Test report and technical data Motorola A830
The brand new UMTS mobile phone Motorola A830 is being tested at the moment. A chunky thing!
Plus of the Motorola A830: efficiency in transmitting data, DigiCam, MP3 Player and memory capacity
Minus of the Motorola A830: heavy battery, that is also weak.
One can find the first few Motorola A830s on the German market, although the Motorola A830 has not been launched yet. The launching is probably not going to take place until late 2003.
At the moment, the Motorola A830 is only available for network operators, and only for testing matters.
Motorola A830 is an UMTS mobile of the first generation and at the same time the first UMTS mobile to be available on the European market.
Respectively, the Motorola A830 will be expensive.
In terms of UMTS, Motorola is a big step ahead of its competitors.
It is going to take a while until other manufacturers will provide UMTS mobiles.
First thing one will notice about the Motorola A830 is his enormous size - the phone will be anything but small, handy and easy to stow. The measurements of the Motorola A830 provoke the memory of the early 1990s, when people where struggling with their giant Siemens and Nokia mobiles.
The Motorola A830 measures 135 x 53 x 34 mm. Almost surprisingly for a phone this size, it only weighs 157 g. Its heaviness is due to its battery, which is, just like the rest of the Motorola A830, too chunky.
The Motorola A830's screen is very wide, and provides a extremely high resolution of 176 x 220 pixels and 4096 differenet colors.
The keys of the Motorola A830 go well with its overall design, their size matches the bulkiness of the phone. Remarkable is the number of operating keys. They make the extensive feature selection provided by the Motorola A830 apparent.
Using the Motorola A830 does not make it obvious that it is an UMTS mobile. The Motorola A830 is usable just like a regular cell phone. The big number of keys may be confusing at first, but they are necessary for the simple use of the UMTS features.
The arrangement of the keys will be stated below:
Underneath the display of the Motorola A830 there are two soft keys, in between them is another operating key. Furthermore, there are a four - way key, a phone key and a speed start key underneath.
All of the Motorola A830's keys are easy to use.
To simplify the use of the Motorola A830, there are several icons in the upper menu bar. The menu of the Motorola A830 becomes clearer. The Motorola A830 has not yet been fully tested, but the features that have been tried so far were easy to be found in the menu and easily used, too.
Since the Motorola A830 has not been tested all the way, the ease of its use cannot be rated yet.
In order to achieve the best efficiency possible, a strong battery is absolutely necessary. Thus, the Motorola A830 is supplied with a very reliable battery, which makes the entire phone a lot heavier though. The battery will last 22 hours in stand - by mode and will provide 2.5 hours of talking time.
But this accomplishment will not compensate for the weight of the Motorola A830. There are already much stronger batteries on the market, that weigh less and last longer. This fact about the Motorola A830 should be improved in the future.
It is impossible to name all of the Motorola A830's features, so only its highlights shall be listed here.
All one needs to know about the features not listed below is that the Motorola A830 really contains all known features. No matter what function, the Motorola A830 will fulfill it.
A DigiCam is integrated in the Motorola A830, which is located in a separately delivered battery cab. Battery cabs are changeable, so the choice between battery cab with or without camera is up to the user. The battery cab with the camera features a rotating lenses. The Motorola A830's DigiCam cannot only be used to take pictures, but also to shoot short video sequences.
These can later be send via the MMS feature of the Motorola A830 or via e - mail.
The pictures' quality is about average, one could have expected more from Motorola's all-rounder!
The following video formats are supported by the Motorola A830: AVI, MPEG4 and ASF.
Great for business is the fact that the Motorola A830's DigiCam allows the accomplishment of video conferences. Of course, the Motorola A830 also features hands free talking.
Also integrated in the Motorola A830 is an MP3 player. An SD/MMC card supplies adequate memory capacity. Java downloads will be saved on the same card.
Now what makes the UTMS Motorola A830 better than its competitors?
The Motorola A830 features maximum UMTS transfer rates of 384 kbit/s when receiving and 128 kbit/s when sending data. In fact, it will be difficult to achieve such transfer rates. Some network operators state that the maximum transfer rates that can possibly be achieved vary between 64 kbit/s and 128 kbit/s. But even these estimated rates are more than sufficient and are unimaginable for regular cell phones.
In case of an UMTS operating problem (i.e. no network available), the Motorola A830 will automatically assign the data transfer to GPRS.
The Motorola A830 features every cut surface one can possibly think of, including infra red, bluetooth and USB.
An enormous memory capacity, excellent reception, games, ringing tones, organizer and much more can be taken for granted with the Motorola A830. High quality can be expected.
The Motorola A830 is a highly developed mobile featuring only the 'high society' of functions.
Alas, the weak battery is slightly irritating and flaws the otherwise perfect impression of the Motorola A830.
Purchasing the Motorola A830 will not be cheap. It might be cleverer anyway to wait for the next generation of UMTS mobiles. First, prices will have dropped by then and second, one is to expect a new and even better version of the Motorola A830.
Still, the Motorola A830 is the leading UMTS mobile on the market, setting standards for other manufacturers in the future.
Test review of Motorola A830:
Technical features: ++++
Reception quality: ++++
Ease of use: +++
Battery stand - by time: ++
Design: +++
Instruction manual: +++
Value for money: +++
Overall rating: +++
++++/ excellent, +++/ good, ++/ satisfactory, +/ poor
All texts, pictures and other data © 2003, Universal Boards GmbH & Co KG.
Multiplication or replication for personal use or distribution
without the agreement of Universal Boards GmbH & Co KG. is prohibited by law.
