Introduction

Motorola has always been known for its clamshell design. Since the days of the hugely popular StarTac, to the reliable V60, and the colorful T720, Motorola has been arguably the leading choice for flip phones. Now the U.S. manufacturer plans to release its next product, the V600.

Design

From the exterior, the V600 looks very similar to the V66's curved designs. However there are two noticeably major differences. The first is the external LCD. Sitting on the front lid is a 2 lined 96 x 32 px monochrome display. Useful information such as time, date, caller ID, and battery life are shown for convenience.

The second is the camera lens right above the external LCD. The integrated VGA camera allows you to take pictures up to 640 x 480 px resolution.

The V600 has a compact size of 87.5 x 47 x 22.5 mm. Compared to the T720, it is roughly similar in shape and size. Although not tiny compared to the market, it is small enough to fit comfortably in a pocket, and large enough to find in a dark purse.

Basic Features

The phone is the first quad-band GSM ever. It operates in 800, 900, 1800, and 1900 bands. Although GSM is global, different continents use different frequency bands for which GSM runs under. For that reason, certain phones which are made for one region are not compatible with another due to frequency limitations. The V600's quad-band capabilities allows users to use the phone anywhere GSM is located. Quad-band GSM technology gives you the ability to stay in touch worldwide, whether you're in Chicago, Cannes or Caracas. Provided a SIM card from a local service provider is put in.

Additionally, the V600 comes with a 700 mAh Li-Ion battery that has maximum talk and standby times of 6.50 and 285 hours respectively under optimal conditions.

Screen

As mentioned earlier, the V600 comes with two screens. The external is a blue two lined monochrome LCD. When you receive a call, voicemail or text message, the phone activates color notification lights. You can assign different colors of lighting to your preferred contacts, so you'll know at a glance who is on the line.

The internal is an eight lined 65,000 TFT screen with a 176 x 220 px resolution. The internal monitor is larger than most. And is perfect for browsing the web, or viewing pictures in your phone's photo album.

Background, screen savers, and games are bright and vivid. And refresh rates are excellent, with minimal ghosting. Ghosts appear when the screen cannot refresh fast enough, and faded remnants of the previous screen don't disappear fast enough. Typically fast paced games pose the most potential for problems.

TFT, as opposed to STN, has the circuit transistors placed on the glass at the pixel location instead of the need to scan the pixel location. This results in greatly increasing the response time and allows for very fast refresh rates.

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