RAZR V3 Collector's Guide
Want to learn about weird, obscure V3 variants?
Want to learn how to spot a fake?
You've found the right page!
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RAZR Variants
There are a LOT of variants of the RAZR V3. Like, a LOT.
Some are exclusive to certain countries, or certain carriers,
or were limited releases, etc.
This page is an attempt to catalogue everything I know about
RAZRs and collecting them.
The Legacy Portable Computing Wiki has a quite robust catalogue
of all the RAZR variants, which I will attempt to build off of here with
the addition of my own research. Here's an easy identification chart for
physical features of all V3. It will make sense if you've read the Bootleg
RAZRs section.
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Bootleg RAZRs
Believe it or not, many manufacturers have taken to creating
their own housings for the RAZR V3 in the modern day due to
the sudden resurgance of Y2K culture. Just buy up a bunch of
destroyed V3, pop them in your own shell, and voila! Profit.
Unfortunately, the quality of these shells can vary wildly.
So how can you spot one?
Rule of thumb: if it ships from China, it's a fake.
But there are plenty of knockoffs sold domestically, too.
How do you spot those?
Here is a picture of a clearly fake RAZR V3.
What makes it so obvious, you ask?
Let's begin with the Motorola insignia.
The Motorola "M" matches the color of the plastic. Motorola logos
on the fronts of RAZR V3 should always be silvery, shiny, and
textured to the touch.
Also note the notch beneath the M. Amongst a few others, original
V3 have a shorter, more rounded notch (compare to the V3m below).
A few variants have this flatter style of notch, but not the original V3.
Let's move on to the frame.
Do you see how the outer edges of the frame are black? That
doesn't make sense for this color. With the exception of the
V3m and the V3i line, only black RAZRs have black frames.
The keypad is also not nearly as shiny as it should be, and
the microphone grill is the wrong color (it should match the
frame).
Finally, the camera.
The only variants of the RAZR V3 that should have "MEGAPIXEL"
instead of "VGA ZOOM 4X" written beneath the camera lens are the
V3m and V3c. How can you tell if it's an m or c instead of a fake?
Well, aside from the other warning signs, let's look closely at its
camera.
This is my silver Verizon V3m.
Do you see how the camera has a raised bump around the lens?
Provided everything else is in order, that means you have a V3m
or V3c, not a fake RAZR.
Keep in mind that you can also identify most variants by taking
off the battery cover, removing the battery, and simply looking.
...Most.
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Variants That Don't Identify Themselves Properly
There are two variants (that I'm aware of) which don't identify
themselves as, well, themselves. These are the RAZR V3r and V3re.
Also known as the Razor 06, the V3re was released in 2006 as an
updated variant of the V3 with EDGE support. For some reason that I
cannot comprehend, the V3re does not identify itself as such. If you
open up the back, it's labeled as an original V3.
Similarly, the V3r, or Razor 05, was released before the re, and also
identifiesitself as an original V3 via its sticker.
This is my gray unlocked V3re. It doesn't currently have a
V3re board in it, but it is an re.
As you can see, this phone is labeled as an original V3.
So how can you tell the difference?
Let's look at the front.
Do you see the notch? This is one of the models that has a "flat-style" notch.
Aside from that, though I don't have the battery door to confirm this, the
the Motorola M on the back cover is suposedly the same color as the plastic.
But this is not a foolproof method. The V3a also has the flat-style notch
and plastic-colored back M. What if your sticker is missing?
The easy answer: V3a are CDMA phones and do not have SIM slots. Turn
the phone over and look for a SIM slot.
The "hard" answer (it's not actually that hard): find your bootloader version.
Since V3a are CDMA phones, their bootloaders will look completely different.
This is the bootloader of a CDMA "P2K" (aka BREW) phone.
They all look pretty much the same. If you see this bootloader,
you definitely don't have a V3re.
This is the bootloader of a non-CDMA P2K phone. Again, they all
look pretty much the same. All you need to pay attention to right
now is the "SW Version" field. If your software version starts with
R3442A like this one's, that is a V3re. If it starts with R4515, you
have a V3r. Anything else, and it's likely an original V3.
