Motorola Razr2 V9m On Sprint Cell Phone Review - Software
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Alfredo Padilla Published on September 04, 2007 Comment on this |
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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)
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)
Browser Features (4.0)
Browsing Interface (3.0)
The Razr2 V9m's browser reformats Web pages to fit them into a single column's width. There is no way to page up or down; instead you have to use the d-pad to move from link to link, which can take forever when dealing with large Web pages. The browser's history is a simple chronological list of sites visited. You can delete individual items or all items, however you can't save an item to a bookmark. We were pleased to see the history is saved from session to session.
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| Bookmarks | Menu |
Bookmarks are very simple, with a list of all your bookmarks you can reorder but no support for folders. You can edit existing bookmarks, and choose any bookmark to be the home page. When on the browser the left soft key is assigned to "go," which takes you to the currently selected link. This is yet another example of unnecessary redundancy in the interface, as the center select key also does this. The right soft key opens a very large set of menu options, which you need to scroll manually since the Razr2 V9m doesn't map menu options to the keypad. There are no shortcut keys, nor is there support for more advanced features like tabbed browsing or a mini-map to get an overview of the page. We recommend you check out Opera Mini, a Java-based browser, if you want to do even light browsing on the Razr2 V9m.
Browser Access (2.86)
To see how quickly you can launch the Web browser on the Razr2 V9m we count the number of steps it takes to browse to our site. We use steps instead of a timed test to ensure network issues are controlled for. Entering our URL counts as a single step. It took an interminable 14 steps to complete this process on the Razr2 V9m, worse than any of our comparison phones. In fact, the only phone anywhere near as bad is the Razr V3m. The Razr2 V9m was hurt by the fact that we used up six steps just navigating the menu to get to the choice we wanted.
| Cell Phone | Steps | Score |
| Razr2 V9m | 14 | 2.86 |
| Helio Fin | 6 | 6.67 |
| Sanyo Katana DLX | 8 | 5.00 |
| Razr V3m | 13 | 3.08 |
| Nokia N75 | 8 | 5.00 |
| Apple iPhone | 4 | 10.00 |
Calculator (6.0)
Alarm (8.0)
Document Software (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m does not include any software for viewing or editing office documents like Word or Excel files.
Other Software (1.0)
In addition to the software we've discussed above we are awarding the Razr2 V9m a point for its file browser. It's always helpful to be able to view, move around, and delete any file on your device without having to go into the specific program that's meant to handle that file type.
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