Motorola Milestone

The basics

The Motorola Milestone, or Motorola Droid to give it its American monicker, may just be Motorola’s biggest hit since the RAZR.

The Milestone promises the first sighting of Android 2.0 software, huge processing power from a 550MHz ARM chip and a bigger, sharper, more responsive touchscreen than the iPhone.

The good

The Milestone is the first handset with the latest Android 2.0 OS, with improved Facebook features, Microsoft Exchange, Bluetooth 2.1 and new navigation software.

It has one of the best screens ever seen on a mobile: 3.7 inches of touch-sensitive elegance. The capacitive touchscreen is super-sensitive and it’ll go super-bright too.

The virtual keyboards are that little bit larger and easier to use than the iPhone’s, which is great news if you're on the move.

Browsing is smooth and reliable, and will get another boost in 2010 with the promised addition of Flash Lite – the Milestone definitely has the processing chops to handle rich media.

The bad

The slide-out QWERTY keyboard is the Milestone’s weakest point, suffering flat, unresponsive and awkward keys. Stick to the touchscreen instead.

Also, Android’s interface didn’t get too much of a refresh, although the pull-down notification bar still works well. Photos on the 5MP camera are merely average.

The bottom line

The Motorola Milestone is the leading Android handset out there at the moment and cements Motorola's return to status of major mobile player.