Motorola Renegade V950 - Design

Motorola’s Renegade has some interesting design features that go against most current cell phone trends. The phone’s clamshell design is both interesting and stylish, but it also allows the phone to withstand the most extreme conditions. Sprint wasn’t messing around when they created the V950. According to the manufacturer, the Renegade is built to military specifications for dust, shock, vibration and blowing rain, making it unlike any other phone on the market.

At 4.2 inches by 2.1 inches by 0.66 inches and with a weight of 4.16 ounces, theRenegadepacks a powerful punch while maintaining a somewhat sleek look despite extra girth. If nothing else, the phone’s rubber covering should illustrate to consumers that it’s able to withstand a lot of blows. The phone feels rock solid in your hand and snaps open and shut with authority, which makes it perfect for those who need a sturdy, reliable phone to take with them on all their travels and adventures, or for those who need a phone that can withstand the abuse of their young children.

The exterior controls on the Renegade are pretty limited. They only include a rocker, a push-to-talk button on the left spine, and a speakerphone control and recent calls button on the top of the phone, all of which are covered with rubber material. The left spine on the V950 houses the micro USB charger port and a 2.5 mm headset jack with rubber flaps supporting both ports.

The V950 has a sizable display at 1.5 inches. It supports 65,536 colors and shows all the usual bits of information, including the date, time, battery life, signal strength and photo caller ID. One oddity worth pointing out is that the display doesn’t act as a view finder for the camera, which is strange on a 2-megapixel phone. The lens and the flash for the camera sit just above the display.

Below the display are the controls for the Renegade’s music player. The controls aren’t very sensitive and require a firm press, but for the most part they are pretty conventional. In the middle of the controls there’s a tiny speaker for the music, which is ideal because you can also open the music player and shuffle through songs without ever having to open the phone itself.

The Renegade's internal screen measures 2 inches and displays 262,000 colors. It can only be described as big, bright and vivid; everything shows up well. The menu is incredibly easy to use; the home screen displays the six menu shortcuts, and you can click through the main menu in a standard or grid format. TheV950’snavigation controls are incredibly intuitive; they feature a four-way toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, a camera shortcut, a back key and the talk and end/power controls.

Basically, all of the buttons and controls on the new Renegade were designed both thoughtfully and well. The keypad buttons are large and raised above the surface of the phone; the numbers on the keys are also large and well-lit, making texting and dialing all the easier.

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