Motorola Razr V3i Dolce & Gabbana (T-Mobile)

CNET Editors' Rating 6.6/10 Good Editorial policies >>
Average user rating from 15 users 7.1/10 Very good Read user opinions >>

Product Summary

The good: The Motorola Razr V3i Dolce & Gabbana is an eye-catching slim cell phone with Bluetooth, a speakerphone, a memory card slot, and world-phone support.

The bad: The Motorola Razr V3i Dolce & Gabbana lacks iTunes support, and call quality and music player performance could be improved. Also, we were hoping for EDGE compatibility.

The bottom line: With mixed performance and a standard feature set, the Motorola Razr V3i Dolce & Gabbana ultimately is a design-first phone.

Specs: Band / mode: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (Quadband); Talk time: Up to 400 min; Combined with: With digital camera / digital player See full specs >>

Price range: $289.99

See all products in the Motorola Razr series

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: Kent German
Reviewed on: 10/27/2006

If you think the trendy Motorola Razr doesn't try hard enough to be stylish, Motorola is on a serious quest to prove you're wrong. The company that started the thin phone revolution and gave the world the first gadget in bright pink has partnered with Dolce & Gabbana to produce a special blinged-out version of the Motorola Razr V3i for T-Mobile.

A perfect cell phone for anyone with the Midas touch, the Razr V3i D&G is clad in a bright gold skin and features D&G-themed wallpapers and ring tones. The feature set and basic form factor unchanged form the original gray V3i; this is a phone for fashionistas rather than gadget-fiends. As with the all D&G couture, you'll pay a lot for the privilege--$400 to be exact--but T-Mobile offers it for $299 with service.

The Razr V3i D&G makes a big statement.

The V3i D&G strikes a pose from the moment you get out the box. The shiny gold skin is truly unique and is sure to catch glances on the street. The color scheme extends to the inside of the phone as the navigation array, the keypad buttons and the border surrounding the internal display are covered in the same bright hue. You also get a gold D&G dangle that attaches to your handset, and the box is covered in gold as well. It may be a bit much for those with a more understated style, but slaves to fashion should be impressed.

Otherwise, the V3i D&G is no different from previous members of the Razr family. It sports the same dimensions as its V3i siblings (3.9 x 2.1 x 0.54 inches) and the same weight (3.5 ounces). The external and internal displays, the navigation controls and the keypad are similar as well.

The V3i's feature set is mostly unchanged, except for one big difference. Unlike Cingular's V3i, this V3i does not come with integrated support for iTunes. While we're not fans of the iTunes/Motorola marriage, support for Apple's popular service was one of the unique offerings on the original V3i, and it was a feature many people looked for. Unfortunately, T-Mobile owners will have to live with Motorola's generic music player instead. Otherwise the feature set is good, but not fantastic. Among the highlights are Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a digital music player with support for iTunes, Bluetooth, a MicroSD card slot, a speakerphone, basic organizer functions, text and multimedia messaging, and support for IMAP4 and POP3 e-mail.

For even more bling, the phone comes with themed D&G wallpapers, screen savers and ring tones. And for a really-over-the-top effect, the handset says "Dolce & Gabbana" when you turn it on and off. Overall the V3I D&G is a goldmine (pardon the pun) for high-end label lovers. Unfortunately, there are no D&G games. You get just three Java (J2ME) titles: Asphalt Urban GT, Bejewled, and Solitaire.

We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; GPRS) world phone in San Francisco using T-Mobile's service. Call quality was about the same as on the original V3i. Overall, audio quality was fine, but volume was low and voices sounded fuzzy from to time. Again, we were disappointed in the lack of no support for EDGE networks. Music quality wasn't stellar either, but it's passable for short stints. See our review of the original Razr V3i for a full performance assessment.

See more CNET content tagged:: Motorola Razr,; T-Mobile,; Motorola Inc.,; music player,; Apple iTunes

User opinions

7.1/10 Average user rating from 15 users Very good

WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEW How would you rate this product?

3/10 Poor May 1, 2008

by ntdog22 (see profile)

"Horrible..........Never Ever EVER get this phone or any razr" Read more >>
6/10 Good April 3, 2007

by commissar2142 (see profile)

"Not exactly worth it..." Read more >>
8/10 Excellent August 18, 2006

by sarahpod (see profile)

"All around great phone!! Bling Bling$$" Read more >>
WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEW See all 15 user opinions >>