Motorola SLVR L9 Preview

Introduction:

At the beginning of the year Motorola presented a new phone of the SLVR series – the Motorola L9. It is a “successor” to the L7, which came onto the market about two years ago. Its constructors succeeded to completely retain the dimensions, adding more functions at the same time. The new SLVR is a mid-level candybar and a quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) – just like its “predecessor”. The camera has now “grown’ up to 2 megapixels and the music capabilities have been enhanced by the FM radio in the new model.

Design:

The phone’s design is not a novelty or a radical change at all: it simply relies on the well-known shape and detail positioning of the L7. As already noted, the Motorola SLVR L9 not only retains the same size - 13.5 x 49 x 11.5 mm (4.5 x 1.9 x 0.5 inches), but the same weight of 96 gr. (3.4 oz.) as well.



What sticks out a mile as a difference from the L7 at the very first sight, is the silver mirror design of the front panel; it adds luster and makes the L7 quite attractive.



The display’s diameter is 1.9 inches, featuring a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels and 262 144 colors. Regrettably, at a time when the QVGA displays are getting more and more widespread, there is nothing new in L9 – we see the old display of L7, the one we know rather well.


The keypad is entirely flat, with narrow rubber separator bands between all the buttons, as well as between the columns of the numeric keypad. A rounded five-position button is charged with navigation; bulging just slightly, but sufficiently, it is very easy to feel by touch. It is surrounded by all the remaining control buttons: left and right soft keys, FM radio and back keys, call and end key. The blue keypad backlighting is subject to automatic light sensor control: it is on in the daylight and off at night or in a dark environment.

Both the volume and voice command keys are on the left side. On the right, there is the so called smart key, whose default function is activating the camera; it is programmable for fast access to other functions as well. Besides the latter, one also finds the universal miniUSB connector here, as well as the slot for the microSD card. The light sensor and the button that opens the battery compartment back lid are on top. The mirror-like surface of all the side buttons (same as that of the face panel) also made impression on us.



The object-glass of the 2 megapixel camera is located on the back of L9 and the loudspeaker is in its lower part. Had it not been labeled “2.0 MEGA PIXEL” and the video-shoot icon added to the menu, one would not be able to tell L9 from L7.

Interface:

The interface is all too familiar from previous Motorola models. The main menu consists of icons situated in a 3 x 3 grid with an option to alter the list view and rearrange their position at your discretion. In order to achieve an even better personalization one may also change themes and program the functions of both the soft keys, the four positions of the navigation button, as well as the smart key.

Phonebook:

The phonebook also features the traditional resources of L7, with only a few improvements. The user can now enter several numbers for a particular contact, first and last name, nickname, picture and ringer ID, postal address, birthday, e-mail, web address, etc. At an incoming call, the photo (if one is available), associated with the respective contact, appears in a small window at the bottom of the screen. When dialing, though, it is not displayed.



Organizer:

As with previous models, the organizer is none too complete, either: you dispose of only the “bare necessities”, such as a standard calculator, datebook (calendar) and alarm clock. It is possible to set up to four alarms with different go-off hours, names, tones, and ringing volumes. The calendar can be viewed for the week or for the month, and different to-do events can be added for each day, with a reminder. Every day that has an event added to it is marked with a check on the calendar itself.

The built-in memory capacity of the Motorola SLVR L9 is about 22 MB; however, one can supplement it by use of a microSD card.

Messaging:

The message-creating resources match those of the previous models. The following options are available: text, multimedia, voice messages, as well as e-mails.

Connectivity:

Being a quad-band phone (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), the Motorola SLVR L9 will be capable of operating in all the GSM/GPRS networks worldwide.

Apart from serving as a charging inlet, the miniUSB port is used for connecting to a computer or other accessories. Wireless data exchange is carried out by Bluetooth; the A2DP being supported, it also provides a stereo sound source.

The phone has the standard WAP2.0 browser, and the connection goes through GPRS class 10. Sadly, the much faster EDGE standard is not supported, which would have been a good improvement in regards to its predecessor. The settings of the network are fairly easy made, and you have the option of saving settings for a number of different networks, so that when you change the SIM card, you will not need to change all settings.

Multimedia:

Compared to its L7 “predecessor”, the multimedia potential is the major improvement of L9. The camera features a landscape orientation; its resolution has been increased to 2 megapixels and it offers an 8x digital zoom. The display information (number of remaining shots, shooting mode, etc.) is ingeniously presented through semi-transparent symbols. You have the choice of four shooting resolutions: QVGA, VGA, 1.3 MP and 2 MP, as well as three quality modes. If you happen not to like the click at the moment of taking a picture, there is the choice of five available tones plus the option to completely switch it off. The video camera features a landscape orientation; the user can set video quality, duration, resolution (128 x 96 or 176 x 144 pixels), and also choose between recording audio or not.



Another improvement of the multimedia part is the availability of an FM radio.

The music player cannot boast any innovations and its interface is the same as that of previous models of the brand. The name, duration, size, and bitrate of the respective track are displayed, as well as a status bar and the functions of the navigation button.

Expect our full review when final, commercial samples are released.