you're waiting for something, but the screen is really too small to enjoy anything but checking some quick facts such as a restaurant address. You can get streaming clips of news events, which will play in landscape mode at decent quality.
An integrated 2-MegaPixel camera rounds out the V9m's multimedia capabilities, delivering semi-decent pictures for a camera phone. The pictures generally have a softness to them that makes everything look like a cgi-rendered scene from Titanic. For photo & multimedia storage, you can slap in a microSD card for relatively cheap.



Conclusion
For those who enjoyed their first RAZR, the RAZR2 is a simple and logical upgrade with significant improvements over the original. I myself transitioned from a PDA phone (the Moto Q) after growing tired of the bulk, and the RAZR2 V9m has been a pleasure to use during the past few months. Its tight design and superb audio quality have truly won me over. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the RAZR2 V9m for those looking for a slim flip phone.

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