Motorola Crush – U.S. Cellular – with upside down looks
For:
Nothing in particular.
Against:
Buttons are placed on the top which might not go well with some users, camera doesn’t have any editing options, call volume could have been a bit louder, display is tiny.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Motorola Crush is based on CDMA2000 1X technology and supports CDMA2000 1X 1900/800 band. It has candy bar phone design. Other features include vibrating alert, polyphonic ringer, call timer, conference call capability, voice recorder, caller ID, speakerphone, microSD card slot and touch screen
On one side of the phone, there is a proprietary port for both USB cord and charger. On the other side, there s a button for voice dialing control, slot for microSD card, and camera shutter key. The phone book capacity is of 1000 entries and a single entry can take multiple phone numbers, notes and 2 e-mail addresses. The camera has a 2 MP camera but there are no shooting options apart from the digital zoom. The display of the phone 2.8 inches big and has a resolution of 240×400 pixels. Supported audio formats are MIDI, AAC+, AAC, eAAC+, WMA, WAV and MP3. The phone has internal memory of 150 MB (internal memory cannot be used to store songs) and supports 16 GB of microSD cards. The Crush also has a 3.5 mm phone jack. The 950 mAH battery of the phone has rated talk time of 258 minutes.
Razzle Dazzle:
The Crush feels comfortable and solid in the hand. The back isn’t doesn’t have a cheap plastic feel instead there is soft touch material which we really liked. The phone doesn’t have downright sexy looks but isn’t that ugly looking either.
Inside Dope:
This is an entry level touch screen handset from Motorola but it does have some features up its sleeve that will interest you. We found the display was a bit small and will really get you when you browse through Web pages or try to watch a video. The small display also gives a smaller resolution which adds to the woes. The 2 mega pixel camera located behind the handset is pretty basic and doesn’t come with editing options. But other than that, the features offered are satisfactory and the call quality too is good though we would have appreciated if the volume was a bit louder. You get a music player which plays a wide range of audio formats and we thank Motorola for giving us a 3.5 mm phone jack. It lets you plug in any standard headphones of your choice. The memory card slot is also located on the sides of the phone so you don’t have to go digging inside the battery cover to take it off or change it. The Crush is sold by U.S. Cellular for $69.95 with a 2 year agreement and after a mail-in rebate of $50. The phone is also available unlocked for $249.95.
Display
The Crush has 2.8 a touch screen display, which like mentioned above, is a bit small. It has a resolution of 400×240 pixels or 262k colors and we think the tiny resolution is really bad for browsing the web or for other phone activities. The quality of the screen too isn’t that good either, graphics and colors won’t make you drool and we beg for something better. To open up the menu, you simply tap the display. The menu is user friendly but we wish the text labels were a bit bigger. On the bright side, you get haptic feedback for your touches. You can change the backlighting time and brightness but not the text size.
Phone buttons and virtual keyboard
The title says that the phone is upside down and you will agree with us when you see that the Talk and End buttons are located on the top of the phone. The speaker is also located up here and we think Motorola is desperately trying to do something out of the box. The shortcut buttons in touch screens are usually located at the bottom but Motorola places it at the top in the Crush. The shortcut buttons relate to phonebook, recent calls list, dial pad and texting menu. We didn’t like the position of the buttons, we prefer it down.
The Crush doesn’t have a physical keyboard so all your get is a virtual one. We are fine with that but the problem lies in the small buttons and it is probably due to the small display and the tiny resolution of the phone. On the bright side, there is an accelerometer which changes the orientation of the keyboard from portrait to landscape when you turn the phone around.
Phone book and PIM features
The address book of the Crush is spacious with a 1000 entry limit. A single entry can take multiple phone numbers, notes and 2 e-mail addresses. Photo caller ID and grouping of contacts is also supported. There is a choice of 18 tones for ringtones and alerts. PIM features include speakerphone, world clock, notepad, calculator, alarm clock, datebook, vibrate mode, multimedia and text messaging. The entry level phone has a few advanced features tossed in like USB mass storage, voice recorder, PC syncing, speaker-independent voice commands, pedometer and stereo Bluetooth. There is also GPS onboard with Your Navigator from Networks in Motion.
Camera
The 2 MP camera has lamentable quality and doesn’t come with any shooting features except for the digital zoom. We were also surprised that Crush didn’t offer resolution options. The camera can also shoot videos and MMS videos are limited to 15 seconds. Both photo and video quality is pretty poor.
Music player
The Crush offers you a music player which supports a variety of audio formats like MIDI, AAC+, AAC, eAAC+, WMA, WAV and MP3. For storing your songs, the microSD card slot can take up to 16 GB card. The internal memory of the phone is 150 MB but you cannot use this for storing songs and Motorola doesn’t give you a bundled card either, which is really disappointing.
Games and personalization
You can personalize your Crush with banners, wallpapers and clock formats. There is only one game, Pac-Man but you download more from EasyEdge service from U.S. Cellulars. However, like mentioned before, the web browser experience is marred by the small display size.
Call quality
We tested the Crush for call quality and it was good, we could hear what our friends were saying clearly. But the call volume could have been a bit louder because it was tough trying to talk in noisy environments. Our friends said that there were no issues in the call quality but they could make out that we were on a cell phone. Speakerphone calls were loud and clear which was surprising, usually speakerphones distort when pushed to the highest volume limit. Bluetooth calls were satisfactory but that depends on the headset that you are using.
Battery life
The Crush has a rated talk time of 4.3 hours and the standby time is 20.8 days.
Verdict:
We weren’t much impressed with the Crush and if you are thinking of buying this phone, we will ask you to drop the idea. The phone has nothing that makes it worth buying, even if you are looking for an entry level handset, we will advice you to look elsewhere.
