In part 1 of a four part review, Rafe Blandford examines the new Motorola RIZR Z8 in detail, looking at the hardware, the overall form factor and the new non-touchscreen version of UIQ 3. What about that hinged keypad, and what about handling those on-screen 'softkeys'?
Read on in the full article.
Excellent part 1 Rafe, looking forward to the other parts 😉
I agree...UIQ3.X is looking really nice on a non-ts device 😊
It does look really nice, and it's probably the closest I've come to being tempted by a non-touchscreen device, but it looks like a big bugger. I mean, it's quite slim but, in terms of surface area, it's even bigger than the N95 and that is one big beast of a phone. I was thinking the Z8 would be similar in size to the other Motorola sliders.
Maybe when I see one in the flesh it won't look so big.
I think it is the "Chin" at the bottom the slider that has such a big impact on it's length. Remove (or reduce it) that and I think you would knock upto 1/5 of the size of the phone off.
Bassey wrote:Maybe when I see one in the flesh it won't look so big.
I reckon that will the case. Size is a funny thing. I'd say the Z8 is a fair bit smaller than the N95, but it doesn't look it. Its is a lot thinner which means it is more pocketable.
The issue for some people will be there isn't (yet) the same family of products as there is with S60 and SE's UIQ 3 phones so things like sat-nav, optimised bluetooth keyboard drivers, extra apps may take a while.
SE should have put UIQ3.1 on the P1 and W960 just because the new font. It's much better than that wimpy shite typeface in UIQ3.
SE won't be using UIQ 3.1 this year (at least I highly doubt it)
What's interesting is that, as Rafe notes in the article, this isn't being marketed as a smartphone. Motorola are doing exactly what Nokia has done with S60 and marketed them as mainstream phones, not even using the word "smartphone" in case that sounds too niche.
It seems like Motorola wants to make UIQ as mainstream as S60 already is, which can only be a good thing for Symbian as a whole.
Wow! You have a Sendo X!
lol, but nice one from moto, although from what I saw, the menu structure still is kind of weird (what is that "hellomoto" thing in main menu? browser?), I hope it will be user configurable...
The Sendo X was a great handset in it's time. It's was nice to see Rafe include it in this review 😉
"what is that "hellomoto" thing in main menu? browser?"
From the icon, it looks like some kind of download service, perhaps free ringtones and wallpaper.
Seems odd that my local Motorola Product Vice President said that this phone was "a dud" and would not be brought to the Asia/Asia-Pac market for that very reason.
They are instead going to bring the next iteration. And bring some variant called "Z9" to market in Australia for the Telstra 850mhz 3G platform.
Quite odd to have an UIQ without a touchsreen. In my opinion, UIQ means to have a touchscreen by definition.
Good review so far Rafe, this is the first Moto I have liked the look and spec of. I don't know about the N95 being called a beast - i'd like it to be a little bigger and heavier!
Hi, Great review very helpful, I had/have also given up on motorola completely until I heard about the Z8, Im particulary interested to know the general speed of switching between app's and using functions as earlier symbian smart phones (Including the Nokia N95) have "Once again" let me down as a sluggish function greedy smart phone.I hoping for faster crisper response on this new motorola os.
thanks
i got this phone on tuesday and took it back on thursday! battery life is poor and the software on the phone is the least intuitive software i have ever found. annoyed annoyed annoyed so i took it back and got a decent phone! shame really because i thought it was quite cool... until i owned one.
Nice review. Like the look of it, and am thinking of getting one. Does it have the 'auto answer after 2,5, .. seconds' when connected to b/tooth headset or car kit as per the V3 etc. Does it have the voice dial feature?
Great Review I received my Z8 2 days ago and im very very pleased with it.
about SE k850i, i think they'd better to use that wonderful softkey uiq interface instead of new s40ish something awful.. with its gorgeous 5mp camera this could be very nice. they missed vast number of applications. actually SE would shift all walkman and cybershot phones to that softkey uiq. at that time their hand will become more stronger than now in the competition with nokia s60. With the announcement of Z8 motorola shows they can see that😊
where does the charger plug in? Will it work in a Mecedes Benz Blue tooth UHI adapter -- a V3 one?
personally i hate this mobile for the fact that it is impossible to text with!!!!!
the key pad is horrid.....u end up with sore fingers trying to push the things they are ment to be touch sensitive... i think they lied lol!!!
if u are after the mobile for its features ie the movies then its amazin the pic quality is fab!!!!!! only thing that lets this mobile down is the size of the screen (hard to c the film) and the key pad
over all tho an ace mobile just not for sum1 thats texts alot
this phone looks amzing and everyonve thinks its cool the video quality is great a well as the clearness of the bourne identity on the phone. but i have had this phone less than a week and there are several problems if you cahrge the battery at the start of the day it will be flat by the end. also it crashes a lot and for some reason althought i have 56mb free on the phone and 129mb on the sd card when i try and play certain songs it displays an error - memory full or not ready etc. whats all that about personally there are too many faults liek this and it crashes to oftne not impressed
i have this phone and it is a really good phone you get �80 bluetooth headphones bundeld free, yes it does have a few tiny bugs but overall its a great phne amazing screen
khbgascx
I�m looking for default themes from Z8. Do you have any of users? Pls, sent me them. ICQ or email. Thx! ;o)
The phone is not too big. I had a Motorola V3, which is a small phone, the Z8 is bigger, but still fits in your trousers' pocket easily. The phone looks much better in real life than on pictures, the menus are extensive, and at first I got lost in it. But now, after having used it for a week it feels like every Motorola, even the menus look familiar. The OS is a bit unstable sometimes, I had to restart it twice last week by removing the battery. Also a new microSD card (2GB) was installed, but I could not format it for both Windows and Symbian. I still have to find out how to do that. It also produces some trouble with video and photos.
I also use the stereo bluetooth function with the package S9 head phones. It works like it should, but sometimes it loses connection, depending on what is between the phone and the headphone (myself for instance).
Calling, a function so last century for a phone, but quite essential to me, is good. Clear sound, good reception, fast searching in the contact list.
I also used the camera, but even a 2 MP camera is no match for a 6 MP Fuji S7000 camera, video is nice, but for close range only. But as an ipod, a camera, a videocamera, a media viewer, a phone and what else in one package it is OK and for a mere 450 euros you can't buy all the included equipment seperately.
Frank, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
best phone
guys, the problem is u dont charge it 4 24 hrs b4 use, so that ruins the battery life.!!!!!
and if u get it from o2 well dont!!! get it from MOTOROLA they check if it is faulty before they giv it....
yes, the keypad is bad... but motorola giv u these touch sensitive thing 2 use on it 4 only 10p!!!
my z8 is perfect, and just upgrade firmware OTA (over the air) and the applicications start up very fast indeed.
the perfect phone, and i got a mic upgrade 4 free!!!
buy it, this phone is a waste of money. I'm only 16 so I was looking for a modern state of the art mobile. Worked fine for the first couple of months but then one day it just suddenly switched itself off and wouldn't turn on. It then rebooted all the time until eventually I got it to work (until I try to charge it that is). It now takes me roughly half an hour to get the charger working on the phone due to the fact that when I plug it in, the phone suddenly drains of battery and states 'Wrong battery inserted', it will then switch off, restart and the same process will happen approximately ten times until it decides to work correctly. Phone can last a couple of days without charge if only texting, however, if a call is neccessary the battery will decrease very quickly. I've read other reviews on the internet about this phone and they all seem to have the same problem. Motorola really need to re-think the making of this phone because it's honestly driving me up the wall and I'm considering taking it back.