The Motorola Rizr Z3: Average Phone Makes Cool Fashion Accessory

When the time came for me to get my discounted upgrade for my T-Mobile phone, I eagerly shelled out $50 for the Motorola Rizr. This slider version of the ever popular Razr looked slick and full of really compelling features. Here's my review of the Moto Rizr Z3 I received from T-Mobile.

Hardware Design
Obviously, a huge part of the appeal the Rizr is the hardware design, and it really is very appealing. The thin design is complemented by the spring assisted sliding motion, which feels nice and solid under your thumb. The keypad that is revealed is the familiar laser-etched design, with rubberized key dividers that keep you from hitting wrong buttons. Convenient buttons are located on the left side of the phone to quickly adjust the ringer and call volume. Another button on the left side is a customizable shortcut button that be mapped to multiple functions. The screen is vibrant and bright...great for looking at photos you've taken with the camera or short video clips. Overall, the hardware seems very solid, though I was disappointed when the cover for center button on the navigation pad fell off. It's still usable now, but I kind of have to press it with the very tip of my finger. Because of this, hardware design only gets 4 out of 5 stars.

The Camera
The included 2 megapixel camera let you take picture that are of sufficient quality to have printed, though they won't be stunning by any means. More often than not pictures come out a little blury, especially in low-light conditions. The good news is that the Rizr comes equipped with a bright light (not a flash) that helps alleviate the problem. There's no mirror for self portraits on the back, so getting a good one is a trial and error process. The video camera is of course subpar when compared to a dedicated digital video recorder, but it does the job well for short clips. The included 128 megabyte mini SD card lets you carry a respectable amount of photos and video. The camera gets a very average 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Included Software/User Interface
A user interface makes or breaks a phone. It should be simple, intuitive, and not get in the way of what I want to do. My first issue is that everything just seems slow. Motorola is obviously pushing their processor to limit with multimedia features they've loaded on this unit, but it's not just navigating your photos that's painful. Just sending a text message is annoying...I'll frequently have stop pressing keys to let the software catch up. To make matters worse, the "mp3 player" is little more than the most basic of java applications. It feels clunky and has zero options for tweaking the sound. There's no option to customize the shortcut menu...that's so frustrating for a phone power user! T-Mobile has also altered the default configuration so that whenever a third party application (Gmail mobile, for instance) attempts to access your data plan, is asks for permission. Every. Single. Time. Not just when you start the app. Every time is refreshes your inbox. Every time you open a new message. It kills me. It didn't take me long to find out from Customer Service that there is no way to turn off this behavior or give permanent permission to an application to access the web. This is NOT how the phone is shipped from Motorola...T-Mobile adds this little "security measure" themselves. I find it to be supremely invasive and annoying. UI and software gets 2 out of 5 stars.

Battery Life
The battery life is actually pretty good. I easily get 4 hours of talk time, with at least a full day and half of standby. I usually go 2 days without recharging, sometimes even 3 if I'm not on the phone much. It's just as good as any phone I've ever had, if not better. 5 out 5 stars.

Reception/Call Quality
Call quality is fantastic and clear. I've only rarely had to deal with a dropped call due to poor service. It seems to pick up signal much better than my previous Nokia phone in the same area. The speaker phone is nice and clear, though not super loud. People on the other end of my calls often tell me how well the microphone seems to pick up, and how clear my voice sounds. I give it 5 out 5 stars in this area.

Conclusions
The Moto Rizr is a great fashion accessory...it looks fantastic. But there are quality issues with both the hardware and user interface design, so if you need things like durability, easy-to-use software, and moderate degree of customizability, you'll need to look elsewhere. Still, great call quality and respectable battery life bring the average score for this review up to 3.7 out 5 stars.