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Motorola Razr2 V9m On Sprint Cell Phone Review

Alfredo Padilla Published on September 04, 2007 Comment on this

Intro Making/Receiving Calls Software Other Features

Tour & Design Messaging Battery Life Value & Comparisons

Audio Quality Organizer Connectivity Conclusion

Imaging Multimedia Hardware Ratings & Specs

The Razr2 V9m is the latest iteration of Motorola's iconic Razr line of phones. The major carriers are all offering versions of this new handset, but the first to come under our review microscope is the Razr2 V9m from Sprint.

The most obvious upgrade of the V9m is the large external display. This looks as good as the main displays on many phones, and includes a touch-sensitive lower third that provides contextual controls; the phone vibrates slightly when you touch these buttons, providing positive feedback to let you know you're touching them. From the home screen, this allows you to start the TV, music, and camera applications.

Aside from this the V9m provides a few other upgrades, including better battery life and a decent 2-megapixel camera. We also like the keypad and controls, as they are roomy and well differentiated, making for easy use. But this version of the V9m is really only an evolutionary upgrade over previous Razrs; under the hood it runs the same proprietary operating system you find on the Razr V3m, and the organizational and e-mail capabilities won't be sufficient for business users. Music support comes via Sprint's music software, which is adequate but nothing special. At $250 with a two-year contract, the Sprint Razr2 V9m is a little pricey given its limited range of upgrades over previous versions. Aside from the external display there's nothing here that makes us sit up and say wow.

Tour & Design - The Razr2 V9m is an attractive handset with good build quality, but the penurious set of included accessories is disappointing.

Audio Quality - The V9m did well in our audio tests, providing reasonable sound quality both outgoing and incoming.

Imaging - The Razr2 V9m's 2-megapixel camera is a significant upgrade over previous Razrs, and compares well with other 2-megapixel phone cameras on the market.

Making/Receiving Calls - With a roomy keypad and a decent selection of calling functionality, the V9m is a good phone for making and receiving calls.

Messaging - Lacking an e-mail client and with only basic SMS and MMS functionality, the V9m doesn't have impressive messaging capabilities.

Organizer - The Razr2 V9m's organizational functionality is very basic, falling well short of regular phones like the Helio Fin or Katana DLX, much less a smart phone like the Nokia N75.

Multimedia - Music playback is handled by Sprint's music software, with easy access to its music store and direct downloads at a reasonable price.

Software - The V9m runs the same tired interface we've seen on Motorola phones for years. We would have appreciated an upgrade to Motorola's new Java/Linux platform.

Battery Life - We were pleased to see the V9m's talk time and music playback time is significantly better than the Razr V3m.

Connectivity - As a CDMA handset with fast data access via EVDO and support for advanced Bluetooth profiles, the V9m does a solid job for a regular phone.

Hardware - The V9m has two excellent screens, and we found the keypad and controls to be very usable, despite a lack of key travel.

Other Features - You can use the V9m as a dial-up modem for your computer, but there is no support for GPS or push to talk functionality.

Value & Comparisons - At $250 with a two-year contract and $400 without, the V9m is probably a little overpriced given its lack of high-end features.

[page title="Tour & Design"]

Front Closed
The front of the Razr2 V9m is dominated by the large 2-inch QVGA display with touch sensitive controls in the bottom third. Above the display is a Motorola logo, LED indicator, and the lens for the 2-megapixel camera. We'd just like to say we are very happy to finally see a flip phone with a large and usable external display.

Front Open
The interior of the Razr2 V9m will be familiar to any previous Razr user. The top part of the flip holds a 2.2-inch QVGA display, and the lower flip holds the keypad and control keys housed on the now familiar single piece of metal.

Left
You can see the thin profile of the Razr2 in this shot; despite having a large internal and external screen, it is only 0.46 inches thick. The left side of the phone holds volume rocker keys near the top and a voice command button beneath it. Near the bottom is the only external connector on the phone, a new Micro USB port.

Top
The top of the phone houses the hinge for the flip.

Bottom
The bottom of the phone houses a loud speaker.

Right
The right side of the RAZR2 V9m has a single button near the top that launches the Camera menu. Above this is a small loop for lanyards.

Back
The top back of the phone houses the battery cover. At the bottom left is the external antenna port.

Battery Out
When you remove the battery cover you reveal the 770 mAh battery and the slot for Micro SD cards.

In the Box (2.0)
As with previous Motorola products we've reviewed, like the Krzr K1m and Razr V3m, the Razr2 V9m does not ship with many accessories. In addition to the manuals you get a 256MB Micro SD card to get you started and the charger. There is no USB cable and no stereo headset. This is very disappointing; for a media-focused device, we would have expected at least a cheap pair of headphones. Considering the $250 price tag with two-year contract, they certainly could have thrown in a more complete set of accessories.

Handling (5.0)
The Razr2 V9m weighs in at 4.16 ounces versus the Razr V3m's 3.49-ounce weight. It's also slightly taller than previous Razr's, making for an overall heftier device. Those with smaller hands may find the phone feels too tall or wide, as is true for most Razr's, and the increased weight means it may be harder to hold it up to your head for an extended period of time. But it's not a heavyweight phone; it is still much lighter than most.

Portability (8.0)
Despite the slightly increased size the Razr2 V9m is still an extremely portable phone, and should slip easily into any pocket or bag. It's increased weight is a little more significant and will weigh you down more than the older Razr V3m, but this shouldn't impact its portability too much.

