Motorola Motoming A1600

Another Linux-based Motorola phone, the A1600 has a rounded profile and comes with a transparent flip which allows one to peek at the screen it protects. The A1600 is touch-based and has a really well built exterior. The call buttons are small but well laid out with good tactile feedback and the joypad is also easy to use. The volume buttons are on the side and comfortable to use with good tactility intuitiveness. The menu structure is easy to understand and simple. The A1600 has a large display (2.4-inches) that is quite crisp, although the fonts used could be better. The lack of a hardware keypad is also felt, although not as badly as on the ROKR E6 because this phone is wider, giving the onscreen keyboard a larger area as well. One of the most noticeable features is the addition of a talking dictionary that can translate any word into another language and pronounce the word as it would sound — very useful if you are travelling abroad. We tried it for some common words and the results were pretty good.

Other than that the 3.2-megapixel camera is useful and features autofocus and a slightly weak flash unit. Its antenna is strictly OK and call quality could have been better. The A1600 is a decent music player with good handsfree quality and decent volume on the loudspeaker. If Motorola had thrown in a QWERTY package, this would be a feature-loaded device at a price of Rs. 15,847. As it stands, it’s not a bad phone but has the odd quirk that keeps us from recommending it sans reservation.