Camera Phone Reviews

The Motorola ROKR E1 is finally official after months of speculation and promises from Apple and Motorola. The world's first phone with integrated iTunes is finally here. The ROKR E1 is a Tri-Band GSM phone, has a 100 song capacity, color screen, built in stereo speakers and USB 2.0. It also features a VGA camera with video capture.

The Motorola ROKR E1 is 4.25 inches long and has a 176x220 screen (262 colors). In the US it will be picked up by Cingular and will retail at $249.99 on a two year contract.

Mobiledia has release dates for the rest of the world us Australians expecting it later in September or early October.

I have to say that I'm slightly underwhelmed. It's pretty obviously not an Apple product in reality - its got none of the WOW factor that most of their products have and will probably be forgotten quickly with the release of the new iPod 'nano' today from Apple today.

Mobile Tracker has a hands on review of the soon to be released Motorola ROKR E1 and writes - 'Our biggest gripe with the phone is that the OS just feels sluggish. Typically at these events that can happen and the production model can be fine (because you're usually looking at the phone many months before it comes out), but the phone is shipping now. We'll be posting a video later today, once we fly back home, and you can see for yourself the speed.'

Engadget has a really worthwhile question and answer post on the new Motorola ROKR E1 where they take a good look at the new iTunes handset:

'What is the quality of the stereo speakers? Is the stereo separation in the built in speakers significant enough for it to actually sound like stereo, or is it pretty much pointless?

The speakers are great (for a cellphone), but it’s hard to get a decent stereo effect from them since they’re less than two inches away from each other.

Bluetooth stereo headphones?

Won’t work with them, sad to say, the ROKR E1 doesn’t support A2DP or any other stereo Bluetooth profiles.'

Read more of this post here.

Infosync reviews the Motorola ROKR E1, and concludes, "With a distinctly mediocre screen and camera, the Motorola ROKR E1's claim to fame is its iTunes support - yet it only stores 100 songs at a time and offers a bundled headset which is outperformed by its dual 3D stereo speakers. A user friendly menu system, extensive battery life and great keypad stand to counter these downsides, but the overall impression is nevertheless one of mediocrity. Still, although the handset cannot match the feature set of higher-end music phones, its lower price tag enables prospective buyers to purchase new earphones to get an overall experience close to the Sony Ericsson W550 in the mid-range."

SmartPhoneToday reviews the Motorola ROKR E1 and notes, "It features a bright 176 x 220 pixel screen and an easy button layout. The back holds a VGA camera, which is capable of taking 640 by 480 pixel photos. That's also pretty skimpy. The first iPod phone should have had a 2 megapixel camera." Conclusion? "Coming with so many intentional limitations, the ROKR is a cynical product and not one that we'd endorse. No one else is giving it a good write-up either, which is great to see. Perhaps that will convince the cell phone makers to change their ways. Even more than a stylish iPod phone, we'd like to see a cell phone that doesn't charge extra for features that should be standard."

Wireless Newsfactor reviews the Motorola ROKR E1 and concludes, "The Rokr is a decent phone and music player with outstanding battery life and a comfortable keypad. But as a music player, the sluggishness of the interface and the glacially slow music-transfer rates will disappoint those expecting the grace and performance of the Apple iPod. With the recent price drop to $150 with a two-year contract from Cingular, the Rokr makes for a decent music-phone option."

O'Grady's Powerpage reviews the Motorola ROKR E1 and, while not thrilled with the phone's iTunes implementation, concludes, "The ROKR is a decent solution at an inexpensive price but don't expect to put your entire library of music on it. If you're looking to stay in touch while enjoying some music it's a serviceable phone and a good option for teens and for those of us that want to keep it simple. If you're a diehard tech weenie, you may want to hold out for the second (or third) version from Motorola."