Motorola V8 (RAZR2) Review

Welcome to the Motorola V8 mobile phone review. The V8 was released in late 2007 as the successor to the V3 and V3i. The V series phones from Motorola have always looked good and the V8 and its twin the V9 are no different. They are great looking phones anyone would be happy to own.  The gold and snake skin V8 are particularly impressive.

The V8 is the GSM only version of the latest V series phones. It features large dual 240 x 320 screens with external touch controls and the slimmest and arguably best looking flip phone or clam shell design on the market. It is packed with technology including 500Mhz CPU. Quality of construction was as good with excellent attention to detail and materials.

The V8 has less issues than the V9because it uses an entirely different operating system.  The system is prettier to look at and much more logical than the V9 OS.  However again many report the certain versions of the phone – those ‘customized’ and locked to certain networks have the most problems.  Due to the horrible way the mobile network companies ‘customize’ the phone for their network ruins the experience for the user.

Like the V9 if you get an network free version you will be impressed by the high quality screens, phone speed and usability.  It’s GSM only so in certain parts of the world you can get data but at very slow speeds.  The V8 does not have a FM radio either.

Regardless of network the thing that probably hurts the v8 the most is the difficult way to install software unless from the network provider. Also the limitations of installing simple things such as new themes is disappointing. If you want customization then you need to visit the Motorola hacking sites for the instructions. If you happy with the basic functionality then you will be happy that is what this phone is good at.

Overall this is a great looking phone with some issues. Mind you when we reviewed the V8 we didn’t encounter software related bugs that everyone seems to be reporting but we got one that didn’t have a flight mode. Great phone for talk, text if you get a network free one.

• Motorola V8, RAZR2
• Network
  Quad-band GSM
• Design
  Flip Phone/Clam shell
  L103 x W53 x D13.3 mm
  Weight 117 grams
• Display/s
  Internal: 262K TFT – 240 x 320 pixels 2.2″
  External: 262K TFT – 240 x 320 pixels 2.0″
• Camera
  2 MP Camera
  Video capable 220 x 176
• Connectivity
  Micro USB, Bluetooth
• Memory
  Up to 50MB internal memory
  MicroSD memory – up to 8Gig
• Ring tones
  MP3, MIDI, WAV, Vibration
• Features
  SMS, MMS, IM, WAP, Email, Blogging
  JAVA MIDP 2.0
  Modem for PC
  Wireless audio and video streaming
  Web browser
  Voice recognition and response
  Touch sensitive keys
  Speaker Phone/Hands free
  Picture – Music – Video Player
  CrystalTalk technology
  Bluetooth printing
• Speed : 500Mhz CPU
• Battery Life
  950mAh Li Ion
  Up to 14 days standby
  Up to 5.4 hour talk time
• Price history
  From $399 2009 (Outright)
  From $599 2008 (Outright)