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Home > Reviews > Manufacturer > Motorola Razr2 V9m On Sprint Cell Phone Review

Motorola Razr2 V9m On Sprint Cell Phone Review - Organizer

Alfredo Padilla
Published on September 04, 2007 Comment on this






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.


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