Review of the Motorola Aura

The Motorola Aura is a phone of sheer luxury and decadent indulgence. The etched metal case and the crystal display make quite a striking statement. There are two models of the Motorola Aura. One is the regular while the second is the 'Diamond' Aura, with real diamonds embedded in a ring encircling the screen. The Diamond Aura is of course limited edition, retailing in multiples of thousands. The phone is not available everywhere, only in a few selected countries.

Look, Design, Feel (9/10)

This phone is meant to look good. The first impression is of a crystal ball-like display that dominates the front. It is rumoured to be the only truly circular display on a phone. It has a definite concave shape of some durable material that is completely damage-proof.

The entire casing, right from the front and back panels, to the sides and insides is made of metal. The only non-metallic part of the phone is the plastic repository where the antenna is connected. Naturally the metal augments a significant amount to the total weight of the device, however it strangely adds to the glamour rather than proving to be cumbersome.

The lines of the phone are beveled and finely sculpted, smooth to the touch.

Features (7/10)

Since the Aura is not meant to be a smartphone, there is nothing to be gained by comparing it unfavourably to one. It is a phone aimed only at the luxury phone market, with sizable bank balances and phones to match each outfit.

Having said that, it has an excellent speaker and audio system; music is a pleasure with the Motorola Aura. There a small 2 megapixel camera embedded in the back, and while it lacks a flash, there is a video recording facility.

There is also a microUSB card slot on the top, where a headphone or cable can be plugged in.

The battery life is excellent, with an expected backup of 7 hours of talktime, and 40 hours on standby.

The keypad is also entirely metal. The keys are relatively large and are ridged for easy use. While the numeric keys are easily distinguishable, the soft keys are placed under the curve of the screen and are therefore difficult to manipulate. The 'Select' and 'Ok' keys are also cumbersome, as they are rather small.

However, barring these trifling considerations, the features on this phone are fairly adequate.

Connectivity (5/10)

The Aura works only on 2G networks, as it has no support for HSDPA. It does have GPRS and EDGE support, although it would be significantly difficult to browse webpages on a circular screen.

There is of course integrated Bluetooth; the box set comes packaged with a Bluetooth headset too.

Performance (7/10)

The phone runs very smoothly, which is not very surprising since there are no great processing gymnastics required.

There is a circular menu to suit the circular screen. Icons ring the edge and the rocker button is used to scroll through them. As each icon is highlighted, text is displayed in the centre. All the submenus and functions of the phone are mostly text-based, cutting down significantly on processing requirements.

Value for Money (3/10)

Unless the user is looking for a phone with relatively limited features and has an extremely elastic budget, the Motorola Aura is not a wise choice.

As a smartphone, it is completely useless. As a dumbphone, it is extraordinarily expensive. As an expensive luxury item, it is worth the user's while to go in for a phone that has more features as well as great design.