1 November 2005 11:37 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Motorola has one of the most popular and iconic brands at the moment with the RAZR range of mobile phones but can it use that kudos on other phones in its collection? We take a look at the V975.

The RAZR is thin, sleek and for most a desirable bit of shiny kit. It’s a shame that the same can’t be said about the 975. It’s large and bulky for a start and offers little in the way of features.

What don’t we like. We first there is the aerial that sticks out of the shell, we thought we had got past this feature on most phone - apparently not. Then there is the tiny 1.9 inch display (176 x 220) 65K colour TFT screen on the inside and an even smaller 1 inch CLI display (96 x 80) 4K colour screen on the outside. Both look as if it wasn’t really worth the bother when set in the case.

Get past the screens and you’ve got to deal with the rather strange keypad that has the 2,5,8 and 0 buttons for some reason raised higher than the rest of the keypad. It’s a strange design decision and one we can’t see any reason for. Putting this to one side, the rest of the keypad is fairly straightforward. There are the usual keys for connecting and disconnecting calls and a d-pad for easy movement around the menu system. Additionally, as the phone features 3G connectivity, there is a button dedicated to video calling.

Outside the phone’s keypad and the buttons carry on. But rather annoyingly aren’t locked down. This meant that on numerous occasions we changed the volume of the ring tone and took plenty of pictures all from the comfort of our pocket without realising it.

Because the phone is for 3G use, there is also the obligatory 3 digital cameras, although once again Motorola lets the side down by only including a VGA digital camera with 4x zoom rather than the megapixel offering most expect from a high-end model.

The menu system is basic, but does work - a vast improvement on previous menu systems by Motorola, although compared to the likes of Sony Ericsson and Nokia, it's clear that this isn’t Motorola’s strong point.

The final gripe we had was battery power. On an average use probably making and receiving an average of four or five calls a day the battery lasted just 2 days before it started beeping like a bird for more food. While we understand the power hungry demands of 3G, it would be nice to have a phone that doesn’t require you to have to take the charger with you wherever you go, just in case.

Pictures can be saved on the phone’s ridiculous 2Mb of built-in memory and luckily you will be able to store images, games, and further data on a 256Mb Transflash card once you’ve stumped up the cash to get one.

Verdict

We can't really think of one thing that the V975 has going for it. The iconic styling of the RAZR range isn't to be found anywhere near this phone, the sticking out aerial is annoying, the on-board camera disappointing, the memory allocation pathetic, both the TFT screens small, and the menu system only adequate.

In fact if it didn't have the Motorola logo emblazoned on the inside we would doubt that it had even come from the same factory. What went wrong? We don't know, but someone should be fired over it.

Score

Review Recap

Made by

Motorola

Price as reviewed

£Price dependent on contract

The good

Nothing

The bad

Poor styling, the sticking out aerial is annoying, the on-board camera disappointing, the memory allocation pathetic, both the TFT screens small, and the menu system only adequate

Quick verdict

What went wrong, we don’t know, but someone should be fired over it

Score

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