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By Antonio Tan
Jan 12, 2006

Sporting a similar form factor as the SLVR L7, the L6 is actually a watered-down version of the former, targeted at those who want a slim yet functional phone. Measuring just 10.9mm, the L6 is 3mm thinner than the super-sleek RAZR V3 and possibly one of the slimmest handsets in the market today. However, as with all things sporting miniature dimensions, the triband cellular is not without its tradeoffs.

Design
Thin was the word that came to mind when we first saw Motorola's candy-bar L6. At 113 x 49 x 10.9 mm and weighing 91g, it is one of the thinnest and probably lighter handsets you can find today. In fact, official specifications given by Motorola show that the L6 is even slimmer than the SLVR L7 which measures 11.5mm thick. Some users may, however, find the L6 a tad too long, especially for shallow pockets.

Impressively, Motorola does a good job matching dimensions with aesthetics, fitting the L6 with a light-blue metallic exterior that gives the phone a sleek appearance as well as a nice, cool feel. On the flip side, the smooth matt surface of the metallic cover makes it slippery when handling with wet hands. It is also prone to scratches.

The number pad and directional keys, also dressed in light blue, provide good tactile feedback. The rubber strips separating the various buttons also add to the whole ergonomic keypad layout. To top it all, a striking blue backlight illuminates the keypad when buttons are pressed.

While the color screen is not as sharp or as vibrant as some of the other displays, it provides good horizontal and vertical viewing angles and comes with adjustable brightness settings for optimal viewing in daylight conditions. The external speaker, located at the back of the phone, offers loud ringtone playback, which is audible even when used at a busy road junction or in a subway.

Motorola has included an onboard mini-USB port on the phone for connection to a PC. The same port can double as an earphone jack, too.

Features
The biggest gripe here is its lack of features. We were disappointed that Motorola fitted the L6 with just a VGA camera instead of a megapixel sensor which has become mainstream in camera-phones. There is also no memory expansion slot. All the user has is about 10 MB of onboard memory which places a huge limitation on the number of files, particularly videos, which can be stored on the mobile. The L6 supports capture and playback of video files in .3gpp, H.263 and MPEG-4 formats.

Thus, it came as a pleasant surprise to find that the L6 offers Bluetooth, which allows users to transfer data wirelessly to Bluetooth-enabled PCs and other devices, as well as to link up with compatible headsets. We also liked that Motorola has included a mini-USB port for wired data synchronization instead of a proprietary data cable which can be troublesome to replace. Sadly, the phone cannot be charged using the USB cable provided.

The quality of images and video captured using the L6 is commendably sharp and smooth for a VGA camera. However, this is marred by a few technical bugs such as its slow activation of the camera and inability for clips to be played full screen on the display. Otherwise, the camera offers good panning response, 4x digital zoom and comes with some useful filtering effects.

The standard L6 package includes a mono handsfree earpiece, a USB cable and an installation CD.

Performance And Battery Life
Where phone performance is concerned, the L6 did not disappoint delivering good reception. However, it proved to be difficult at times to make voice calls in noisy environments such as the subway due to the limited volume range of the earpiece.

On average, the L6 lasted 1.5 days on normal daily usage which included playing games occasionally, using the camera, SMS texting and making voice calls. We believe one of the reasons for the short battery life is the small 700mAh battery capacity. Hence, it is advisable to charge the phone everyday if you are a heavy user.

The phone's Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is 0.72 W/kg, which is well within the international safety guidelines.

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