Motorola Razr2 V9m on Verizon Cell Phone Review - Imaging
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Alfredo Padilla Published on September 12, 2007 Comment on this |
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Resolution (4.34)
| Cell Phone | Razr2 V9m (Verizon) | Helio Fin | Razr2 V9m (Sprint) |
| Score | 4.34 | 2.77 | 3.22 |
| lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 988 / 958 | 790.1 / 866.5 | 851.2 / 1031 |
| Image of Resolution Chart (click to view) |  |
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| Cell Phone | Razr V3m | LG Chocolate VX8550 | Apple iPhone |
| Score | 1.13 | 1.69 | 4.18 |
| lw/ph horizontal/vertical | 521.7 / 242.2 | 616.8 / 569.5 | 970 / 879 |
| Image of Resolution Chart (click to view) |  |
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Color (5.71)
To test the quality of colors produced by the Razr2 V9m's camera we took photos of the industry standard Gretag Macbeth color chart, which displays 24 different colors. We ran the photos through Imatest software, which compares the captured colors to the original colors. Imatest produced the two charts below. The one on the top shows the chart with the original colors in the small vertical rectangle, the Razr2 V9m's captured colors in the outer square, and the captured colors adjusted for luminance in the inner square.
| Cell Phone | Razr2 V9m (Verizon) | Helio Fin | Razr2 V9m (Sprint) |
| Score | 5.71 | 5.94 | 4.84 |
| Color Checker Chart (click to view) |  |
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| Cell Phone | Razr V3m | LG Chocolate VX8550 | Apple iPhone |
| Score | 3.26 | 4.69 | 5.22 |
| Color Checker Chart (click to view) |  |
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Noise (0.84)
To measure how much noise is produced by the Razr2 V9m's camera we took photos of the Gretag Macbeth color chart and used Imatest to see how much noise is produced at each of four different lighting levels. The Razr2 V9m from Verizon produced lower or similar noise levels when compared to the Sprint version of the phone at every lighting level except the lowest. At the lowest level it produced significantly more noise, which led to an overall lower score. Once again this is likely due to differences in software processing; the differences in the images themselves are fairly minor.
| Cell Phone | Score |
| Razr2 V9m (Verizon) | 0.84 |
| Helio Fin | 1.46 |
| Razr2 V9m (Sprint) | 1.00 |
| Razr V3m | 1.05 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 1.27 |
| Apple iPhone | 1.20 |
Live Preview (7.0)
The Razr2 V9m's live preview does a good job with rapid refresh so you don't see much pixellation when you pan. Color reproduction is accurate, as well. We also liked that the live preview uses the entire 2.2-inch screen. The Sprint version of the V9m did a good job as well, but we found the Verizon version did a better job reproducing colors.
Unlocked Standby to First Shot (7.02)
Unlocked standby to first shot is a measure of how long it takes to go from phone closed until you have captured a photo. We repeat this test until we get the fastest reproducible time. The Razr2 V9m on Verizon took 2.85 seconds to complete this process. This is a solid score; only the iPhone and Chocolate VX8550 are faster, and not by much. The Verizon version of the V9m was significantly faster than the Sprint version on this test.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Razr2 V9m (Verizon) | 2.85 | 7.02 |
| Helio Fin | 6.20 | 3.23 |
| Razr2 V9m (Sprint) | 4.10 | 4.88 |
| Razr V3m | 3.50 | 5.71 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 2.36 | 8.47 |
| Apple iPhone | 2.43 | 8.23 |
Shot to Shot Time (0.86)
Shot to shot time is a measure of how quickly you can take a series of photos. When possible we try to use Burst mode for this test, however unlike the Sprint version of the Razr2 V9m, the Verizon version lacks a Burst mode. This means we had to do the test manually. It took us 10.5 seconds to take a series of three photos using this method, which works out to 0.29 frames per second (fps). This is a pretty terrible score, but many of our comparison phones also put up poor scores in this test, mostly for the same reason. In addition to the handicap of having to take multiple photos on the Razr2 V9m from Verizon manually, we also couldn't turn off the review feature, which means we had to manually save the photo before we could move on to taking the next. This slowed us down even more. The Razr2 V9m from Sprint, which did have a Burst mode, put up the best score among our comparison phones. Basically, if you are looking to take quick sequences of images, no cell phone does a good job; get a dedicated still camera.
| Cell Phone | FPS | Score |
| Razr2 V9m (Verizon) | 0.29 | 0.86 |
| Helio Fin | 0.19 | 0.57 |
| Razr2 V9m (Sprint) | 0.84 | 2.51 |
| Razr V3m | 0.20 | 0.60 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 0.38 | 1.14 |
| Apple iPhone | 0.40 | 1.20 |
Shutter to Shot Time (5.88)
Shutter to shot time is the amount of time it takes for the phone to actually capture a photo once you have pushed the shutter button. The Razr2 V9m from Verizon took 0.34 seconds to capture a photo. As you can see below this is similar to the score we got with the Razr2 V9m from Sprint, and is a middling score.
