Motorola RIZR Z3 review

Does the RIZR Z3 measure up to the RAZR and KRZR? Motorola's slider is certainly as stylish as its flip phone stablemates

Published on Apr 24, 2007

The Motorola RIZR Z3 is the latest handset from the RAZR family, a collection of mobile phones that has often been accused of putting style before function. However, with millions of RAZR handsets being sold all over the world it seems that that consumers have silenced the critics, at least for now.

The RIZR Z3 really only has one major difference to its predecessors in that it is a slider phone, rather then the increasingly popular KRZR and RAZR V3i flip phones. Apart from the difference in design, the RIZR’s specification and interface is almost identical to that of the KRZR. Measuring up at 16mm thick, the RIZR is stylish enough for the biggest poser but also maintains a level of usability that some of the skinnier phones often lack.

The main advantage of the RIZR’s sliding functionality is that users are able to access the majority of the handset's features while the phone is shut. The 5-way navigation key sits in the centre of the phone while the voice commands and camera buttons are all easily accessible on the side of the RIZR.

Functions on the 2-megapixel camera are simple to use but the phone fails to feature some applications popular with mobile phone photographers, including a panoramic setting or BestPic. However, pictures are clear and the addition of a flash builds on progress made with the RAZR and KRZR.

The RIZR slides open easily with the help of a spring mechanism, the keypad instantly glows blue and the 176x220-pixel screen lights up showing the handset's navigation key shortcuts, which help speed up access to favourite features. The MP3 player on the RIZR can store up to 1000 tracks once the 20MB of internal memory is beefed up with a 1GB microSD memory card. The lack of radio is a disappointment, and one has to wonder why Motorola are still not providing what is to many a very basic necessity on a modern mobile phone.

Despite ticking all the boxes in terms of features, the RIZR lacks the wow factor that made the KRZR so popular, but despite this criticism the RIZR is a great little handset best suited for those looking to dip their toe in the ocean that is Motorola.