Motorola V980 3G Mini Phone Review

[3Man]

Motorola V980 3G Mini Phone Review

Note : This review is written by an editorial member of 3G staff for the readers of www.3G.co.uk and for the members of the 3G Forum. A full list of 3G Phone Reviews by phone manufacturer and date order can be found here http://www.3g.co.uk/3GPhoneReviews.htm.



Specification Details

Size 94 x 49 x 27 mm
Weight 137 grams
Volume 105 cc
Battery Li-ion 820 mAh
Talktime 2 hours
Standby 145 hours
Video 70 mins
Memory Memory : 2 MB
SD Card SD Card : 32MB
Int Screen 1.9 inch display ( 176 x 220 TFT )
Ext Screen 1 inch CLI display ( 96x80 Color STN )
Camera VGA Integrated digital camera VGA (outer), CIF internal (turned towards your face for videocalls)
Antenna External
Message MMS /Email
Browser xHTML
Player MP3
Bluetooth NO
InfraRed NO
Video Supports MPEG4, WMV, WMA, MP3, AAC, MIDI and XMF multi-media files
Vib Alert Vib Alert
Speaker 16mm polyphonic speaker (24 voice polyphony, 16 channels)
Java Java MIDP 2.0



Phone overview

The Motorola V980 is available exclusively on the Vodafone 3G network. It was announced in October 2004 and has been in shops since December, 2004.

My first impression of the Motorola V980 was that it looked to me like a girls phone. Sorry, but that was my first thought.



The antenna on this phone seems to make the handset appear much bigger than it actually is. I dislike external antennas and this is why. Its also an eyesore.

Looking at the on-board cameras you can switch from one to the other at the touch of a button.

The unit is loaded with a VGA digital camera with 4x zoom for instant picture taking and 2-way video calling.

Video calling picture quality is AOK but the photography standard is what can only be described as poor.

Memory stacks up at 2 MB with a 32 MB TransFlash card supplied with the phone and up to 256 MB additional capacity which you would buy.

You also get the SD Card adaptor which allows for connection to anything that takes an SD Card.

Oops here we go. The battery will last maybe 48 hours even when the phone is being used moderately - so you should learn all those battery saving tricks early on. Read the manual as necessary.

For your listening pleasure, the Motorola V980 comes equipped with an integrated MP3 player.

Summary and Score

This review covers the Motorola V980 only and does not address the performance of the Vodafone 3G Network. The score is based on a checklist developed by Kevin Thomas of www.3G.co.uk.

The Motorola V980 could well be classed as a girls phone. It also has a large external antenna.

Its overall looks and feel places the phone in the "Unexciting" category. Looking at the pros and cons listed on the right the cons outweigh the pros.

Its a pity but this phone ain't got the X-factor in any shape or form. Don't get me wrong its a perfectly capable phone but there are much better 3G phones around than this one.

Pros

3G Handset
TransFlash card included

Cons

Looks like a girls phone
Poor camera quality
No Bluetooth
No Infrared

Kevin Thomas scores the Vodafone V980

Performance 83 out of 100
Looks 81 out of 100
Features 84 out of 100
Usability 86 out of 100
Overall Score 84 out of 100



This review covers the above mobile phone only and does not address the performance of any 3G Network. The score is based on a 3G mobile phone checklist.

Copyright : You are advised that this material is the copyright of www.3G.co.uk and is our own personal view only. (C) All rights reserved 2005. Whist every care has been taken in the preparation of this review, the author nor 3G.co.uk cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or authenticity of the information it contains, or consequence arising from it.