PDA247 reviews the E Ink-based MotoFone F3

Bob Russell · 04-30-2007, 06:42 AM

Remember the budget phone with an E Ink display? Well, Shaun McGill of PDA247 has picked up one, and done an excellent review that's worth looking at even if just for the picture of the popcorn box"!

CommanderROR · 04-30-2007, 08:03 AM

seems cool to have eink in a phone, but why the huge charakters?

emkay · 04-30-2007, 09:17 AM

Is the battery life really any better on this than on competitors?
I'm looking for a phone that has long battery life, specially on standby, as I don't use my mobile too often.
Quoted standby time is up to 300 hours. Looking at the spec. for other mobiles, this doesn't seem too different from normal. Talking time is maybe an hour more on average.

Bob Russell · 04-30-2007, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

seems cool to have eink in a phone, but why the huge charakters?

I guess huge characters are part of why the phone is cheap - a few big segments is cheaper to make than dense matrices of dots. Plus it is easy to read and fits the "simple and basic" phone style.

griffbrad · 04-30-2007, 11:31 AM

Anyone know when the Motofone F3c (The CDMA version) is supposed to come out? I'd love to use this phone as I need better battery life and have no use whatsoever for all the "features" on my RAZR. Unfortunately, I'm on Sprint.

yvanleterrible · 04-30-2007, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

seems cool to have eink in a phone, but why the huge charakters?

Eink means no backlight, big characters would help in dim lighted situations.

pda247 · 04-30-2007, 02:30 PM

This was added to the 247 forum following the review-

Nice review but you missed some of the major highlights of this phone!

1. Audio quality - it also includes a loudspeaking function which is the clearest I have heard on any phone - some costing 50 times as much!

2. Battery life - the efficient display (it only uses energy when changing) means the battery is good for 3-4 days

3. Display is always on and can be seen at a glance in normal light - so no pressing buttons to see what time it is or if you have a message etc.

4. Display and button backlight is very subtle at night so unlike most phones it doesn't light up like a Christmas tree saying "mug me".

5. It's a tough cookie and can survive being dropped

6. The interface is quirky, but dead simple when you get used to it (only 6 icons).

6. You can get it even cheaper through Quidco (£10 cashback)

All of which makes it the ideal stand-by or "out on the town" phone!

P.S. I use a cheap USB SIM reader and PC software to transfer the numbers from my main phone.

CommanderROR · 04-30-2007, 04:07 PM

Maybe i'll get one of these as a "spare" phone...I've still got some unused simcards lying around...so I could actually use it...^^

If I do then I'll write a little something for our site here. I'm not sure how much time i'll have though, so I might not do this at all..it's just a maybe...^^

clabot451 · 04-30-2007, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

Maybe i'll get one of these as a "spare" phone...I've still got some unused simcards lying around...so I could actually use it...^^

If I do then I'll write a little something for our site here. I'm not sure how much time i'll have though, so I might not do this at all..it's just a maybe...^^

Good idea I actually own a motofone f3 and that's precisely the way I use it.
Anyway the display is funtastic and the audio above average and the price (29 euros) very cheap.In two words highly recommended as a second phone.

orcinus · 05-01-2007, 07:36 AM

If anyone's interested in some live photos, i've put some up a week or two ago over here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...8#postcount=18

04-30-2007, 06:42 AM	#1
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	PDA247 reviews the E Ink-based MotoFone F3 Remember the budget phone with an E Ink display? Well, Shaun McGill of PDA247 has picked up one, and done an excellent review that's worth looking at even if just for the picture of the popcorn box"!

05-01-2007, 07:36 AM	#10
orcinus Gadgeteer Posts: 222 Karma: 540 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Croatia Device: iRex iLiad, Sony PRS-500, Nokia 770, BB 7200, Samsung i600, iPhone	If anyone's interested in some live photos, i've put some up a week or two ago over here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...8#postcount=18 Last edited by orcinus; 05-01-2007 at 07:40 AM.

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04-30-2007, 08:03 AM	#2
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	seems cool to have eink in a phone, but why the huge charakters?

04-30-2007, 09:17 AM	#3
emkay Zealot Posts: 103 Karma: 11 Join Date: Jul 2006	Is the battery life really any better on this than on competitors? I'm looking for a phone that has long battery life, specially on standby, as I don't use my mobile too often. Quoted standby time is up to 300 hours. Looking at the spec. for other mobiles, this doesn't seem too different from normal. Talking time is maybe an hour more on average.

04-30-2007, 11:31 AM	#5
griffbrad Member Posts: 21 Karma: 14 Join Date: Sep 2006	Anyone know when the Motofone F3c (The CDMA version) is supposed to come out? I'd love to use this phone as I need better battery life and have no use whatsoever for all the "features" on my RAZR. Unfortunately, I'm on Sprint.

04-30-2007, 02:30 PM	#7
pda247 Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2005	This was added to the 247 forum following the review- Nice review but you missed some of the major highlights of this phone! 1. Audio quality - it also includes a loudspeaking function which is the clearest I have heard on any phone - some costing 50 times as much! 2. Battery life - the efficient display (it only uses energy when changing) means the battery is good for 3-4 days 3. Display is always on and can be seen at a glance in normal light - so no pressing buttons to see what time it is or if you have a message etc. 4. Display and button backlight is very subtle at night so unlike most phones it doesn't light up like a Christmas tree saying "mug me". 5. It's a tough cookie and can survive being dropped 6. The interface is quirky, but dead simple when you get used to it (only 6 icons). 6. You can get it even cheaper through Quidco (£10 cashback) All of which makes it the ideal stand-by or "out on the town" phone! P.S. I use a cheap USB SIM reader and PC software to transfer the numbers from my main phone.

04-30-2007, 04:07 PM	#8
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	Maybe i'll get one of these as a "spare" phone...I've still got some unused simcards lying around...so I could actually use it...^^ If I do then I'll write a little something for our site here. I'm not sure how much time i'll have though, so I might not do this at all..it's just a maybe...^^

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