Motorola RAZR V3x Preview

When Motorola launched the RAZR V3 in October 2004, the mobile phone world was shaken to the core. Manufacturers and consumers alike had become fairly apathetic towards the design of a mobile. They were either 'candybar', 'clamshell' or a 'slider'.

The V3 revolutionised this by adding a new dimension - Or rather, taking it away as it were !

Even fairly basic phones before it had been the usual size & shape. To have a mobile phone with a decent amount of functions AND combine this with amazing dimensions was quite literally 'Jaw-dropping'.

So what can we expect of the V3x ?

Well for a start, we know that although the dimensions have grown slightly from 13.9 x 55 x 98mm to 99 x 53 x 19 mm - We can excuse this as the V3x is after-all a 3G mobile phone. This again is quite incredible for a 3G handset. Especially when you consider that Nokia have just launched the N90 which (i have seen and held one myself) is just ENOURMOUS ! If you are reading this and have contemplated purchasing the N90 then check it out in a shop first. If you think it looks cool to have a phone the size of a shoe-box stuck to your ear then go ahead and buy it! Otherwise trust me on this one....

Anyway, getting back to the point - the Motorola V3x ....

Video calling isn't a new thing now, but sales have been slow despite the networks best efforts to rectify this. The V3x should change this as it will be THE first desirable 3G handset. Therefore it's not just an important phone to Motorola, it's equally important to Vodafone, Orange etc etc. as 3G sales should begin to catch 2.5g sales.

Apart from video calling then, what else will the V3x be 'wooing' us with ?

Well a 2.0 megapixel digital camera for starters, which is better than i first expected - thinking it would be a 1.3 (just shows how much i know !). Bluetooth, which is expected. And expandable memory which was hoped for but not entirely expected.

One interesting function that i know Samsung are quietly introducing is advanced voice recognition. Now before you say 'oh that's been around for years', this type hasn't ! Gone are the days when you would say 'home' several times only to be greeted by silence. Come on, we've all looked a chump at some point speaking to a mobile and hoping it would understand us - Or was it just me ?

Anyway, the new advances don't make you pre-record your voice tags. Theoretically you should just be able to just tell it who and where etc. But we'll test this when we get one from Motorola to review soon..

We'll leave it there for now as specs are subject to change and we will do a thorough review once it is released. Expected dates are sometime in October, no prices are available as yet and it is confirmed for Vodafone UK, 3 UK, O2 UK & Orange UK although others are expected to follow.