Motorola E398 TriBand Mobile Phone w/Camera (5)
Bluetooth 27 July 2004

E398 video run through

Click the play button to play recorded video clip of E398.

Conclusion

The Motorola E398 is really a true multimedia phone, with an expansion card for your MP3 and image files. It would be more complete if it comes with some sort of video capturing software. Perhaps a firmware upgrade can do that? We are particularly shocked to find that this phone's ringtone is louder than my A835. This is indeed necessary as we usually carry a phone in noisy shopping malls. If you still can't hear it ringing, the average vibration will help.

The camera takes very nice pictures, in fact, it is better than the A835 and Nokia 6600. It also include a flash which allows you to take photos in bad lit environments.

In SMS mode, there is a bit of lag when keying in the text. If we remain in text mode, incoming SMS won't be notified until you go back to the main menu. Just make sure you press Back to go back to main menu after sending your SMS.

Bluetooth is built in for connecting with other devices. I used it with the A835 and ASUS PDA to transfer in/out MP3 and JPEG files. As the PDA does not support OBEX object push, I am unable to send Java apps into the phone. The only alternative is to upload it to a WAP site and use GPRS to download it. Infra Red is missing from the phone.

Overall, a well built phone with flashing lights on the side and phone that is well equipped with most of the functions that you are looking for. It has an excellent speakers for MP3 playback and that is something that I would go for.

Pros :

• Good reproduction of colours in captured images with flash light

• JAVA, MMS, GPRS

• Loud MP3, MIDI ringtones

• Surround sound

• External storage

• Bluetooth

• Speakerphone

Cons :

• SMS response could be improved

• No Radio

• No Infra Red

• Java upload is cumbersome; only via GPRS or Bluetooth (with object push)

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