PRO: My techie side loves the attractive design, unique display, and slim profile. The resurgent luddite inside me loves the simplicity of it all.
CON: Unorthodox menu and messaging take getting used to; some limitations if you text message heavily.

I don’t remember the exact series of events, but the other day I stumbled upon information about the Motorola F3 and got the hankering to buy one. The F3 was released late in 2006 and meant for developing countries like India where the cellphone market is just beginning to explode. The US version followed shortly. $33 off of eBay and a few days later my shiny new phone arrived. So far, I love it. Excerpts from its wikipedia entry:

Motorola FONE F3
physical size: 47 x 114 x 9.1 mm
weight: 68 g

“The F3 is the first mobile phone to use electronic paper in its screen. Motorola uses the term ClearVision to describe the new display, which is manufactured using E Ink’s electrophoretic imaging film. The electronic paper main display allows for the phone’s thinness (no glass), longer battery life, and outdoor viewability (paper-like reflectivity). It has a backlight for the keypad and a slit that projects the backlight onto the screen so the display can be seen in darkness.

The characteristics of the display are fairly restrictive. The text display contains only two lines of six characters each, making the use of data services and text messaging (SMS) less practical than on standard LCD displays.

Since the F3 has only two lines of (fixed) stuff icons on the top and bottom of the display, as well as one line of six 14-segment characters and another line of six 7-segment numbers available on its display, the user interface is very different from the usual menu structure normally found on mobile phones. The only thing resembling a (flat) menu is accessed by pressing left/right on the central button: It allows writing an SMS, reading a saved SMS, call history, choosing the ringtone (out of seven melodies), setting date and time, and setting the alarm clock. The menu is visualized by fixed icons in the bottom row, following the left/right pattern of the navigation button.”

To do anything besides making a call, using your address book, or what’s displayed in the menu mentioned above, you must enter a 3 digit code surrounded by asterisks (for accessing rarely used settings). Want to play games, access the internet, or take crappy 2- or 3-megapixel photos? THIS PHONE CAN’T DO IT.

Long-time readers will know I occasionally get sidetracked by slick advanced smartphones with tons of features I don’t need or necessarily want (iPhone *cough*). I’m somewhat of a halfhearted techie, after all. But truth of the matter is, I’m comfortable with a sub-$50 cellphone and my prepaid AT&T account (which has averaged about $100 a year for the past five years). Using the internet on a phone sucks, and so do the games. I don’t need mp3 ringtones, themes, a camera, or any of the extraneous capabilities they throw into phones these days.

I just want my phone for making calls and the occasional text message. And my dog might want to chew on it, too. OK?

Up to this point, I was stuck with ugly obnoxious phones, as the entry-level / prepaid market isn’t particularly innovative or courted by phone companies. The F3 changes this, sorta. None of the technology is particularly new, but it’s well used. The F3 was, when released, Motorola’s thinnest phone – and it’s still far from clunky. The electronic paper display is attractive and easy to read in any light. The fixed “digital clock” style is retro-cool. Reception and battery strength are clearly displayed up top at all times.

Text messaging is simplified and easy to send / receive – with an important caveat. Messages are restricted to one line and you must scroll right / left to read them, which works out intuitively enough for short user-to-user texts. However, with a long enough message (say, automated ones from your provider with a lot of addendum like “reply to this message”), things can start to become a chore.

Design-wise, the F3 fits in with Motorola’s other slim (literal sense) offerings. In fact, the F3 might be thought of as a baby RAZR. The notable differences being the display and the fact that it’s a candybar design, not flip (spin, slide, or whatever the RAZR does these days). I have always much preferred a candybar-type phone since they’re typically more rugged. The F3’s dimensions are svelte, but the weight belies a sense of sturdiness. The one piece front prevents dust and grime from being trapped between keys or underneath the display. There are four colors available (affecting the face only, the sides and back remain black), I went with blue. Very attractive. The flat face makes the F3 look more like a prop than a functional phone. You know the cardboard computers and TVs found in furniture stores?

Reception is an important consideration since I’m on the fringe of service at home, and fortunately the F3 is as good if not better than my previous Nokia, which as a brand is reputed to have strong reception.

Cost, as stated, was $33 shipped, off of eBay. New and unlocked. I swapped my SIM from my previous phone. One slight grumble here was that the F3 uses its SIM code to save all contacts, while my previous phone used its own internal memory. This meant I had to swap the SIM card back to my old phone so that I could use it long enough to write down any contacts I wanted to save (about a dozen all told). Not the phone’s fault.

In a nutshell, the F3 is an attractive back-to-the-basics phone for anyone, savvy or otherwise. It can also make for an excellent second or starter phone. The unorthodox menu and way of messaging can take some getting used to. But after about half a day, I was comfortable with all functions – all BOTH of them, calling and messaging!