Motorola V620 mobile phone

Motorola V620 is a quad band cameraphone, which makes this clamshell a very suitable model for global roaming. The design is an updated version of the V600, but now with video capability, a better quality display, and a sleek black metal case - so creating a refreshing change from the many silver handsets around at the moment. Set in the mid-range price band, this model offers users a good choice of features, including Bluetooth™ connectivity, GPRS and WAP technology, MMS multimedia messaging, video capture download and playback, voice memo recorder, a speakerphone for hands-free conversations, Java™ enabled, voice control, active flip, and an e-mail client.

Motorola V620Of the V620’s two displays, the main screen is a TFT active matrix LCD device, which has a high resolution of 176 x 220 pixels, and it can also reproduce up to 262,144 different colours - the highest colour specification currently available. The smaller external screen is a pleasant blue backlit LCD offering a resolution of 96 x 32 pixels, and this display shows information about incoming messages and calls, such as caller ID, the battery condition, signal strength, as well as the time. Also, to help with alerting you to the caller and phone’s activity, there are lights around the Motorola logo and ring lights, which can be set to flash in ways that will alert you to some event or call type - “situational lights” as Motorola refers to them.

A fairly standard VGA quality camera is integrated into the mobile phone, and this can handle a choice of 3 picture sizes: 640 x 480, 320 x 240 and 160 x 120 pixels. Digital zoom is another useful tool, with which you can magnify portions of your pictures by up to 4x. A small mirror and a timer assist when taking self-portraits, and the other useful features include a night mode, camera light, and adjustable exposure for shooting photos in different lighting conditions.

As you would expect, Motorola V620 has full MMS capability, which means you can send and receive multimedia messages containing a video clip, picture, sound and text. There is also the option to capture or download video clips, and to play them back on the phone’s main screen, although the amount of storage available for this is limited to the 5 MB of onboard memory, as there is no memory card slot provided to allow for expansion. Memory capacity is becoming an increasingly important issue in these phones with extensive multimedia and other high-end features, and a potential buyer must consider the question of just how much they will use some facilities. After all, if you only take the occasional snapshot, then 5 MB is perfectly adequate.

To satisfy the user who wants to personalise their phone, the V620 can be customised with new themes, wallpapers, screensavers and ringtones. When you want to try out different looks and sounds, it is a fairly simple matter to download more pictures and tunes, or to swap those provided in the phone. The musically adventurous might like to try the supplied MotoMixer™ ringer software, which allows you to create and edit remixable MIDI ringtones - this means you can produce a unique ringtone of your own.

To make call management and answering easier, you can assign a photo taken with the camera as a picture ID for a phonebook entry, or set a unique ringtone for specified entries in the phonebook. When a fashion makeover is required, it is even possible to replace the outer covers with other designs and colours, and this will give the phone any personal style you prefer.

As Motorola V620 is Java™ enabled, this is a phone capable of running a range of Java games and applications programs. There are 2 games preloaded to use - Golf and Top Gun - but there is always the option to download more applications and games from a WAP site or your network’s portal.

The mobile phone has integrated GPRS technology to provide you with fast data transfer, a useful asset for those who wish to use the V620’s browser facility to access the mobile Internet. The added advantage of GPRS is that it provides an “always on” connection, which avoids the need to keep dialling up, and you only pay for the data you use rather than the time you are connected to the network. A full e-mail client is also included to enable you to use your normal e-mail accounts, and this is the ideal way to keep up with your correspondence while on the move. The standard e-mail protocols of POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP are all supported.

Connectivity options are good, with the chance to make a wireless link using the latest Bluetooth™ technology - this allows you to connect with any compatible devices at up to a 10-metre range. The usual wired connection using a USB data cable is also available, so you may link with your home computer or other devices. Those who want to synchronise their files and personal data, such as in the phonebook or calendar, can do so by using Motorola’s Mobile PhoneTools® software, which is available as an optional extra. Yet a further option is to synchronise remotely over the network, using SyncML.

Motorola V620’s organiser facilities provide some other useful tools, such as a calendar, clock, alarms, calculator, and currency converter. The phonebook can store up to 1,000 contacts, which is great for the business user, and each contact can have several phone numbers, as well as postal and e-mail addresses. The phone also has iTAP™, Motorola’s own type of predictive text input, and a vibrating alert when you do not want to disturb those around you.

Motorola V620 Cameraphone specification

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Last updated 30th January 2008, 14:39 GMT