Motorola Motorizr 3: Cell Phone for the Masses

As someone who's just moved up to a Blackberry(HELP!), I enjoyed my almost two years of service with the Motorola Motorizr Z3. Several years ago, I switched over to T-Mobile, and got a ultra thin Samsung phone that had a lot of bells and whistles. Unfortunately, it had problems receiving and making calls all of the time, so I decided to go to the store I bought it at, and thankfully they agreed to switch it out for the Z3. It was so frustrating, but thankfully I had immediately improved service with the Motorola, and it rarely let me down, until the past month or so. There were a variety of reasons for this, and while it still worked very well, a lot of this could be attributed to my rough treatment of it.

Over the years, I have to confess, that I haven't treated my cellphones properly. There have been drops on the pavement, skiing accidents, and even a unfortunate drop in the toilet that killed one of them. My job requires a phone to be durable as well, and I can say that this is the one aspect, where the Z3 shined above all of the others. This phone took a lot of punishment over its almost two years with me, so for durability, I haveto give this phone model a lot of credit. If you are accident prone, or work in tough conditions, this is the ultimate phone to consider.

The Z3 is nothing fancy, and isn't a "pretty phone" that's going to get a lot of compliments. Its a sliding telephone, as it goes up or down, with the simple flick of your thumb. Other digits don't allow you to slide it as easily, but with a thumb its no problem whatsoever. It glides with relative ease, but unlike a flip phone, you are going to make some accidental calls. T-Mobile recently has been airing commercials about your "butt making telephone calls", and I can attest to having this issue with the Z3. Its supposed to lock, but that doesn't always happen. There's an option when you slide it up that says unlock, and you click on the button OK to release this feature. Sometimes, it doesn't work as advertised, but that's a minor gripe.

Phone call reception is incredible on this, and the clarity is the best I've ever had. I don't have the best hearing in the world, due to attending heavy metal concerts as a youth, and the volume controls on this allow you to really crank up the noise. The reception speaker is up on the top, which is located perfectly to bring up to your ears, and the transmit speaker is ergonimically correct as well. This might not be a problem for most, but as a person with a big head that makes some wonder how I get my t-shirt over it, it is a useful feature. Some smaller phones require a bit of a struggle!

The buttons have enough space, to allow you to dial out numbers without jumbling them up. The numbers on each are quite large, and as someone who texts a fair amount, that is appreciated. For texting you shouldn't have any issues with this phone, as the Z3 offers a variety of formats. I like the last one, which is accessed by hitting the *key, and you can make spaces with relative ease, that sometimes can be a pain with other phones. Sending and receiving texts is a breeze, as you are alerted to new messages, and can access them by hitting okay to read them as soon as they are delivered.

You can change your ringtones with the settings option, which allows you to configure your phone to your liking. Of course, as a T-Mobile customer, you can pick various rings with their T-Zones. For those who don't want the latest songs from the Eels, there are enough ring tones already included, that you won't have to worry about this option. You can also put it on vibrate option, which scared the living daylights out of me the first time. This might be the best vibrate of any phone I've had, and its led to quite a few laughs as other people have heard me buzzing from considerable distance away. If this is an issue for you, it can be set to silent operation, but that is a pain if you miss an important phone call.

If you want to browse the net, it is possible with this phone, but it is limited compared to other higher tech devices. There is a game included that allows you to play a trial version of pool, that's a slight bit of fun when you are really bored. I like having the calculator and date planner option, as well as the alarm clock that's been set to wake me up from a working time nap. Its loud enough to get you up before the boss catches you. There's also a world clock on there, so you can figure out what time it is in exotic locales like Beijing or Tehran.

The camera option is a bit weak, for supposedly having two megapixels. Its easy enough to use, with the camera feature in the menu, but most of my pictures have been fuzzy. In addition, the flash doesn't work well in low light settings, so it should only be used if you could care less about getting that portrait at a scenic place. It has a video option that allows you to take short films, but I found this to be basically worthless, as the footage is also fuzzy and not up to today's standards. You can save these on the phone, but space is fairly limited, with only about twenty pics allowed to be kept. You can of course, make these into wallpaper, and there's nothing like my dog's ugly face being on there.

The screen itself has decent capabilities, and can deliver fairly stunning pictures from your wallpaper account. Its brightness is perfect in low light conditions, and anyone can see its large lettering options to find what they are looking for. This has actually helped as my backup flashlight on a couple of occasions, but I wouldn't recommend it as a camping device or to be used while spelunking. The pixel quality is 176x220 on Motorola's spec sheet, and I do like its vibrant colors. You can also change the settings so it will say whatever you want it to, when you turn it on. I won't tell you what I had, because it couldn't be printed here!

The phone is not that small,but most will find it just right for a pocket, purse, or on a hip clip. It only weighs in at 3.9 ounces, so you barely know its there. Its about three inches in height, and has a width of around one inch in diameter. While this might be large compared to those credit card sized models, this extra size does give it that level of durability, and the screen has been dropped with no cracks or other issues. That alone is worth having the extra size and girth, since a phone is expensive to replace.

As for battery life, I've been very impressed with this. If you give it an overnight charge, you can expect about five hours of talk time, and a couple of days standby. It does give you a large window for a warning, as the battery indicator turns red, and it chirps to let you know its about ready to run out of juice. Even with heavy usage, I've noticed no decaying of this capability, but if you do a lot of video and camera functions, this time is going to drop a bit. One thing I do appreciate, is if you give it a quick charge, it usually at least lasts a couple of hours, unlike some of my previous phones that would die without a full break.

This was a great phone for me, and although I've moved up to something more technologically advanced, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this one for anyone. It would be a fantastic product for those who just want basic functions, and for those that drop phones at a drop of a hat. In addition, its loud volume allows anyone to be able to hear a phone call clearly, and its not had any signal problems that I've experienced with other models. You can get this phone for a reasonable price now, as it is a bit on the older side. I do like my new phone a lot, but this one will always have a special spot in my heart, due to its unquestioned reliability and continued service, after its rather tough life.