After several months of testing, I have finally reached a verdict on the Motorola Titanium.  This Android-powered phone is the first push to talk capable phone.  Being my first Android phone, I was going app store crazy and seeing just what Android can do.  Using this phone since August, I have found out that this phone is geared towards businesses where push to talk and email are essential.  As with any smartphone, there are pros and cons…let’s take a deeper look at the Motorola Titanium.

What’s in the Box: You’ll find the phone, a 2GB Micro SD card, a USB A/C Adapter charger, Micro USB cable, wired hands free set (micro USB connection), some extra foam ear pieces, SIM card, and a manual.  They even included a bag for recycling your old phone! Good job, Sprint for being green!

Hardware: The Titanium has virtually the same dimensions as an iPhone 3G with the exception of a smaller 3.1 inch HVGA touch screen due to the hardware keyboard.  In comparison to the iPhone 3G, the Titanium is also a bit heavier.  Exact dimensions are 4.71×2.44×0.53 inches and it weighs 5.2 ounces. 

The Titanium has its buttons comfortably laid out.   The QWERTY keyboard clicks nicely and is responsive.   Numbers and symbols can be quickly entered.  This phone also has a flash for its camera and takes decent 5MP photos.  One thing that does set this phone apart is military-certified durability.  I did not think it wise to try abusing the review unit despite the military certification.

The unit sports a slow 504 Mhz processor which limits its gaming capabilities to the point where Angry Birds will not run smoothly and is virtually unplayable as there is a major delay between the game registering your tap, pull, and release.  This delay also at times is noticeable when doing regular tasks like checking my email.  This delay can cause me to double tap and erroneously delete emails or compose replies.  Sadly this unit also suffers from slow 2G data speeds.

OS: The Motorola Titanium uses the older Android 2.1 OS which is a significant disappointment as features such as app storage on removable storage, Adobe Flash support, and voice dialing over Bluetooth.   The phone boots up extremely slow as it takes over a minute to get to the point where I can use the device.

Call Clarity: Superb!  People couldn’t tell I was on a cell phone and the speaker phone is quite loud and clear.  A very notable feature that it has is the ability to mute the microphone during a conversation and make it walkie talkie style where you have to push to talk.  I found this great for Toastmaster teleconferences where it guarantees silence until you wish to talk.  On a side note, I left Sprint as a disgruntled customer back in 2002 when all I got numerous dropped calls.  Throughout my testing of this phone, on a day to day basis, in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex going around Plano, Richardson, Dallas, Mesquite, and a few other areas, I have found that Sprint now provides excellent service for this region.

Battery Life: This area needs improvement.  Initially I thought I had a bad unit and Sprint sent me a second phone to test.  The Motorola Titanium is rated for 6.8 hours of talk time and 9.8 days of standby time.  In my own tests calling one Titanium to another, I was able to get 6.39 hours of talk time.  As to standby, this unit must be charged daily.  I have also found that data usage depletes battery as fast as talk time.  If I forgot to charge my phone overnight then I will be hosed for the next day as the battery would be drained.  One quirk I seemed to find was how fast the little meter can go down.  An example of this would be dropping from 90% all the way to 20% in a matter of a seconds after plugging in the phone to the charger!

TeleNav GPS: This is a premium feature which I had the opportunity to try out.  It is very accurate but can also be a major pain primarily due to this phone not supporting 3G data.  If I had 3G data, this service is incredible.  To search for destinations, you can speak the destination.  I had this one address which I could not find and I had the choice of calling and talking to a human being within 30 seconds in which he helped me find the street I needed (I wrote the name of the street down incorrectly)  and forwarded the information to TeleNav on the phone.  Prompt service – very impressive!  You can also go to telenav.com and plan trips and have it sent to your phone.  All in all everything is very convenient.

Price: The Motorola Titanium is $419.99 without contract.  With a 2 year agreement, the price is $219.99.  A promotion at this time of writing will bring the price down to $169.99 with a 2 year contract and a mail in rebate.  The TeleNAV service is $9.99 a month.

Conclusion: Sprint’s Motorola Titanium is a phone geared towards business.  It is rugged and provides great calling.  I would like to have seen 3G as well as a more updated version of Android, but this phone is a must to those who need push to talk.  Sprint service for my area was exceptional and has proved that Sprint’s dropped calls for me truly is a thing of the past.  For the standard consumer and non-business user, however, might I still suggest an iPhone?

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