Targeted at budget-conscious consumers, the Motorola v2088 offers a host of features and customisable options at a low price. Besides being a dual band phone, it comes with built-in vibration alert and supports EFR (Enhanced Full Rate) speech coding for better voice clarity.

Featuring interchangeable colour face plates, the v2088 can be personalised with a choice of green, yellow and red lights to differentiate between various pre-assigned caller groups. (actually, the yellow light turned out orange when the unit was tested.) This effectively allows the user to know when exactly who is calling -- whether it is a particular friend or family member.

Running on a rechargeable lithium ion battery, the v2088 can be used continuously for up to 210 minutes and put on standby for about 150 hours. Available in Cobalt Blue and Astro Silver, the phone offers a 96 x 54 row full graphics Optimax display with contrast control. A smart button gives one touch access to features like the phonebook.

One of the drawbacks of the v2088 is the user interface. Although a shortcut menu is made available to facilitate access to the various phone functions, scrolling through the options took some getting used to. Other than that, the phone is relatively simple and comes with standard features like a built-in clock function, a combined (phone and SIM Card) 255-entry phonebook and 11 selectable ringtones

Generally, the phone is quite long but it is relatively slim enough to fit comfortably in a pocket and in the palm of the user. It is ideal for the basic-phone user looking for simple-to-use and inexpensive mobile phone.

Motorola v2088
Company:Motorola Australia
Dealer:OPTUS
Ph: 133 999
Price: AU$329

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