When it arrived, I did have to admit that it looked / felt cool (shiny black)… had a nice slick exterior with a handy outer screen, slim profile that fit easily into a shirt pocket. Buttons were nice and made texting easy, camera worked reasonably well.

I never actually got around to using the music-player feature of this phone, as it just didn’t offer anything my iPod couldn’t do.

My phone died after something like six to nine months; first the outer screen died, then the inner screen… then all the buttons stopped working. I switched to my sister’s identical phone (she got a Muziq too but replaced it with a Palm Centro), and hers is dying now, too… maybe six months later, same problem with the screens.

The phone might have more features than a Razr, but is built less solidly; flimsy plastic vs. Razr’s metal. The frame itself begins to come loose, which invites detached connections, etc. which may be to blame for the phone’s short lifecycle.

At any rate, while this phone seemed pretty nifty, I’ve gotta say that its poor construction and the overall lack of added value in an MP3 phone that isn’t a Blackberry/iPhone style make this a pretty mediocre phone, overall. For actual phone calls (yep, phones are still for phone calls), the earpiece and speakerphone are both tinny and weak.

You’re better off getting either a) a simpler and more durable phone for basic uses, or b) a REALLY nice phone like the iPhone or a Blackberry / Palm. The Muziq is sorta neat, but really crappy compared to other alternatives.

Rating: 2 / 5