The Motorola Z8 is equipped with various buttons that enhance the ease and therefore the speed of operating the mobile phone. The front of the handset carries a 'home' button that lets you go back to the home screen quickly and effortlessly from any point in the menu. On the left side the 'up and down' button is placed, that lets you scroll through the menu and through messages rapidly. The same button can be used to adjust the volume. On the right side we find the quick button. When the camera button is pressed down, the camera is activated. The camera button also serves as release button.The design of the Motorola RIZR Z8 is outstanding. No special colours or buttons have been applied, but the handset bends slightly when sliding it open. The curve is very pleasant when you call with the Moto Z8. And also when writing an SMS or MMS message. The sample we received came including a Motorola S9; a Bluetooth headset with modern design and useful functions.
Pictures can be made with the integrated 2 Megapixel fixed focus digital camera. The digital camera is situated on the back of the handset and can be used even when the handset is closed. It is equipped with a flash positioned right next to the camera lens. This enables taking pictures in badly lit circumstances. Thanks to the 8x digital zoom distant objects can get a lot closer. However, a digital zoom decreases the quality of the picture rather quickly. So it might be wise to refrain from zooming. The self-timer can be used to stop blur from movements of the camera when taking a shot. Placing the cell phone on a fixed spot prevents blur but limits the freedom of moving around thus preventing you from shooting spontaneous snapshots.When the release button of the Motorola Z8 is pushed down, the camera is activated. After pressing the button completely down, a picture is taken. The release lag of the digital camera is significant when normal mode is on. It is almost impossible to capture a fast moving object in normal mode. When you select sports mode, the release lag improves. Still it is difficult to capture a moving object even in this mode. Storing a picture takes quite a while and makes sequential shooting impossible.The Motorola Moto Z8 is standard delivered with Motorola Synchronisatie software. This software offers the possibility of connecting your phone through USB or Bluetooth with a computer. Once connected it offers the possibility of synchronizing your handset with the computer in order to get your email settings on your handset. When the cell phone is connected through PCSync it is a piece of cake to manage files like photos, music, ring tones and documents. The connection of my notebook through USB was reasonably fast; transferring 100MB took around 4 minutes. Through Bluetooth it was somewhat slower; the same amount was copied onto my notebook in 4.5 minutes.The intuitive menu of the Motorola Z8 works fine and is easy to scroll through rapidly. Even the beginning mobile phone user will find his way through the menu in no-time at all. The information about the icons is not placed below the icons but on top of the menu which makes you have to look up to see what a certain icon stands for. Unfortunately the Motorola MotoRIZR Z8 is not equipped with a document viewer or pocket office, so viewing your files on the road is not possible. The menu's background can be set to black, grey, or you can create your own.The Motorola S9 is a trendy Bluetooth headset with easy operation. You can use the Motorola S9 as a hands-free set and as a headset. The sound quality of the high tones as well as the low tones is fine. Once you are used to the ease of a Bluetooth headset you will prefer it to a normal headset with wires. The left side of the headset contains buttons for answering and finishing a call and on the right side we find the buttons to turn the volume up and down. Finally the on/off button and the Bluetooth connection button are found on the back.Music and movies can be played with the multimedia player. Songs and movies can be stored in play lists which makes it easy to find them again providing you organized your files in a logical way. The operation of the multimedia player is easy and intuitive. Clear indications tell you which button you have to use for a certain function. The sound quality of the standard Motorola headset is fine; bass as well as high tones sound natural.Motorola RIZR Z8 may not seem to be the most spectacular mobile phone or the most special one. However, I do Motorola is well on its way to lose the negative image of lacking innovative inspiration. Still, there are some issues on the Moto Z8 that need improvement. The built-in camera could have done with a bit more attention. The competition is already integrating a 3.2 Megapixel camera in similar handsets. Personally I would have appreciated an integrated document viewer in the RIZR Z8 so it would not have been a problem to view my office files while travelling. The menu is improved tremendously in my opinion, offering fast and intuitive operation for the starting and advanced user alike. In short, the Motorola Z8 is an innovative cell phone, putting Motorola on the right road.
