Motorola E398 simply follow its predecessors with similar functions but what notable features it possess are that it has got two speakers and also play MP3 loud and in stereo, and also one can concentrate on its design and architecture that differentiates it remarkably from other previous models.
Outstanding color combination and classic structure
It possess a classic color combination in blue-silver that looks very elegant. E398 belongs to mid-big handsets with dimensions 108 x 46 x 21 mm. Active color display is of 176 x 220 pixels resolution, with sizes 30 x 37 mm, and displays 65k colors. Brightness and contrast are its positive aspects.
The display window is protectively placed under a glass outlined by a silver-grey border. The Motorola company logo can be seen on the top of the arc. The lower part of the phone has a numeric keypad, a joystick and function keys.
Below the display are four keys- two soft keys on either sides on the extremes, a left middle key with a T-mobile logo connecting to t-zones when you press it, and the right key with 4 horizontal lines is for accessing menu.
Below these four keys, a joystick in the middle can be seen with 5-way navigation, and two oval chrome keys used for making/receiving calls and ending calls.The remaining front side represents the numeric keypad with twelve keys and they are slightly bent to the bottom to give a dynamic appearance. This silver shining keypad also shines in the dark.
The phone has two symmetrical speakers situated on both the sides, covered with ribbing. The color LEDs too are situated under the speakers and they blink sometimes.
The upper part of the left side of the phone has a two-directional key for setting ringing volume, speaker volume during calls and to browse menu. The middle part has a chrome button to reach sound slot. On the right side, a camera release is located.
The topside of the phone has a headphone connector protected by a rubber cover, where as the bottom part has a provision for standard system connector.
The backside of the phone has a provision for the battery hidden under blue back cover, and the remaining upper part of the back is silver in color holding camera lens and a mirror for self-portrait. Below them is a flashlight diode.
Beneath the battery removal and the back cover, there are two slots with metal covers- one for the SIM card slot and the other for memory card with 64 MB capacity.
But the overall design of the handset is pretty good and classy.
The Display and the Keypad
The main menu resembles the other motorola V series phones. It can be listed in a list form or a grid form with 3x3 animated icons.
One can also customize the phone with two graphical themes available- a black-pink T-Mobile and a bluish style Moto. Menu navigation is comfortable with the joystick.
The keypad is comfy as well, but swaying from sides affecting other keys but then if pressed firmly, it doesn't affect much.
Stereo, Phonebook, Messaging, etc.
The phonebook can save up to 1000 multi-item entries assigning photos, images, or ringing tones uniquely to different contacts. The memory can be used both from both the SIM and the phone. The contacts can be searched with the first letter of the contact like other models.
Calls termination is done by the "red" key same as other normal phones. The speaker quality is high and the talk volume can be set with the two-directional button on the side. The quality of the loud hands free is also good.
You can find amazing 24 channel ring tones. A remarkable feature is the stereophonic ringing tone which makes the sound travel all around. It's just awesome. If set at the maximum volume, the sound is just clear, pure and quite vibrating. Though it's nothing hi-fi but then considering this feature in a phone, it is surely something appreciative on the part of motorola designers.
Along with the ringing, the integrated color LEDs blink from behind the speakers' slots. Even the silver coated keypad also blinks at various intervals.
The SMS writing is however slow and it is time consuming with the speed with which E398 works. Instead of the number of messages to be sent, the phone displays the character count with standard of 450 characters. The usage of the iTap dictionary strangely switches off the phone which is confusing. But the phone supports MMS and the email client.
Organizer
This comprises of a calender viewing daily and monthly views, then an alarm clock and a calculator, all functioning almost the same as the earlier models V80 and V600. So nothing extra here but important functions.
Pictures
The motorola E398 has a build-in VGA camera with 640 x 480 pixels resolution and allowing maximum with 4x zoom. The integrated flash at the rear of the phone brings some light to the captured image.
The captured images can be stored in 64MB Trans-Flash memory card also in the package.
You can also connect the phone to the PC via bluetooth or the USB cable. Motorola E398 supports GPRS class 10 and features WAP browser, supporting version 2.0.
The phone does have pre-installed three games and one video file in MP4 format.
Music
E398 is equipped with excellent top-class sound installation, so its just amazing to see it play MP3 music files with nice clarity in sound. In fact it is just loud enough to be played in a car instead of a car stereo, or with friends, etc.
Another important feature that cannot be left without mentioning here is that its "club lights" feature that makes the phone- its keypad, display and side color LEDs blink at every vibration over the sensitivity limits. For ex., if you've set the sensitivity limit to 1 (a maximum for any music), then you can feel how your phone dances to that particular tune.
Inference
It definitely comes from that high-class brands of mobile phones not left behind from its contenders even if we see some of the negative aspects ie. its low speed, or back-cover creaking or head-phone connector.
What is most notable is surely its excellent sound system with stereophonic sounds and obviously its elegant design, amazing light and sound effects, and the bright display cannot be ignored. The phone will be mostly sold by T-mobiles and in the open market.