As mentioned in my profile, I'm a sophomore in high school. Therefore I look for certain features in the phones I buy. My phone has to have texting, a camera, instant messaging, and an mp3 player. My opinion on a phone is influenced by these four things.
My past phones include, in order, the Samsung x495, the Motorola MPx220, and now the Motorola RIZR Z3.
The Samsung was a basic cell phone that got me used to how the machines worked. The MPx220 was a Smartphone, so that raised my standards for cell phone shopping. Sadly, I couldn't afford another Smartphone when upgrading so I went with the RIZR.
I had been against slider phones until I purchased this sleek navy blue one.
It has eleven buttons on the front:
- Up, down, left and right
- Middle “Select” key
- Left and right soft keys
- Call/Hang up keys
- T-Zones web browser key
- Clear key
There are five on the sides:
- Volume up/down controls (Left)
- Smart key (Left)
- Speech recognition key (Right)
- Camera key (Right)
There are two indicating lights on the front, one for charging and one for Bluetooth use. For easier opening, a protruding bar has been placed between the screen and the buttons.
Features
As for features, the RIZR includes the basics such as a calculator, datebook, games, ringtones, alarm, phonebook, and so on. When it comes to the fun things, there is Bluetooth, PC syncing, a web browser, mp3 player, 2 megapixel camera, instant messaging (AIM, MSN, and Yahoo), a video camera, and speech recognition. It has a memory card slot for MicroSD cards. I currently use a 1GB card and don't plan on upgrading since it holds what I need.
Pros
With my other two phones, the number pads made it hard to text. However, the RIZR, once mastered, becomes a great tool for texting and typing. It has the iTAP feature which I don't use, but many others do. It's basically predictive typing where it types your words for you. I prefer typing it all out myself but that's just me. As for the camera, I feel like the pictures come out nice and clearly, but should stay on the phone. Once placed on the computer, they become blurry. Don't use this camera as your only means of photography. The Speech Recognition is a neat tool that allows you to call and use other features through only your voice. The phone is lightweight and easy to slide open. It locks when not in use and offers easy and quick access to all important programs. The phone can also be connected to your computer for transfer of music, photos, and applications. This same plug can be used for charging the phone.
Cons
This phone isn't perfect, I can tell you that. As with other non-Sidekick phones, the instant messaging is delayed significantly. From my experiences, it takes about fifteen to twenty seconds for someone on a computer to receive an instant message sent from my phone. Another con - you can't change the soft key menus. They are stuck on “Shortcuts” and “Main Menu”. A pretty annoying part of the phone is that the memory card is placed inconveniently under the battery cover and the SIM card is under the memory card! To remove the SIM card, you have to remove both the memory card AND the phone's battery. Not a great rating here. Also, all but one of the owners of the RIZR that I have seen have had problems with their middle “Select” key. It keeps falling off because the sticky material under it becomes worn. However, these are the only major cons the phone has that I have noticed.
Overall
In general, I would recommend this phone to a friend because of its creative and sleek style that seems to attract attention and because it has the features I need and serves my purposes well. I would, however, upgrade to the z10 if I had the chance. Out of a 10, I rate the Moto RIZR Z3 an 8.
