The 2-megapixel camera takes pictures in four resolutions (from 1,600x1,200 down to 320x240) and three quality settings. Other options include a 4x zoom, a night mode, an adjustable exposure, four lighting conditions, a multishot option, six color tones, and six shutter sounds (plus a silent option). You can tag photos as well and use the self-timer. Meanwhile, the camcorder shoots clips with sound in two resolutions (176x144 and 128x96) and three quality settings. Editing options are similar to the still camera. Clips meant for multimedia messages are capped at 24 seconds but you can shoot for much longer in the normal mode.
Though the camera offers you quite a few options, we have a few gripes with the photo quality. When the lighting mode was set to "automatic," the photo quality was overexposed with way too much light. When set to "manual," the lighting was improved but even then the colors were dull and our images were fuzzy with too much noise. Video quality wasn't any better, unfortunately. The Tundra would not be our choice for a camera phone.
Besides the generous 100MB of internal memory, the Tundra also offers a microSD card slot that can accommodate cards up to 8GB. It's stashed behind the battery cover; although it's not the most ideal location, it's not surprising on a rugged phone.
You can personalize the Tundra with a variety of wallpaper, clock styles, themes, and alert tones. You can download more options from AT&T's Media Net service with the WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser. The Tundra comes with demo versions of five games: Tetris, Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man, Brain Challenge, Jewel Quest 2, and Midnight Pool 3D. You can buy the full versions and additional titles from AT&T. And for even more fun, the Tundra has trial apps for YellowPages.com, Mobile Banking, MobiTV, and My-Cast 5 Weather.
Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) Motorola Tundra world phone in San Francisco and Las Vegas using AT&T service. The Tundra is one of the first Moto phones to feature the manufacturer's CrystalTalk Plus, which adds a second microphone on the phone's rear side. Along with the primary microphone, it cancels out background noise to enable you to hear your caller, even in a noisy environment.
When we tested the feature at CES in a special noise booth, we could hear callers quite plainly. Likewise, we also enjoyed fantastic call quality in San Francisco. Voices sounded natural, the audio was loud and clear, and we had no static or interference. Indeed, the Tundra's call quality is the highlight. It does exactly what a phone should do, and does it well. It is compatible with M3 and T3 hearing aids.
The Tundra's HSDPA connection remained pretty strong for downloads and Web browsing. Cellular Videos loaded in about 10 seconds on average, and the quality was better than many AT&T phones with little pixelation or distortion. The sound also matched the video most of the time. On a few instances, though, videos did pause to rebuffer with a noticeable lag between audio and video.
The Tundra has a rated battery life of 5 hours talk time and 14 days standby time. We had a tested talk time of 4 hours and 16 minutes. According to FCC radiation tests, the Tundra has an rating of 1.36 watts per kilogram.
What You'll Pay
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