Preface

I'd like to begin by mentioning that I have been a Verizon Wireless Business Accounts Representative for over ten years. Needless to say, I've seen a great deal of handsets come and go during that period. Some good, some bad, and everything in between. I've enjoyed seeing the evolution of the wireless phone over the last decade, particularly since the introduction of digital CDMA technology that was introduced to the marketplace in early 1997. Every new generation of phones builds upon itself and offers more to the consumer. The Motorola Adventure V750 was introduced a few months ago and offers a new level of durability to the Motorola lineup. Let's take a look at my own personal experience with this handset.

Specifications

- 2.0 Megapixel Camera With Video Capability
- Speakerphone
- Rugged, Dust, And Shock Resistant
- VCast Capable
- Music Player For MP3, WMA, & AAC
- Bluetooth Enabled
- Advanced Speech Recognition
- Voice Commands
- Phonebook With 1000 Contacts Containing Multiple Entries
- Push To Talk Capable
- VZ Navigator Capable (Turn-By-Turn GPS Based Directions)
- Text, Picture, & Video Messaging
- MicroSD Slot With 8GB Capacity
- Field Force Manager Capable
- EVDO Revision A Support
- Dimensions 4"x2"x0.65"
- Weight - 3.94 ounces
- Rated Talk Time: 3 Hours 50 Minutes
- Standy Time: 83 Hours
- 65k Color Display On Both Internal & External Displays

Appearance/Features

The Adventure v750's look will remind most people of the original Razor V3 that came out a few years ago. It has a very similar look with the clamshell design that closes upon itself. If you weren't a fan of the early Razor series, I would open yourself back up to the possibilities with the Adventure. Motorola has made quite a few improvements over previous designs and it shows. This phone has been built to the "810F" military specifications, which ensures that it meets stringent tests based on shock, dust resistance, vibration, high and low temperature exposure, solar radiation, altitude endurance, and high and low temperature storage. It should be noted that this phone is water resistant, but not water proof like the Casio G'Zone series. I have read some reviews that were harsh on the thinly designed battery cover, claiming that it seemed to convey a sense of fragility to the handset and would possibly compromise the durability that the handset promises. My personal experience has been very good on this level. I have dropped the handset several times and unlike previous phones I've used, the battery cover did not pop off. It is important to snap the battery cover in on all four sides in order to maintain the integrity of the phone in the event that it's dropped. The top and bottom snap in relatively easily. The side tabs have to pressed in until an audible "snap" sound is heard. The cover will be completely flush all the way around the perimeter of the cover once this is achieved. Some reviewers had a problem with this, and I'm not sure why. It's extremely easy to do without any particular skill involved.

The internal and external screens on the Adventure are both impressive. They both have 65k color displays, which produce a rich screen with nice color and contrast. I was using the Casio G'Zone Boulder (Silver/Black) prior to the Adventure, and I can say that the Adventure has a significantly better looking display in my opinion. I loaded a picture of my girlfriend and I onto my MicroSD card to use as the wallpaper on each phone, and the Adventure displays it with excellent resolution and sharpness, while the Boulder seemed to size down the resolution in order to perhaps save memory, resulting in a noticeably grainier and softer image.

The raised buttons on the keypad of the Adventure are easy to find while in a dimly lit environment. Speaking of dimly lit environments, this phone has an optical sensor that detects the available room light and then determines whether or not the keypad needs backlighting or not. This saves on battery life, as it won't light the keypad when adequate ambient lighting is available. I've received calls from several customers who thought that their handsets were defective, because the keypad wasn't lighting up all of the time. Once I explained the situation, they realized what an asset this feature is. Manufacturers are becoming increasingly challenged to temper handset weight against battery life. Batteries on current phones are a fraction of the size of their counterparts of yesteryear, but the talk time and standy time is generally comparable or better than its ever been before.

The layout of the keypad on the Adventure is well thought out with volume keys in the standard position on the left, along with a key to access push to talk and the built in MP3 player. Music controls are located directly on the front of the flip, which makes for easy navigation of songs while the phone is closed. These include: previous track, play/pause, and next track. Each key performs various functions, such as the previous track key doubling as a rewind button if held long enough. The right side of the phone finds the key to actuate voice command dialing, speakerphone on/off, and voice recording. The primary keypad is standard in its layout and anyone that has used a previous Motorola handset over the last few years will find a very easy learning curve here.

Some of my customers were irritated by earlier Motorola models that would change from loud to soft ringer settings while in their pocket, or even go to vibrate or silence. The adventure retains its settings once the flip is closed and cannot be altered without opening the flip and adjusting the volume keys. This is a big improvement and very welcome. I should add at this point that the Adventure includes settings that allow you to determine what tone is heard upon receiving a text message, picture message, voicemail, or a missed call. In addition, you can dictate whether the tone is heard once, every two minutes, every fifteen minutes, or not at all. Most of these settings are standard on Verizon phones these days with the exception of the missed call notification. As a matter of fact, the G'Zone Boulder includes notification options for text/pic messages and voicemails, but not missed calls. It will beep once and keep the "1 Missed Call" display on the external screen until you open the flip and acknowledge it, but that's the extent of it. I am a big fan of the missed call two minute beep, because we've all found ourselves in a noisy environment when the phone rings and we're unable to hear it. Without the two minute notification, I have personally gone an hour or more before pulling my phone out of my pocket and noticing the missed call. Some find the missed call beep to be annoying, but the great thing about a menu option is that it keeps everyone happy.

