Motorola E1070 review: Chubby RAZR

No chaos in the phonebook

Contacts in the phonebook can be viewed in two modes: either as an accurate name list, where each name is accompanied by a tiny icon symbolizing default number (press the green receiver key to dial), or as a contact list, where each contact is displayed together with the default number icon, the number itself, and a mini-image on the left. Use vertical ways to search list contacts and the horizontal ones to browse numbers and emails attached to each contact name. It is possible to send a message or an email to the selected contact directly from the phonebook.

Phonebook as a simple list • searching a name • select...

View with images • a view at selected contact name

Each contact can be assigned a first and a last name, a nickname, 7 phone numbers, two email addresses, two web pages, two street addresses, a birth date, a picture and a specific ringing melody. Additional fields can be attached where necessary. What's more, you can even indicate which phone numbers can be video-called and which ones not.

   
Editing/entering a new contact

The phonebook is searched by letter-by-letter typing of name characters. Contacts can be organized into groups. To switch from one group to another press the asterisk or the hash button. Numbers stored on the SIM card form a separate group. Nevertheless, within the general list, they appear along with the contacts saved in the phone memory. Contacts featuring an email address are organized in a separate group as well.

  
Grouping

So far, I am not very positive as to whether voice dialing will be available in the phone. I have not managed to find any voice label insert option. On the other hand, after a press-hold on the green receiver key, the device evidently expects the user to pronounce a name. The phonebook capacity is another mysterious issue. Not only Motorola doesn't provide any details on this matter, but there is no graphic indicator in the phone itself. Considering my experience with former Motorola models, however, I expect the phonebook to fit in at least a thousand of entries.

Goofing around with iTap

Motorola E1070 offers all kinds of conveniences for work with messages. Apart from standard SMS it also manages extended EMS, MMS, and emails. Creating a new message, I was intrigued by the fact that the phone did not ask me the usual question about what type of message I wished to create. The reason why this happens is that Motorola E1070 only disposes of one editor for both text and multimedia messages, which determines message type automatically. This solution is generally quite interesting, but has one crucial disadvantage: if you want to save some money by sending a bunch of text messages as a single MMS, you will need to attach an image or a voice note. Otherwise the message you have created will be recognized as a text one and will be sent as SMS.

The message editor offers 7 lines for text messages. Countdown starts from a total amount of 3000 characters. The number of written divided SMS is shown shortly before the message is sent. As usual, help is to be found in iTap.

 
Message menu • writing a SMS

If you want to write a MMS, simply open the context menu and select "Insert" to attach respective item. You can insert ready pictures, sounds and videos, as well as create new ones. The phone permits you to create sound records only when MMS is to be sent, which is quite interesting. Voice recorder is missing. An example of the somewhat illogical structure of the main menu is the option for creating an independent sound MMS situated somewhere in the very end of the list, below the folders with delivered and sent messages. The number of saved SMS and MMS is only limited by the available shared memory.

SMS converted into MMS

Email messages are created apart. Once in the message menu you need to open the delivered emails folder, where you need to confirm connection to mailbox. Once you have done so, you can view the message list, at the end of which you will find and item called "Create Email". I am writing all this to demonstrate you how complicated operations in Motorola E1070 can sometimes be. On the other hand, however, the phone often offers you more than one way to execute one and the same operations: if you open the main menu and press the left context key, a smaller menu will appear. From here you can create new emails, common messages, and the above mentioned sound messages. The phone works with POP3 and IMAP4 protocols, including SSL, and is able to manage several accounts at a time. Emails can be checked automatically in pre-determined time intervals, or manually. The phone asks you which one of these two ways you prefer every time you open the delivered emails folder.

Viewing email messages • reading email • sending email • there are plenty of attachment options available

Messages can be instantly replied, or forwarded. Work with multimedia attachments is possible of course. The phone permits you to send several pictures in full megapixel resolution at a time.