Graduating from the same school of style as its older brother, the Motorola RAZR V3, the Motorola RIZR Z3 is the company’s first slider phone and although it’s a hard-working blower, it simply isn’t talented enough to pull good grades.
From a distance, the Z3 has all the hallmarks of another Motorola winner. Get up close though and you can quickly see where the corners have been cut. The finish simply isn’t as polished as the RAZR and the elements that made that phone a design icon are obviously absent here.
The RIZR Z3 might sport a 2-megapixel camera, but the screen isn’t nearly as good as it should be. Accessing functions is pretty straightforward, and with the ability to use the phone in both opened and closed mode you can quickly access key features such as the camera. The keyboard is a bit of a disappointment style-wise, but buttons are far enough apart even for our chubby digits.
Sadly the menu system doesn’t make things much better, offering as it does only basic functionality and being a bit clunky to use.
All in all this isn’t a great showing for Motorola. The Z3 does the job, just, but we would have expected much better things, given the schooling.
Verdict
If it’s a slider you’re after, we’d recommend the more stylish Moto RIZR Z6.
Best features
2-megapixel camera
Music player
Quad-band
Not so good
Bit on the chunky side (compared to the SLVR or RAZR)
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