11 Jun 2008
From the very look of it, the Motorola ROKR E8 is undeniably a music phone. Most observers find that in the overall, the mobile phone's design resembles that of an MP3 player. The E8 ROKR joins a number of handsets under the Motorola's ROKR line.

While it stands out primarily as a music phone, the Motorola E8 ROKR also flaunts its candybar design. The mobile phone is relatively slim at 115mm x 53xmm x 10.6 mm. It is also lightweight at 100 grams. The Motorola E8 ROKR comes with a QVGA display screen that measures 50.80 millimeters and supports around 256,000 vibrant colors.

Externally, the Motorola ROKR E8 houses touch-sensitive keys, called the Omega Wheel. Upon a touch of its front buttons, the keypad does not illuminate; instead there are protruding black bumps on the mobile phone's touch-sensitive division. Presumably, these serve as guides toward getting into the virtual buttons. Some users have dubbed it as the blind key-pressing technology. Technically, the mobile phone does not have physical keys, which gives the handset a smooth finish.

Its innovative user interface feature includes support for mode-shift technology, which makes the mobile phone changeable according to selected modes. Thus, a user that plays music will see a music player in the phone; while those who use the phone for communicating purposes will find modernist numeric keypads.

Said to be similar with the LG Viewty, the Motorola E8 ROKR is of haptic feedback, from which some vibration are felt upon touching its virtual buttons. This is made possible through the TouchStart technology it adopts, which activates that handset with just one press.

The Motorola E8 ROKR also allows users to store files and data with a capacity of up to 2 Gigabytes. The internal memory may be expanded to a maximum of 4 Gigabytes using the microSD memory card. The Motorola E8 ROKR is a quadband phone that runs on EDGE, GSM and GPRS networks of 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 frequencies. Its connectivity features include the most common USB v2.0 and A2DP-enabled stereo Bluetooth v2.0, which are also adopted by the latest mobile phone models in the market.

The Motorola E8 ROKR is also equipped with a 2-Megapixel camera, which may not be as high-end as other handsets', but are good enough for on-the-go users who want to conveniently take photos from a handy mobile phone. Other standard features of the E8 ROKR include a built-in FM radio.

The Motorola E8 ROKR also has a built-in FM radio, and an AAC and MP3-supporting music player. The mobile phone's music features support Version 11 of Windows Media Player; hence it is relatively easy to download or transfer songs from or to the computer. The Motorola E8 ROKR has dedicated buttons for its music functions, and is used to navigate the main menu and to enable music playback. To the delight of music lovers, the Motorola E8 ROKR handset also comes with a 3.5-millimeter jack for its headphone. The mobile phone runs on Linux, which, according to users, provides excellent audio fidelity.

According to owners and users, those who use the Motorola E8 ROKR mainly for business purposes, the mobile phone's user interface may not help. However, avid music lovers and design-conscious individuals will appreciate the mobile phone's audio playback. True to its tradition of quality, some users find that the Motorola E8 ROKR has proven itself as a quality music phone.

There are, however, some dissatisfying flaws to the Motorola E8 ROKR, some online comments read. These defects include a FastScroll wheel for its keys, which is not very user-friendly for most people. Additionally, some users found that its touch controls become unresponsive.

While it dazzles on its commendable features, the E8 ROKR's Linux operating system requires its users some time to familiarize the user interface of the mobile phone. Another complaint relating to the Motorola E8 ROKR is its inaccessible microSD memory card. The card can't be accessed without opening the battery compartment.

Moreover, while the Motorola E8 ROKR may be first-rate in terms of modern design and music features, the mobile phone may disappoint users who prefer to compose text messages rather than make calls, because becoming familiar to the buttons or keys might take a while.

Find out more about the Motorola E8 ROKR at motorola.com
Read other reviews at ecoustics.com