Motorola ROKR E8

As far as mobile phone releases go, the Motorola ROKR E1 was something of a disaster. Released way back in 2005 amid intense media attention and a flood of marketing hyperbole, the phone was famously bundled with Apple's iTunes software but lamentably possessed very little else of merit. Unsurprisingly, it flopped at retail.

This failure didn't stop Motorola from having another stab at the highly lucrative (not to mention extremely competitive) music phone market. Other products have been released bearing the ROKR moniker, but it's taken three years for the company to construct what is arguably its best chance at claiming back some of the territory that rival manufactures have quickly devoured in the intervening years.

That phone is the ROKR E8.

Presumably intended to challenge SE's Walkman range and Nokia's Nseries, the E8 is squarely focused at offering the user the ideal way in which to enjoy their music on the go. For starters, it boasts a robust and feature-rich media player which can be quickly accessed at the touch of a button. It's certainly a pleasure to use and is effortless to navigate, but sadly it feels rather dull in comparison to SE's latest glitzy Walkman 3.0 software, as demonstrated on recent handsets like the sublime W760.

However, one thing that Motorola should be praised for is including a 3.5mm headphone socket, which means users are not restricted to listening to their music through the bundled (and predictably poor quality) earphones and can plug in their own set instead. It's a simple gesture but one that makes using the E8 as a portable music player a heck of a lot more satisfying. You'll want to use the finest cans available, too; the music playback is high-quality and easily on par with dedicated MP3 players like Apple's iPod.

The E8 comes with 2GB of memory for storing all your tunes on and this can be bolstered by MicroSD cards. While this set-up maintains a degree of parity with many of the music handsets currently available, it's way behind the capacity offered by SE and Nokia's more robust multimedia-based phones. If Motorola was genuinely serious about positioning the phone as a truly outstanding MP3 player, then 8GB should have been the bare minimum of on-board storage. As it stands, the E8 has a fairly competent amount of internal memory but not enough to distinguish itself from its rivals.

Thankfully, if you put aside the issue of music for one moment you'll find there's plenty to like about the E8. It's a slim and well constructed piece of technology, with smooth edges and reassuringly solid build quality. However, by far the most notable aspect of the phone in cosmetic terms is the keypad, which incorporates Motorola's lauded 'Mode-shift' system and changes appearance depending on what activity you're indulging in.

For example, when the phone is idle the entire keypad is blacked-out. Dialling a number or sending a text message lights up the numerals and letters on the face of the phone, and if you switch to the media player all of these elements vanish with just playback controls such as play, forward, reverse, shuffle and repeat visible. A similar interface switch occurs when you fire up the camera.

Admittedly, it's a simple idea but it works beautifully, although it should be noted that the keypad is unlikely to be to everyone's taste. It's mostly flat, with small bumps identifying where each button is. Presses are registered via haptic feedback but unfortunately it's often hard to differentiate between each section of the keypad and it's not uncommon to find yourself navigating the wrong menu thanks to a wayward button press.

At the centre of the phone is an iPod-inspired 'FastScroll Touch Wheel' (although in truth it's more of an arc-shape), which permits fast movement through the various menus contained within the phone; although it's hopelessly derivative, it nevertheless enriches the experience of navigating around the E8 and allows you to cycle through your files much swifter.

Another unique feature of the handset is the 320x240 pixel landscape display, which again feels like a knowing nod to Apple's popular MP3 player. It's an unorthodox choice which almost makes the handset look dumpy and out of proportion, but in practice it doesn't negatively impact the use of the phone.

Elsewhere, however, it's clear that Motorola hasn't really expended a massive amount of effort into making sure that all aspects of the E8 are cutting-edge; the camera is a lowly two-megapixel affair that generates barely acceptable images and there's a complete lack of 3G capability �" a strange decision when you consider the multimedia aspirations of the device.

When it comes to gaming on the go, the E8 certainly tries hard but is ultimately undone by the aforementioned keypad controls. Games rely on pinpoint accuracy and sadly the pad on this phone is just too unpredictable and indistinct. The E8 comes pre-loaded with Sudoku and Tetris �" both of which are just about bearable �" but we took it upon ourselves to download some more action-oriented titles and the results were bitterly disappointing; the flat keypad is hopelessly imprecise and it only takes a few moments of play to realise that the E8 simply isn't cut out for mobile gaming.

With Motorola's fortunes reportedly in bad shape at present many saw this latest addition to the ROKR stable as the company's final chance to win back some market share, but sadly that is unlikely to be the case. The phone undoubtedly showcases some innovative features (with the 'Mode-shift' interface being the most notable) but it's too lightweight to be seriously considered as a real contender for the music-phone crown while the poor camera, flaky keypad and lack of gaming credentials conspire to make this a crushing disappointment.