Detailed Review of the Motorola Aura: A Uniquely Designed Phone in a Stainless Steel Housing

Motorola Mobile Phones, Mobile
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The Motorola Aura is a beautifully designed phone, housed in a stainless steel jacket. It’s a very different, special looking mobile phone that really makes a fashion statement. It’s priced at $1089 on Amazon, but has limited luxury features, which is quite sad for a stunning phone with this price tag. The phone makes calls and not a lot else but it does so with an incredible amount of style.

Design (5 out of 5)

motorola aura review

The handset has a hand etched and crafted stainless steel covering, which gives the Motorola Aura a real feel of luxury. The coating has a mirror polish finish, and it’s the same material that is used in the making of luxury watches. The person who owns this elegant phone will really stand out in the crowd, and look fashionable.

The Motorola Aura’s screen is a 62-carat sapphire crystal lens, with 16 million colors. This screen is the first

Motorola Aura

of its kind and Motorola claims that it is the most scratch resistant material in the world. The diameter of the phone is just 1.5 inches, and its round shape isn’t best for prolonged internet browsing or photo taking. The phone’s 180-degree swivel mechanism is made up of two hundred parts including tungsten carbon carbide coated steel gears, and a Swiss-made central bearing, which offer incredibly fluid spring-assisted action.

The phone measures 97mm x 47.6mm x 18.6mm in size, and weighs 141 grams, giving a solid and robust feel to the handset. There is a circular D-pad beneath the screen for navigating through the phone functions. Beside that is the OK button and there is also a back button, two soft keys, and call start and stop buttons.

User Interface (5 out of 5)

The phone’s keypad is moderate in its convenience. It is made of metal and is very smooth to touch. The swivel action to access the keypad is very smooth, and you even see a part of the swivel mechanism through a small window on the back panel.

The nice anodized aluminum keypad of the Motorola Aura is very easy to thumb. The calling features, looking up contacts and messaging are all very straightforward. The phone stores contacts in an easy, user friendly way on the 2 GB embedded memory.

Features (4 out of 5)

The Motorola Aura looks like a luxury phone but it is very light and conservative in features. The phone has a 2 megapixel camera, good for MMS messaging and taking routine pictures, but it isn’t going to assure professional pictures. The camera comes with a Digital Zoom function, Modes and Settings, allowing you to customize your photos, and get the best picture you can. Although the camera uses the full extent of the circular screen, the photos will not come out circular. You can also enjoy capturing videos on this mobile phone, and play them back instantly on its circular screen. The video player supports MPEG4 and 3GP video formats.

Motorola Aura Features (4 out of 5)

The phone allows you to add your own style to the Motorola Aura handset, by choosing wallpapers that come pre-installed on the phone. The phone lacks 3G, but has EDGE that also allows you to enjoy fast connections for speedy internet browsing and sending emails. The phone doesn’t have Wi-Fi, but Bluetooth and USB connections are provided.

The phone has a built in memory that stores data up to 2GB but there is no slot for an external card. The battery life is very good. You get 7 hours of talk time and up to 410 hours of standby time with a full charge up of the battery.

The music player of the Motorola Aura is very basic. It supports WAV, MP3, WMA and AAC/AAC+ , and MIDI files. The messaging services on the phone comprise SMS, MMS, EMS and emailing. There is one advanced instant messaging feature, which enables you to chat on the mobile.

The phone supports the Crystal Talk technology, enabling the user to enjoy clear conversations, without any background noise interference. Other features of the phone include the Flight mode, hands free speakerphone, an alarm, a clock, calculator, and free embedded games.

Performance (4 out of 5)

The phone performs well when it comes to calling, and the sound is great both through the built-in speaker and the supplied Aura’s headphones. Photos taken from the camera aren’t impressive, and the video quality is also not very satisfactory. Users can expect to gain 410 hours of standby time, and up to 7 hours of talk time, with a full charge up of the battery. The internet speed is good enough, allowing you to enjoy web browsing and emailing, at a sufficient speed. Overall, the Motorola Aura runs very smoothly, and for most users, the phone has an average performance.

The Verdict (4 out of 5)

The Motorola Aura is a state of the art phone. Its metallic structure is really tough and the work that has gone into designing and making the Motorola Aura is very impressive. However, despite the bling, the phone can not attract people at large due to the host of mid-range features it misses.

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