| Cell Phone | Time (sec) | Score |
| Razr2 V9m (Verizon) | 0.34 | 5.88 |
| Helio Fin | 0.60 | 3.33 |
| Razr2 V9m (Sprint) | 0.38 | 5.26 |
| Razr V3m | 0.43 | 4.65 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 0.22 | 9.09 |
| Apple iPhone | 0.40 | 5.00 |
Interface (5.0)
The camera interface for the Razr2 V9m from Verizon is very clean. The entire screen is used as a viewfinder, with a few icons overlaid to provide information about zoom, resolution, camera mode, and the labels for the soft keys. One issue we have, however, is that by default the interface comes up in landscape orientation. This seems a little strange, as on a flip phone it means you have to hold the phone horizontally, which is awkward. You can change the orientation to the more usable Portrait mode in the Options menu within the camera or change it permanently in the phone settings, which we recommend you do.
Photo Album Software Internal (5.0)
Manual Control (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m from Verizon does not provide any manual controls. The Sprint version, by contrast, has a manual white balance mode.
Zoom (1.0)
As with the Sprint version of the Razr2 V9m the Verizon version's camera has a digital zoom that is thankfully available at the highest resolution setting. Digital zoom is of limited utility as all it does is crop and enlarge a portion of the scene, but it's better than nothing.
Focus (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m has a fixed focus lens, which basically means what you see is what you get. Some phones have auto focus lenses that produce better photos, but they take longer to capture a photo as the camera focuses. We don't award points for fixed focus lenses.
Flash (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m does not have a flash. If you need more light, bring a torch.
Metering (2.0)
The Razr2 V9m has brightness controls with four different levels, but lacks true metering controls. Metering allows you to judge from which point or points in the scene light is judged. Most phones lack this feature, but we've started to see the option crop up in a few newer handsets like the Helio Fin.
White Balance (2.0)
The Razr2 V9m provides you with several presets for white balance, including Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten, and Fluorescent.
Image Handling (5.0)
Video
Overall Video Score (4.0)
The Razr2 V9m takes video at a resolution of 320 x 240, which is higher than most phones that only take 176 x 144 video. The video produced by the Razr2 V9m from Verizon was decent, but not as good as was produced by the Sprint version of the phone. We noticed more pixellation and color error on the Verizon handset. This is another example of where software plays a role in producing different results, even when you're using the same hardware. One thing the Verizon version of the phone did handle better was the glare from bright lights. It's certainly much better than the extremely poor video produced by it's predecessor, the Razr V3m.
Video Resolution (5.08)
To measure the resolution of video we took video of the same industry standard resolution chart we used for stills resolution. We then ran frames from that video through Imatest to produce the same line widths per pixel height (lw/ph) score, which measured how many alternating white and black lines could be discerned before they started blurring together. The Razr2 V9m from Verizon scored 208 lw/ph horizontal and 244 lw/ph vertical. This was significantly worse than the V9m from Sprint, which put up one of the best video resolution scores we've seen from any phone. We've talked about the impact software can have on imaging throughout this section, but this is probably the most stark indication of how significant the difference can be.
| Cell Phone | lw/ph horizontal/vertical | Score |
| Razr2 V9m (Verizon) | 208 / 244 | 5.08 |
| Helio Fin | 214.1 / 217.7 | 4.66 |
| Razr2 V9m (Sprint) | 342.5 / 351.4 | 12.04 |
| Razr V3m | 174.3 / 170.9 | 3.46 |
| LG Chocolate VX8550 | 218.3 / 200.8 | 4.38 |
| Apple iPhone | n/a - no video recording | 0.00 |
Video Compression (2.0)
The Razr2 V9m captures video in 3GP format without any options for alternative formats. Video can be captured at two resolution levels, 176 x 144 or 320 x 240.
Interface (5.0)
Manual Control (0.0)
The Razr2 V9m does not provide any manual controls for video capture.
Zoom (1.0)
As with the stills camera there is a digital zoom available, although at the low resolutions video is captured in, using the zoom will quickly reduce the quality of your recordings.
Editing (1.0)
Video editing options on cell phones are rare, but the Razr2 V9m from Verizon did have one interesting option we thought was worthy of points. This is the ability to extract the currently viewed frame from a video. This is a nice feature when you've taken a funny video and perhaps want to send a still image to someone as a tease for the video. It's a feature we don't see very often, and it could be useful.
Modes (3.0)
By default the Razr2 V9m from Verizon is set up to capture MMS video, which means it's 176 x 144 resolution and limited to 30 seconds in length. You have separate settings for limiting the length of the video and setting the resolution. You also have brightness controls, but no advanced metering or Scene modes.
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