Overview
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Motorola is the latest manufacturer to jump on the “colour screen handset” bandwagon, with their release of the T720 folder phone. Being one of two colour-screen models to be released before the end of the year (with the E360 following shortly), the T720 model aims to provide the best of what Motorola has on offer and presenting this on a large screen and in near-living colour!
New/outstanding features
Possibly the first thing impressed me was the large colour LCD screen of the T720, which was sharp, bright, and viewable in most lighting environments (bright or dark). It also comes with the latest technologies available on other higher-end Motorola models - including WAP over GPRS, ringer styles (profiles), voice dialling and memo, and several PIM (organiser) features to keep you on your toes.
As for things we’ve yet to see, these include support for polyphonic ringtones and Java applet compatibility.
Physical aspects
The T720 comes in a conservative size - being only slightly longer than the V60/V60i but weighing around 10 grams less. But it does share many design similarities with the V60 variants - including volume keys on the left side, a voice function on the right side, external LCD screen for reporting phone vitals, service light and external antenna. It also shares the same connectivity ports at the base of the phone - used for charging and external device connections (for example - car kit, data cable).
For the newer Motorola models, a 4-way navigation key replaces the up/down scroll. This allows 2-dimensional navigation of menus and phone features without having to lift your thumb. Previously, one would have to use the “*” (star) and “#” (hash) buttons to navigate left and right respectively. The 12-digit numeric keypad has the appropriate spacing between each of the keys, making intense usage situations (such as messaging) as painless as possible. However, I found the set of menu keys seem to be a bit far up - where it required a bit of thumb-stretching on my part before reaching them.
Also similar to the V60i are the exchangeable front and back covers, with the only exception of it not being alloy-based. A host of funky and (of course) conservative colours are available for choosing, either as in-the-box (original sales package) or accessories being sold separately.
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User Interface & display
It was difficult to appreciate the benefits of the Synergy interface (Motorola’s proprietary user interface) on previous Motorola models - mainly because of the huge amounts of information that was presented on a single screen. With the T720’s large colour screen, the “inundation of information” effect was very much eased, and navigating multiple menu levels wasn’t as painful.
A large, iconic display is available for the main menu - which lists up to 9 different menus, and the remainder accessible by choosing the “More” icon. If you don’t like pictures, you can change the display back to list format - also displaying up to 9 menu titles and with the difference of being able to scroll up and down.
The T720’s standby screen (or “Home” screen) displays much more than just the phone’s vitals and time/date information. Given the greater number of lines usable, it makes full use of this by displaying the one-touch functionality for each of the 4-way keys. These can be set here for features that are more frequently used (for example, messaging, phone book, etc). The two menu soft keys can also have these same functions assigned to them - giving a total of 6 definable “home” keys.
Menus and user interface isn’t only what the T720’s sharp colour screen is good for. The built-in games and other downloadable Java applications (providing they have colour support) can make use of this great display, which can offer a more fruitful and exciting experience.
On the other hand, the external LCD provided a very clear display in all lighting situations. In areas where lighting is available, the green reflective layer provided the sufficient lighting in reading the information on the little screen, while the soft blue backlight was the sole illuminator in dark environments (activated by holding down either volume keys).
Making and receiving calls
The T720’s shape, with the active folder opened, provides a good level of comfort when it is placed against the ear. Sound quality is above average, and provides sufficient volume in most environments.
Calls can also be taken with either a headset or using the optional speakerphone accessory (sold separately), which can be activated during a call via pressing the “speaker” soft key or pressing the “Menu” button to access the in-call menu.
Polyphonic ringtones are definitely more fun to the ears than those played out by traditional ringers. However, the T720 doesn’t seem to play these poly tones out quite loud enough. When compared to the C330, these tones come out slightly softer - which may be a problem if you hang out in noisy places!
Normally, it is the high-pitched piercing notes of a ringtone that catches our attention in noisy environments. The T720’s poly speaker wasn’t able to achieve a piercing-enough sound when compared to the C330’s polyphonic tones. How about that!
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Messaging
Thanks once again to the large elongated LCD screen of the T720, people who type long text messages (like me) can be rest assured of seeing most (if not all) of what they’ve typed on the same screen. On a typical messaging screen, one would be able to read up to 8 lines of text for both the received messages and composition screens.
Text messaging on the T720 is assisted with the iTAP predictive text input system. iTAP can also be used for the composition of emails, which are sent via logging into an Internet service and through the appropriate email servers. The POP3 standard is supported by the T720.
A combination of text and objects - such as animations, pictures, and sounds - can be composed and sent thanks to support for EMS (enhanced messaging service). These types of messages can be sent to other brand/model phones that also have EMS messaging capabilities.
Build quality
“Good” would be the word to describe the T720’s build quality, but not “excellent”. When compared with the likes of the V60i, there was a noticeable difference in certain areas of the phone.
For example, I found the T720’s to “creak” on occasion when it was pressed down toward the battery (possibly due to the empty spacing in between). The front cover doesn’t have this problem - but the process of taking it off may require some effort to begin with. But after a few more times, most people will get the hang of it.
Another thing about the front cover is the perception of flimsiness. Even if it was done properly, the process of lifting the front cover off the phone requires bending it slightly, until the “teeth” on the sides of the cover (that holds it in place) gives way and ultimately the cover coming off. I don’t know about you - but I was worried that the cover may snap before I even got it off! Again, practice makes perfect… right?
Battery life
Having a luxurious feature like a colour screen, the ultimate sacrifice is battery life. For the T720, which uses a 550 mAh lithium-ion battery, the phone should provide for approximately 2-3 hours’ talk time max (depending on whether you use the earpiece, headset or speakerphone). Standby times for the T720 are around 3-4 days on average use - remembering that the more you use the colour LCD, the shorter the times on a single full charge.
Fortunately, the T720 comes with a light sensor - which detects the level of lighting around the phone when the phone is opened up for use. Should there be sufficient lighting, the keypad backlighting will be disabled leaving only the LCD lighting enabled.
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Overview (Page 1)
