More reviews online at Review www.mobilechoiceuk.com

Motorola ROKR E8

Price: From free on contract ROKR E8 www.motorola.com  Size 115x53x10.6mm  Weight 100g  Display 262,000 colours  Resolution 240x320 pixels  Camera Two megapixels  Video recording/playback/ streaming Yes/yes/yes  Video calling Yes  Audio playback MP3, AAC  Ringtones MP3, AAC  FM radio Yes  Connectivity , USB, A2DP Off your ROKR  N/A  Internal memory 2GB  Memory card slot microSD Motorola’s new ROKR E8 is a music phone with attitude, and boasts a clever  Messaging SMS, MMS, IM, touch-screen interface and some neat features. But is it too big to be a hit? email  Internet browser WAP/ xHTML/HTML  Java Yes T has been a tumultuous year for façade are the regularly-spaced Music capabilities  Games Yes Motorola, with high-profile dimples that sit in the centre of each The ROKR E8’s music player has  Data speed EDGE boardroom wrangles more virtual key. some real strengths and some I  Frequency Quad-band common than its high-profile phone The ROKR E8 is the latest phone obvious weaknesses.  Talktime 300 minutes launches. However, the manufacturer to sport a touch-screen keypad. As you’d expect, it’s a marked  Standby 300 hours is hoping to draw attention back to There are no raised keys, but it’s a improvement on the original ROKR. the technology with its two major haptic keypad, so it vibrates when Essential music features include a Features summer launches; the MOTO Z10 you touch a virtual key. 3.5mm headset port, 2GB of  Haptic touch-screen and the ROKR E8. The beauty of touch-screen internal memory (plus the means to  ModeScreen technology While the MOTO Z10 is a phone handsets is, in a word, their beauty, expand with a microSD slot), a user-  FastScroll technology with video at its heart, the ROKR E8 because there are no protruding friendly music-management system  3.5mm headset port is the most ambitious music device keys to ruin the smooth aesthetic of and the ability to play tracks in either that Motorola has ever attempted. the phone. As such, the ROKR E8 is MP3 or AAC format. As for music Worryingly for Motorola, its first striking in a minimalist way. In fact, quality, it’s as good as any other ever ROKR phone made headlines for with the phone in idle mode, the handset we’ve tested. all the wrong reasons. Before the fascia is completely featureless apart The obvious drawback is the appearance of the iPhone, the ROKR from the striking silver FastScroll phone’s music download speed. Also consider E1 was the first to navigation pad. There’s no Wi-Fi or , so you have Sony Ericsson W890i feature Apple’s iTunes software, so to make do with EDGE speeds for Sony Ericsson’s W890i offers the musical its launch was met with a fanfare of ModeShift and downloading tracks, which is a lot clout without the bulk. publicity. FastScroll technology slower. Considering that the flagship Unfortunately, the phone fell short By pressing any of the virtual keys on music phones from the opposition all of the mark. Its design was plain, it the ROKR E8, the phone springs to arrive with HSDPA data speeds and, took an age to download songs and life, lighting up the letters and digits often, Wi-Fi as standard, this does it could only store a maximum of of the keypad and each of the special about trying to locate the keys you seem a strange omission. 100 tracks. A genuine iPod function keys. need; a genuine problem with Of course, there is a USB alternative it wasn’t. It’s a nice visual trick, but the really today’s lavishly endowed phones. connection, so if you simply intend to So rather than trading on its clever bit is ModeShift, a variation on Another neat addition is the transfer your PC-stored tracks to music-brand heritage, the Motorola a technology which is appearing on a FastScroll navigation, which serves the device, then this happens ROKR E8 has the formidable task of growing number of handsets this to make the ROKR E8 a fun phone speedily enough. Pros creating its own niche in a market year. to use. Good music features and a fun user interface. full of cracking mobile music devices. With ModeShift, if you choose to With FastScroll, you use the The verdict access the ROKR E8’s music player – phone’s crescent-shaped virtual Although the user interface is Look and feel via the dedicated music key or the navigation wheel to navigate between undeniably clever, the success of the Cons The ROKR E8 is certainly a striking- main menu – the phone’s keypad menu options. It works a little like ROKR E8 will almost certainly come There’s no 3G and the camera is only two megapixels. looking device, even if it is larger transforms into a music player the click-wheel on the second- down to two factors; its design than it looks in the press photos. The control pad and the music menu generation iPod. appeal and its music player. phone’s footprint is actually a little appears on the display. Roll your phone clockwise and While the E8 is well put together, larger than a BlackBerry Pearl. Hitherto unseen music control you’ll move right to left through the the design appeal will ultimately be However, it is slimmer and feels fairly keys like fast forward, rewind and menu options, and roll your thumb dependent on how consumers feel comfortable in the hand. It is a slick, play, plus shuffle and continuous anti-clockwise to reverse your way about the phone’s dimensions. solid, well put together device, with loop, the keys are magically through the menu options. Keep As for the music player, there are Verdict Although large, it’s an Look and feel      an attractive matt black aluminium illuminated. your thumb pressed down and you a lot of positives, but the slow data attractive and decent music rear casing and a glossy black fascia. Similarly, when you activate the can speed up the menu scroll speeds are a let down. Ease of use      device. The fascia is the first thing that ROKR E8’s camera, the keypad process, and you simply lift your As such, the ROKR E8 deserves draws you to the phone, because it transforms to reveal two zoom keys, thumb off when you have landed on to be a hit, but lacks the punch to Features      is blank. It’s like staring at a smoked plus direct access to your photos the menu option you require. be a classic. Performance      glass coffee table. The only sign that and videos, and also a dedicated Although FastScroll is something of there may be anything going on camcorder access button. It’s all a gimmick, it’s surprisingly Huw Morgan Battery life      underneath that mysterious black clever stuff and prevents you faffing responsive and works very well. [email protected]