Motorola has hit us with not one, but two 3G turbo phones. The MOTORAZR V3xx, as the name suggests, looks and feels like the original RAZR, but of course is much faster and is now available on 3. The second and more tantalising HSDPA offering is the flagship handset, the MOTORAZR maxx V6. This was the first of the two to launch, popping up on Vodafone and following on from Moto’s V3x 3G phone.

This is where the malaise sets in. Motorola has again just tweaked its well-worn RAZR signature design on the V3x with the maxx V6. Surely its time for a design rethink Moto? Okay, the maxx V6 is a little different, sporting new blue illuminating front music touch-controls and go faster stripes, but the core of the V3x is all too plain to see.
Of the three HSDPA phones on review in this issue, the maxx is the largest. Despite being a good 5mm thinner than the V3x at 15mm, it’s still abnormally long for a clamshell design and like its 3.5G rivals, it’s quite wide. The 15mm-thick profile should make for a very trim phone, but its stretched chassis detracts from this sleekness, instead giving it a muscular feel. It’s also the heaviest of the trio, although still quite lightweight at 105g.

The maxx V6 is swathed in a soft paint finish favoured by Motorola on the recent KRZR and RIZR. It makes for a tactile phone while the front panel is fitted with a reflective glass panel that showcases the aforementioned blue illuminations that light up and flash for incoming calls and texts.

 

 

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Open up the maxx V6 and you’re welcomed by that oh-so-familiar metal-spun keypad. The layout is a little different, but it’s essentially the same as every other etched keypad Motorola’s rolled out – fantastic to handle with incredibly responsive buttons. It includes dedicated keys for accessing the web browser and making video calls.

The maxx V6 also carries Motorola’s improved user interface that’s seen its quirks and annoyances ironed out. For example, the choice of words that appear in predictive text mode now appear in the body copy for a more convenient approach, while the number of clicks to send a text has been considerably reduced. The search criteria for finding contact names is also more accurate and the voice command operation is has also been enhanced.

For the first time, Motorola has included a new Java app to configure your internet and MMS settings as well as a back-up app that lets you back up your contacts over-the-air to a Motorola server. That way, when you get your new Moto phone, you can just send over your contacts without having to input them manually all over again (visit www.motorolabackup.com for more info). Also included is another handy java app called eBay Pocket Auctions which makes searching, bidding and buying very simple on your phone.

Like the Samsung Z560, the maxx V6 is lightning fast at downloading web pages and content when it hits its HSDPA stride. If you read our review of the Samsung on page 14, you’ll know that initial HSDPA coverage will be patchy. Vodafone currently delivers 3G coverage covering 78% of the population. The network claims the majority of its 3G infrastructure has been upgraded to HSDPA and the 3.5G signal was quite strong around our London base. An Opera 8 web browser renders the pages to fit the 2.2-inch QVGA-display.

 

 

 

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The two-megapixel camera shoots in a 1600x1200-pixel resolution and is a solid performer. You can adjust the lighting conditions, exposure and style (i.e. black and white, negative etc) using the navigation pad when in capture mode, while there’s an LED light on-hand to brighten up low-level lighting environments. Sadly, it doesn’t work like a standard xenon flash, so it’s a pretty crude method with hit and miss results. The picture quality is also dismal, blighted with overblown highlights and rough contrasting.

Motorola’s past built-in music players have been pretty basic in terms of sound enhancements and this is reflected in its poor audio quality. However, the maxx V6 is given an adjustable bass boost mode to inject a bit of welly into your tunes. It does make a difference, but to really hear the songs at their best, don’t use the supplied headphones. Instead, wirelessly stream your tunes to a quality pair of A2DP headphones for better results. Also, like the Samsung Z560 and LG U830, touch-sensitive music controls appear on the front, while the music player also offers shuffle, repeat and a spatial sound mode.

A microSD card is located behind the back cover so you can store all your multimedia stuff on card with maximum 2GB cards currently available. The maxx V6 also offers 50MB of internal memory.

Surprisingly, the maxx V6 is quad-band so isn’t an international globetrotter like a lot of Moto’s other phones, but it does have a canny Aeroplane mode so you can use the phone’s non-network-based features in-flight.

The maxx V6 holds its own against the likes of the Samsung Z560 and soon-to-be HSDPA-firing LG U830 and in terms of performance and features, the maxx V6 ranks as Moto’s best phone yet. But that same old RAZR design is getting very tired indeed. So much so, that it almost doesn’t feel like a new phone at all.

Seen it all before: Not even flashing blue lights can distract us from the MOTORAZR maxx V6’s over-familiar styling.