Motorola RIZR Z3 review

Everybody knows Motorola's RAZR family of handsets. The company has shifted millions of them worldwide, but can the latest edition – the RIZR Z3 – to the fold impress?

A lot of people have accused Motorola of putting style before substance with the RAZR family, which we have to agree with in some respects. Sure, they all look good but some do lack certain functionalities that other, often cheaper, handsets have built-in as standard.

So, will Motorola silence the critics with the RIZR Z3? Read on to find out…

The RIZR’s specification and interface is almost identical to that of the KRZR. Measuring up at 16mm thick, the RIZR is stylish enough for the biggest poser but also maintains a level of usability that some of the skinnier phones often lack.

The main advantage of the RIZR’s sliding functionality is that users are able to access the majority of the handset's features while the phone is shut. The 5-way navigation key sits in the centre of the phone while the voice commands and camera buttons are all easily accessible on the side of the RIZR.

Functions on the 2-megapixel camera are simple to use but the phone fails to feature some applications popular with mobile phone photographers, including a panoramic setting or BestPic. However, pictures are clear and the addition of a flash builds on progress made with the RAZR and KRZR.

The RIZR slides open easily with the help of a spring mechanism, the keypad instantly glows blue and the 176x220-pixel screen lights up showing the handset's navigation key shortcuts, which help speed up access to favourite features. The MP3 player on the RIZR can store up to 1000 tracks once the 20MB of internal memory is beefed up with a 1GB microSD memory card. The lack of radio is a disappointment, and one has to wonder why Motorola are still not providing what is to many a very basic necessity on a modern mobile phone.

Despite ticking all the boxes in terms of features, the RIZR lacks the wow factor that made the KRZR so popular, but despite this criticism the RIZR is a great little handset best suited for those looking to dip their toe in the ocean that is Motorola.