Aesthetics (8.0)
Like all previous Razr's, the V9m looks slick. We found the upgrades to the form factor to be quite attractive, with burnished plastic on the front cover and soft touch paint on the back, both adding class to the device. It has a slightly more restrained, business-like design, instead of the "sexy" look that has been associated with previous Razr's. Regardless, it's an attractive device.

Durability (7.0)
We had concerns about the durability of the older Razr V3m, but the newer Razr2 feels more well put together. The hinge in particular feels very strong. The large external display means you have more real estate that can get scratched up, though. The Razr2 V9m goes with good old fashioned plastic for the external screen, which is more likely to get scratched than the glass used in phones like the iPhone.

[page title="Audio Quality"]

General Audio

Sound Receive Frequency Response (7.48)
The chart above shows the frequency response of the sound received by the Razr2 V9m. This is how other people sound to you while on a call. The blue line shows the Razr2 V9m's performance, while the two red lines indicate the limits against which we test. As you can see, the Razr2 V9m generally stayed within the limits, with just slight deviations along the mid ranges and falling off a little too quickly at the high end. This means voices should sound generally clear and accurate, although they might be slightly clipped. Overall, the incoming audio performance is good.

Cell Phone	Razr2 V9m (on Sprint)	Helio Fin (on Helio)	Sanyo Katana DLX (on Sprint)
Score	7.48	9.33	5.46
Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view)

Cell Phone	Razr V3m (on Sprint)	Nokia N75 (on AT&T)	Apple iPhone (on AT&T)
Score	8.12	8.73	7.57
Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view)

Sound Send Frequency Response (7.16)
Sound send frequency response is a measure of how well the Razr2 V9m transmits your voice to those on the other end of the line. The chart above indicates the Razr2 V9m's performance with a blue line, while the two red lines show the limits we test against. As you can see, the Razr2 V9m has some issues, with lower frequencies being somewhat suppressed and high-end frequencies exaggerated. If you have a deeper voice, people on the other end of the line may have trouble hearing you, while the exaggerated upper frequencies could make your voice sound overly reedy.  As you can see from the table below the Razr2 V9m comes in at the low end compared to other devices; it is adequate, but not particularly good.

Cell Phone	Razr2 V9m (on Sprint)	Helio Fin (on Helio)	Sanyo Katana DLX (on Sprint)
Score	7.16	8.25	7.80
Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view)

Cell Phone	Razr V3m (on Sprint)	Nokia N75 (on AT&T)	Apple iPhone (on AT&T)
Score	7.34	7.57	7.58
Received Sound Frequency Response Graph (click to view)

Handset Side Tone (9.31)
Side tone is the small amount of your own voice piped back into your ear so you can judge how loud you are speaking. The chart above measures the side tone of the Razr2 V9m across a range of frequencies. We were pleased to see the Razr2 V9m averaged 17.31 decibels, which is very close to the 18 decibel ideal against which we score. As is illustrated below, the Razr2 V9m put up one of the best side tone scores compared to other phones. The Razr V3m also put up a very good score in this area.

Cell Phone	Sidetone Measurement	Score
Razr2 V9m	17.31	9.31
Helio Fin	21.25	6.75
Sanyo Katana DLX	20.23	7.77
Razr V3m	17.69	9.69
Nokia N75	14.85	6.85
Apple iPhone	8.80	0.80

[page title="Imaging"]

Resolution (3.22)
To test the resolution of photos produced by the Razr2 V9m's 2-megapixel camera we took a series of photos of an industry standard resolution chart and ran them through Imatest software. Imatest produces a measure called line widths per pixel height (lw/ph), which is a measure of how many alternating black and white lines can be distinguished before they begin blurring together.
The Razr2 V9m's camera produced photos that measured 851.2 lw/ph horizontal and 1031 lw/ph vertical. This is a good score for a camera phone, as you can see from the table below it's better than any of our comparison phones except for the Apple iPhone. It doesn't compare well with a stand alone digital camera, however. A low-end digital camera like the Canon PowerShot A460 scored 1313 lw/ph horizontal and 1305 lw/ph vertical, much better than the Razr2 V9m.

Cell Phone	Razr2 V9m	Helio Fin	Sanyo Katana DLX
Score	3.22	2.77	0.45
lw/ph horizontal/vertical	851.2 / 1031	790.1 / 866.5	316.6 / 249.4
Image of Resolution Chart (click to view)

Cell Phone	Razr V3m	Nokia N75	Apple iPhone
Score	1.13	1.14	4.18
lw/ph horizontal/vertical	521.7 / 242.2	458.7 / 666.4	970 / 879
Image of Resolution Chart (click to view)

Color (4.84)
To test the quality of colors produced by the Razr2 V9m's camera we took photos of the industry standard GretagMacbeth Color chart, which displays 24 different colors. These photos were then run through the Imatest software, which measured the captured colors against the original chart's colors.
Imatest produced the chart above, which shows the original colors in the small vertical rectangles, the Razr2 V9m's captured colors are in the outer frames, and the Razr2 V9m's colors corrected for luminance in the central square. Imatest also produced the chart below where the squares represent the ideal and circles the actual captured colors. The longer the line between the two, the more inaccurate color capture is.
As you can see the Razr2 V9m's camera produced some error in almost all colors, although most are minor. It showed the most trouble with reds and blues, which are oversaturated. All together though, the Razr2 V9m's color performance isn't too bad, (and is a definite improvement over the appalling camera in the Razr V3m), but it's not particularly good. It falls short of the Helio Fin, Katana DLX, and iPhone.

