Reverse the trend of credit calculations, Motorola last high-end phone is clearly aimed at those who value style above content.
Costing more than one large you expect he has some intelligence hi-tech edge, but with its sleek, certainly including Motorola seems to have based on the classic watch design is actually a very basic handset with just a 2 - megapixel camera and no 3G or Wi-Fi, no document readers or push e-mail - not even for memory expansion.
Yet, the Motorola AURA is not just a pretty face. One could say that his lack of challenge of the last features means it is also unlikely to date quite as quickly as those who supported me-too handsets that you need to replace the six months down the line. The Aura has an air of permanence that is rare in the world of mobile phones.
There are other high prices, combined with low technology, of course. Virtue comes to mind, or Nokia 8800, but in terms of style, luxury, AURA tops of these two, mainly because of its unique circular display. This is not a circular surround with a square image in the middle, you understand, but a good, all the way to the edges of the circular screen. And it seems indeed magnificent.
It has a diameter of 40mm, with 480x480 pixels, 16 million colors and 300dpi. It is seen through a lens elliptical, so details on the edges look a little more distant and not quite to scale, like looking through a camera obscura, which is strangely compelling. This lens appears to grade 1, 62-carat sapphire, which Motorola claims to be one of the finest materials available scratch resistant.
The other justification for the exorbitant cost is housing, stainless steel design with a pattern engraved by hand, which is apparently almost two weeks of carving, engraving and polishing. All materials are apparently high level, including hardened steel gears (for swivel opening mechanism) and nickel-plated screws. Details on the sides is kept to a minimum, with only a volume rocker, mini-USB socket and buttons for the video twins back panel to break the flow smooth. It is certainly more and feels like a sleek handset.
The pivoting action to access the keyboard is, as promised, very smooth. Light pressure with your thumb defines the inner workings of a-whirring and movies turn left into the six o'clock position. You can even see part of the swivel mechanism through a window on the rear panel, which adds to this elegant watch.
The keyboard is recessed type aluminum familiar with the RAZR series which looks good but is not particularly easy to use. There is a circular D-pad just below the screen, but only four significantly, and you can not press it to access the functions. For this you will need the OK button next to it, which takes a little getting used to, and there is also a back button, call start and stop and two softkeys.
With attention to detail and workmanship that Motorola claims to have put in the AURA, you'd think they could have included a better camera. We did not expect a snapper at high power, but two megapixels seems a bit puny, even on midrange phones nowadays, let alone a beast of allegedly race like this.
Absence of flash limits your options, as well as the lack of autofocus, but the only thing the unit has in its favor is that the circular screen. With the camera (and you should not be too hasty about it - there is no dedicated shutter button so that you will dive into the menu for it) the circular screen as a viewfinder, and it seems to stare- most wonderful somebody's-the-shoulder.
It has a 4x zoom, offers up to 1600x1200 resolution and yes, photos are rectangular, but if you choose one as your wallpaper, it is resized to fit the round screen . You can crop, resize and rotate your photos, the more a multi shot option four, six or eight pictures. The video is particularly low, however, offering just 176x144 resolution.
The music player is basic, but it will play most major formats: AAC, AAC +, eAAC +, MIDI, MP3, WAV and WMA. The sound is surprisingly good with headphones rather stocky Motorola, which is just as well, because without a 3.5mm jack, you're probably stuck with them. There are 2 GB of onboard memory, which is not bad, but there is no memory card option to complete.
In the absence of 3G connection you're stuck with WAP for Web access, which will translate to most people as "do not worry about Internet access.
For extras, there's a calculator, alarm clock, voice recorder and some basic games (sudoku, backgammon, slots - that kind of thing), but with Java on board, you can download more if you feel need.
The Motorola Aura is a very basic phone as bling, but Motorola knows an important truth - if you make a very desirable feature, people will buy it, no matter the price or options. Do Patek Philippe chronographs measure your heart rate, connect to the Internet or play music? No, they tell time. The Motorola Aura is a phone, make calls, and not much else. But he does so with an impressive amount of style.
