Motorola Fire XT316 brings the portrait QWERTY form factor to China now, Europe later

There’s no kidding about it, but landscape QWERTY sliders are all too common with Android smartphones nowadays, which is evident by prominent devices like the Motorola DROID 3.

Fortunately, the good people of China are being subjected to the still rarely used portrait style QWERTY form factor with the Motorola XT316 – a device that looks similar to the Motorola DROID Pro and XPRT in the US. This affordably priced handset features a 2.8” QVGA display, 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227-1 processor, 3-megapixel camera, 256MB of RAM, 512MB of ROM, microSD card slot, 1,420 mAh battery, HSPDA, Wi-Fi, and Moto Switch UI running on top of Android 2.2 Froyo.

Unlike its stronger and more equipped siblings, the Motorola XT316 plays it safe by flaunting an inexpensive price point, which appears to hover around $230. Currently, it’s available in China and will soon be making a trip to Europe and Latin America where it’ll be known as the Motorola Fire and Motorola Spice Key respectively.

Interestingly enough, the handset will be packed with Android 2.3 Gingerbread when it launches in the European and Latin America markets – while retaining an alluring price point.

source: Motorola via Unwired View