Maximum Cache in Middle School, My son's first cell phone

Author's Rating:

Pros: Maximum Cache and features, including blue tooth

Cons: No games were included with phone, we had to download a few.

The Bottom Line: 
It's a slick full featured phone!

Author's Review
Against my better judgment, I finally gave in to my son's request for a cell phone. He is eleven, and in the sixth grade, middle school (or Junior High School as I called it when I was there). He also lives close enough to the school that he is a "walker". The school only provides buses for those who live over a couple miles away. I decided that a cell phone would let my son call me whenever he wanted or his mom. Since his mom and I are divorced, it seemed a good idea for him to have his own phone.

What phone to Choose?

I looked at track phones, but my son, well, being my son, he is somewhat consumer conscious (Oh God, what have I done?). He didn't want a simple little cell phone, he wanted the hottest slickest phone on the market short of a Blackberry. He chose the RAZR V3 in Charcoal grey. It's made of steel, so he can drop it with no ill effects. It's a flip phone, so it's protected and buttons can't accidentally be pressed. It fits great in his hand, and as he says, "I'm the best Dad ever", and he's "one of the coolest kids in school". His school has a don't ask don't tell policy on cell phones. I was shocked at the amount of 11-13 year olds that have cell phones; when I was that age, I wasn't even allowed to use the phone, let alone own my own phone.

So what makes the RAZR so Hot?

First of all, it looks cool, it really does. Captain Kirk should have had such a cool communication device. A small screen on the front displays who is calling, including a photograph that you can set for callers! Inside is a much larger very clear full color LCD display that you can modify to your hearts content. My son has a photo of his kitten as his wallpaper. The large easy to use touchscreen lights up in high tech high style blue light. The touchscreen looks much cooler than a keypad.

It's a Camera!

The phone takes pictures or short videos with the press of a button, and its so easy my 11 year old son can use it. I have Team Mobile, which for 4.99 lets you upload 400 pictures a month to your own website. I like that feature because I can check out the photos he has taken and send them to his grandparents (my Mom and Dad). You can also use it to assign each person in your phone book his or her own photo. Then, their picture comes up when they are calling! As we say in New England, WICKED COOL!

It's all about the Ring Tunes!

Ah ring tunes, my new method of carrot and stick for homework. Get all your homework done this week, and you can download another ring tune! Don't act up, or I will delete your ring tunes! (Actually I got this idea from the now cancelled hilarious show Still Standing). He loves his ring tunes, and has everything from Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, R.E.M. tunes, The Cure and Metallica on his phone. Not those little MIDI tunes either, full sound song clips. Although cell phones hardly have hi fidelity sound to them, you can definitely hear the tunes play and identify the incoming calls. Like the photos, ring tunes can also be assigned to individual callers. A quick click of the button will also set it to silent mode, so he doesn't get in trouble at school.

T ZONES

Our phones are from Team mobile, so the RAZR has access to T Zones where he has been able to download his ring tones, which he quickly figured out how to do, as well as new wallpapers, and his favorite games. Of course he needs my permission because each of these items does cost money. T Zones may also be set up to access your e-mail account or the internet. Neither of us has it set up to surf the web because neither of us is adept at typing on a phone keypad. Thankfully my son isn't into text messaging, although the phone supports that as well.

GAMES, glorious GAMES

He has a couple games to keep him happy on car trips and stuff. I guess the Sony PSP, the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo SP aren't enough, he wanted some games on his phone because it is small and portable. He actually has a cell phone version of MORROW WIND. The graphics aren't bad either! Most games are available for download for 6 dollars.

Help with Homework!

Many nights I help my son to complete his homework. One night he said he couldn't do his math, because he forgot his calculator (some math they can use calculators, others they can't). I was able to quickly show him how to find the calculator on his phone, and he was soon using his cell phone to complete his math homework.

Team Mobile Plan

While not a review of the RAZR V3 itself, we got it as part of a T-Mobile family plan. The phone cost me far less than its retail of $350.00 and I was able to add my son to my service for 20 bucks a month. He can call me and I can call him unlimited. T-Mobile has mobile to mobile calling free. He can call all his friends as much as he wants on the weekends. He now often calls me when he gets out of school to let me know how his day was. I always know it's him, because my Samsung camera phone (not yet in the database) also has assignable photos and ring tunes). His photo appears on the screen and a song by Gorillaz plays whenever he calls. During the week, he can use it for short calls or emergencies under our shared minutes plan. It is also as simple as dialing a special number or checking the T-Mobile website to check on minutes used.

Other Features

You can also with the press of a button, see all your contacts, see recent incoming and outgoing numbers dialed, check messages, change settings, look at your photos, play games, send IMs (with that feature activated, it is not on our phones), get help with features, or download new goodies for your phone from T-Zones. The menu is simple to use, and my son was able to set up his voice mail and check his voice messages without help from me. He also learned to use the camera on his own and how to download and assign ring tunes. In addition to the calculator, you can set alarms, use a calendar and a to do list.

Blue Tooth

Did I mention it was blue tooth compatible? I think that is almost a requirement for the 6th grade. We can send photos and such back and forth via the wireless blue tooth capability of our phones. SWEET.

Other Colors Don't like Charcoal grey? If you have a hot pink Ipod, you can also get the matching hot pink RAZR phone! (Inside joke, one of my favorite writers reviewed a pink Ipod!) It is also available in Black and silver.

Comparison I like this phone a lot better than the little Nokia and LG phones I have had, it seems sturdier and cooler. I love the camera feature and the feel of the phone and the electric blue keypad is easy to use. The screens look better than any of my previous phones. I currently have the Samsung SGH T-509 which I wish was in the review database. It is a thin little non flip style camera phone. I think it would be too fragile for my son and it is smaller than the RAZR in width and thickness, but somewhat longer. The RAZR has a wider screen. I'm not sure if I like my Samsung or my son's RAZR better.

Summary The RAZR V3 is one of the coolest phones on the market now. It is full featured and its easy enough for an 11 year old to use.