DH Review: Motorola V3i

Zardon · Oct 3, 2006, 01:36 PM

Read the review here
_________________

I’m pretty sure that the inventor of mobile phones would never have imagined that one day his creation would actually become a fashion accessory. However, that is exactly what happened when Motorola launched the famous V3 flip phone, becoming the new “it” thing to have and selling millions in the process. I owned the older V3 and I must say, today I can finally admit that it was a horrible mobile phone, even for its days. The camera was underwhelming, the features were lacking and the software was slightly clunky, leaving a hollow feel to the phone. You were paying for the styling only, which is alright when it looks absolutely outstanding compared to other handsets, but nowadays, the competition has caught up and Motorola phones aren’t the only fashion accessories around (for example, LG Chocolate is the new “it” phone). So finally, Motorola decided to give some substance to the V3 and thus, the V3i was born, hoping to remedy all the problems of its older brother.

Erroneus · Oct 3, 2006, 01:47 PM

I hate that phone! Yeah it's slim, but the menu system blows, the phone it self isn't anything special and EVERYBODY under 18 in pink here got it

The new ultra slim phones from Samsung are a much better choice and they even got some cool features, like a decent camera and a great menu system.

Zardon · Oct 3, 2006, 02:12 PM

Ill just stick with my blackberry

**temeteus82** · Oct 3, 2006, 02:15 PM

Nice review Sandok.

When we are going to see N-series review

niceguyrichy · Oct 3, 2006, 02:15 PM

but didn't you look at it?
it's sooooo pretty

good job Sandok, very thorough.
I admit I haven't used too many top of the range phones recently, but the battery life of my V3i kicks ass compared to the 'top of the range' LG i had last

Sandok · Oct 3, 2006, 02:16 PM

If you put form over function. obviously Motorola will love you

It is a very "fashion" phone with tons of drawbacks but the styling always makes it worth it

The only bad experience I've had with my V3i was that... well it got stolen...

Cba - Andy · Oct 3, 2006, 05:26 PM

I have the v3x, and my mother has v3i, Even thoe i would rather have the v3x ova the 'I' its still a decent phone not the best feature wise but if your into having a sleek phone and abilty to phone and text only then its a contender. Personaly my next phone wont be a motorola ive had to motorola phones in the past and they all suffer from same bugs in the software. IE turning them selfs of for no reason when makin call or in middle of doing a text. oh and the bad lag for me anyway if my text gets over 2 pages long

nokia next for me

pr0digal jenius · Oct 3, 2006, 06:23 PM

i have the original v3....not even the revamped black one with video...the original one that hit market over a year ago at about $3-400....it may be kinda slow, ad have a crappy camera...but it's tough.

Stairs...asphalt...hot sumer days locked in the car....a bath in the washing machine [spin ycle and all...while turned on]...and it still works

Sexy, adequate, and indestructible

SFOSOK · Oct 4, 2006, 08:11 AM

God my phone is so old. Everyone I know has a sleek phone, mostly razors like that.

Good thing I really don't care about that sort of thing as mine works just fine for me, has better games, is faster and does everything I have needed it to.

Sandok · Oct 4, 2006, 08:23 AM

I agree, some of the older phones (especially nokia ones) are actually better than current phones but again, styling and all is important to me.

The only reason I had bought the V3i in the first place was because it was slim enough to slip into my pocket... My current Nokia (an old one) simply can't do that...

Tis too fat!

Erroneus · Oct 4, 2006, 08:48 AM

They should relaunch Nokia 8310 (Image) with color display, updated S40 OS and UMTS support

That was one slick phone

Sandok · Oct 4, 2006, 09:21 AM

Yeah that was the first phone I had bought... Was stolen too

niceguyrichy · Oct 4, 2006, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erroneus

They should relaunch Nokia 8310 (Image) with color display, updated S40 OS and UMTS support

That was one slick phone

I had one of those, followed by a Samsung T100 with an insanely bright colour screen. made a convenient make-shift torch

pr0digal jenius · Oct 4, 2006, 09:18 PM

i had a ghetto sony ericsson for a while, and have had nothign but problems with nokias

nerdrock · Oct 5, 2006, 08:37 PM

i've had 2 Motorola Phones in my days, the V60i (it was a BEAST. excellent battety life, can beat it with bricks and still works fine), and a v710(got 200 bucks back from the verizon class action lawsuit because they crippled its features past what the phone was advertised to do).. and i've given up on them.

They always have great phones, but there's never , that i've seen them make a perfect model. There's always a problem with design, the charger, the software, the features, or SOME aspect of it being ignored, rendering each model short of being an *excellent* product. This phone could have been a contender, if it was fast. I have no such complaints with my Samsung A900, or my previous Sanyo 8300

punkboi28 · Oct 6, 2006, 02:28 PM

The Choco is indeed a sweet little phone. If it holds up like the LG VX8300 then its also one hard piece of candy cuz my 8300 has been dropped off a house, slid across asphalt and bounced off the floor who knows how many times and its still kicking along. A friend dropped his 'V' phone in the kitchen one night and it broke all to pieces.....I hope thats not common for all of them >.>

Sandok · Oct 6, 2006, 02:32 PM

Honestly, as PJ said, the V3 phones are very resitant... I've dropped mine before from quite high and it didn't even get scratched since the entire phone is made of aluminium and not flimsy plastic.

