This was a photo collage I made with all the other pictures that I took of the Aura. Thanks Johahn from Fleishman-Hillard!

At first glance, it is not your usual rectangular-ish kinda phone. Instead, I was presented with this rounded edges, and a round screen! w00t! Not the first for Motorola, if you still remember this phone which was launched a long long time ago.

The Motorola Aura reminded me of the V70.

What I see impressed me. The colours on the screen are so rich and vibrant, that I simply can’t take my eyes of the screen!

The screen contains a richness of 16 million colors, and it makes everything look crisp and sharp. And not to mention that it features a scratch resistant glass, virtually unscratchable, unless you use a diamond of course. 62 carats of sapphire crystal lens went into the circular display.

It was put to a brutal test, using a fork to scratch it (as seen in Gear65 Episode 1), scratched with a key, and even on the surface of the road (*gasp*). Impressive isn’t it? The screen does not even show up any scratches.

The metallic body of the phone adds the glam and bling to the overall design of the phone. The shell was etched with designs that gives it a elegant looking phone.

Here’s how the back of the phone looked liked…

This is taken with the cover detached. Notice the mechanical parts? These are the parts which gives the motion of flicking the cover of the phone…

The menu interface is quite unique, with the icons placed in a circular manner. The selected icon is magnified in the centre of the screen, which makes it easy to tell what is selected.

Nothing to shout about features wise apart from the standard call/sms/gprs etc… though I must say that the battery life of the AURA lasts me less than a day. The call quality is quite clear and the camera quality is not that bad at all! It can act as a paperweight, given that it feels rather solid with stainless steel casing.

Overall, I felt that the phone adds to the glam and bling factor, looking really good on its own. Its pricing is really dear, given the materials, workmanship factored into manufacturing the phone. Its a mechanical wonder, owing to the mechanical parts controlling the opening and closing of the phone. Its a feast of the for the senses.

Check out the short flash clip right here

AURA – The Return of Artistry

It feels good to have a go at using such an expensive phone. I like!

Nicole

It's the first episode of our brand new show: Gear65! Every week, the crew comes together and shows off/talks about/rants about new gadgets in a completely unscripted, 65bits-style.

In this first episode, Daniel, Nicole and DK take a look at the so-expensive-if-you-had-to-ask-how-much-it-costs-you-probably-don't-wanna-know Motorola Aura, as well as Samsung's new Pixon, their latest addition to the 8-megapixel camera phone collection.