Motorola V9 (RAZR2) Review

Welcome to the Motorola V9 mobile phone review. The V9 was released in late 2007 as the successor to the V3xx which in turn was the replacement for the V3 and V3i.  The V series phones from Motorola have always looked good and the V9 and its twin the V8 are no different.  They are great looking phones anyone would be happy to own.

There have been many version of the same phone over the years the last one being the V9x which included on-board A-GPS for navigation.

The V9 is the 3G 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 V9 however does have issues.  It uses Motorola’s ancient OS that has been enhanced over the years to cater for more functionality.  Even worse due to the horrible way the mobile network companies ‘customise’ the phone for their network ruins the experience for the user.  For example some models do not have a flight mode or others can’t change the soft key functions or even worse limit functionality on the external touch buttons.  So if you have problems blame the network not Motorola.

Despite all that if you get an network free version you will be impressed by the high quality screens, phone speed and usability.  However you will be disappointed at the un-logical menu structure.  The standard browser is annoying so get a model with Opera installed or download it your self.   Some mobile networks also place a limitation on ‘push email’ functionality which again hurts the reputation of the V9.  The v9 does not have a FM radio either.

Regardless of network the thing that probably hurts the v9 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 V9 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 and internet if you get a network free one.

• Motorola V9, V9x, V9m, RAZR2
• Network
  Quad-band GSM
  Tri-band 3G 850/1900/2100 (Dependent on country)
• 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)