Functional Feature from Motorola Citrus

This entry-level model offers a 3” capacitive display, microSD expansion and a 3 megapixel camera. The CITRUS ships with a 2GB microSD card and combo USB or AC adapter charger. The Citrus lacks the physical keyboards of the Flipout and Flipside, the enterprise security features of the Droid Pro, and the higher-end offerings of the Bravo. If you’re looking to bust into Android Land on the cheap, the Motorola Citrus for Verizon Wireless could be the ticket. The Motorola Citrus is a cute little phone, At 4.09 inches long by 2.32 inches wide by 0.59 inch deep, the Citrus is small as smartphones go. Indeed, portability isn’t a concern; the handset fits easily into a pocket or bag. Weighing just 3.88 ounces, it has a slightly wispy feel in the hand, a fact that isn’t helped by the plastic shell.

The right spine you’ll find a volume rocker and a camera shutter. The former is flatter than we’d like, but you can find it when you’re on a call. The Micro-USB charger port sits on the left spine and a dedicated power control and 3.5-millimeter headset jack are up on top. Unfortunately, the microSD card slot rests inconveniently behind the battery cover, but at least it’s not behind the battery as well.

The Motorola CITRUS runs the MotoBLUR UI atop of Android 2.1. There are seven homescreens, each customizable with the standard Android fare as well as the many Motorola widgets. As with most custom Android skins these widgets are the most useful elements. Motorola has slightly tweaked the stock apps like the dialer, messaging, etc but nothing is too different or of note. There is a noticeable amount of lag to the on the CITRUS, probably thanks to the 528MB processor and 100MB of internal memory. There are several preinstalled apps, which is a bit of a big deal with so little system memory available. While this might not be such a big deal on the DROID X, a phone like the CITRUS is exactly why this carrier bloatware can ruin a user’s experience.

For media the Citrus has a 3.0-megapixel camera. That’s a low resolution compared with most smartphone shooters these days, but it gets the job done. You can take still photos in four resolutions and videos in three resolutions (video capture is 24fps). Regrettably, additional options are limited to a panorama mode, a digital zoom, and geotagging. Needless to say we don’t like this growing trend of stripping smartphone cameras of editing options.

As an EVDO Rev. 0 phone the Motorola CITRUS is relatively quick on the web. The stock Android browser is passable on such lackluster hardware, with support for double-tap and pinch-to-zoom. The Backtrack pad really comes in handy for navigation here as it acts like an optical mouse without having to use the screen. It has Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi b/g and GPS. We were able to achieve a GPS lock in under 10 seconds using Google Maps.

The lone bright spot for the CITRUS is the camera, but it is merely a decent performer, not anything spectacular. Battery life is even better, since the Motorola Citrus does not have a high-powered processor, fancy screen, or any other advanced hardware, there’s a decent chunk of juice left at the end of a full day’s worth of usage.