Hands-on with the Motosurf A3100

By Dieter Bohn
last updated

Motorola's press release (opens in new tab) calls it a "touch tablet," but we call the MOTOSURF A3100 a fair competitor to the HTC Touch -- you know, the phone that came out last year and has been replaced by the Touch Diamond, Viva, and 3G. 

Nevertheless, Moto is pressing on with their little guy, which sports:

  • 2.8" 320x240 screen
  • GSM and HSDPA (but not necessarily US bands)
  • aGPS
  • WiFi
  • 3 megapixel camera and a front-facing camera for video conferencing
  • A trackball
  • MicroSD expansion
  • 3.5mm headset jack
  • Opera Mobile 9.5
  • A mysterious Facebook app they couldn't get launched due to lack of internet connectivity

So kudos to Moto for the trackball, 3.5mm headset jack, and heck, we'll even give them credit for taking a ho-hum QVGA screen and stretching it out to a capacious 2.8 inches.  Moto even developed their own custom home screen with all the fixings plust some bonus RSS action. Despite all that, though, we gotta ask: who's buying this over a Diamond? 

Not us and that's not just because it's aimed at Asia and Latin America first, with US possibilities "sometime in the future, depending."  Photos after the break

Dieter Bohn
Dieter Bohn
13 Comments
  • Hmmm, this actually looks like a nice device from Motorola, actually..looks much better then any of the previous pics that were shown of it. Big kudos on the 3.5mm headjack and the trackball
  • Well, I would prefer it over the Diamond...
    I don't care about VGA when it comes with the speed impact it does (+ the bad video performance), and Moto seems to have produced a much more consistent interface than TF3D is.
    Besides, 3.5mm headset jack and, I would guess, the price would be very competitive, so that I could buy a 16GB mSDHC Card and be still below the Diamond.
  • Man, if only this was a slider like the new rumored treo device. Now that would be rockin'!
  • id get this in a heartbeat over the touch...better price point, adequate performance, and ive had several motorola's and loved everyone
  • Its a meh to me, just nothing here to call home about...other than maybe the trackball, but that's it and that's not enough to attract many buys who already bought the old HTC Touch, and for sure aint enough to make anyone leave their Diamonds.
  • I really like the aesthetics specifically the rounded edges. It just looks nice and comfy to hold. The 2.8" screen is also nice.
  • I saw a video of this device in action over at EngadgetMobile and I was actually impressed with the interface. Swiping was smooth and fluid, and it didn't seem that the Motorola rep was pressing all that hard... is this a capacitive touch screen?
  • I so want this phone! I was thinking about geting the Touch Diamond, but then this beauty came along! it has all the features i was looking for. i hope it doesnt cost too much.
  • Trackball, 3.5 jack, Now tell me it is/will be CDMA/sprint and I would be in moto paradise.
  • This is the phone Motorola should've released 6-12 months ago! This would've been nice at that time but it is a little late and a little under-spec'd for today. There's nothing new here and Motorola could've built this phone two years ago since others were offering similiarly spec'd phones then. If this is Motorola's best effort at survival, they can kiss their sweat @#$ goodbye. It is a nice phone but barely relavant in the smartphone market. There are others with more features or were there earlier with this same feature set. You can't lead the race when you're still launching product at the back of the pack.
  • I like Motorola. I have a ROKR E6. This is obviously more advanced. They should have brought this out last year but I have been patiently waiting for another Motorola touch and this has the WI-FI I wanted plug 3G and in addition Windows Mobile 6. The I-phone doesn't have Windows Mobile on it and you can't edit anything. Glad I didn't get the iphone because I will take a motorola any day. I can't wait to get my hands on this.
  • i'm gonna buy it. After V9 , now is MOTOSURF A3100!!!
    LOVE IT!
    HellOOooooMoto! Motorola is creativty and better quailty and long-life phone but they just only produce phone slow. But it's worth to wait! Hope it will be release asap :)
  • u guys have nothing better to talk about....