Cell Phone	Razr2 V9m	Helio Fin	Sanyo Katana DLX
Score	4.84	5.94	6.54
Color Checker Chart (click to view)

Cell Phone	Razr V3m	Nokia N75	Apple iPhone
Score	3.26	3.47	5.22
Color Checker Chart (click to view)

Noise (1.0)
To test the noise produced by the Razr2 V9m's camera we took a series of photos of the GretagMacbeth color chart at various lighting levels and ran the photos through Imatest to produce a noise score at each lighting level. The Razr2 V9m produced middling noise scores at the three highest lighting levels, but its performance plummeted at the lowest lighting level. As you can see from the chart below, the Razr2 V9m had a middling noise score, about the same as the Razr V3m, but the images were much noisier than those taken by the Helio Fin and Apple iPhone.

Cell Phone	Score
Razr2 V9m	1.00
Helio Fin	1.46
Sanyo Katana DLX	0.83
Razr V3m	1.05
Nokia N75	0.41
Apple iPhone	1.20

Live Preview (6.0)
The Razr2 V9m's live preview makes use of almost the entire screen, with only a small bar at the bottom with the soft key functions. We liked how roomy this was, and also appreciated the good detail and ability to quickly refresh when panning. The live preview did have some trouble with colors, showing colors on the screen more richly saturated than the final photo, but this is a small issue. The Razr2 V9m's live preview was significantly better than the Razr V3m, probably due to the higher resolution screen.

Unlocked Standby to First Shot (4.88)
To find out how quickly you can whip out the Razr2 V9m and take a photo we timed how long it took to complete this process, starting at phone closed and stopping when we had taken the photo. The Razr2 V9m took 4.1 seconds to accomplish this, which is a little on the slow side. It's thankfully not as slow as the Helio Fin, but the Katana DLX, Razr V3m, and iPhone were all able to take a photo faster than the Razr2 V9m.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	4.1	4.88
Helio Fin	6.2	3.23
Sanyo Katana DLX	3.1	6.45
Razr V3m	3.5	5.71
Nokia N75	4.7	4.26
Apple iPhone	2.43	8.23

Shot to Shot Time (2.51)
Shot to shot time is a measure of how quickly you can take a series of photos. When possible we use a phone's Burst mode for this test, and thankfully the Razr2 V9m indeed allows you to take four shots in Burst mode. We were able to take four photos in 4.78 seconds, which works out to 0.84 frames per second (fps). This is an above average time overall, but a little slow for a phone that has a Burst mode. Most comparison phones with lower scores than the Razr2 V9m were hampered by the lack of a Burst mode. The Katana DLX, which does have a Burst mode, was able to take photos significantly faster than the V9m.

Cell Phone	FPS	Score
Razr2 V9m	0.84	2.51
Helio Fin	0.19	0.57
Sanyo Katana DLX	2.10	6.30
Razr V3m	0.20	0.60
Nokia N75	0.43	1.29
Apple iPhone	0.40	1.20

Shutter to Shot Time (5.26)
Shutter to shot time is a measure of how long it takes the phone to actually capture a photo once you have hit the shutter button. We repeat this test until we get a consistently repeatable time. The Razr2 V9m took 0.38 seconds to capture a photo after we hit the shutter button. This is a pretty good time. It should be noted that none of the phones have an auto-focus lens, which makes this process significantly longer as the phone focuses. This, however, also produces better photos.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	0.38	5.26
Helio Fin	0.60	3.33
Sanyo Katana DLX	0.38	5.26
Razr V3m	0.43	4.65
Nokia N75	0.73	2.74
Apple iPhone	0.40	5.00

Interface (4.0)
The Razr2 V9m's interface is very clean, with only two icons in the top left and one in the top right that show you what camera mode you are in, where photos are being saved, and how many photos you can take. The left soft key is assigned to capture, which is a little redundant since the center select key already fulfills this function. The right soft key opens a menu where you can access the camera settings and functions. Unlike many modern phones that seek to imitate camera interfaces, this is just a regular phone menu. We actually prefer the look of an interface that resembles a real camera like on the Helio Fin, so this cost the Razr2 V9m a few points.

Photo Album Software Internal (5.0)
The Razr2 V9m's album software has been improved over the Razr V3m, a fact we are momentously happy about. The V3m's album software was terribly implemented, specifically in how memory was handled, with internal memory split between camera memory and phone memory and byzantine processes for copying and moving files between the two. The Razr2 V9m simply uses internal and external memory, blessedly. It also loads photos much faster than the V3m, probably due to the faster processor. Photos are initially loaded in 3 x 3 thumbnails with a small check box in the upper right corner of each thumbnail. The center select key puts a check in the box, allowing you to easily select multiple photos for deletion, moving, etc. The left soft key is assigned to "expand," which opens the selected photo, while the right soft key opens a menu where you can access various functions. It's not the nicest album software we've ever seen, but it's better than the terrible software previously included with Razrs.

Manual Control (2.0)
As with the Razr V3m, the Razr2 V9m has manual white balance controls, which is a nice feature not often found on phones. This is the only manual control found on the Razr2 V9m.

Zoom (1.0)
The Razr2 V9m has a digital zoom, up to 4x. This zoom is available at all resolution levels, which is something that was lacking on the Helio Fin. Zoom is controlled using left/right on the d-pad. Digital zoom isn't really that useful as it only crops and enlarges a section of the scene, but it's better than nothing.

