Motorola Razr V3m - red (Sprint)

Reviewed by

Kent German

on 12/01/2006

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The 1.3-megapixel camera lets you take pictures in three resolutions (Verizon's Razr V3m had five choices); you also can choose from three color effects, a digital zoom, three quality settings, brightness and white balance controls, a self-timer, three fun frames, and six shutter sounds (plus a silent option). The camcorder records 30-second videos with sound while offering a similar set of editing options. You can save your work to the phone's 23MBof shared memory but we suggest using a Micro SD card (our review phone came with a 64MB card). Like the Verizon model, the Sprint Razr V3m took decent photos. Colors and object outlines were clear, though images overall were slightly washed out

The Sprint Razr V3m took acceptable photos.

As an EV-DO phone, the Sprint Razr V3m is compatible with the carrier's Power Vision streaming video service and its Sprint Music store for music downloads to the onboard digital music player. Further, you get Sprint's On Demand service for access to a host of information such as news headlines, sports scores, and weather updates personalized for your zip code. Generally, we're more partial to Sprint's EV-DO offerings than to Verizon's, and this phone is no exception.

You can personalize the Sprint Razr V3m with a variety of screensavers, color themes, and sounds. You can always buy more options and more ring tones from Sprint with the WAP 2 wireless Web browser. The phone comes with demo versions only of four Java (J2ME) games (Zuma, Midnight Bowling, Pac-Man, and Tetris). You'll have to buy the full versions for extended play.

We tested the dual-band (CDMA 800/1900; EV-DO) Razr V3m in San Francisco using Sprint's service. Call quality was satisfactory and comparable to the Verizon Razr V3m. There was a trace more static in the background, but it wasn't enough to lose the phone points. As with most members of the Razr family, the sound could be louder, but the volume level is improved over the Razr V3. On their end, callers said we sounded natural and that they could hear us plainly without any interference. The Razr speakerphones aren't the greatest in our opinion, and the Razr V3m suffers from the same scratchy quality. We had to speak close to the phone in order to be heard, but we enjoyed decent volume on our end.

Sprint coverage in our area was quite good, and we never had a problem getting a signal. EV-DO coverage also was strong, even in buildings, but it diminished when we tested to the fringes of the urban area. Overall, the streaming video quality was decent, and the videos looked good on the phone's display. There was a fair amount of pixelation during quick fades and fast onscreen movement, but we had a better experience than on the Samsung SPH-M500 and the Sanyo SCP-8300, two of Sprint's most recent EV-DO handsets. On the other hand, sound quality wasn't spectacular. Though voices matched the speakers' mouths, the audio was somewhat harsh. Music quality was about the same, though it seemed a bit louder and is perfectly serviceable for such stints. Yet it's worth noting that instead of stereo sound, the Sprint Razr V3m uses a single speaker on the back of the phone. A stereo headset was an improvement, but keep in mind that like all Razrs, Sprint's phone uses a proprietary jack.

Due to the EV-DO capability, we enjoyed fast downloads and Web browsing. But the phone itself was somewhat sluggish when opening and closing between applications. It was common to have to wait a few seconds when opening and navigating through the menus

The Motorola Razr V3m for Sprint has a rated talk time of 3.2 hours and a rated standby time of 8.3 days. According to FCC radiation tests, the Sprint Razr V3m has a digital SAR rating of 1.41 watts per kilogram.