Motorola V303

Although it was Motorola that popularized clamshells with its StarTAC series in the mid-1990s, it has been overshadowed by Korean rival Samsung in recent years. Now, Motorola attempts a comeback with its latest folded models such as the V600 and the V303 reviewed here.

Design
The V303 looks chunky at first glance but it's only slightly bigger than the popular X70 clamshell from Panasonic. This silver bivalve sports a blue metallic grille that blends into the whole look nicely. Tipping the scale at 122g, this triband handset is a little on the heavy side.

Thanks to the folded design, there's ample room for the inclusion of a well-spaced keypad that provides good tactile feel for texting. The extra real estate is also put to good use as Motorola planted a brilliant 176 x 220-pixel TFT that outputs 65K colors. Compared with the more common 128 x 160 variant, the extra resolution greatly benefits Chinese texters as characters appear crispier. While the internal TFT is top-notched, the same cannot be said for the paltry external LCD. At 96 x 32 pixels, it merely displays the time and caller's name.

The onboard VGA camera resides on the top left of the front facade near the hinge. You can better frame your objects with 4x digital zoom, although the results appear somewhat grainy. Motorola fails to provide a night mode and photo light so you're restricted to photo captures in well-lit areas.

The mobile company has done some work in the user interface department so now you've the flexibility to display in grid or list style. In list mode, you can press the corresponding number assigned to the function to make a selection quickly. Strangely, you aren't offered this convenience in grid mode.

Features
The V303 reproduces 24-chord polyphony and MP3 ringtones with loudness and clarity. Together with the lively vibration mode, you're unlike to miss any calls. The 22KHz speaker on this phone proves to be a boon when using the handsfree speakerphone.

You can tag images to your phonebook entries for easy identification when someone calls. Ironically, this feature is quite useless as it doesn't work on the external monochrome display and it's impractical to keep the clamshell open all the time.

Due to the absence of infrared and Bluetooth, images captured will need to be shared via MMS or a desktop with optional cable. Unfortunately, the connectivity software and cable are both not included in the package. If you're someone who tweaks your phone frequently, you may want to purchase the data suite, else you'll need to fall back on WAP for customization.

While Motorola's iTap predictive text input isn't as intuitive as T9, this latest version is much improved and has the ability to stroll through the list of suggested words. Texting in Chinese is swift as the engine works similar to most other makes. One nice touch is the phone's ability to prune older messages automatically, saving you the hassle of housekeeping.

The V303 also comes preloaded with PIM functions such as calculator, scheduler and voice memo to assist in your daily routines.

Reception, Battery Life And SAR
During our test period, the V303 consistently registered strong signals while no problems with the reception or voice quality were encountered. Powered by a 650mAh cell, this Motorola is good enough for about two days of moderate usage.

The highest Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value recorded for this model was 0.93W/kg, which meets international requirements concerning exposure to radio waves.

Conclusion
At a retail price of S$398 (US$286.43) with a two-year contract and S$598 (US$430.37) without plan, the V303 represents good value for a midrange phone if the heft and lack of Bluetooth don't bother you too much.

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