Focus (0.0)
The V9m uses a fixed focus lens, as is standard on camera phones. Although this does speed up photo capturing, it also produces lower quality photos. We don't award points for fixed focus lenses.

Flash (0.0)
There is no flash on the Razr2 V9m.

Metering (2.0)
We're starting to see real metering controls on phones. The the Helio Fin has them, for example. However, the Razr2 V9m does not, although there is a brightness control.

White Balance (2.0)
The Razr2 V9m offers several white balance presets in addition to the manual white balance mode mentioned above. These presets include Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten, and Fluorescent. There is no evaluative white balance mode, but this is not surprising as we haven't seen this on a phone yet.

Image Handling (2.0)
The Razr2 V9m doesn't offer many image handling options. You can rotate photos and add text captions, but you can't crop or resize. More advanced options like adjusting color or contrast are definitely not on board.

Video

Overall Video Score (5.0)
The Razr2 V9m captures video in 3GP format, which is a standard for mobile video. Maximum resolution is 320 x 240 at 15 fps. We found the video produced by the Razr2 V9m was pretty good, for a mobile phone, with decent color fidelity and only a small amount of pixelation and artifacts. It's nowhere near as good as a stand alone camcorder, or even some of the video-focused mobile phones like the Nokia N95, which captures at 640 x 480 and 30 fps, but it's good enough to watch on a laptop screen, even in full screen, and should be sufficient for YouTube. The quality is similar to what we got with the Helio Fin, and is leaps and bounds better than the low resolution video captured by the Razr V3m.

Video Resolution (12.04)
To test video resolution on the Razr2 V9m we took video at maximum resolution of the same industry standard resolution chart we used for the still resolution test. We then ran frames from this video through the Imatest software, which produces the same line widths per pixel height (lw/ph) score that measures how many alternating white and black lines can be discerned before they begin blurring together. The Razr2 V9m scored 342.5 lw/ph horizontal and 351.4 lw/ph vertical. This is one of the best scores we have seen. About the only phone that produced a better video resolution score was the Nokia N95, which, as we discussed before, is one of the best video capture phones out there. We were very pleased with the Razr2 V9m's performance in this test.

Cell Phone	lw/ph horizontal/vertical	Score
Razr2 V9m	342.5 / 351.4	12.04
Helio Fin	214.1 / 217.7	4.66
Sanyo Katana DLX	200.5 / 181.2	3.63
Razr V3m	174.3 / 170.9	3.46
Nokia N75	315 / 348.1	10.97
Apple iPhone	n/a - no video capture	0.00

Video Compression (2.0)
The Razr2 V9m captures video in 3GP format, which is a mobile optimized format, with MPEG-4 compression. This is a pretty standard format, so we're happy with it.

Interface (4.0)

Interface	Menus

The camcorder interface is very similar to the stills interface except the whole screen is not used. Instead you have a landscape band across the center of the screen that shows you what will actually be captured. Other than that you have the same three indicators for mode, save location, and a timer to show how long you can shoot. The left soft key is assigned to record and the right opens a menu to access various options.

Manual Control (2.0)
Video capture on the Razr2 V9m also offers you manual white balance control, and like stills this is the only manual control available.

Zoom (1.0)
As with stills you have a 4x digital zoom available that you can control using left/right on the d-pad.

Editing (0.0)
The only editing option available is the ability to add a text caption. We don't consider this significant enough to award points for it.

Modes (3.0)
When you launch the camcorder on the Razr2 V9m you are asked if you want to take a "video mail" or "long video." The former is optimized for sending via MMS, while the latter allows you to use the full range of options. There is no support for Scene modes or metering options, however you do get white balance options.

[page title="Making/Receiving Calls"]

Dialing Speed (5.59)
To find out how quickly we can dial a number on the Razr2 V9m we time how long it takes to go from phone closed until we have dialed each of five different numbers. We take the average time of these tests for our score. The Razr2 V9m took an average of 3.58 seconds to dial a number. This is a solid time, better than most of our comparison phones and significantly better than the Razr V3m's 4.9 second time. We found the large and comfortable keys on the Razr2 V9m keypad assisted us in dialing quickly.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	3.58	5.59
Helio Fin	3.64	5.49
Sanyo Katana DLX	3.76	5.32
Razr V3m	4.90	4.08
Nokia N75	3.34	5.99
Apple iPhone	3.96	5.05

Talk and End Buttons (6.5)
The talk and end buttons on the Razr2 V9m are located just above the keypad flanking the directional pad. The buttons are typical of the Razr design, so there's not much travel when pressed, but they are separated from surrounding keys by raised ridges that make them fairly easy to find by feel. They're much better than the send and end keys on the Helio Fin, which have no separation from surrounding keys.

Call Management (6.5)
Hitting the send key on the home screen takes you to the call history on the Razr2 V9m. You are initially shown a list of all calls, but moving left/right will switch to different filters like missed, incoming, and outgoing calls. Hitting the center select key when an item is highlighted will take you to a screen that supposedly provides additional information, however it doesn't show you anything you couldn't see in the list of calls. You can save a number to a new or existing contact, delete individual items, or clear your entire call history.
During a call the left soft key is assigned to mute while the right soft key opens a menu where you can initiate a three-way call, record the call, and access additional information or tools. We were especially happy to see the ability to record a call, as this is not common on phones. There is also a dedicated speaker phone key to the left of the directional pad. Although some may enjoy this feature, we think it's a waste of real estate. Overall, the call management features on the Razr2 V9m are solid, with a few nice extras.

