Motorola A668

Touted as Motorola's smallest 1.2-megapixel camera-phone, the A668 is well worth its weight. Proving that powerful features can be stuffed into a small package, this offering packs a mean punch in terms of functionality.

Design
Looking at the A668, the word "compact" comes to mind. Available in frosted silver or licorice black, the handset clocks in as one of the smallest clamshells around. The top cover of the phone houses a 96 x 64-pixel color display along with the camera lens and flash. Silverish volume and voice controls line both sides of the handset, with the speaker at the back. Weighing a featherlight 90g, the A668 feels firm and sturdy.

Flipping open the clamshell reveals an impressive 128 x 160-pixel, 262K-color display. Bright and vibrant, the LCD does a good job of displaying sharp and crisp graphics.

The menu system consists of cute little icons that animate when selected. A four-way directional joypad and central button allow for easy navigation. Keypad buttons are well spaced-out, giving ample feedback when pressed. Generally, the user interface is intuitive.

Features
Stuffed into the A668's little shell is a surprisingly large number of functions, the most notable innovation being Motorola's new handwriting recognition technology. When activated, users can finger-wrlte text characters on the numerical keypad much like that on a PDA touchscreen. This system recognizes English, Chinese and Thai handwriting, with a helpful tutorial to guide first-time users. While the concept is impressive, the implementation is somewhat of a mixed bag. The accuracy of the software is excellent especially for complicated Chinese characters. However, because of the time needed to recognize each individual input, texting in English is slower than using the usual T9.

The A668 features a 1.2-megapixel camera, good for taking up to 1,280 x 960-pixel snapshots. For photo junkies, the phone also includes a host of imaging options: Onboard flash, continuous or composite multishot capabilities, twilight mode, self-timer, white balance and effects. Pictures taken seem a little grainy and lack sharpness when compared with other megapixel camera-phones. It takes up to 5 seconds to capture and store an image, limiting its point-and-shoot capabilities. Users can also choose to record videos with MPEG-4 compression.

In the sound department, the A668's 64-chord polyphonic MIDI speakers do a good job of playing clear, loud ringtones. MP3 playback isn't supported, though.

The biggest problem we had was with the phone's paltry 8MB memory without an expansion slot. We found ourselves running out of space after taking a few megapixel-sized pictures. Users will either have to use the multimedia functions sparingly or transfer frequently into their laptops and desktops to free more space. Furthermore, without Bluetooth or infrared capabilities, users are limited to using the included data cable or via GPRS.

Another issue we had with the A668 was its slow processor speed. Java applications took a fair amount of time to load and run.

Reception, Battery Life And SAR
We had no problems with the unit in terms of reception and signal quality. Battery life peaked at three days on normal usage. The USB cable also charged the phone battery while syncing data, which is a nice touch.

The highest Specific Absorption Rate recorded on the A668 was 0.7W/kg, which is within international SAR guidelines.

Conclusion
At S$398 (US$293.03) with a two-year plan and S$598 (US$440.28) without contract, the A668 is an interesting combination of style and function. While the feature set is impressive, the miserable memory storage and lack of expansion options severely limit its usefulness. Nevertheless, if you are able to manage the memory conservatively, the A668 is a decent performer.