| Motorola V325 Expert Reviews |
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Motorola V325 -- by Joni Blecher Follow me on Twitter--June 23rd 2006 |
| Full Review |
| Motorola’s V325 may look like a basic cell phone on the surface, but unbeknownst to most people it has GPS functionality built-in. Yes, you can get turn-by-turn directions and find nearby ATMs or gas stations when you sign up for the accompanying Verizon Wireless service. But even if you never use these location-friendly features you’ll likely appreciate the Motorola V325’s straightforward menu, solid call quality and decent battery life. |
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Calls and speakerphone: Overall, calls are clear and loud enough on the Motorola V325. We rarely needed to use the side volume keys to adjust the sound, but we typically always left it at the highest setting. The speakerphone audio quality is also quite good on this cell phone. However, we often accidentally turned on the speakerphone during calls.  In our defense, we did this often because the dedicated Speakerphone button sits on the lower side of the cell phone’s spine where we usually hold the Motorola during calls. |
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Menu/Phonebook: As is the case with many Motorola cell phones, the menu’s interface is intuitive; requiring only a couple of steps to access most of the Motorola V325’s features. Entering and saving numbers is easy (can save info for 500 contacts, but no addresses) but if you want to use this feature in handsfree mode and hear the voice commands repeated before they take action and initiate calls you’ll need to turn the speakerphone feature on first.
The big deal feature on this cell phone is the GPS system, which can provide turn-by-turn directions or access to location based services (for example, find a nearby restaurant or ATM). However, you’ll need to pay an extra monthly fee to use this service. Can’t decide if that’s a feature you want or need on a cell phone. Ask yourself, “What are you willing to pay so you don’t have to stop and ask for directions?”
Camera: It’s hard to expect spectacular picture quality from a VGA camera phone, so we don’t and neither should you. When we took pictures with the cell phone images came out ok, but far from great. While you can take self-portraits with this Motorola cell phone, we found the tiny mirror located near the camera lens was more useful for touching-up make-up in a pinch. The V325 cell phone has 64MB of memory so even if you’re prolific a photographer it’ll be quite some time before you run out of space to save camera phone pics. |
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Look and Feel: The Motorola V325 is one of the more “sportier” looking cell phones we’ve seen in some time, with its brushed metal front casing and rubber-like navy lining. We felt confident this Motorola could take a beating and still be up to its standard cell phone tasks. The external screen with its single blue-line of text is reminiscent of another Motorola cell phone, the V60 (true, the external screen on that phone was monochrome), and it reminded us that keeping it simple (displaying just the info we need – caller ID, time, etc.) has its perks. But if you crave a bit more flair, you can program the LED light that surrounds the black Motorola logo to flash colors for incoming calls. The cell phone’s internal display is bright and we could typically view the screen clearly in most lighting situations.
Keypad: We really liked the backlit keypad on the Motorola V325. It was tactile to the touch and the keys are slightly raised so misdials aren’t a real issue. We particularly like that the dedicated camera key is located on the keypad instead of the cell phone’s spine because we never took pictures accidentally. Additionally, the Clear key is quite effective backing us step-by-step out of unwanted menu options without having to press the End button and starting all over again. |
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| A great aspect of cell phones that don’t boast tons of extra high-end features is that battery life is usually pretty good. The Motorola V325 is such a cell phone. We were pleased with the cell phone’s battery life. We could last three to four days before needing to recharge when using the V325 regularly to make calls and send/receive text messages. Heavier cell phone users will likely need to charge the V325 every other day. If you barely use the phone to make calls or send/receive a lot of text messages the battery should last about a week. |
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Motorola V325 Expert Rating