Startup to Call (2.64)
To test how quickly the Razr2 V9m starts up and is able to make a call we time this process for each of the same five phone numbers we used for our dialing test. We take the average time for our score. The Razr2 V9m took an average of 37.9 seconds to complete this process. This is on the slow side; it's almost as slow as the 40.56 seconds the Nokia N75 took, and the N75 is a smart phone that generally takes longer to start up then regular phones like the Razr2 V9m. We were not very pleased with the Razr2 V9m's performance in this test.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	37.90	2.64
Helio Fin	28.18	3.55
Sanyo Katana DLX	24.26	4.12
Razr V3m	35.70	2.80
Nokia N75	40.56	2.47
Apple iPhone	26.12	3.83

Ring Volume (8.47)
To test ring volume on the Razr2 V9m we turn volume to maximum and run through the ring tones on the device, using a sound pressure meter from a few inches away to measure the volume of the ringers until we identify the loudest. The Razr2 V9m measured 84.7 decibels in our test, which is about average, but several decibels lower than the original Razr V3m. It's still plenty loud enough to hear the ring if the phone was in a pocket or bag, though.

Cell Phone	Volume (decibels)	Score
Razr2 V9m	84.7	8.47
Helio Fin	85.6	8.56
Sanyo Katana DLX	85.7	8.57
Razr V3m	88.0	8.80
Nokia N75	85.3	8.53
Apple iPhone	84.9	8.49

Ringtone Customizability (2.0)
The Razr2 V9m does not support using music files as ringtones, however you can use a sound recording as a ringtone if you wish.

Non Audio Alerts (6.0)
The Razr2 V9m's vibrate alert is not very strong; you'll easily miss it in a pants pocket, much less a bag. In addition to the vibrate alert, the external screen lights up and shows you information about an incoming call. This is only useful, of course, if you happen to be looking at the screen when a call comes in. But given how large the external screen is, you won't miss it if you are.

[page title="Messaging"]

Supported E-mail Services (0.0)
As with other Sprint phones we have reviewed, the Razr2 V9m does not have a built-in e-mail client, instead depending on Web-based e-mail. We do not award points for Web-based e-mail clients for a variety of reasons, chief among these is the fact you can't access your messages when you aren't connected to the network. If you want to catch up on your e-mail reading or compose messages during a flight, you won't be able to on the Razr2 V9m.

Push E-mail (0.0)
There is no e-mail client, so there is no support for push e-mail services like Microsoft Exchange or BlackBerry Connect.

Multiple E-mail Accounts (0.0)
No e-mail client.

HTML and Attachments (0.0)
No e-mail client.

E-mail Customizations (0.0)
No e-mail client.

Time to a New Message (0.0)
No e-mail client.

E-mail Usability (0.0)
No e-mail client.

Supported IM Services (0.0)
As with other Sprint devices the Razr2 V9m has a Java-based instant messaging client that allows you to connect to AOL, MSN/Windows Live, or Yahoo! IM services. You can only log into a single service at a time. Also, messages sent or received using this client will be charged to your account as a text message. We do not award points for IM clients that charge users for text messages because we feel this is a data driven service, and you shouldn't be charged any more for it. As such the Razr2 V9m receives zero points in this section, but can send and receive text messages if required.

MMS Support (7.0)
MMS messaging on the Razr2 V9m is called Picture mail, and is given its own set of folders in the Messaging menu. It is not integrated with SMS messaging, for example you can't start creating an SMS message and then turn it into an MMS message by adding media. MMS messages are well integrated with both the album and camera software.

SMS Smiley Face Interpretation (0.0)
To see if the SMS program interprets smiley faces as graphical representations instead of plain text we send four test smileys to the phone. Unfortunately the Razr2 V9m did not turn the smileys into graphical representations, leaving them in plain text. The Razr2 V9m doesn't allow you to automatically insert smileys either, instead you have to type them out.

SMS/MMS Ease of Use (5.0)
Both SMS and MMS are included in the Messaging menu. When you select each you are taken to a set of folders, including inbox and sent items. You cannot create new folders. Messages are organized in simple chronological order, with the newest at the top. You cannot sort or filter the messages in either inbox. You also need to back out of the chosen folder to get to another. The left soft key is assigned to reply to the currently selected message, while the right soft key opens a menu to access various functions. All in all the interface is simple and straightforward, without any serious deficits, but also lacking any innovation that improves the experience compared to other phones.

Time to a New SMS Message (2.84)
To find out how easy it is to create a new SMS message we time how long it takes to go from phone closed until we have a new SMS message screen open where we can start typing a message. We repeat this process five times and take the average for our score. The Razr2 V9m took an average of 3.52 seconds to complete this process. As you can see from the table below this is a slightly slow time, significantly slower than the Katana DLX and Nokia N75 and even a bit slower than most of the other comparison handsets. We were slowed down by the fact that we had to go about three levels into the menus before we were able to complete the process. It should also be noted that ostensibly there is a home screen shortcut that allows you to speed this process up, but whenever we tried to use it we got the warning "the list is empty."

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	3.52	2.84
Helio Fin	3.40	2.94
Sanyo Katana DLX	0.94	10.64
Razr V3m	4.58	2.18
Nokia N75	1.84	5.43
Apple iPhone	2.62	3.82

[page title="Organizer"]

Synchronization Ease of Use (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m does not come with synchronization software or a data cable. Motorola does offer a combination of software and data cable available for purchase if you want it.; this was not supplied with out review model, so we were unable to test it.

