At this point, we're simply running out of metaphors for the egregious ways in which Motorola is abusing the industrial design of the original RAZR. Yes, Moto, we get it, it was a game-changing phone -- in 2004. Heck, we'll even give it a free pass for 2005 and 2006. But a new one in 2008? Seriously? Sure enough, the new V3s variant rocks out with CDMA support on the 800, 1900, and 1700MHz bands, making this the first RAZR of any sort to support AWS. Cricket
just launched its first AWS phone, so we wouldn't be surprised to see this one land over there, too. Oh wait, our bad, Motorola did change
one thing about this phone: the "A" has been dropped from the name. The manual calls out the V3s as the "MOTORZR," possibly in preparation for a broad new marketing campaign that's virtually identical to the old, but with even fewer vowels. Your guess is as good as ours.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Fernando @ Mar 22nd 2008 12:48AM
lol, sad
CB17 @ Mar 22nd 2008 1:05AM
I get sick just looking at those pictures.
Jamar @ Mar 22nd 2008 4:48AM
Um... in CDMA terms, I'm pretty sure that Korea's been using 1700MHz for an eternity prior to America. SK Telecom is the only Korean carrier to use 800MHz CDMA- the rest use 1700MHz.
Iain @ Mar 22nd 2008 5:56AM
If Motorola were a racehorse, they'd've been taken out back and shot already.
Wei @ Mar 22nd 2008 9:49AM
But let's keep beating it until it becomes a puddle of glue.
Mills @ Mar 22nd 2008 10:24AM
these comments just made my day complete. thank you kindly
Joe B @ Mar 22nd 2008 10:21AM
You know, you guys give Moto a lot of crap for keeping the RAZR around, but I'm not going to lie I still use an original V3 (gasp!) and would only switch to something else if I started to need a Blackberry or the like for work.
It's surprisingly sturdy, has good reception and call quality where I live, and in general feels very comfortable when I'm holding it to type. For the vast majority of people who don't care about advanced features it's a great phone. (Wouldn't mind a snappier interface, but nothing's perfect.)
Mills @ Mar 22nd 2008 10:30AM
no one is arguing that the razr was one hell of a phone. the argument is that moto refuses to come out with something new and that 4 years later, they have come out with like 20 different model versions of the SAME phone, all the while playing off the success of the original. I mean really, consider how behind moto is. In that 4 years, households went from CRT tvs to flat panels, an entire format war too place, Bush stayed in office.... you see my point
derX @ Mar 22nd 2008 12:08PM
Moto, seriously, this is just sad. This is like a once-great-now-marginal-at-best celebrity carrying around his lone Oscar everywhere.
We get it. You were good. Once.
Now make some damn progress.
Max @ Mar 22nd 2008 7:46PM
Motorola needs to fire their design team. Get some original or at least new designs already. The RAZR is dead....HAS been dead for a long friggin time!
Jerry @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:59PM
You know what its sort of funny in some ways but not in others that you guys knock the Razr but yet guess what it is still one of the most popular phones and I like it better then what some of the other compaines have put out so isn't that funny that you guys knock it but yet it is more popular then what other compaines have tried to put up to compete with it
derX @ Mar 23rd 2008 8:07PM
Jerry, the success of the RAZR is undeniable and that's not what's being ridiculed. What is, however, being ridiculed is how much Moto has milked that one design. Looking at GSM alone, from the original v3 we got it in at least 7 colors, the v3x, the v3xx, the v3 maxx--all of which have been in several more colors.
It's seriously crazy at this point. That fact that the company is still milking a product from 4 years ago is beyond me. I mean the SAME phone is being produced for AWS, now? C'mon, that's craziness.
section08 @ Mar 22nd 2008 2:33PM
moto was always one to play out their designs til the very end. first it was the startac series, even after giving it stupid names like timeport and talkabout. then it was the v60 series. i mean really, is anyone surprised?
starwxrwx @ Mar 22nd 2008 8:03PM
I get that its a dead horse already, but I haven't yet seen a (flip) phone that compares in good looks and good handling to my RAZR.
I'm using my two year old phone, with slow-ass interface and occasional 'boiling milk' noises over my calls because nothing else has caught my attention (I like flips - I think some sliders are intriguing but I don't like the way they sit in my hand).
youngcalihottie @ Mar 23rd 2008 5:47AM
any carrier: razr2 is better.
sprint: katana dlx is better.
att: LG CU500 or CU575 are better.
tmobile: lol... well... umm.... as i said, the razr2 is better. lol. tmobile doesnt really have anything else thats a thin flip except the t439 but thats not better.
verizon: samsung flipshot or lg shine
alltel: lg ax8600
there u go. a guide to better flips. enjoy. :)
Iain @ Mar 24th 2008 12:27PM
For a start, 'better' is a pure subjective matter.
But to address your point the fact that there aren't any 'better' flip phones is that apart from Motorola themselves, no-one makes them any more. It's all slides and candy-bars nowadays.
As for why none of the Motorola's flip phone are any better, well that's been answered already - they're all just shoddy re-hashes of the Razr itself.
Znex @ Mar 23rd 2008 12:01AM
What is the deal with the Rizr Z8, Z10, & Z12? Why are they releasing them here in the states like they do in the UK?
ken @ Mar 23rd 2008 10:21AM
does "Palm" ring any bells???...............LOL...........just wait........=-D
rav97 @ Mar 24th 2008 9:33AM
MOTOLUZR... oops, I meant MOTOLZR
trooth @ Mar 25th 2008 4:32PM
The big question though is how does this compete with an IPhone. I mean how did we go 19 replies without an apple/iphone comparisson.
Chris Turpin @ Mar 31st 2008 10:52PM
I will back the LG CU500 as a very nice handset for AT&T. I also have the original RAZR V3 and have owned the RAZR V3m/V3a.
I'm hoping that the V3s is at least a better product than the a. The v3a was the trashiest, most watered down piece of crap phone I had ever used. (No microSD? WTF?) It was plastic, and was dropped no more than three times before the screen had cracked.
The V3m was made of stronger material and survived being ran over, dropped, etc.
While I will agree that the RAZR design is played out by now, I do like the design, and I could really care less, but releasing abominations like the V3a is unacceptable when the product is 4 years old.
Asten @ Apr 4th 2008 12:25PM
All the "dead horse" comments crack me up
Nokia has used the itty bitty variations of the exact same hideously boring candybar design for the better part of a decade, and sold billions of them. Let's harp on them, too.