Motorola MOTO U9 mobile phone

Overall picture quality is disappointing; while better lighting conditions equal better results that are colourful and bright, lower light images are poor and can be noisy. Video capture is possible too, but again quality is limited (176 x 144 pixels at 15 frames per second), and produces run-of-the-mill low quality mobile footage.

Motorola has added a handful of games and other applications to the U9, including a couple of Java apps that connect online for updates - eBay Pocket Auction tracker, and a neat Rough Guides city guidebook app that uses an onscreen map for you to home in on your required location, and graphics-based info access. There’s also a mobile web browser included, with Google and Yahoo! search options bookmarked.

Available in purple, pink or black

Standard email access is available on the U9, plus there are regular office tools such as calendar, calculator, world clock and voice recorder. Voice-activated dialling and speaking phone app – for reading back messages, functions, incoming call details and so on - are included too.

Motorola claims the U9 is capable of talktime of up to 430 minutes between charges, or standby of up to 350 hours. While we couldn’t fairly test these claims fully on our early pre-sale review sample of the U9, battery life did appear to be a comfortable few days between recharging with ample usage. Voice calling quality matched up to expectations too, with a clear, dependable performance in a variety of conditions.

Verdict

As the successor to the PEBL, the MOTO U9 has a much-improved specification and the user interface has had quite a spruce up - but Motorola hasn’t added anything really outstanding. Sure, the external display effect is a stylish touch, and the metallic look is eye-catching for fashion-phone shoppers, but you can’t help feeling that a lot is resting on the pull of the design – and we’ve seen much of it before.