Loading ...Motorola RAZR 2 V8 Linux phone review
I did used Motorola RAZR V3 for sometime in 2006 before I dropped it into a swimming pool 
The new RAZR 2 has a bigger screen, better UI, quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 with EDGE and Linux platform. OSnews has published a review for the new RAZR 2 V8:
The RAZR2 V8 is a quad-band GSM and EDGE phone, it features two 240x320 TFT screens (one internal 2.2" and one external touchscreen 2.0"), 512 MBs internal storage out of which 420 MBs are accessible, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support, a microUSB charging/data/audio port, and a 2 MP camera without flash. The V8 came with a headset, a British-style charger (PureMobile added to the package both a converter and a mini-USB Motorola-branded charger), a microUSB 2.0 data cable, CDs and manuals, and a 770 mAh Li-Ion battery.
=> Read review here and you can get Motorola RAZR2 V8 Spec Sheet here.
It is believed that it is one of the most popular cell phones around the world. And now it has been updated to run Linux. There is also V9 model with 2Mp camera and a full HTML browser. I want one. I might get this one or may be Apple iPhone.
Want to stay up to date with the latest Linux tips, news and announcements? Subscribe to our free e-mail newsletter or full RSS feed to get all updates.
You can Email this page to a friend.
You may also be interested in...
- Gadgets I brought in 2006
- Nokia E90 Review (Good for sys admins)
- Manage your iPod or Motorola mobile phone with Floola [ all operating systems ]
- Review: Mozilla FireFox 2.0 second alpha version
- Slackware 12 Review Notes and Howtos
Discussion on This Article:
Leave a Reply
We encourage your comments, and suggestions. But please stay on topic, be polite, and avoid spam. Thank you very much for stopping by our site!
Tags: apple_iphone, linux_phone_reviews, linux_platform, motorola_razr2_v8, motorola_razr_v3 ~ Last updated on: August 20, 2007
1. Does not support any of Motorola Bluetooth headset and headphones that I own. Even my new Moto stereo headphones that came out before the RAZR 2 even came out, don’t even work.
2. Daily White-Screen freeze errors.
3. Text input in third-party app’s in annoying. the “1″ key cycles though characters that you will never use just to get to a period aor @ sign. the “0″ key is used to cycle though the rest and again goes though characters that you will rarely use just to get one you will use a lot.
4. The touch-screen is way too sensitive. If you don’t have a key-lock set, you will find that the TV app will load in your pocket and turn to a channel. Or it will just load the app and waste the already pathetic battery life. Even if the key-lock is on, the vibrate feature will go off so many times that when you goto use the phone, you will end up having 1 bar, maybe 2.
5. Horrible battery life. Unlike the A900, Katana, and pretty much all other slim-phones, the RAZR 2 gets really hot when using it. Heat means wasted energy, thus making the battery life the worst I have ever seen. If you are using bluetooth, and/or the TV app, or in an area with a weak signal, battery life can be as low as 40 minutes.
6. The UI is SLOW! I mean as slow as slow can get. This comes to it’s full power of annoyance when you end up loading an application that you didn’t mean to, and closing it down takes 5 to 10 seconds to close down. This will happen a lot, because the buttons are so close together, that you will end up loading the music or TV app without even trying. Scrolling through you content is horrible. Images take what seems like months to switch to the next.
7. No real media player. You can not fast forward or rewind video clips. So those days of watching movies and shows on your phone are over. Unless you want to sit and watch it from the beginning.
8. You can not hear the volume when setting the level for the ringer, alarm, ect. This most basic of features shows how low Moto has come when making phones.
9. The lower set of speaks has a groove where overtime it will cut into your fingers when holding the phone to watch TV.
10. The inner display has the typical data and time features, but with the RAZR 2 you can not get rid of the date. So if you have a cool screen saver, you will see “00/00/000 Day” on the screen. So if you have a cool pic of a Cele you are into, their face will be blocked.
