Review: Motorola Jewel / MOTO Jewel

Motorola Jewel Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: What girl could resist a cute clamshell phone that looks like an enormous jewel? The Motorola Jewel has a bevelled shiny surface with an invisible mirror display and animated screensavers that appear to move over the phone's surface. Inside you'll find a 2 megapixel camera, a music player, MP3 ringtones, Bluetooth wireless connectivity, a memory card slot and good battery life.

Review: November 2008.

The Motorola Jewel is a phone that looks like a jewel, and a whopping-sized jewel at that! What girl wouldn't want to carry this in her handbag?

The Jewel is not expensive, but looks a million dollars! It's a cute clamshell, petite in size, with a shiny metallic reflective finish. The external display uses a mirror effect that blends the display into the shiny surface of the phone so that's its invisible when turned off. When in use, specially designed animated screensavers move over the phone's surface, appearing to float in and out of view. The display also shows information such as caller ID or music track / artist, and when music is playing, touch-sensitive controls appear. It's definitely a very sensual phone.

The Jewel is actually a remodelled version of the popular Motorola U9, and is technically identical, so read our U9 review for more info. The main features of the phone, apart from its looks, are the 2 megapixel camera and music player. The camera lacks a flash, but will take good snaps and video clips in day lighting. The music player plays all common file formats and the supplied software lets you transfer music from a PC to the phone using a USB cable. The internal memory of the phone (25 Mbytes) is only enough for 5-6 songs, so you'll probably want to buy a memory card. The U9 can take microSD cards up to 4 Gbytes, which is enough to store around 1,000 songs in MP3 format, or more if compressed.

The battery life of the Jewel is good, with enough power to last several days between charges. Connectivity is good, with both USB and Bluetooth available. It's a quadband phone too, so you can use it anywhere in the world.

The only issue that we have with the Jewel is that it may have a problem with occasional freezing, as the U9 had this problem and we assume that it may still be present in the Jewel. Apart from this, it could be a girl's best friend.

Features of the Motorola Jewel include:

• 2 megapixel camera
• Video camera (15 frames/second, 176 x 144 pixels) with 4x digital zoom, MPEG4 format
• Main display: TFT, 262,000 colours, 320 x 240 pixels
• External display: OLED, 65,000 colours, 128 x 160 pixels
• Music player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, enhanced AAC+, AMR, WMA formats)
• MP3 ringtones
• Handsfree speakerphone
• Voice dialling
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, email
• Screensavers & animated wallpaper
• Picture Caller ID
• Internet: GPRS, EDGE
• Connectivity: Bluetooth, USB 2.0
• Memory: 25 Mbytes user memory plus microSD memory card (up to 4 Gbytes)
• Quadband
• Size: 90 x 48 x 16 mm
• Weight: 95g
• Talktime: up to 6 hours
• Battery standby: up to 388 hours

Motorola Jewel Consumer Reviews

Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!

Average rating from 23 reviews:

Reviewed by Ajmal from Pakistan on 24th Dec 2009
The best size and shape. but not that much good features
Rating:

Reviewed by Loraine from UK on 29th Sep 2009
I love my jewel
Rating:

Reviewed by beth from uk on 16th Jun 2009
brill
Rating:

Reviewed by Ellie from Scotland on 5th May 2009
Its got a beautiful shape and really handy. 5 huge stars!
Rating:

Reviewed by Abi from uk on 30th Mar 2009
it is ok, starting to freeze more regular- had the phone 3 months. works well other than that. the music playlist and sound is very good and can fit loads on it with a memory card. nice phone but does getting annoying with the freezinf but does look really good
Rating:

Reviewed by Napson from Nigeria on 21st Mar 2009
Quite good
Rating:

Reviewed by Bianca from UK on 12th Mar 2009
Well sweet innit. Goes with me clobber. All the girls scream when i showed them. Down the clubs it shines. Do they do it in pink?
Rating:

