Motorola VE66

Available now
28th November 2008
NEW! - Play / download MP3 podcast

The Motorola VE66 is a wi-fi enabled slider phone with a 5 megapixel camera, but no support for 3G.

If the Motorola VE66 had been launched 18 months ago, we might have been mildly impressed. Back then, 5 megapixel camera phones were still big news.. but now with about 30 other handsets on the market that can manage 5 megapixels or better, the VE66 doesn't seem to have much to offer.

Worse still, the lack of 3G is bizarre. By our figures, almost 90% of camera phones like this are 3G. But there is only one other phone that has wi-fi but no 3G, and that's the Motorola ZINE ZN5.

While we are on the topic of the ZINE ZN5, that does at least come with Kodak optics and technology, something that the VE66 lacks.

The camera does at least look pretty reasonable - a 5 megapixel unit with autofocus and flash. There's also image stablisation and red-eye reduction. But remember, there are dozens of other phones that can do the same thing.

Apart from the camera and wi-fi, the Motorola VE66 is a singularly unremarkable phone. It comes with a standard 2.2" 240 x 320 pixel display, microSD expandable memory, an MP3 player, an email client, web browser, stereo Bluetooth and an FM radio.

Talktime is over 6 hours with up to 16 days standby time. The Motorola VE66 measures 103 x 50 x 15mm and weighs 110 grams.

Who exactly is the Motorola VE66 aimed at? It's hard to say, because outside of China pretty much every major GSM network we can think of also offers UMTS-based 3G. But then phones destined for China tend not to have wi-fi.

Remember, Motorola have still not managed to make an N95 class device, and they only have two 5 megapixel phones, neither of which have 3G or GPS. Not a great track record.

We're afraid that we really can't see the point in this phone at all, but if you want one it should be available by the end of the year. Motorola did not give any details on pricing or exact availability.

Note: We count 29 generally available phones in the "5 megapixels or above" category: HTC Touch HD, LG KC550, LG KC780, LG KC910 Renoir, LG KF750 Secret, LG KU990 Viewty, Motorola ZN5, Nokia 6220 Classsic, Nokia N79, Nokia N82, Nokia N85, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N96, Samsung F480, Samsung F490, Samsung G400, Samsung G600, Samsung G800, Samsung G810, Samsung i8510, Samsung Omnia, Samsung Pixon, Samsung Soul, Sony Ericsson C902, Sony Ericsson C905, Sony Ericsson G900, Sony Ericsson K850, Sony Ericsson W902 plus three more coming soon: LG PRADA II, Nokia 6260 Slide and Samsung i7110. Phones with WiFi are highlighted.