11. The web browser is HTML, but it renders the site into pages. So a normal sized site will be cut into many pages. Some sites are cut into 10+ pages. Unlike Opera mini which can render the entire page in one window. You will be scrolling page to page just to see the content you like.
12. Since the browser is HTML, WAP sites can’t be loaded very well if at all. So if you want to download a Java app through a WAP site, you might not be able to at all.
13. Third party apps can easily cause the phone to lock-up. Basic app’s that load on even the most simple phone will cause the phone to lock in a white screen and you will have to pull the battery to get out.
14. Alarm doesn’t always go off. This has happen to me a lot.
15. When you use the speaker-phone or use the speakers with Telenav, the sound quality is horrible. On the other end my friends make me repeat what I am saying. The speaker-phone has been known in the past to be one of the best features found in Moto phones; this is not the case with the V9m.
16. Buttons on the side are tiny. With a plastic snap-on case they are very difficult to press.
17. The phone doesn’t even have a headphone port. So you can not use it as a portable music player without playing the content through the speakers, or a Bluetooth headset, which most likely will not work.
18. You can not set images from your memory card to display as wallpaper.
19. Music playback is dependent on using Sprint’s Music Player, which crashes a lot.
20. The Music Player no longer works, so I can’t even use the phone as an MP3 player.
wow russ, seems like you had a bad experience with the v8. i didnt know there was a tv app, but mine is working great! i adore it. i bought the lux edition. very good looking- i get compliements all the time. One thing you’re right about though, the battery life sucks!
I’ve experienced a slow UI, failed alarms, and repeated, random OS crashes when using standard features of the phone (SMS and calling…)
I wish I’d got an iPhone. Hell, at this rate, I wish I’d got *ANY* other phone.
I finally had to dump the RAZR2 V8. It constantly crashed 2 mins into a call. Also after the alarm clock is reset, the unit locks up. It would only work with Mobile Phone Tools about 1 out of every 10 times I tried to connect.
It is a darn shame because the phone is good looking, slim and easy to carry.
Russ, Point 4, 6, 7, 13, 17, 18, 19 and 20 are exaggarted and mostly not true. I also didn’t know that you can watch tv with your v8. So I think your talking trash. But I’ve to admit some points are correct.
Anyways, I love mine V8. I had the V3i before, and I’ve to say Motorola improved a lot. And finally they made a new UI!
Russ, must have a different phone than I have. I have none of the issues that he reported. I do probably over 600 text a month and use about 2500 minutes per month in phone calls (all business related) This phone has never crashed, I’ve never seen the white screen. The only time I have noticed a slow down was if I was trying to play music and do several things at once. Battery life is poor, no doubt about it, but I knew with 2 big screens it was likely to be. I just charge it everyday and it meets my needs perfectly. I’ve never had to charge it during the day.
I’ve used several different bluetooth devices most of which were out before the Razr2 and it has connected each and every time. I mainly use my Jawbone with it.
All the wap sites I go too render perfectly. If it will render full HTML page it will certainly render a text only page. This is just nonsense.
I agree with the last poster Thomas, I think Russ just made up most of this stuff because none of those issues have impacted my daily use.
Russ Said:
“19. Music playback is dependent on using Sprint’s Music Player, which crashes a lot.”
I could be wrong but isnt the V8 a GSM only phone? Sprint/Nextel doesn’t have a GSM network so Russ couldn’t be talking about the V8.
the v3 you could put it on speaker phone
and flip close and still talk
can this be done on the v8 and how
Ive had many diffrent phones this has been a great one
can you use your email on this phone (AOL) ?
Russ was probably talking about the V9, as he mentions it at point 15 of his observations. V8 works fine for me too.
I’ve had my VZW V9m since Dec 07, and haven’t had a single issue with it yet. Everything works the way it’s suppose to.
And it doesn’t exhibit any thing that the guy Russ said, he must’ve received a lemon, sounds like he needs to get a laptop any how,,heh It’s a cell phone, phone being the key word here.