Designing a different-looking phone is always a hit-or-miss proposition. Fortunately for the Motorola Crush, the design quirks doesn't affect its usability all that much, although they would take some getting used to.
Physically, the aforementioned kookiness is glaringly obvious - it puts the lock and call buttons on the top, instead of the bottom. Combined with the touchscreen shortcuts placed at the top of the display, you'd think the phone was playing some accelerometer trick on you. It's not that big of an issue, but will take a couple of spins before becoming second nature.
The screen is a bit small at only 2.8 inches (400 x 240 resolution), but they do offer ample brightness, clear lines and good response - very, very acceptable for this price range. It also boasts a solid build and a comfortable feel in hand.
As a phone, the Crush delivers a very positive calling experience, with clear sounds and no interference. It could use a little more volume, though. The speakerphone performed the same way - admirable but lacking more power. It has a rated battery life of 4.3 hours of talk time, which should be good for a day or more of moderate use.
Features are strictly midrange. You get the basics, including a 1,000-entry phonebook, PIM tools and a full range of messaging capabilities. Notable additions include a built-in GPS, stereo Bluetooth, a pedometer and a full HTML browser. The phone supports the CDMA2000 1X 3G standard, but there's no Wi-Fi.
It comes with a 2.0 megapixel camera, with almost zero options (yep, nothing but digital zoom). Resulting quality is decent for such a low-res module, though. The media player is rather basic, but it does support a good range of formats. You can load media onto the device via microSD card (up to 16GB).
Overall, the Motorola Crush isn't the kind of phone you'll develop an infatuation for. At $249.99 without a contract, though, it's an incredibly affordable touchscreen with all the midrange features you need to make it a worthwhile purchase.
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