Gadgetory

Windows Mobile 2003 a VGA camera and a 30 millimeter thick body if those kind of specs don't get your motor running you don't remember 2005 very well I'm Michael Fisher this is PocketNow and this is our throwback review of the Motorola I 930 the AI 930 remains one of the most unique smartphones of all time seeing Windows Mobile in a clamshell form factor was always somewhat rare but this sucker took one-of-a-kind to new heights first of all though it had a GSM radio for international roaming onboard the eye 930 was only built for one u.s. network technology ID n the push-to-talk centric digital network used by Nextel and practically no one else by the time this phone was launched at the tail end of next tells glory days in 2005 it had been delayed so many times that diehard fans had been waiting almost two years for its release even though it was already somewhat dated even by the standards of the day the pent up demand from that long wait plus the prestige of a rare 900 class model number meant next tells then new owner sprint sold a lot of these devices in the hand the 930 exemplifies everything Motorola's Falcon line of ident stood for at 167 grams it's substantial at 30 millimeters thick even without our expanded battery cover here it's massive and it's metal and impact resistant plastic construction means it can take a beating as well as any other next cellphone on the front is a 4096 color stn LCD screen with a resolution of 96 by 65 above which sits the phone's one and only camera it's VGA resolution was outdated already at launch as devices with 1.3 megapixel cameras like the eye 870 were already starting to land on next Oh on the left-hand side between the 2.5 millimeter headphone jack and the volume rocker is the familiar PTT button for Direct Connect calls that button hasn't changed much at all in 15 years see pocket now is Kyocera torque review to confirm that around back is the Nextel branding and the powerful rear mounted speaker and up top we've got more push-to-talk controls the speakerphone toggle and smart key the latter allowed a user to access the call list and some apps via the external display making it possible to place phone and Direct Connect calls without opening the device next to the smart key is the i9 30s extendable antenna the wideband identic Knology onboard would theoretically have enabled data speeds of up to 100 kilobits per second but the eye 930 shipped with this feature disabled and Sprint never enabled it the 930 thus chugged along at a painful 20 kilobits per second on a good day on the right hand side is a full-size SD card slot with a maximum capacity of 2 gigs and above it sits the IR port windows branding and an awesome feature that some Nokia 6126 fans may find familiar integrated into the eye 930 status light is a quick release button for the phone's flip in 2005 folks this was hot business opening the device reveals the phone's 176 by 220 display along with the numeric keypad customized for Windows Mobile flanking the d-pad or 2 soft keys in the upper corners a home and back button off to the sides and a talkin end key down left and right the power button set below the number keys which were sunk a little further down than on the I 930 s contemporaries probably to prevent them from scratching the screen when closed a chronic problem with many motorola ident found the software is vintage Windows Mobile Smartphone 2003 being powered along by a 180 megahertz processor backed up by 32 Meg's of RAM there's a horizontal ribbon of recently used apps a status area with time date and network status recent calls upcoming appointments and a voicemail and message count down below interestingly as the Nextel network didn't support mobile originated SMS for the majority of its existence MMS was used for all messages even those without media attached it all looks fairly archaic now but in 2005 for ID end users accustomed to phones whose features routinely lag behind those on more popular networks the added functionality of Windows Mobile made the AI 930 the most powerful non blackberry on nextel many people routinely criticized its poor battery life its lack of Bluetooth disabled wide n mode low res camera high price tag and a thick build that required a holster to carry it effectively but many more people overlooked these shortcomings to buy one and for their money they got an excellent voice and push-to-talk machine with smartphone features that though they weren't fast or at least solid at one time in America being a Nextel customer meant the same thing being an Apple customer used to mean you were part of something different something special the I 9:30 was unique besides its camera less I 920 variant no other Flip smartphones existed on Nextel that plus its artificially inflated demand from two years of delays made the 930 the king of the special phones and it remains perhaps the most legendary mobile phone from the golden years of push-to-talk hope you enjoyed our nostalgic look at the motorola eye 930 be sure and subscribe to us if you don't want to miss future videos check out our other throwback reviews here on YouTube and visit us at pocketnow.com follow us in all the usual places and thanks again for watching we'll see you next time