With regard to scrolling through stored videos and pictures, whether in the phone memory or a MicroSD card, the Adventure has a fast processor that allows quick scrolling through the album. Drawing comparison to the G'Zone Boulder again, I found the Adventure to be much more polished in the multimedia department. Aside from the increased camera resolution on the Adventure, it just takes better pictures and videos overall, as well as displaying them with better clarity and size. A nice advantage of the Adventure over the Boulder is the ability to zoom in on a picture you've taken or received. With the 2.0 megapixel resolution, you can zoom in relatively far and still retain a great amount of detail.

The external display remains dimly lit, even while charging the battery. This makes it very easy to take a quick glance at the screen and determine very easily whether you've missed a call or not. I charge my phone on the nightstand next to my bed each night and make it a point of looking at the phone when I get up in the middle of the night to see if anyone's called. The Boulder's screen blanks out, which prevents this, but it does have a bright green LED that is a veritable nightlight in a dark room after the battery has fully charged.

The Adventure has a 2.5 millimeter jack on the right side of the phone for those who prefer to use a corded headset as opposed to Bluetooth. The cover on both this jack and the microusb charging jack feel somewhat delicate when pulling them back, but time will tell if the material used to tie them to the phone holds up. The Boulder requires an included pigtail cable to be hooked up to the charging port in order to use a 2.5mm headset. People should note that the microusb charging port I'm referring to is different than the "mini usb" port that other Motorola phones have used in the past, including the Razor V3. This means that any mini usb charging accessories you might have from previous handsets will need to be replaced by micro usb chargers designed for this style of phone.

The Adventure does not include a flash for the camera, and consequently does not have the flashlight feature that the G'Zone Boulder has. I really liked this feature of the Boulder and used it many times while I had the phone. It rivaled several of the LED flashlights I own that are powered by AA batteries.

I have not personally used the Push-To-Talk feature on the Adventure, but I have received feedback from several of my customers that in their opinion, this is the best PTT performance that they've received from a Verizon handset.

Given the EVDO Revision A support of this handset essentially improves data connectivity over the original EVDO release. Most importantly, Revision A increases burst data transfer from 2.45 megabits/sec to 3.1 mbit/s. Connection establishment time has also been reduced. A user would notice these improvements while using Mobile Web, Get-It-Now, or Messaging in an EVDO network area.

Performance

I have been impressed with the performance I have received from the Adventure v750 thusfar. One of my favorite phones I've ever used was the Moto E815. The Adventure has honestly retained the features of the E815 that I liked the most and added to it. I eventually had to give up the E815 as scrolling through the pics I had on my MicroSD card became painfully slow and virtually unusable. The processor in the Adventure is drastically improved and a pleasure to navigate through. I have about a hundred videos of varying lengths on my card as well as several hundred photos, and it is never cumbersome to work my way through the list to find what I'm looking for.

The signal strength may not be quite what the E815 was, but I say this with reluctance, as I really have no substantiation to say that it's actually worse. On a strictly logical level, I feel as though the E815 might have been better, probably due to its external antenna. I can safely say though that I have not experienced any detriment from the internal antenna on the Adventure, and I am significantly happier with the design. I went through at least two or three E815's over the course of two years due to the antenna housing breaking away from the body of phone. The design of the Adventure eliminates this, which is a great improvement.

The EVDO data performance of the Adventure is excellent and provides fast transfer speeds. I am able to send and receive picture messages noticeably quicker than my E815, and communication with the network seems to have been improved as well.

The included 1170 mAh battery performs well. I would definitely say that it's noticeably better than the G'Zone Boulder which comes packaged with an 810 mAh battery, as a point of comparison. It is rated at just under four hours of talk time, but recognize that this is assumed under the scenario of completely charging the battery and then talking on it straight through until the battery dies while in a good signal strength area (poor signal strength areas require the phone to produce a higher output which produces more drain on the battery). I would say that on the average day I talk on the phone between an hour and a half and two hours. I take the phone off the charger in the morning and return it to the charger at about ten o'clock at night. At the end of a day of this type of usage, I will generally lose two of the four battery bars. Very acceptable from my reference point, and for those who require more longevity, the extended battery would be a good option. For those who won't be using the Push-To-Talk feature, it's imperative that you go into the settings on the phone and turn off the PTT feature, as this will prevent the handset from communicating with the network frequently and subsequently draining the battery. Turning the contrast down and limiting the backlighting to the most minimal setting will contribute to extended battery time as well.

I am a big fan of the speaker location on the Adventure, which is placed at the bottom of the phone. While I was using the Boulder, the speakers, which emit the ringtones, were quite often flush up against my wallet in my pocket, which often times had me missing calls from being heard. I find that no matter which way I have the Adventure positioned in my pocket, I'm able to hear the ringer. The speakerphone is loud and clear, as are the distinctive music ringers I have set up for key callers. The voice clarity is on par with the E815 I love so much and only at the very highest setting will I begin hearing any type of resonating in the earpiece. I usually avoid this setting for that reason and limit myself to anything beneath the highest volume.

Conclusion

I have been a fan of Motorola handsets for a long time, dating back to the mid 1990's. They've had their down years like any manufacturer, but fortunately they've always had a handset offering that has kept me going through thick and thin. The Adventure v750 introduced this summer in 2008 is truly the best Motorola phone I've used yet. That's not to say that it's perfect, but it's certainly a top performer and one that should satisfy all but the most critical. I will try to provide an update in six months or so after I've had even more time to develop a history with the phone and see if it continues to perform.