查看完整版本: MOTOROKR EM30

MOTOROKR EM30

Shortly after reviewing the ROKR E8, we received yet another package from Motorola which contained - surprise, surprise - another mobile phone. Opening it, we were a little surprised to see how closely the new phone resembled the E8.

[img=590,392]http://images.lowyat.net/motoem30/1.jpg[/img]

Called the ROKR EM30, it is widely dubbed as the poor man’s E8. Unfortunately, local pricing for this phone has yet to be confirmed, so can’t say if the statement is true. But what we can do, is walk you through our impressions of the EM30.
Full review after the jump.


As earlier mentioned, the form factor on the EM30 is almost identical that of the E8. Having said that, the level of aesthetics on the EM30 has been vastly toned down as compared to it’s premium brother. We’ll go into further comparisons with the E8 a little later in this review, but for now let’s just concentrate on the EM30.

[img=590,443]http://images.lowyat.net/motoem30/2.jpg[/img]

Measuring 115 x 53 x 10.6mm, the EM30 fits easily into the palm. The bezel has a very plasticy look and feel, and the number buttons are covered by a bendy plastic layer. The back of the phone is covered with a rubbery substance much like the material that’s used to coat the Motorola PEBL, and when combined with the plasticky top material, it feels really awkward. We’re hoping it’s a quirk that will be limited to these engineering units, and if they’re not, you’re not going to enjoy texting on this one.

[img=590,392]http://images.lowyat.net/motoem30/3.jpg[/img]

Next to the directional pad, you’ll notice the familiar music quick access key. Pressing this will take you directly to the music function - the bread and butter of the ROKR series - and will also “morph” your number pad into music playback buttons.

[img=590,392]http://images.lowyat.net/motoem30/11.jpg[/img]

On the top of the phone, you’ll find a 3.5mm jack that will work with pretty much any third party pair of headphones. While it may seem awkward that the jack sits smack on top of the ear piece, we love its position because it allows the phone to sit upright in your pocket when you’ve got your earphones plugged in.

Music navigation is made easy thanks to the iTunes[i]esque [/i]nature of the software, and playback is pretty decent. We did find that music playback on the bundled earphones was rather flaccid, and we strongly recommend you invest in a better pair of earphones.

[img=590,392]http://images.lowyat.net/motoem30/9.jpg[/img]

Internally, the phone only has about 25 megs of storage and is good to store a couple of ringtones, but for some serious music listening you’ll have to rely on a microSD card. The EM30 supports microSD cards with up to 8GB of memory, which is just about as much memory on an iPod Nano.

Apart from the music function, the EM30 is pretty much just an average phone. Call quality is fine, and we didn’t get any complaints on the other side of the phone thanks to Crystaltalk. We weren’t fans of the key lock switch either, as it proved a little too tiny for our stubby fingers.
[img=590,332]http://images.lowyat.net/motoem30/4.jpg[/img]

Since hadn’t returned the E8 just yet, we put it up for a side-by-side so you could see the differences between them.

[img=590,423]http://images.lowyat.net/motoem30/5.jpg[/img]

The most obvious difference between the two is the material. Compared to the E8, EM30’s build quality is quite a let down. Motorola tried to incorporate the same “feel” on the keypad, but as you can obviously see, the differences are massive.


The touch arc from the E8 is also missing on the EM30, and is replaced by 4 direction buttons, whilst the morphing keypad has been dumbed down significantly. On the E8, the keypad morphs between numbers and music keys, but when it happens on the EM30, the transition makes it look like a cheap children’s toy.

Apart from the toned down aesthetics and awkward choice of material, we reckon that the EM30 is a pretty decent phone. Even though the software is almost identical to that of the E8, we don’t expect see this retail at anything over RM450. But hey, we could be wrong.

Specifications:
[b]MOTOROKR EM30
[/b]
[b]Talk and Standby Time Talk Time[/b]: up to approximately 360 minutes
[b]Standby Time[/b]: up to approximately 300 hours
[b]Bands/Modes Quad Band[/b]: GPRS/EDGE class 12
[b]Weight [/b]100g
[b]Dimensions [/b]115x53x10.6mm
[b]Battery [/b]BK60 970mAh
[b]Connectivity [/b]Class 2 stereo Bluetooth wireless technology, USB 2.0 High Speed, GPRS Class 12, EDGEClass 12
[b]Features [/b]
• 3.5mm stereo headset jack
• MIDI, MP3, AAC, AAC+, Enhanced AAC+, WMA, WAV, AMR-NB, Real Audio (RA) v10
• FM radio with RDS technology
• Text-to-speech recognition
• ModeShift technology for easy switching between phone and music
• Microsoft® music ecosystem support
• Airplane mode for uninterrupted music
• CrystalTalk technology
• Optional 8GB microSD optional removable storage card
• Compatibility with Windows Media Player 11
• 2 megapixel camera with 8X digital zoom