Smartphone Thoughts: Clam Shell Beauty: Motorola MPx220 Smartphone Reviewed

MPx220 vs MPx200
The MPx220 with all its hardware-software bells and whistles is miles ahead of the MPx200. The MPx220 is an improvement in every aspect, except the main display. The main display on the MPx220 is much brighter and sharper. It is viewable under bright light and even when the backlight times out, the screen has enough brightness to make viewing possible. On my MPx200, when the backlight times out, the screen becomes so dark that nothing can be read. That problem has been fixed in the MPx220. But it has one major shortcoming, the screen size. The MPx220 has a 2 inch screen whereas the MPx200 had a 2.2" screen. I don�t know why Motorola chose a 2 inch screen when it clearly had the room to accommodate a 2.2 inch screen. Squeezing the 176x220 resolution onto a 2 inch screen means that the fonts appear smaller. Certain Websites using smaller fonts become difficult to read. And Smartphone Thoughts is one such site.


Figure 20: Screens compared. MPx220 on the left. Click on the image for a higher resolution image.

Even though the MPx220 (48.0 x 99.9 x 24.3) is bigger than its predecessor the MPx200, the styling and the reduced thickness gives it a much slimmer appearance. Another more noticeable improvement is the keypad/joypad. The MPx200 had small odd �shaped buttons and were flat.


Figure 21: Keypads compared. MPx220 on the left. Click on the image for a higher resolution image.

Check out some of the comparison pictures with the MPx200.


Figure 22: Front. MPx220 on the Right. Click on the image for a higher resolution image.


Figure 23: Back. MPx220 on the Right. Click on the image for a higher resolution image.


Figure 24: Right Side. MPx220 on top. Click on the image for a higher resolution image.


Figure 25: Left Side. MPx220 on top. Click on the image for a higher resolution image.

The two models sport different connectors for USB and charging.


Figure 26: Bottom. MPx220 on the left. Click on the image for a higher resolution image.


Figure 27: Top. MPx220 on top. Click on the image for a higher resolution image.


Figure 28: Side by Side. The sleeker MPx220 on the left. You can clearly see that the MPx220 is thinner than the MPx200. Click on the image for a higher resolution image.