Product Listing

Motorola Milestone XT - Mobile Movie Mania

By Seow Tein Hee - 5 Jul 2010
Launch SRP: S$988

Conclusion

Closing Statements

From the aesthetic outlook, we do have some mixed reactions to the Motorola Milestone XT's design concept. Like the earlier Motorola Milestone, its heavy-metal packaging is appealing to the geekier crowd. The added weight gives a solid feel to the Milestone XT, but for some, it could be an extra burden that they're unlikely to bear in their pockets. The Milestone XT does deviate slightly from the usual design, with its odd protrusion at the side that also houses the camera button. One thing that did irk us is the difficulty in accessing the microUSB port, what with the cover being a pain to pry open.

On paper, the Milestone XT is definitely packed with impressive hardware specs. Powered by an ARM Cortex 720MHz processor, we were surprised at the slightly sluggish interface experienced throughout our testing period. Features-wise, the Milestone XT presents quite a number of interesting options. Some of the usual features seen on its predecessors makes another appearance on the Milestone XT. This includes the multimedia homescreen and Moto Phone portal, and a few new additions such as Video Editor that works in line with the Milestone XT's 720p video recording feature. On a related note, the device is also equipped with a HDMI port, allowing you to output the recorded 720p videos to an external screen.

But how well did it perform for its video and imaging functions? The sad truth is, our tests have shown that it wasn't able to handle itself well, with visible lag in the produced HD video. Due to the dropped frames, you won't see smooth running videos recorded on the Milestone XT. Further to that, though the device is armed with an 8-megapixel camera and Xenon flash, the same noise issue is reproduced on its still images. Pictures were unusually washed out, and detail levels were lower than expected.

But if you need a smartphone that's sustainable for a prolonged period, the Milestone XT fulfills that criteria easily. Its 1390mAh battery performed non-stop for 337 minutes at high workloads, which almost matches the Milestone's numbers. Though not exactly the most power efficient device amongst similar devices, the Milestone XT is still commendable for the mileage we got out of it.

Against other devices of similar capacity, the Motorola Milestone XT might need more work to gain an advantage in both performance and pricing.

If the Motorola Milestone XT is within your purchasing consideration, here's a few things to think through - for now, the device is exclusively available with StarHub, and with varying price plans, the Milestone XT is priced from as low as S$0 to S$198. Or if you're not ready to sign on the dotted line, it costs S$988 without contract, though we figure that it might be a bit too costly for what you're getting out of its performance in both imaging and speed.

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7.5
  • Design 7.5
  • Features 8
  • User-Friendliness 8
  • Performance 7
  • Value 7.5
The Good
Solid build quality
Generous screen size
HDMI-out for bigger display options
The Bad
Slight lag in interface speeds
Dropped frames during 720p video recording
Poor imaging results from 8-megapixel camera
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