Reviewed by Georgia from Uk on 8th Feb 2009
it is like marmite really you either love it or you hate it....i think it is very classy. My mum has got the motorola u9 and it looks exactly the same as the u9. my mum doesnt really like the u9 much.... but is this one is the same or not it sounds it so i am going to put....3 stars..
Rating:

Reviewed by Abigail from Malawi on 31st Jan 2009
Its been 2 days having the phone and for now i must say its classy! I just dont get why earphones and software arent part of the packaage. I also expected a radio and the ability to minimise applications like my sony ericsson w580i would let me. Its a change for me and ill have to adapt,otherwise, i look good flaunting it!
Rating:

Reviewed by J'Lostein from Malaysia on 30th Jan 2009
I just got mine today and after a few hours of playing with it, everything seems to be working just fine. Some things are a little slow, or maybe I'm just used to Nokia's faster systems. And yes, it did freeze once, and I had to take the battery out, put it back in, and turn it on again. Navigation-wise, it's fairly user-friendly, but a little time spent reading the manuals will do you a world of good and save you time looking for things as the menus can be fiddly. Texting on the flat buttons is nice enough to use, although occasionally you find yourself hitting the wrong button, probably because of the layout and the keys being set so close together. Camera is of average quality, acceptable enough, but you'll want to be in really good lighting. And yes, the external display is just beautiful and I think it's awesome how you can read texts and change sound profiles without having to open the phone, it's a very nice touch. Overall, for the price, it does a good enough job. Of course some other phones are better, but keep in mind this was marketed mostly as a fashion phone, so don't have unreasonable expectations. I'm happy with my Jewel :)
Rating:

Reviewed by beth from United Kingdom on 28th Jan 2009
love the phone i got it for xmas but the only prob is THE FINGERPRINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:

Reviewed by ashley mcallom from scotland on 28th Jan 2009
i love the phone ever since i saw it i wanted it. i am getting it for my birthday i read the reveiw and it sounds really good. myfriend has it and she says it amazing!
Rating:

Reviewed by Kimberley Accu from UK on 27th Jan 2009
i really dont like phone like dis. i returned de phone like immdeiatly.
Rating:

Reviewed by beth from uk on 1st Jan 2009
i got this phone for xmas and i love it. its really cute with the diamond shape and if u like it u should get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:

Reviewed by Martine from Scotland on 28th Dec 2008
You'll either love this phone or hate it but personally, I love it! It looks lovely and has more than adequate features to keep all but the most ardent technophiles happy. Camera is great and any pics I've taken have been firs class. Same goes with video. Some other phones have better but, quite frankly, if you want to take all singing and all dancing pic, buy a camera. I think this is a fab wee camera for the price which looks just that bit different from anything else on the market.
Rating:

Reviewed by Amy from England on 18th Dec 2008
amazing stylish phone. camera is great for being 2mp. amazing screen on front. can even read ur texts on the "invisible" screen. deffo reccomend. Great sounding mp3's!! all around amazing
Rating:

Reviewed by jodie from america on 10th Dec 2008
this phone looks great but it is rubbish camra is bad always reastarting on it own don't buy this phone! i am on my third one and all of them have been the same
Rating:

Reviewed by sophie cullen from uk on 9th Dec 2008
great phone im getting it for x mas my friend has it and i love it
Rating:

Reviewed by katie thompson from England on 7th Dec 2008
The best phone ever! I'm getting it for Christmas, I can't wait!
Rating:

Reviewed by ben 10 from america on 4th Dec 2008
this is a stylish phone to impress your mates with, its reliable and easy to use.
Rating:

Reviewed by Lara from England on 27th Nov 2008
i luv it
Rating:

Reviewed by Anna from UK on 27th Nov 2008
So nice. You will love the phone.
Rating:

Reviewed by mark from america on 26th Nov 2008
this phone is the best phone ever i love it!!! its like totally amazing it is like a diamond. by this phone dont get eny other phone. first review woo!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:

Motorola Jewel Links