Alerts (0.0)
You can create alerts for your calendar appointments with seven presets to choose from, ranging from on time up to one day before. We would have liked more control over when the alert goes off, but given this isn't a business-focused device it probably isn't too big an issue. You can't choose what sound goes off for each alert, instead you choose a universal sound for all alerts. When an alert sounds you are shown the event at the top of your events menu on screen, with an option to snooze or dismiss. If you choose snooze it goes off again in five minutes. If you miss an alert it will auto snooze after a minute. Overall the functionality is pretty basic, similar to what we got with the Razr V3m and other regular phones.

Over the Air PIM Sync (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m does not support synchronization of your PIM data over the air.

Address Book

Adding Contacts (4.82)
To test how quickly we could add contacts to the Razr2 V9m we timed how long it took to go from phone closed until we had added a contact name and phone number added. We repeated this for five different test contacts and took the average time for our score. The Razr2 V9m took an average of 20.74 seconds to add a contact, which is a good time. We appreciated the large keys on the keypad, which made entering data quick and easy, although not as quickly as a phone with a QWERTY keyboard.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	20.74	4.82
Helio Fin	22.02	4.54
Sanyo Katana DLX	23.36	4.28
Razr V3m	27.90	3.58
Nokia N75	22.84	4.38
Apple iPhone	20.86	4.79

Looking/Sorting/Search (3.0)
Unlike the Razr V3m, the Razr2 V9m provides you with much better filtering options, with the ability to filter by a variety of fields and categories. Unfortunately the sorting and search functionality is not similarly improved. Search is the same old multi-tap search that only works with the first part of the name. If the name is Joe Bob, for example, you can't find it by searching for Bob, instead you have to type in Joe. The only sort option is alphabetical by first name. We appreciated the improved filter options, but still aren't very impressed here.

Fields (3.2)
When you create a new contact on the Razr2 V9m you can enter a name and up to five different phone numbers on the first tab shown, which makes quick entry easy. If you want more options you can use left on the d-pad to switch to other tabs that allow you to add things like birthdays, company, category, photo, ringer, etc. In total there are 16 different fields to choose from, which is more than most regular phones. Smart phones like the Nokia N75 provide you with dozens of fields to choose from, but we don't expect that kind of functionality from the Razr2 V9m.

Speed Dial/Voice tags/Voice command (3.67)
The Razr2 V9m supports speed dial and has a voice dialing program built in. You access this by pressing the shortcut key on the left side of the phone. This also works when the phone is closed, but in this case it requires a press and hold. As is common with voice dialing systems we were not impressed; it recognized only two of our five test contact names. The Razr2 V9m does not support voice tags, where you can train the phone to recognize specific names, which is a shame given the poor performance of the voice command software.

Calendar

Adding Calendar Items (3.68)
To test how quickly you can add a calendar item we time how long it takes to go from phone closed until we have added a simple lunch appointment with a 15 minute reminder before hand. The Razr2 V9m took an average of 27.18 seconds to add a new calendar appointment. This is a pretty poor time, as you can see from the table below. Our biggest issue was that we had to manually adjust the start and end times for the appointment and turn on the alert manually. Some phones add a 15 minute alert automatically. We were also hurt by the fact that the calendar application is buried in the menus. This is not an impressive performance by the Razr2 V9m.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	27.18	3.68
Helio Fin	14.10	7.09
Sanyo Katana DLX	15.22	6.57
Razr V3m	22.60	4.42
Nokia N75	19.20	5.21
Apple iPhone	18.92	5.29

Calendar Views (3.0)
The calendar on the Razr2 V9m offers three different views: monthly, weekly, and daily. The monthly view shows you six weeks at a time with days that have appointments indicated by a small triangle. When you highlight a day that has appointments you see the start time and title of the appointment if it is the only one. If there are multiple appointments you see the total number of appointments on that day. The weekly view is a grid that only shows the hours between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., with appointments outside these hours indicated by a small red block at either the bottom or top of the screen. Appointments within these hours are shown in the full block of time they occupy. As with the monthly view when you select a day in the week a small indicator at the bottom of the screen shows you either how many appointments you have or details if you only have one. We did not find the monthly or weekly views very useful for anything except seeing what day it was.

Monthly	Weekly	Daily

The daily view is where most people will spend their time. It is a list of the current day's appointments listed in chronological order with titles, start and end times, and indicators for things like alarms and recurrence. Unfortunately you can't switch to another day without going back to the monthly or weekly view, which seems silly to us. Most phones allow you to move to the next or previous day using left/right on the d-pad. You can't filter appointments by category, either. We found the calendar on the Razr2 V9m to be very basic, and anyone who needs a serious calendar will find it lacking.

Fields (9.0)
When you create a new calendar appointment on the Razr2 V9m you have the basic fields like title, start/end times, and alert. You can also add a location for your event, categorize it, set recurrence, and add a note, all of which are nice extras. The recurrence allows you to choose from a pretty nice selection of options including daily, weekdays, weekends, monthly on that date or on that day (ie. the third Thursday), and yearly. This is a much better selection than even some smart phones like the Nokia N75. You can also create all day and multi-day events, although these are selections that happen before you enter data in the fields, rather than separate fields.

To Do/Tasks

Adding To Do/Task (0.0)
As with the Razr V3m, the Razr2 V9m does not include a tasks program. This is a shame, as creating a simple to-do list is something many people find handy on their phones. As a result, the Razr2 V9m will receive zeros in this section.

