Motorola RAZR2 V9 Review

Introduction:

On the heels of Sprint and Verizon Wireless, AT&T has released their RAZR2 variant, the V9. This quad-band GSM device features the same 2 megapixel camera, ultra-thin design and 2” outer display with touch sensitive buttons we found on the V9m, and the V9 has HSDPA is on board to deliver 3G data. The phone retains the same glass and stainless steel design found on all variants of the RAZR2, and the V9 gets a deep burgundy paint job.

Design

The V9 is very similar in design to the V9m. In fact, with the exception of the color difference, the casual user would never notice a difference. However, the V9 comes in at 1.6mm thicker and 7g heavier that the V8 and V9m, and the size and especially weight difference are noticeable when holding the two units.

The V9 is constructed of a stainless steel frame, with a near seamless integration of a glass cover over the 2mp camera and gorgeous front display. Along the left side is the volume rocker, a smart key and microUSB port. On the right the user will find a single key, used as a camera shortcut.



The back is again coated in a soft-touch paint to make the phone easier to grip. The battery door has no mechanical latch, but instead is slid on and off to reveal the battery, microSD slot and SIM slot. Thankfully the microSD slot is accessible without removing the battery, one of the gripes we had with the V9m. The battery must be removed to swap out SIM cards, but that is not an issue as the SIM card is seldom removed. Below the door sits the speaker. In our review of the Sprint V9m we mentioned that the slots found on the bottom of the phone were speakers, but upon further inspection they seem to serve no actual purpose as sound is not emitted from them.

The front display is 2”, with a QVGA resolution and 262k colors. The increased colors make the screen noticeably crisper than the one found on the V9m. The touch sensitive strip along the bottom is still present, but it is much less functional on the V9. More on that later in the review.

Opening the phone reveals a 2.2” QVGA display. Like the front one, the inside screen features 262k colors, again making it crisper than the V9m.Despite its actual 2.2” size, the screen looks much smaller because of the abundance of dead space around it. We feel the display could be significantly bigger, even up to 3”.

The keypad is in the same vein as the V9m, but has been reworked a bit. The directional pad is a bit smaller to make room for a back key underneath it, in-between the send and end keys. Underneath the left soft key the user will find the AT&T globe, which launches the web, and on the right side a shortcut for Cellular Video. The keypad is still very wide, meaning two handed operation will be preferred for typing out messages.



The V9m was a very solid unit all-around, we couldn’t find a flaw with the construction. The V9 is nearly identical in design and build quality, but we have to say that the flip feels downright flimsy. When closed its fine, and opening one still a bit of resistance like on the V9m, but when opened the flip will literally flop when the phone is just lightly shaken. In fact, a simple flick of the wrist and the flip will actually close. We cannot tell what’s different design-wise, but the V9 has a decidedly cheaper feel because of this.