If you like your phones with a bit of flare then the Motorola Z8 should put a kick in your step. This bendy slider phone is a marked departure from Motorola's popular Razr V3 and comes with its fair share of features.
It's currently available from several network operators for free on a monthly contract.
Design
There's something different about the Z8, both on the inside and out. Parts of it look like they've been made out of green kryptonite, and when you slide it open it curves towards you like a tech-filled banana.
Not everyone will like the black and fluorescent-green casing but it is eye-catching -- almost everyone who saw it wanted a closer look. The bendy slide mechanism or 'kick slide' also had people flocking around since it's rather unusual.
The idea behind the kick-sliding mechanism is that it curves the phone closer to your mouth and ear. While it's a nice idea, in practice we're not sure it's completely necessary and there's an unwelcome side effect in the form of a curved keypad.
Slider phones are renowned for not leaving enough space at the top of the keypad to type comfortably -- the Z8 is another offender, but worse still the keypad is curved and rather hard to press. There simply isn't enough tactile feedback when you click a key.
Add to all the above a large lip at the bottom of the Z8 where the keypad is housed, and what you get is a difficult-to-manoeuvre keypad that left us unimpressed. We also have a problem with the navigation keys on top -- they're too squashed together to press properly.
If, however, you can overlook the keyboard issues, the Z8 does have some, albeit small, redeeming design features. The SIM card slot, for example, is easily accessible from the outside, as is the microSD slot, and the loudspeaker is well positioned too.
Features
Underneath a rather quirky exterior hides a growling tiger. The Z8 is jam-packed with features that will keep you infinitely more entertained than you would be using a Razr V3. In fact, this is one of Motorola's most feature-filled handsets to date.
The Z8 runs on the Symbian OS so it supports third-party software, such as Quickoffice, which lets you view Microsoft Office documents on your phone. It also runs on a new and improved user interface that is so much better than previous offerings.
If you've ever owned a Motorola product, you'll know how painful it is to use the old Motorola interface. Fortunately, Motorola has seen the light -- it has developed a new interface for the Z8 that is much prettier to look at and far more logical to use.
Thanks to HSDPA (3.5G), browsing the Web is very fast and the Z8's Web browser isn't too bad, either. We were disappointed to see that you can't watch videos via YouTube's mobile site, though -- you can on certain other handsets.
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User reviews4
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stu16486 3 November 2008
Good: Camera takes fairly decent photos, and the handset looks snappy
Bad: The operating system has a tendecy to crash
Comment: What attracted me to this phone was the curve when it opens - yes I was that naive! On paper this is a pretty good phone; the camera takes pretty decent photos, even when you take them while moving, the calls are normally fairly clear, and the screen has a fairly nice resolution.
However! The operating system of the z8 has a tendency to crash or stall, seemingly at random, and completely freeze the screen, or just turn the phone off. It also occasionally restarts itself, also seemingly at random. When it does freeze, the only way to sort it out is to remove and replace the battery, which isn't the easiest task as it's jammed in fairly tightly. Another design problem is the SIM card cover - if you have the Z8 in trousers or jeans pockets that are anything other than baggy, the cover has a tendency to slide off and drop to the ground. The curved slide design may look good at a distance, but if you look close up, you can see it scratches parts of the keypad.
Speaking of the keypad, the individual buttons can be difficult to press accurately, especially when texting. Also, if you're left handed as I am, you will probably find that more often than not when composing texts, you accidentally hit the media short key on the right hand side, as it is where your middle finger naturally rests to support the phone while texting. The on/off button also has a tendeny not to work when you're trying to turn the phone on; it can take several attempts to get the phone to realise that you're trying to wake it up!
The Z8 suffers from slowdown if you have too many stored photos, especially when trying to access the media files. The addition of mobiclip player was nice, but I never got around to playing the entirety of the film that came with the phone, much less downloading any more onto an SD card. But, from what I did see of this feature, it plays films with high clarity. There is a slight problem with the software's ability to detect the SD card, as if you eject it then re-insert it, it sometimes doesn't recognise that it's there at all.
One of the most significant let downs for this phone is the battery life - not in its length but the inconsistency of length. For any given time I charge the Z8, it will last either a week or more, a day, or any amount of time in between, regardless of how often I call text or take photos.
Overall, this phone was a nice concept; an ergonomically designed phone, with a nice large high-res screen, that can play films. But software difficulties combined with some design errors make the Z8 not impossible to use, but impossible to keep.
The Wickerman 14 November 2007
Good: Looks, feel, build and positive slide action
Bad: a few little quirks
John Coombes 1 August 2007
Good: Cool design, nice screen, amazing video playback
Bad: Flawed and unstable operating system
Comment: When I first saw this phone i fell in love, the unique design grabbed me immediatly. As i was looking for a new contract i chose this handset, on the basis that it looked amazing and had some pretty nice specs. When it was delivered I eagerly unpackaged it, plugged it in and started to play and was very impressed. Video playback was awesome, with the screen so clear i could read the subtitles with ease, on "The Bourne Identity" that comes bundled with the package. (also includes some snazzy bluetooth headphones, not that they are tha comfortable) Then after a while the phone switched itself off. I put this down to my own error turned it back on and continued playing, but it happened a couple more times and i was worried something might be up, it also started displaying "Invalid SIM" so i phoned up my operator and asked for a replacement. When it arrived plugged it in and tested out all the stuff, seemed fine, no random switching off no "Invalid SIM" message. I almost breathed a sigh of relief, then i tested the camera. There was no image displayed on the screen. All the info was displayed but no image from the camera and the it crashes and you have to take out the battery to turn it on. So needless to say it is going back, and i'm swapping it for a different phone. It's a shame cause i really like the design of the phone it is so eye catching and everything else is great too. But there are some real nasty bugs in the operating system that seriously need sorting out. I'm sure i must just be really unlucky as i know two other people with this phone and they have had no problems. I hope Motorola can iron out the kinks cos it has the potential to be amazing, a shame that it is such a nightmare to use.
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