This article is more than 1 year old

Motorola e1000 3G phone

After the A1000, can Moto get it right this time?

Pocket-Lint.co.ukReview Motorola's latest 3G phone, the e1000, is a completely different beast to the A1000 it launched on the same day. In a Jekyll and Hyde moment, Motorola has managed to produce a completely different, more positive result with this multimedia phone, writes Stuart Miles.

Motorola e1000 3G handsetIt seems that the combination of poor integration of services on the three network, a poor interface and a model that overall was confused hasn't dogged the e1000 like it did the A1000. Menu systems are simple to use, the phone's styling and size is great and overall the model is a joy to use.

The styling is very much in the Siemens SX1 school but without the annoying keypad down either side of the screen, instead these keys have been assigned to shortcuts such as starting a voice or video call, volume, browser and camera modes.

Once you're in your chosen menu or application, the controls are thrown over to a joystick that sits slightly above the unadventurous keypad (a good thing in our books). The result is that getting to the common functions and then being able to use them is quick and easy.

Unlike the A1000, the e1000's default screen actually makes sense and is fully customisable to suit your needs and because the unit does offer a touch screen, you aren't tempted to intervene with a stylus.

One quick press of the browser shortcut icon whizzes you off to the 3G services 3 put on. Porn was the strangely the first prompt, but we guess the most profitable. 3 obviously sees top-shelf titles, such as Playboy, as a great way to bring in the lad market alongside the footie scores it provides on a Saturday afternoon. Get past the smut, however, and you can download music videos, games and film trailers.

The screen isn't huge, but the quality is a lot better - 262,000 colours to the A1000's 65,535 - and the difference is certainly noted. In an attempt to make it even easier for you to watch videos you can switch the view of the screen to landscape to make full use of it and this does make viewing the videos a little more bearable.

Like the A1000, the phone sports two digital cameras to allow you to do video calling across the network. The addition of the video calling shortcut button on the side of the handset means that getting full use out of the cameras is slightly easier.

The main camera is a 1.2 megapixel affair with an 8x digital zoom. Whether it was capturing stills or video, the camera performed well in low light conditions. Other entertainment features include an MP3 player. Removable storage comes in the shape of Transflash, although you are restricted by having to remove the battery to access the external memory slot.

Verdict

Compared to Motorola's A1000, the e1000 is a gem to use. It's small, compact and dispels the belief that 3G phones have to be big and clunky. More to the point, all the features that you would want from a multimedia phone are here, including Bluetooth, a 262,000-colour screen and a 1.2 megapixel camera. Even the integration of 3's 3G services has been well done on this model.

What we find so strange then, is the complete difference between the two models. While we understand that they are supposedly aimed at different markets, the difference between them is so surprising that you wouldn't believe they came from the same manufacturer.

Motorola e1000
 
Rating 80%
 
Pros — Service integration; size; features.
 
Cons — Non-standard removable storage.
 
Price From £0, depending on tariff
 
More info The Motorola website
The 3 website

Recent Reviews

Voq Pro smart phone
HTC 'Blue Angel' Wi-Fi PocketPC phone
Evesham Axis Xcelsior Athlon 64 4000+ PC
Pentax Optio X digicam
Sony Ericsson V800 3G handset
Vodafone Blackberry 7100v

More about

More about

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like