To Do/Task Sorting and Prioritizing (0.0)
See above.

Fields (0.0)
See above.

Notes

Adding Notes (3.29)
To test how quickly we can add notes to the Razr2 V9m we time how long it takes to go from phone closed until we have added a short note reminding us about a lunch appointment. We repeat this test five times and take the average for our score. The Razr2 V9m took 15.22 seconds in this test, an average time in line with many of the comparison phones.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	15.22	3.29
Helio Fin	15.30	3.27
Sanyo Katana DLX	n/a - no tasks program	0.00
Razr V3m	n/a - no tasks program	0.00
Nokia N75	15.52	3.22
Apple iPhone	12.66	3.95

Note Interface (1.0)
The notes interface on the Razr2 V9m is very simple. There is a list of notes that are organized by date, with the newest note at the top. Above the notes is a shortcut to create a new note. The left soft key opens a menu that allows you to delete the currently selected note or delete all notes. That's about it. There's no support for re-sorting, filtering, categorizing, or searching through notes.

Note Formatting (0.0)
When you create a new note you can enter a title and then the body of the note. There is no ability to change font size or type or add media or hand-drawn items to notes. It's very basic.

Voice Memo (6.0)
The Razr2 V9m supports voice notes, allowing you to record notes between 30 seconds and 30 minutes in length and including the ability to save notes to the memory card. When you enter the program you are prompted to hit the center select key to start recording and then again to stop. The right soft key takes you to a list of existing notes where you can assign a voice note to a contact or alert, move the file location, or rename it. The management features are nice, and we liked the simplicity of the recording functionality.

[page title="Multimedia"]

Accessing Music Software (1.70)
To test how easy it is to get a song playing on the Razr2 V9m we time how long it takes to go from phone closed until we have a song playing. We repeat this test five times and take the average for our score. The Razr2 V9m took an average of 11.78 seconds to complete this process using the external interface to launch the music player. We also test the phone by opening it up and launching the music player, but this took several seconds longer. The Razr2 V9m is extremely slow. The Katana DLX and Razr V3m were also as slow, but the Fin, N75, and iPhone show how quickly a phone should get a song playing. The Razr2 V9m was slowed down by the fact that the Java-based music player used by all Sprint phones takes forever to launch.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	11.78	1.70
Helio Fin	3.98	5.03
Sanyo Katana DLX	11.86	1.69
Razr V3m	12.10	1.65
Nokia N75	4.04	4.95
Apple iPhone	3.10	6.45

Dedicated Music Controls (8.0)
The Razr2 V9m allows you to use the touch-sensitive portion of the external display to control music playback. In addition you can control music volume using the volume keys. We appreciated these controls, as they allowed us to control music while keeping the phone closed. This is significantly better than the Helio Fin, which has no external music controls. It should be noted that the Nokia N75, which has external music keys, provides much more functionality than the Razr2 V9m's touch controls. On the N75 we could go through playlists, for example, which you can't do on the V9m.

Music Software Functionality and Organization (5.0)

Playlists	Sorting

The Razr2 V9m uses Sprint's standard Java-based music interface. This player provides basic music playback functionality and gives you access to Sprint's music store. It recognized our test playlist, and you can create playlists on the device, however it did not recognize our album art. It does show album art from music purchased from the Sprint music store, though. It recognized tags for our test files, allowing us to organize music by title, artist, album, or genre. There is no search functionality however, nor is there an equalizer. All in all it does a decent job, but we prefer the music player on the Nokia N75 or the iPhone.

Online Song Downloading (8.0)
The Razr2 V9m allows you to download music from Sprint's music store. The interface is a little busy, but you can conduct searches based on title, artist, or album, and actually purchasing a song once you find it is straightforward. We also like that Sprint has recently reduced prices to a much more reasonable 99 cents per song from the exorbitant $2 per song they were previously charging. It should be noted that music downloaded to the Razr2 V9m will only work on that device, however you can also download another version to your desktop that should be compatible with other devices.

Streaming (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m did not support streaming Windows Media, MP3, or Real audio.

Podcast Support (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m does not include any software that allows you to download or organize your podcasts.

Music Sync with PC (0.0)
Because the Razr2 V9m does not ship with a USB cable you cannot synchronize music on the device with your PC. Instead you will have to remove the memory card and use a card reader to move music onto it. If you have a data cable, it can be synchronized with a Windows PC through Media Player 10.

Music Formats and DRM (2.5)
The Razr2 V9m supports AAC and MP3 music files. The only form of DRM it supports is Sprint's proprietary format. We would have liked to see support for a more widely available format like Microsoft's Plays For Sure. Music you purchase from iTunes is not supported by the V9m.

Music Interruption (9.0)
The Razr2 V9m handled interruption to music playback by a phone call fairly well. Music was immediately paused when the ringtone sounds, and once you are finished with the call it goes back to the song at the same point you left it. We did notice, however, that you have to hit the end key twice to get back to music, and there is a slight pause before playback resumes.

Video

Video Software Access (1.69)
Like the Razr V3m, the Razr2 V9m uses its album software for video playback. To test how easy it is to get a video playing we time how long it takes to go from phone closed until a video begins. We repeat this test five times and take the average for our score. The Razr2 V9m took an average of 11.8 seconds, which is not a good time. You can see below that almost all our comparison phones took less time, with the exception of the Nokia N75. Even the older Razr V3m took almost half as long as the Razr2 V9m, which surprised us.

