Motorola SLVR L7 Unlocked Phone with Camera, MP3/Video Player, and MicroSD Slot--International Versi

This is a very nice phone. Call reception and battery life are excellent on the Cingular network. The iTunes features work fine but it won't replace my iPod nano any time soon. This phone has a very solid feel to it. The SLVR is not without flaws but show me a phone that isn't.

PROS:

Very solid, slim and sexy.

iTunes

Quad band

Expandable memory

Excellent reception

Excellent battery life

Bluetooth

CONS:

Camera (0.3 megapixel is pathetic in this day and age)

No high speed data (EDGE)

100 song cap on iTunes (not shocking, Apple still wants to sell iPods)

No dedicated headphone jack ( form over function compromise)

USB 1.1 transfer is VERY slow

Same old Moto OS ( Contacts list Stinks)

Conclusion:

If you're looking for a very sexy looking phone that has excellent reception and battery life I can think of no better choice than the SLVR. If you need a smart phone or all the latest bells and whistles there are better choices.

Update Cingular sent me a replacement for my SLVR. It has the same problems. That's three phones out of three two for me and one for my daughter with the same problem. Lockups and intermittent operation. I finally figured out part of the problem. Whenever an attempted voice dial fails, whether it was an intentional dial or an accident of pressing the button by mistake or pressing the headset button too long, then the phone will not make or receive any calls until you power it off and on again. At least now, if I am really careful how I handle it, my phone works most of the time. My suggestion is not to buy this phone for another 6 months or a year!

Original review follows:

This is a great phone when it works. There was a report this week on CNN about the RAZR phones that were sold late February 2006 and early March 2006 being recalled for a software bug. It is my guess that the SLVR, which is a close relative of the RAZR, has the same bug because my SLVR only works about half the time. Most of the time, when I try to make a call, the display will say "Calling xxxxxxx" but it just hangs there until I click End, even up to 20 minutes with nothing happening.

Any time I don't use my bluetooth headset for a few hours and then try to use it, the bluetooth on the phone will have quit working and to get it working again, I have to power the phone off and on again.

My daughter has the same phone and has the same problems.

When it works, though, it is a great phone. The iTunes holds only 100 songs, like the other reviews said, but that's an iTunes issue it treats this like an iPod Nano.

Cingular is sending me a replacement for my SLVR and, hopefully, it will work better and have these issues resolved. In the mean time, I suggest giving more time for the bugs to be worked out. Once it becomes more reliable, I would highly recommend the phone.

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I must say I was a bit shocked when I read some of the negative reviews. I buy a new cell phone every couple of months. I got this SLVR thru Cingular. But I like new gadgets. So, sometimes I buy an unlocked phone and change the sim. I have tried countless phones from Nokia, Samsung, Sony-Ericsson and Panasonic. This is my favorite so far. It is thin, sleek and easy to operate. I always laugh when I hear people complain of the Motorola menu or interface. These are people that most-likely started out on a different brand and expect every cell phone manufacturer to use that same menu. Every brand has their quirks. And, most cell phone users have their quirks.

On my SLVR I have 50 songs loaded with room for that many more. It accepts the super-small Transflash card, included. I love the fact that there is also an included connection from the USB port that allows you to use your own headphones. In addition, no one makes better bluetooth headsets than Motorola and this phone connects to it easily, with a crisp clear sound.

The only thing I would change is the color. It is a deep, almost black, brown color. I would prefer silver or matte black. I have not encountered any software problems and I have had the phone since the first week it came out.

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This phone is great! I love everything about it; size, function, quality, battery life, iTunes. The ONLY negative thing I can say about it is that it has USB 1 and not the faster USB 2. But the phone charges itself while it's connected to the computer updating iTunes so the slow download doesn't bother me.

Apple has limited the phone to 100 songs. The 512MB micro card is sufficient for about 75 songs at a time (saved at 192kb) not a 60GB iPod, but plenty for on-the-go music enjoyment. The iTunes integration with the phone is very nice; sleek and easy, but you cannot use iTunes for ringtones (those MP3's are stored in on the internal 5MB memory like on other phones that utilize MP3 ringtones).

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Honestly, I really do like my SLVR. It's sleek and it does everything it's supposed to do. But there is one major problem: the iTunes volume control. iTunes has volume settings 0-7, with "0" being silent. The problem is that setting "1" is as loud as my regular ipod turned up to 2/3 of its maximum volume! this is just too loud a lot of the time. I couldn't use it in the office or when I wanted to listen quietly. It's even a little too loud for walking around outside.

I contacted Motorola about this, but they denied that it was a widespread problem and said they had no plans to fix it, even though it has been mentioned in reviews of the phone. I was forced to do a sloppy fix by buying some new headphones with an in-line volume control. This works for listening to iTunes, but creates another problem. With the included heaphones, if the phone rings while you are listening to music, you can just press a button on the cord to answer. With any other headphones, you must fish the phone out of your pocket and disconnect the cord before you can answer. It's not a major thing, but it is an annoyance.