Let's be honest, Motorola has been milking the RAZR design for a tad too long. Not that you can blame them when you consider its success for being everyone's favourite flip phone. For every upgrade in hardware and firmware, we've seen a half dozen changes in colour or celebrity associations, but to kick-start Moto's flagging market performance, the company's line-up has been in need of a redesign.
Design
It may not technically be a touchscreen, but we can guarantee the Moto ROKR E8 will attract eager glances and cooing/drooling from friends and passers-by. We know, we've experienced these reactions from the beginning of our testing. Every time we've slipped the E8 out of our pocket, someone's eyes have locked onto the phone.
When the E8's not turned on, its glossy black finish and stainless steel highlights look like space-age technology. Without power, it's also much easier to see the raised dimples on the keypad which help differentiate the otherwise flat keypad. Again, technically speaking, keypad is the wrong term, and it's this feature — which Motorola calls ModeShift — that is most interesting about the E8.
Broadly speaking ModeShift is an adaptive touch panel. In standard call mode the panel displays a numeric keypad. Enter the music player and ModeShift morphs this numberpad into dedicated music controls. Likewise in camera mode, the only keys you'll find is for zoom and to enter the gallery. This feature looks great and works extremely well. It also keeps the 10.5mm thick E8 streamlined without the need for any bulky sliding components.
On the top of the E8 is a 3.5mm headphone jack — an absolute must-have for any serious music-focused mobile. One other interesting touch is the keypad lock switch on the side of the handset, which replaces standard keypad locking software on phones. The switch moves in two directions — up locks the keypad, and holding it down turns the phone on and off. In truth, it took us a few days to get used to locking and unlocking the phone this way, but this is a minor annoyance for a short period only.
Features
So we've established that this phone looks amazing, but does this mean it's all looks and no substance, like a vacuous Hollywood party-goer, or is it packed with features? The answer is a bit of both. The E8 has a few nice features, but isn't exactly a hardware powerhouse.
The first notable absence is 3G data speeds. The E8 has quad-band GSM with EDGE network capabilities, but considering that EDGE networks are almost non-existent in Australia, you can expect dial-up internet speeds when surfing the Web with this handset. Without 3G, it's hardly a surprise to discover the E8 also lacks Wi-Fi or GPS, though the E8 does support A2DP stereo Bluetooth connections.
The music player runs on Windows Media Player 11 and supports most popular audio file types, excluding DRM-protected music. The media player also plays video files including MPEG4 and 3GP, though it certainly doesn't extend to DivX or XviD files, so you'll want to fire up your video converter before transferring some of your media to the E8.
On a related note, Motorola's bundled Moto Tools PC software has to be one of the best proprietary PC syncing applications in the consumer market. The set-up is a breeze, and the functionality extends past basic calendar syncing and media transfers to include remote use of the phone for sending and reading received SMS and MMS, and internet sharing. Most competing phones feature similar software, but none are as easy to use and offer the same functionality in a single-screen app.
Performance
For standard calling and messaging there's no doubt the ROKR E8 is a solid mobile phone. Since beginning our tests all calls have been uniformly excellent, with a loud internal speaker and great reception. Messaging is likewise excellent, with fast keystroke recognition.
Another stand-out feature is the E8's 2-megapixel (MP) camera. Ordinarily, 2MP cameras don't attract a lot of attention — the megapixel myth often leads people to assume the worst about lower res images — but without a flash or auto-focus we've managed some impressively sharp pics with this little shooter. The colour is a tad dull, and forget shooting in low-light, but for MMS pics we'd be more than content to be using the E8's camera.
Less-than-ideal is the speed of the menu and applications. Entering the main menu and scrolling from one option to the next attracts some significant lag. This menu looks fantastic, but the graphical elements take an obvious toll on the E8's performance. The scrolling jog-wheel is excellent in long lists of songs and artists, but in the main menu it scans the options way too quickly, making it impractical to use.
Overall
If you're in the market for a music playing phone and have little to no interest in browsing the Web on your mobile then we gladly recommend the E8. It looks superb, the music player coupled with the internal storage is great, and the camera is more than adequate for most regular situations.
When you think about music and phone together you might be inspired to compare the E8 with the iPhone. In our opinion it comes down to that old adage "you get what you pay for". While the iPhone offers better connectivity (minus the stereo Bluetooth), higher internal capacity and a slew of other features, it is also nearly twice as expensive to buy. For the RRP of AU$450, including a bonus Motorola EQ3 speaker kit, the E8 is a very sexy-looking bargain.
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nickigeorge721
04/09/2008, 05:38 AM
rating
9/10
I LOVE this. My only question is can some one PLEASE tell me why its keeps synchronizing?!?!?! Theres nothing to sync it was already done!
