Motorola Charm Review: A Charming Android Phone?

The Motorola Charm does not look like most of today's Android-based smartphones, with its boxy shape and its smaller-than-usual touch screen. And while I can appreciate a little variety, especially in a day when all too many smartphones look like little more than iPhone clones, the Charm's whimsical design just doesn't work as well as I'd hoped. I could, however, see the Charm appealing to new Android users -- but only if the price were a little lower.

T-Mobile is selling the Motorola Charm for $74.99 when you sign a new two-year service agreement. That's a low price for an Android-based smartphone, but it's more than what T-Mobile is charging for the Motorola Cliq XT (free with a two-year contract) or the T-Mobile myTouch 3G ($49.99 with a two-year contract).

To get that price, you will have to subscribe to one of T-Mobile's "Even More" Talk + Text + Web plans, which start at $79.99 a month. That price might be too high for newbies upgrading to the Charm from a texting phone or another feature phone that doesn't require a full data plan.

Design

Most of today's Android phones feature one of two designs: either they are all touch screen models, boasting a big, bright display, or they are phones with slide-out QWERTY keyboards, which appear from beneath a big, bright display. Not the Motorola Charm.

This phone is decidedly boxy in shape, and features a candy-bar style (display on top, QWERTY keyboard on the bottom) not often seen on Android devices. The Charm measures 3.9 inches tall by 2.7 inches wide by .5 inches thick, which is short and squat compared to most phones.

At the top of the phone, you get a 2.8-inch touch screen, which is small, but usable. Its size is less of a problem than its resolution; at 320-by-240 pixels, the screen looks decidedly low-res, and neither images nor colors seemed to pop. The keyboard that sits below the display is a bit cramped, but I found it easy enough to use for thumb typing. The keys are nicely raised, making them easier to locate by touch.

Between the screen and the keyboard, you get home, back, and menu buttons, all of which are touch-sensitive. I would have preferred physical buttons instead, as I find them easier to use.

The Charm's wider profile makes it a bit awkward to hold during calls, but, at 3.9 ounces, the phone is very light. Call quality was good during my test calls made over T-Mobile's network. Most calls came through loud and clear on both ends of the line.

Software

But Android can be confusing at times, in large part because different phones ship with different versions of Android. Luckily, however, the Charm ships with a newer version -- 2.1. Android has since been updated to version 2.2, but that version still is not widely available on new phones. For more information about Android, read my full review of the Android OS.

Like the Motorola Droid X and the Cliq XT, the Charm adds Motorola's Motoblur user interface to the Android OS, which syncs information across your e-mail account, social networks, photo sharing services, and more. All of your contacts are collected in one master list, from which you can browse their activity on various sites and services and your communication history with them.

Set up is easy; you just pick the services you use from the list, which includes options like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo Mail, MySpace, Picasa, Last.fm, and more. You enter your login information, and all of your contacts are pulled in.

Unlike the Droid X, which places the Motoblur icons on a secondary screen, the Charm puts most of them on the home page that you see when you boot up the phone. The page features several widgets, including one called Happenings that displays information like Tweets and Facebook status updates from your friends; another (called Social Status) lets you update your own status across multiple services; and a third widget (called Messages) display recent messages, such as texts, e-mails, or direct messages from Facebook or Twitter.

Overall, Motoblur makes it easy to stay on top of your various social networks and your multiple contacts. It offers a handy universal inbox, where all of your incoming messages are collected. But the widgets make the Charm's home page look very busy -- there's little room left for the screen background. And the result can be overwhelming; there's quite a bit of text thrown at you when you turn on your phone.

Like all Android phones, the Charm features tight integration with Gmail, but will work with any IMAP or POP3 e-mail account, as well as corporate email accounts.

Thanks to Motoblur, you get a messaging app that consolidates all of your inboxes in one location. You get a universal inbox that collects messages from your various e-mail accounts, social networks, and other online services, but you also get individual inboxes for each separate account. It's a nice way to keep track of all of the messages you receive, not just your e-mails.

Browsing the Web

The good news about browsing the Web is that the Charm supports both Wi-Fi and 3G cellular networks. T-Mobile was the last of the four major nationwide carriers to launch a 3G network, but its reach is growing. In my tests of the Charm in and around the Boston area, T-Mobile's network delivered speedy page loads and downloads.

I also like that the phone's screen supports multi-touch, so you can pinch and spread the screen to zoom in and out. What I don't like is viewing Web pages on the Charm's small, low-res screen. Reading an online article requires copious scrolling, and graphics and images tend to look bland or even pixelated.

Camera

The Charm features a 3-megapixel camera that captured some decent snapshots, but it didn't wow me overall. You get a digital zoom, but no flash, which is a bit of a disappointment.

The Charm also captures video clips, but the video camera option is an entirely separate app from the camera. You can't toggle between them; you have to close the camera to open the video camera and vice-versa, which is too bad. It’s much more convenient to be able to switch from photos to videos by tapping an icon.

Like all Android phones, the Charm includes one-touch access to Amazon's MP3 store for DRM-free music downloads. As a nice bonus, you also get a decent music player, which offers a better look and more features than the version found on earlier phones, like the Motorola Cliq.

The Charm's connected music player consolidates access to a variety of music features, including your own music collection; FM and Shoutcast Radio; the ability to search music videos on sites like YouTube and GoTV channels; access to the TuneWiki Community for socializing with others; and the ability to identify songs off of the radio using SoundHound.

Bottom Line

The Charm is a cute phone that could serve well as an introduction to Android and smartphones in general. I wish it had a slightly bigger and better quality screen, though, and I wish it cost less to use each month. Right now, its price is a bit too high to justify its features.