There has been a recent tendency for slider style phones to be Media Centric and the Motorola RIZR Z3 is no exception. With a 2 megapixel camera and included 128mb microSD card, which is more modest than other phones, the RIZR makes for a great media phone.

The RIZR is a slider phone which of course means that the keypad is revealed by sliding the screen portion of the phone up. The style of the RIZR is much like the PEBL that I reviewed a short time ago. It features a rubberized exterior which helps protect the phone and is virtually scratchproof from what I can tell of regular use. When the keypad is not showing the RIZR has a two step unlock feature for the few navigation face buttons there are so you do not accidentally knock any buttons while in a pocket or purse.

The keypad of the RIZR is what you have come to know and expect from Motorola. It features the same electroluminescent keypad as its predecessors, such as the RAZR, SLVR, PEBL, and KRZR. The user interface of the RIZR is also very in line with the traditional Motorola phone design, which some people have expressed dissatisfaction with, but I personally find it to be very useful.

The picture quality on this phone is amazing, and on par with most lower end consumer digital cameras. The 2-megapixel resolution offers clear images that can be enlarged fairly big. The RIZR acts like a camera in many ways, such as allowing you to turn it on its side and use a button on the top as the shutter. A 8x zoom and 20MB of internal memory help to make this an ideal camera for when you don’t have your regular digital camera handy. The RIZR also offers a flash, which I found to be extremely bright for a phone.

The music player on the phone is good for what it is, but phone music players generally aren’t something to write home about. For a phone, it is generally good, but a little on the slow side. The included 128 MB microSD card makes it a snap to transfer songs and other media onto, even though the placement isn’t very convenient under the battery cover. One pet peeve I had with the music player and phone in general is that it exited out of any application when you slide the phone down, which was annoying because the media controls aren’t on the keypad portion.

The audio quality on the RIZR is what is to be expected. I found it better than my RAZR, which tends to make a white static sort of noise that may interfere with the listening to music or on a phone call.

Overall, the Motorola RIZR Z3 is a great phone for media centric teenagers with a $99 dollar price tag with contract from T-Mobile after a $50 mail-in rebate. The RIZR is also a “MyFaves” Phone, and a Quad-band world phone which can be used all across the world with GSM providers.

Pros

• Sleek sliding design
• Inexpensive
• Great 2-megapixel camera
• Great phone for teenagers

Cons

• Hard to reach microSD slot

Final Verdict
4 out of 5 stars.

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