Motorola E1000

It’s not easy being one of the first 3G-capable mobile phones to appear in the Singapore market. Besides having to suitably represent the high-speed, video-streaming service, the phone must also prove itself as a capable mobile. Thankfully the Motorola E1000 didn't do 3G or the company any disservice with an impressive showing.

Design
Even though it won’t win any awards for looks, the Motorola E1000 does sport a trendy design with various shades of black and silver and a matt grey battery cover in a candy-bar form factor. Two cameras--the rear one being paired with a flash--are located front and back at the top of the handset. At 114 x 52 x 23mm and 140g, the phone is longer and heavier than other 3G models like the LG U8100 and Nokia 6630. Coupled with sturdy and well-built construction, the E1000 is a solid-looking handset that is catered more towards male users.

With a 240 x 320-pixel, 260K-color TFT LCD screen, icons and menus generally look sharp on the E1000. The Motorola's display may not as bright as those found on Samsung models such as the SGH-E800, but we have no problems viewing the screen under bright sunlight.

At first glance, the Motorola E1000 looks similar to the Siemens SX1, with eight shortcut buttons lined up on either side of the display for volume control, video or voice calls, Web browsing and camera access, among other functions. Though users may initially gasp at the sheer number of buttons, they eventually do add to the convenient functionality of the phone. The central joystick is awkwardly positioned between the numerical keys 2 and 5, making them harder to press. Fortunately, all the individual keys are generally responsive and thoughtfully contoured with ridges for a more tactile feel.

Features
At heart, the E1000 is a triband mobile phone with many features like datebook, calculator, alarm, MMS, Java and customizable shortcuts for soft keys and directional presses on the joystick. Motorola’s iTap T9 predictive input makes SMS messaging fairly intuitive and also provides educated guesses for the user to complete the word by simply pressing up on the joypad.

The E1000 comes with both Bluetooth and USB connectivity for transfer of files between the handset and the PC. Infrared is, however, missing, which will be an inconvenience for owners who currently depend on it.

Along with the 3G tag comes great expectancy and for the most part the E1000 didn't disappoint. It comes with two onboard cameras, one on each side of the phone. During video conferencing, the user can toggle between the use of the two cameras to display a self-portrait or an external view to the other party. A picture-in-picture function allows the user to see what the other caller sees via a reduced box on the lower left of the screen.

The Motorola also offers a useful landscape orientation mode which allows content such as video streams from an online news portal or movie download site to be viewed in full screen. While video occasionally breaks up with noticeable lag of a few seconds during conversations, we cannot pinpoint whether it is due to limitations of the 3G network or the handset itself. On the downside, the 144 x 176-pixel video clips are too small to be considered viewable on the PC.

This Motorola offering comes with a rear 1.2-megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom and LED flash, while the front façade contains a 352 x 288-pixel imager. The photos taken at maximum resolution are decent in quality and should easily suffice as casual snapshots. However they do lack a little sharpness and color saturation, so don’t expect the E1000 to replace your digital camera.

The E1000 comes further equipped with multimedia goodies such as MP3 playback with 3D surround sound. Given the stellar sound quality of previous Motorola offerings like the E680, it comes as no surprise that this newest number packs an audible punch with its impressive melodies. Speakerphone quality is good and sufficiently loud except in noisy environments. MP3 stereo playback is excellent with the supplied earphones and you can set separate playlists for their songs along with shuffle and repeat modes. Motorola also claims that the E1000 supports 3D gaming. However, such content are still in the works so we are currently unable to test this feature.

With only 16MB of usable internal storage space, Motorola has opted for the relatively new TransFlash media as an expansion option. While this media boasts a miniature form factor, it is currently not as commonly used as other formats and adds yet another dilemma for users struggling with many different storage options. Plus, the TransFlash card cannot be hot-swapped because it is located beneath the phone battery.

Reception, Battery Life And SAR
We had no problems with reception or voice quality and clarity. The 810mAh battery only lasted for slightly less than two days on moderate usage. Even though the abundance of multimedia features will understandably drain the battery faster, we would still have liked to at least have two days of continuous usage without recharging.

The highest Specific Absorption Rate value of the 2600 is 0.88W/kg which is within international SAR guidelines.

Conclusion
The E1000 retails at a price of S$648 (US$477.09) with a two-year plan which is the lowest priced among the models currently available in Singapore (see our earlier feature on 3G phones here). All in all, the Motorola E1000 offers a good blend of video technology and phone capabilities which should appeal to early adopters hungry for a reasonably priced 3G phone.