EM325

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A compact and stylish slider, the EM325's largely plastic case feels relatively sturdy, with a slight wobble in the slider the only disappointing aspect of its build. The curvy, gloss black finish looks attractive and the phone feels comfortable to hold. The controls are fairly straightforward and consist of a five-way navigational pad, two selection keys, answer and end call buttons as well as dedicated back and music keys. Sliding open the EM325 reveals a flat but well spaced keypad, with each key providing a soft audible click when pressed, in addition to a reasonable level of tactility.

The user interface will be familiar to fans of Motorola's iconic RAZR series. A 3x3 grid layout adorns the main menu, while submenus are in the form of a simple list. Although using this handset shouldn't pose too many issues, it’s a little sluggish for our liking, especially when you want to quickly scroll through lists. Thankfully there isn't much keystroke lag when messaging and the iTAP system works well.

Despite being an entry-level phone, Motorola claims the EM325 is a "full featured music handset". It's hard to argue with this claim — the handset provides one-touch access to an MP3 player, offers removable storage in the form of a microSD card slot, and includes an FM radio with RDS (Radio Data System). The radio is impressive. It has nine presets, an auto-scan function and a convenient record mode. Pressing record while listening to the radio lets you quickly create a file to use as a ring tone on the handset, with the files automatically stored in the Sounds folder.

The quality is mediocre for regular listening, but the recorded files are definitely good enough to be used as ring tones. The phone also includes FMShare — an option that allows you to share your favourite radio stations with friends, via an SMS or MMS message.

For MP3 playback, a built-in audio equaliser with 11 presets is included, along with a bass boost function. Further aiding the EM325's music credentials is a 3.5mm headphone jack and the ability to drag and drop music files from your PC. The A2DP Bluetooth profile allows you to wirelessly stream to a compatible set of Bluetooth headphones or speakers.

Rounding out the features are three Java games, a 1.3-megapixel camera that doubles as a video recorder and a range of PIM functions including a calculator, alarm clock, stopwatch and calendar. The EM325 also boasts CrystalTalk technology, which Motorola claims increases call quality.