It's durable, that's for sure. But if you really put your back into it, I'm quite sure you can break it

Oct 3, 2006, 01:36 PM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	DH Review: Motorola V3i Read the review here _________________ I’m pretty sure that the inventor of mobile phones would never have imagined that one day his creation would actually become a fashion accessory. However, that is exactly what happened when Motorola launched the famous V3 flip phone, becoming the new “it” thing to have and selling millions in the process. I owned the older V3 and I must say, today I can finally admit that it was a horrible mobile phone, even for its days. The camera was underwhelming, the features were lacking and the software was slightly clunky, leaving a hollow feel to the phone. You were paying for the styling only, which is alright when it looks absolutely outstanding compared to other handsets, but nowadays, the competition has caught up and Motorola phones aren’t the only fashion accessories around (for example, LG Chocolate is the new “it” phone). So finally, Motorola decided to give some substance to the V3 and thus, the V3i was born, hoping to remedy all the problems of its older brother.

Oct 3, 2006, 01:47 PM	#2
Erroneus Get off my lawn! Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 13,419 Rep Power: 119 System Specs	I hate that phone! Yeah it's slim, but the menu system blows, the phone it self isn't anything special and EVERYBODY under 18 in pink here got it The new ultra slim phones from Samsung are a much better choice and they even got some cool features, like a decent camera and a great menu system. __________________

Oct 3, 2006, 02:16 PM	#6
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 0	If you put form over function. obviously Motorola will love you It is a very "fashion" phone with tons of drawbacks but the styling always makes it worth it The only bad experience I've had with my V3i was that... well it got stolen... Last edited by Sandok; Oct 3, 2006 at 02:40 PM.

Oct 3, 2006, 05:26 PM	#7
Cba - Andy Got milk? Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Uk - Scotland Posts: 385 Rep Power: 0	I have the v3x, and my mother has v3i, Even thoe i would rather have the v3x ova the 'I' its still a decent phone not the best feature wise but if your into having a sleek phone and abilty to phone and text only then its a contender. Personaly my next phone wont be a motorola ive had to motorola phones in the past and they all suffer from same bugs in the software. IE turning them selfs of for no reason when makin call or in middle of doing a text. oh and the bad lag for me anyway if my text gets over 2 pages long nokia next for me __________________

Oct 4, 2006, 08:11 AM	#9
SFOSOK 939 Goin Strong Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Ontario Posts: 7,033 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	God my phone is so old. Everyone I know has a sleek phone, mostly razors like that. Good thing I really don't care about that sort of thing as mine works just fine for me, has better games, is faster and does everything I have needed it to. __________________ Warning - Explicit Content Preceeding METAL!!

Oct 3, 2006, 02:12 PM	Thread Starter #3
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Ill just stick with my blackberry

Oct 3, 2006, 06:23 PM	#8
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	i have the original v3....not even the revamped black one with video...the original one that hit market over a year ago at about $3-400....it may be kinda slow, ad have a crappy camera...but it's tough. Stairs...asphalt...hot sumer days locked in the car....a bath in the washing machine [spin ycle and all...while turned on]...and it still works Sexy, adequate, and indestructible

Oct 4, 2006, 08:23 AM	#10
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 0	I agree, some of the older phones (especially nokia ones) are actually better than current phones but again, styling and all is important to me. The only reason I had bought the V3i in the first place was because it was slim enough to slip into my pocket... My current Nokia (an old one) simply can't do that... Tis too fat!

Oct 4, 2006, 08:48 AM	#11
Erroneus Get off my lawn! Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 13,419 Rep Power: 119 System Specs	They should relaunch Nokia 8310 (Image) with color display, updated S40 OS and UMTS support That was one slick phone __________________

Oct 4, 2006, 09:21 AM	#12
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 0	Yeah that was the first phone I had bought... Was stolen too

Oct 4, 2006, 09:18 PM	#14
pr0digal jenius Delete Me Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 14,648 Rep Power: 0	i had a ghetto sony ericsson for a while, and have had nothign but problems with nokias

Oct 5, 2006, 08:37 PM	#15
nerdrock DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Western NY Posts: 99 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	i've had 2 Motorola Phones in my days, the V60i (it was a BEAST. excellent battety life, can beat it with bricks and still works fine), and a v710(got 200 bucks back from the verizon class action lawsuit because they crippled its features past what the phone was advertised to do).. and i've given up on them. They always have great phones, but there's never , that i've seen them make a perfect model. There's always a problem with design, the charger, the software, the features, or SOME aspect of it being ignored, rendering each model short of being an excellent product. This phone could have been a contender, if it was fast. I have no such complaints with my Samsung A900, or my previous Sanyo 8300 __________________ Old signature rendered obsolete by fancy new forum code!

Oct 6, 2006, 02:28 PM	#16
punkboi28 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 4 Rep Power: 0	The Choco is indeed a sweet little phone. If it holds up like the LG VX8300 then its also one hard piece of candy cuz my 8300 has been dropped off a house, slid across asphalt and bounced off the floor who knows how many times and its still kicking along. A friend dropped his 'V' phone in the kitchen one night and it broke all to pieces.....I hope thats not common for all of them >.> __________________ [color=blue]Intel Pentium 4 2.4c \| 2x256mb GEIL DDR400 Dual Channel \| Segate 120gb Barracuda 7200.7 SATA \| ABIT IS7 \| Sapphire X800XL 256 GDDRIII VIVO AGP [/color]

Oct 6, 2006, 02:32 PM	#17
Sandok DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 9,472 Rep Power: 0	Honestly, as PJ said, the V3 phones are very resitant... I've dropped mine before from quite high and it didn't even get scratched since the entire phone is made of aluminium and not flimsy plastic. It's durable, that's for sure. But if you really put your back into it, I'm quite sure you can break it