Our Verdict
The Motorola Titanium is a push - to - public lecture ( PTT ) Android telephone set pitch toward boss and other “ grey collar ” workers . Though the earphone is targeted at a specific , reconcile niche user , they would not be satisfied with the slow data speeds and gawky functioning of the Titanium .
Design
Priced at $ 150 ( with a new two - year contract on Sprint ) , the Titanium looks like a steal for anyone look for a tough smartphone . The gadget look very similar in design to the Motorola Droid Pro and XPRT , though the Titanium does n’t find as solid as its business course of instruction cousins . This is peculiarly peculiar when you see that the Titanium meets military stipulation for dust , daze , and utmost temperatures . Unlike Motorola ’s other broken offering , the Defy , the Titanium is not waterproof — although it does sport a 4 mm chummy Gorilla Methedrine display for add screen durability .
The Titanium is also one of the few Android devices to sport physical “ Call ” and “ End ” button . The physical keyboard is a prissy tactual sensation , though I found it a bit too cramped for my hands . consider this is a earpiece geared towards masses who work in places like construction sites , you ’d think that the keys would be spaced out a piddling more to lodge large fingers and hands . The 320 - by-480 answer 3.1 - inch TFT exhibit is the farthermost matter from heart confect . color are dim and images are not sharp and were a little bleary .
Software
The Motorola Titanium prevail on Android 2.1 ( Éclair ) . That stand for you wo n’t have memory access to Flash content , or any of the internet browser or organisation improvements plant in Android 2.2 . When I asked Motorola why the phone run a comparatively outdated version of the type O , the resolution was that 2.1 was necessary for the PTT functionality of the machine . Whether that imply that the Titanium will ever be updated to 2.2 remains to be seen , though I would n’t particularly count on it .
MotoBlur is not present on the gimmick , though the dock and several appliance are . Other than Nascar , Telenav GPS Navigator , and Sprint Football Live , there is little preinstalled software system on the telephone set .
Performance
Being a get-up-and-go - to - talk phone , the Titanium use Sprint ’s iDEN internet . While calls on the Titanium came through crystal absolved , you ’d intimately not design to use this phone to surf the net . That ’s because the Titanium gets f number around those of 1X. you may do canonic things like refresh your Twitter status or look up something on Google , but if you want to watch videos on YouTube or download app , you ’ll have to unite to Wi - Fi to avoid getting internet errors .
I test out the PTT functionality with several people and can happily say that it is the Titanium ’s big strength . The speaker was nice and loud ( though a little jarring at time ) , and it was dead easy to relay messages back and forward .
The Titanium comes with a freak ( 1800 mAh ) bombardment that can go for the better part of a day before the telephone involve to be plugged in to bear down . Let ’s hope Motorola will continue to include large capacitance batteries in its succeeding twist as well .
Something I noticed in my clock time with the Titanium is that scrolling through homepages feel ungainly , and overall the phone seemed to just chug along . As I mentioned earlier , I would n’t gestate to do anything more than canonical tasks like checking electronic mail on this phone .
Media
The Titanium comes with a 2 GB microSD card that can be used for stack away music and picture , though the sound definitely was n’t built for medium in thinker . Videos taken on the Titanium ’s 5 - megapixel tv camera looked horrible and audio sound garbled during playback . photo come a draw well , though they could have been a little sharper . The Titanium does an mean job at playing back medicine , though it ’s doubtful it will supercede your standalone sensitive player .
Bottom line
What is the point of having a smartphone if you may not even download apps to it while out on the go ? If you are look for just a push - to - lecture phone , you ’re belike undecomposed off just getting a characteristic sound ( like the Motorola Brute ) . The battery life will be salutary , chances are it ’ll be able-bodied to take more abuse , and the phone will probably be quicker overall .
[ Armando Rodriguez is a PCWorld staff editor . ]
