Basic Features

The Motorola A630 comes in two tri-band versions: GSM 850 / 1800 / 1900 or GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900. The difference in versions depends on which U.S. carrier the phone is purchased from. However both are compatible with most networks in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Additionally, Motorola rated the A630's 820 mAh Li-Ion battery at 200 hours of standby and 4.33 hours of talk time. However, those are under optimal conditions.

When handset manufacturers and mobile phone carriers list talk-time and standby-time ratings, they usually include disclaimers about variable performance and often refer to the times they publish as maximum times. Some quote expected battery life ranges, and in this case users are probably safe to assume they'll experience at least the minimum rated range. Actual talk and standby times are lower.

Screen

The external screen is a 96 x 48 px grayscale LCD capable of displaying 3 lines of text. With most external displays being in color, the A630's black and white display is somewhat disappointing. However, it does have its advantages. By using fewer colors, it is able to conserve power and prolong battery life compared to color screens. And since external displays are mostly used for viewing quick information such as reception, time, and battery life, many people might prefer the longer battery life.

The A630's internal screen is capable of displaying 65K colors. At 176 x 220 px in size, the display is able to show 8 lines of text and two service lines. Additionally, being TFT (Thin Film Transistor), it has the circuit transistors placed on the glass, removing the need to scan the pixel location. This results in much clearer displays while greatly increasing the response times. Refresh rates needed for using the A630's screen as a viewfinder.

Audio

Audio capabilities include a built-in speakerphone located on the back allowing users handsfree functionality. Furthermore, the A630's internal speaker has the ability to produce 22 kHz sounds including MIDI ringtones at up to 24 simultaneous chords.

Contrary to other audio formats, MIDI is not a recording of music, but a description much like sheet music, which enables a local synthesizer to play tones from the file instructions. And the more chords a phone can support, the more simultaneous sounds can be overlaid resulting in more realistic and harmonious sounds. An additional benefit associated with MIDI files is that users can compose, edit, and send melodies by using sound synthesizer programs.

However, MIDIs will never achieve "true" sounds. For the most realistic sounding ringtones, a steady migration has been adopting MP3s, which the A630 supports as well. Unlike MIDI, MP3s are straight recordings from an audio source. The result is an exact duplicate of the recorded source, including music with lyrics or recorded voice. Anything users can play and record can be turned into a ringtone.

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