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nickigeorge721
04/09/2008, 05:24 AM
rating
9/10
I LOVE this. My only question is can some one PLEASE tell me why its keeps synchronizing?!?!?! Theres nothing to sync it was already done!
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kee
22/08/2008, 06:10 AM
rating
6/10
well they could have done a lot better.
Pros: music. fun keys. thin.
Cons: not slider. not flip. what to do when you are bored?
small screen
not very pretty.
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CROSSEYEDGOLDIE
24/07/2008, 01:27 AM
rating
10/10
DUDE I HAVE HAD THIS PHONE FOR A COUPLE DAYS AND I HAD PLANS ON LEAVIN T MOBLIE FOR NOT HAVIN GREAT LOOKIN PHONES...UNTILL I SAW THE RCKR..THIS PHONE IS AWSOME ITS A LIL JET LAG ON THE MENUE BUT IT MAKES UP FOR IT WITH ITS LOOKS AND MP3..GREAT PHONE
Pros: LOOK
KEYPAD
MP3 PLAYER
SCROOL KEY
Cons: SLOW APPLICATIONS
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jangda
21/07/2008, 06:51 AM
rating
10/10
I'm Using this Phone from a couple of weeks, so far its great. The inbuilt 2gb is a good feature.
Pros: 1. Excellent design.
2. Keypad
3. Music Player
Cons: bundled headphones
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cool_funda
16/07/2008, 05:54 PM
rating
10/10
this is cool mobile
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kish
18/05/2008, 06:09 PM
rating
9/10
When looking for a phone to purchase, I stumbled across this phone and noticed that it has not any decent user reviews from people who actually OWN the phone. I thought I would take the time to review the phone now that I have used it for a few days as I wish that I had such feedback prior to making my purchase.
This phone is excellent. If your after a mp3 player that doubles as a phone, then im not sure you can really do much bettre than the rokr e8. Let me start by saying that I have always hated moto phones prior to this one.
I was pretty sceptical of touch sensitive buttons and it was a great comfort to know that these buttons are NOT entirely touch sensitive! In order for the button to work, you do need to press down on it and you do get a very small vibration which simulates pressing a normal button incredibly accurately.
I think the litmus test for any key pad is sending messages; I have managed to do this perfectly fine with this phone. In fact i find this keypad far better than found on my my old nokia n76 (flat metalic like keypad).
If people are hestitant about purchasing this phone on the fear of a gimmicky keypad, you need not worry! This works as good as normal tactile buttons.
The touch sensitive scroll wheel on this phone is another great addition. It works suprisingly well and you can contol the speed of scrolling quite well.
It also helps to fastfoward within a song. The menu of this phone is pretty good. Its probably not as enjoybale or fun to use as some good sony erricsson menus, but its pretty logical and intuiative. You can also theme your phone to change the look and feel of it.
making calls is a pleasure and very clear with the moto crystal talk feature. As far as sound quality is concerened; this phone is on par with dedicated mp3 players and you wont be dissapointed. Do keep in mind that the headphones provided by motorola are pretty poor and you will need a decent pair of headphones to accompany this phone / mp3 player.
The build quality of this phone appears to be pretty good with a metal battery case, etc. I cant speak of the build quality too accurately as I have not had the phone for long enough to judge how robust it is with daily usage.
As far as standard daily usage is concerned (sending sms's, making and recieveing calls, listening to mp3's); this phone is excellent. If your after a camera, dont bother with this phone (in my opinion any phone); as the 2mp camera is just below par in this day and age.
The battery life on this phone is no better or worse than other phones i have had in the past.
For around 350-400 dollars through ebay, its good value for money if your after a phone that that can double up as a true mp3 player
Pros: - excellent keypad that is quite intuitive (changes)
- excellent mp3 player, probably the best on the market bar the iphone
- easy to use and intuitice
- appears to have a great build quality
- in my opinion, value for money
Cons: - poor camera
- poor headphones provided with phone
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Sharandeep Singh
21/01/2008, 04:23 PM
rating
6/10
Alright phone for a Moderate usage.
Pros: Looks nice.
Cons: Small Screen unlike the previous models
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jimbean505
15/01/2008, 09:30 PM
rating
4/10
Hmm... looks like a rushed attempt at the MP3-Phone market...
Pros: Cool design, decent features.
Cons: Unfortunate looks, tiny screen.
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Moto E8
14/01/2008, 06:15 PM
rating
10/10
Great looking phone, good to see Motorola taking a positive step as they take on the greater competition
Pros: Great looks, unique keypad, slim, 3.5mm headphone jack
Cons: Why only a 2 mega pixel camera? Why is the screen so small for such a large phone?
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