Motorola U9 Review
Written on 3/10/2008 03:46:00 PM by poison_ivy
Let’s face it, there’s no arguing that Motorola’s RAZR line is one of the top phones when it comes to clamshell mobile phones however, take the RAZR design out of Motorola’s clamshell and you’ll get—The Motorola U9.
Design
The Motorola U9 is a clamshell phone however since it’s not in the RAZR line, there are no sharp edges, just round curves. The Motorola U9 comes in cute colors: Pink and Purple and it would most likely appeal to the girly-girls in their teens who thinks Pink is one of the primary colors, definitely not a Motorola business phone. The rounded curves on the Motorola U9 makes this phone look like a compact powder. You probably won’t see any men carrying this phone, unless of course they’re a member of the fab five. I guess that’s why Motorola will be coming up with a black colored Motorola U9 which will be coming soon in the UK so that it will appeal to the male population.
Cool Features
Setting aside the design, what I like about the Motorola U9 is its external screen. When the phone is not in use or the backlight is off, you would probably think there’s no external screen on this phone but with a press of the button, it lights up which is pretty cool. I guess this is where Motorola got idea for their upcoming Motorola ROKR E9 which also hides some of the keypad. I won’t exactly call the Motorola U9 a fashion phone but some would probably disagree. What I would give the Motorola U9 is that it’s a music phone. Some of the features of the Motorola U9 that is more music-centered are: Bluetooth Stereo capability, 256MB internal memory expandable with a MicroSD card, easy synching with Microsoft Windows Media Player 11, and capable of Windows WMAv10 plus Janus DRM, MP3, AAC, AAC+, and AAC+ enhanced playback.
Aside from the cool external screen which hides when the backlight is off, you can have easy access to your music player with the touch screen buttons located below the external screen, similar to that on the RAZR2 V9 and the RAZR V6 Maxx.
Complaints
From the start you know that hate the design of the Motorola U9 as I’m not exactly a girly-girl, aside from that, I don’t like its glossy finish. This phone is a fingerprint magnet and at the end of the day, you have to devote a few minutes of your time to completely wipe it down of all of the smudges and make it look brand-spanking new again. I’m also not into Motorola’s flat keypad as I always tend to push two keys at a time. 3G would also be a nice added feature on the Motorola U9. Since it’s a music-phone, 3G would help in over the air downloads of music files.
Conclusion
The Motorola U9 is the perfect phone for fashion conscious teenagers and once the black version comes out, it would also be a good music phone for the male Motorola fans. That is, if you don’t mind its rounded curves.
Other Motorola Phones:
MotoROKR EM30
MotoROKR EM28
MotoROKR EM25
I bought this phone in august 2008. my friend had it and I liked what I saw. But within a month of my buying it, its flip top started giving me trouble. It would open with a bit of ressistance. Before I realized what was happening, the corner below the hinge (where the top is attached to the phone) came out.
Now my friend’s phone has developed the SAME defect. On top of it, the place where I purchased it from ( RPG Cellucom) has the same model displayed there which has the SAME defect. Its seems to be a design defect.
Since then I have been running from pillar to post. I am willing to pay (though the phone is still in warranty period) for a replacement of the band that runs around the phone, there is no guarantee that it wont happen again. I feel the company should recall this model. If you are planning to buy this model, think twice before doing so.
The same problem happened with me. The hinge came off by itself within 3 months of usage. I took the phone to the company service centre, but they were demanding 3000 bucks for repairing it ( so much for 1 year guarantee). Its realy a very flimsy set, a defective model altogether. And anyone who has respect for thr money shud nt buy this fone. Its guranteed to break within a year!!!
Had I seen this post with comments about Motorola U 9 flip phone , I wouldn't have bought it by paying such a heavy price.
My phone flip started giving trouble to open within 8 months and one "bad" day, the the flip got detached with a small broken plastic near hinge. It is under warranty and I have given it for service. I don't know if they are going to replace the body even though it is a manufacturing defect.
If they don't replace , I am thinking of going to Consumer forum. If anybody had similar problems, please let me know what I can do about this.
Yes, I have had the same problem with the phone. I was flipping it open not too long ago and had some resistance. When I opened it, I heard a crack and the one side of the hinge now pops up out of place and the phone screen is tilted. It caused the piece of the band by the hinge that goes around the phone to crack and break off. Now if I flip it up normally the phone screem is tilted and I almost have to snap it back down into place.
I am trying to send it back to motorola for repair. I just called them and then only gave me instructions on how to send my phone in so far.