Cell Phone	Time (sec)	Score
Razr2 V9m	11.8	1.69
Helio Fin	4.20	4.76
Sanyo Katana DLX	8.54	2.34
Razr V3m	6.30	3.17
Nokia N75	13.12	1.52
Apple iPhone	3.20	6.25

Video Controls (4.0)
When video is playing on the Razr2 V9m the center select key allows you to control play/pause while left/right on the d-pad allows you to move forward or back in the video. The left soft key is also assigned to play/pause for some reason, while the right soft key opens a menu where you can stop the video or mute it. The volume keys control volume. We were not very impressed with the controls, as the assignment of play/pause to the center select key and left soft key seems redundant.

Video Software & Organization (2.0)
As we mentioned, the album software on the Razr2 V9m is used to organize your videos. This means there is no support for things like playlists, sorting, or filtering your videos. Worst of all there's no support for viewing videos in landscape orientation. Instead you have to watch video in a small postage stamp portion of the screen or in a slightly larger box when you choose "full screen." We thought this was a poor solution on the Razr V3m and we haven't changed our minds in the interim.

Video Sync with PC (0.0)
As with music synchronization the Razr2 V9m receives a zero in this section because no USB cable is included to allow you to sync content with a computer. You will need to manually add it to the memory card, instead. If you have the data cable, Windows Media Player 10 can be used to sync and convert videos for viewing on the Razr2 V9m

Video Formats (3.5)
The Razr2 V9m supported all three of our test 3GP files, and also supports Vanilla .MP4 files. It does not support .MP4 files encoded in H264 however, nor does it support other formats like Real, QuickTime, Windows Media, or Flash.

Video DRM (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m does not support any form of video DRM.

Video Playback Smoothness (10.0)
To test video playback smoothness we play five video files at increasing bitrates. The Razr2 V9m was able to handle all five of our files without a problem, although we have to wonder why anyone would want to watch high quality video given the limitations of the software.

Online Video Downloading (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m does not support any direct video download services.

Video Streaming unscored
We do not score this section because there are so many different online streaming formats out there, however we do test a few different pages for informational purposes. We were pleased to see the Razr2 V9m was able to play streaming 3GP video from YouTube Mobile and Zoovision.com's mobile site. It wasn't able to handle streaming Windows Media video from windowsmedia.com. Sprint also provides its Sprint TV service, with a good selection of short clips from premium providers and even streaming movies and TV shows. You need to pay for this service, but it is accessible from the excellent exterior screen, which is a nice feature for catching up on the news in the doctor's waiting room.

[page title="Software"]

OS (1.0)
The Razr2 V9m runs an updated version of the same proprietary operating system that Motorola has had running on its phones for what seems like forever. This is curious since Motorola has developed a modern Java/Linux based operating system that provides multi-tasking capabilities, and this is available on other versions of the Razr2 from other carriers (which we will be reviewing soon). When asked about this choice Sprint stated "The Java/Linux platform you refer to is only applicable on a smart phone, not a digital wireless device like RAZR2." We think it's likely that other considerations include an attempt to keep from confusing previous Razr users with a new interface. It's also possible that Sprint's services like their music store and streaming video program are not ready for the new operating system. Regardless of the reason, we're not happy with the result. Motorola's older operating system is obviously dated and we've been arguing for an update for a long time now. The V9m's hardware is screaming for a more capable operating system, and we wish it had one.

Home Screen Score (5.0)
The home screen on the Razr2 V9m will be familiar to anyone who has used a Motorola handset in recent years. The directional pad is set to launch four different programs, which you can change in the settings. The center select key takes you to the menu, the left soft key takes you to a favorites list, which is also customizable, and the right soft key opens the contacts. At the top of the screen are indicators for network, battery, time, etc. It's a pretty well organized home screen, providing easy access to a customizable set of applications and the information you will normally need. It's not as useful as the home screens on more powerful smart phones like the Nokia N75, however, which include information about your calendar appointments, tasks, and music, among other things.

Extensibility (3.0)
The Razr2 V9m is not a very extensible platform. You can install Java applications like Google Maps or Opera Mini, however there is no support for native third-party applications as found on smart phones like the Nokia N75.

Customizability (3.0)
The Razr2 V9m only provides a few customization options. You can choose between themes and change the background picture on the home screen. You can also change the shortcut items and choose not to show the indicator for shortcuts. Menu style can also be changed, with the options of grid, list, and tabbed. There's no way to change font size or type. The range of options certainly isn't as impressive as those offered by the Helio Fin or a smart phone like the Nokia N75, but it's pretty typical for most phones.

OS Responsivness (5.0)
Unlike previous Razr's, which could be sluggish at times, we found the Razr2 V9m to be generally responsive. This is probably due to the new 225 MHz processor, although it should be noted this processor is slower than the 500 MHz processor found on the V8 and V9 versions of the Razr2. This doesn't mean we didn't run into problems, however, as the Razr2 V9m seems to have some problems with stability. It froze up several times, and even required a restart a couple of times before we could continue using the device. This kind of instability is not uncommon among newer devices, and if the Razr2 V9m was running Motorola's newer operating system we might be inclined to forgive it a little. Given that it's running the older version of Motorola's operating system, however, we expect better stability than we got.

Gaming (2.3)
The Razr2 V9m does not come with any full version games; everything is a demo. You can download a good selection of Java games from Sprint, however. The Razr2 V9m's will probably be a challenge for gamers due to the limited travel and tactile feedback, but on the good side the d-pad is fairly roomy.

Browser Features (4.0)