We’ve already had a play with the US-based Motorola Droid. But now its UK twin, the Motorola Milestone has dropped onto our doormat. Is this Euro-centric version as good as its Stateside bro’? Or does the lack of Google Maps Navigation take the edge off what we’ve already called the best Google Android phone yet? Read our Motorola Milestone review now and we’ll give you the definitive verdict.
For a phone that packs in a full QWERTY slider and 3.7-inch touchscreen, the Motorola Milestone is remarkably slinky. We’ve said previously that it takes us back to the days when Moto made phones that mattered. The only real niggle we have with the build is the slide action itself, which feels a tad sticky compared to the reassuring thunk you get on most high end sliders.
Push out the QWERTY on the Motorola Milestone and start typing though and you’ll soon find the slide action is a minor problem by comparison. The keyboard is flush to the left of the device, which means your right hand stretches across the d-pad to type. It’s uncomfortable and not aided by the poorly designed keys, which we struggled to get up to speed with. They’re nowhere near as good as the ones found on dedicated mailers like the Nokia E72 and BlackBerry Bold 9700.
Read our Motorola Droid review now
That said, we eschewed the Motorola Milestone’s physical board and used the on screen effort instead. And we have to say this really is the best we’ve used on a touchscreen phone. The capacitive panel is a real stunner, right up there with the iPhone and typing emails and texts couldn’t be easier. Autocorrect works well, although there could be more screen space to see your full message. And of course, it has multitouch, unlike its US brethren. It works as well that on the iPhone and is ace for viewing snaps and web pages.
The Motorola Milestone’s screen is undoubtedly one of its biggest draw. It’s gorgeous, and at 480×854 made video look lush and rendered web pages as good as any cheapy netbook.
But more so than the screen it’s Android 2.0 that makes the Motorola Milestone the go to phone of 2009. The tweaked Google OS might lack Google Maps Navigation here in Blighty (instead featuring a rather naff MotoNav alternative), but Layers on regular Google Maps is a real winner. Add a Wikipedia layer in two touches and you can get info in the nearest bars and restaurants or places of interest. Traffic also helps you keep up with what’s going on on the roads.
The 5 megapixel camera is nothing special compared to top end Sony Ericsson efforts, but the video recording app is great. There’s easy upload to YouTube, although we think it could be a tad more obvious when it comes to getting your vids on the web. We needed to play around with a few buttons before working it out.
In all, the Motorola Milestone is a gorgeous phone, a real return to form. Android remains top notch and although the build could be better and the QWERTY’s frankly unnecessary, it’s still the phone to get if you want to be ahead of the curve.
