Looking at the voting results from our last two Throwback Tech Thursday, we noticed that you guys asked us to revisit the Motorola Rokr Z6 twice. So now, we are looking back at another one of Moto’s iconic phones from back in the day.
What made the Moto Rokr Z6 Special?
We had previously covered the popular Moto Razr V3 under our Throwback Tech category. That model was the definition of style in the early 2000s. However, with the Rokr series, the company placed its focus on multimedia tools, which did not break the bank. The Rokr Z6 was launched back in January 2007 and was even well received for its design, despite not being made from the same all metal build as the Razr. Reviewers back then praised its straight layout, which made it easy to use but with a look that turned heads.
Apart from just featuring a polished design, it also came with the latest generation of user interface and Linux based operating system as well, which was dubbed MOTOMAGX. It also offered text and multimedia messaging, a calculator, a calendar, and an alarm clock. Unlike the Nokia 6600 and N95, it did not offer a whole suit of smartphone like features, but its unique design and was definitely popular back in the day when specs weren’t everything and phones were more “fun.”
Impact & Future Influence
In our previous Moto throwback, we had talked about how the brand had made waves in the industry with the premium design on some of its phone. So, while the Razr series changed the game with their unique build, the Rokr series paired the company’s experience of making attractive phones with multimedia functionality at a relatively affordable price. In the early 2000s, phones usually resembled bricks and were unwieldy at times. But Motorola clearly took a different path. During the time of the Rokr Z6 launch, you would see a number of its advertisements on TV highlighting its slider design and multimedia features, which led to new successors launching with similar design later down the road.
Design, Specs, & Price
While the Razr featured the flip phone design that was beloved by many, the Rokr Z6 sported a sliding one. The device was quite compact thanks to its slider mechanism that hides its keypad when not in use. On the front, it featured a 2.1 inch TFT LCD screen that had a 320 x 250px resolution. Meanwhile, the rear housed a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash. Being a music phone, it featured a dedicated Music button along with the usual back key, four way D-pad, and the answer and cancel buttons as well.
Under the hood, a 528 MHz CPU powered the device, which also featured 64MB of SDRAM and 64MB of storage that can be expanded up to 2GB via a microSD card slot. Other features include, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headphone jack, a mini USB port, and even had Windows Media Player 11 on the Z6m model (CDMA enabled version). It housed a 720mAh battery pack and also weighed 105 grams. This was believed to be heavy in those days. At launch, the Moto Rokr Z6 was available for around 90 Euros or around 120 US Dollars in 2007.
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