Motorola slim phone : Motorola SLVR L7

Engadget reports that the Motorola SLVR L7, a quad-band phone with iTunes, is now available from Cingular for $199 with a 2-year contract.

The Motorola SLVR L7 is the latest Motorola slim phone. It features a VGA camera and Bluetooth connectivity.

Motorola SLVR L7 features:

* VGA camera
* Bluetooth
* 176 x 220 pixel 262k color TFT display
* TransFlash/Micro SD memory card (optional)

Motorola SLVR L7 Reviews

David Pogue at the New York Times reviews the Motorola SLVR L7 and really likes the look and feel of the phone, noting its sleek, smooth, Zenlike style. He concludes: "No, the Slvr is not the phone for the technophobic or students of efficient software design. Still, it's one of the thinnest, smallest cellphones you've ever held (or beheld). It will be a huge hit, the next celebrity-sighting cellphone/fashion statement, simply because it's so gorgeous. And the iTunes feature and all that accompanies it (memory card, really great speakers--for a phone) cements the Slvr's reputation as a phone in a class by itself."

The Chicago Tribune reviews the Motorola SLVR L7, and comments on the phone's camera: " Another trade-off is a relatively low-resolution camera. At less than 1 megapixel, the camera does not compare favorably to most new phones, where 1.2 megapixels and higher are becoming the norm. ... The pictures are adequate for viewing on the phone. I took a fun photo of my 2-year-old son taking a bite out of an apple, an appropriate screen saver."

Mobiledia reviews the Motorola SLVR L7 and is rather disappointed in the phone's camera: "Activating the built-in camera converts the LCD into a camera viewfinder, with the lower portion of the screen displaying available memory and user settings. Featuring a 0.3-megapixel camera, the SLVR's built-in camera is rather disappointing. Being similar to the RAZR's camera, released last year, other camera-phones have progressed beyond 1-megapixel to 2-megapixels and above.

Capturing photos at up to 640 x 480 px in resolution, consumers shouldn't expect to use the SLVR as a replacement for a digital camera. But it still works as novelty item for taking photos of impromptu moments."

Pocket-link reviews the Motorola SLVR L7 and is not very impressed with the phone's camera at all: "But what about the camera I hear you cry? A disappointing VGA model with 4x digital zoom and certainly not up to the megapixel variants you find as standard on even entry-level phones from other manufacturers."

Designtechnica reviews the Motorola SLVR L7 and isn't at all impressed with the phone's VGA camera: "As you'd expect, the VGA camera is useless in anything but bright sunlight, especially since there is no flash -- but we doubt anyone would buy the SLVR for its picture taking capability. The SLVR's 12-hour music playback battery life (6 hours/17 day talk/standby), is only two hours shorter than the Nano."

MobileBurn reviews the Motorola SLVR L7 and comments on the phone's VGA camera: "if you are just interested in a random snapshot or two that you can email off to a friend, you might be satisfied with what the SLVR L7 offers. The camera records color decently well, and the automatic white balance is a good performer (manual settings are available, too). The shutter sound can be set to one of a number of normal and unusual sounds (like a duck's quack), or can be disabled completely. The 4x digital zoom is of no real use at all. The only real problem that the SLVR L7's camera has, other than resolution, is focus: landscapes and anything shot from beyond typical portrait distances appear soft and somewhat blurry."

PCMag reviews the Motorola SLVR L7, and finds it a well-designed phone. About the sound quality: "Along with its RAZR cousins, the quad-band SLVR L7 gets excellent reception, though sound quality isn't quite as good. We found that voices, both sent and received, are sharp, and the earpiece volume is loud enough, if not very loud. But the speakerphone is quiet and picks up a lot of background noise."

andPOP has a review of the Motorola SLVR L7 and has this to say about the phone's camera: "I didn’t play with the camera features much. For some reason, anytime a person pulls out a cameraphone, I see a lot of people get very paranoid. So now I find it very easy to keep people pleased. The camera itself takes a decent photo, and it is a fairly basic camera, so no weird tricks or anything to use it. You just use it and have fun."

Update: Cingular Wireless now has the Motorola SLVR L7 available in pink, to complement the other colors available (green, teal and blue).

Via MobileTracker.

From the news release:

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today unveiled the Motorola SLVR L7, the highly anticipated next generation design ultra-slim handset. Chiseled, thin and defined, the Motorola SLVR L7 builds on Motorola’s growing reputation for world class design that has driven such recent successes as the RAZR V3 and the PEBL U6.

The inspirational mobile device reflects two key silhouettes - sleek and thin - that are at the core of Motorola’s evolving design philosophy.

Created for successful and image conscious consumers who value performance and style, the Motorola SLVR L7 allows them to express their individuality in cutting edge design and function. The SLVR L7’s premium material finishes include illuminated precision cut keypad with metallic spun finish, chrome plated side keys, glass display, glass-filled body for rigidity and anodized aluminium battery door.

In SLVR L7’s ultra slim and sleek blade-like form is a digital audio player, Bluetooth® connectivity, email and an integrated VGA camera. A large 176 x 220 pixel 262k color TFT display lets consumers enjoy vivid pictures and videos. Media sharing is a breeze - consumers can download, save and store music, video clips and more onto an optional TransFlash /Micro SD memory card for endless storage capacity. The SLVR L7 supports all Bluetooth®-enabled headsets such as the latest Motorola Bluetooth® Headset H500.