Motorola i1 running on Android

Motorola i1 running on Android is the first iDEN smartphone that offers push-to-talk facility. This device is available on Sprint Nextel Direct Connect network and Boost Mobile. It offers sturdiness, not only in appearance but also in endurance. But does it live up to the expectations of users? A detailed review reveals the following.

Motorola i1

Motorola i1 Design and Quality

The Motorola i1 looks sturdy and fits well in the hand. This touch tablet has a grey and black appearance, giving it a scratch resistant rugged look. It comes with rubber edges and a hard plastic casing, with a soft touch at the back so that holding it is a pleasure. A 3.1″ capacitive glass touchscreen containing an HVGA resolution of 320х480 pixels dominates the display, making colors some alive with support for 262k colors. Users can adjust the screen brightness and vibration feedback. Under the screen are placed the sensor keys for menu, home, back and speakerphone. Physical buttons include Send and End, with a directional pad in the middle that can be used for navigation. Screen visibility is decent outdoors.

On the left of the device are the push-to-talk and volume buttons while the camera button and battery lock cover are located on the right. While the PTT button allows one to communicate easily, the fact that the device has to be unlocked before it can be used (while preventing accidental calls) does result in some time lag.

Motorola i1 Specifications

The Motorola i1 measures 58 x 118 x 12.8 mm and weighs 131 grams. Military specification standards state that this device is rugged enough to endure humidity, temperature extremes, dust, blowing rain and vibrations among other extremities. The Motorola i1 also comes with 260MB memory, with support for a microSD card upto 32GB. It runs on a 600 MHz processor.

Motorola i1 Features

Motorola i1 runs on Android 1.5. As this version of the operating system is far behind current ones, certain apps may not run on this touch tablet. The slow processor also makes certain functions on this tablet slow. Thankfully, with Opera Mini 5 web pages load quicker. This device supports Gmail, GoogleTalk and Youtube. Other accounts can also be accessed easily.

Homescreens on the Motorola i1 can be customized, with the interface being familiar to Android customers, as this device lacks the MotoBlur software often found on Motorola. Among new widgets are the ones for clock design, Bluetooth and WiFi.

Call quality is quite good on this push-to-talk device. This device is also hearing aid compatible.
The onscreen Swype keyboard can be used to register input on this device. Users can type in portrait or landscape mode. However, sometimes typing may be a little slow, due to the processor.

Motorola i1 Camera

Motorola i1 contains a 5MP camera lens at the back of the device. This autofocus camera comes with an LED flash. The shutter speed is average and images come out better under proper light settings.

Motorola i1 Battery

Motorola i1 has a talktime of upto 210 minutes and a standby time of upto 100 hours.

While Motorola i1 does come with a good touchscreen and a decent camera, the iDEN network fails to live up to customer expectations. This may be a good business phone for those who are keen on PTT, but internet connectivity on wireless is slow.