Motorola MOTORAZR maxx
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Motorola could never be accused of going easy on dead horses. A couple of years on from the debut of its iconic RAZR slim handset and it's still churning out slim handsets with consonant-shy monikers. Different colours, different features, different sizes, all slightly different, and all in many ways the same, for good or ill.

The latest top-of-the-range model is the MOTORAZR maxx (or Motorola RAZR Maxx V6 or all sorts of other variations, depending on who you listen to). The maxx adds not just plain old 3G but high-speed HSDPA broadband 3G to the mix, as well as 50MB of onboard memory, with the option to add a microSD card.

The most noticeable thing about the maxx, however, is the glass top plate. It's not a particularly smooth fit – rather, it looks a bit tacked on. The reason for it becomes clear when you access the handset's media player and touch sensitive play controls magically appear. It seems like a shameless attempt to cash in on LG's Chocolate innovation, but isn't nearly so well integrated. Maybe next time.

Worse, funky though those controls may be, they're not much cop for gaming, and neither, frankly, is the maxx. The internet connection with Vodafone, one of the few networks offering HSDPA at the moment, is certainly fast, but we couldn't find any games suitable for playing on the maxx, so we were left with the two it comes with, Block Platinum Sudoku and Breaker Deluxe. (Don't laugh – the tougher levels of Breaker Deluxe are really hard).

That would have been at least a start, except that the phone's processor seemed to have trouble handling the faster, higher levels, often having to stop for a breather. And we thought all that stuff about brains not going with looks wasn't true…

Games aside, the MOTORAZR maxx has some plus points. The large screen is great – big, bright and fast too, with a wide viewing angle – just what you need. And we like those big wide keys on the keypad. Ditto the larger than average D-pad, which always helps if you've got brickie's thumbs. The slightly raised numbers on make blind navigation easy too, and the ice blue backlight looks gorgeous.

Incidentally, on earlier RAZRs the metal plate that covers the keypad often appeared loose and prone to working its way free from the body of the phone, but that problem seems to have been addressed with the maxx – it feels safe and solid.

The maxx also has the best camera in the RAZR range – a tasty 2 megapixel number, which can be used with the phone open, or closed with the 65,000-colour outer screen as the viewfinder. It packs in an 8x digital zoom.

Sound is decent enough though not exceptional through the loudspeaker, but is better than average with the supplied headphones. The maxx has stereo Bluetooth by the way, so you can listen with stereo headphones, but it sounded tinny and underwhelming when we tried it.

There are no great advances on the battery front, either – you'll be recharging it every couple of days if you give it a moderately heavy bashing.

The maxx is a move on from past RAZRs, certainly in terms of internet speed, and as a music player and media player. But while it gets gaming points for the screen and the keypad, this isn't going to be anyone's first or even second choice for a game phone, even if / when there is a decent range of games available for it. Look elsewhere.

Motorola MOTORAZR maxx

A very good phone, but the maxx is hardly on the cutting-edge for mobile gamers
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