Motorola V phone or V series, popularly nicknamed as the Vader, is a cellular phone designed by Motorola as an evolution of the StarTAC. It was originally released in October 1998 as v3620 on the analog AMPS network in North America, followed by a digital GSM release in other territories as v3688 or v998 (China) in early 1999. Based on a clamshell design like the StarTAC series, its body is 25% narrower by comparison[1] and at 2.7 ounces[2] was the lightest and smallest cell phone at the time.[3][4][5] Because of its physical characteristics, it became highly popular for being fashionable.[6][7][8]
A number of additional models and variants were later released that are detailed here, including v3682, v3690, v8160 ("Vulcan"), v8088 and v50, all sharing the same basic form. They were altogether succeeded by the Motorola V60 and V66 in 2001.[9]
Name
Officially the V series, both the V3620 and the V3688 were also called by the media as the "V phone",[10] and had also been affectionally referred to by some as the "Mini StarTAC"[11] or "Baby StarTAC". It was most often referred to as the "Vader", which was the development code name for the V3620 model.[12] This nickname has also been used collectively for the V3688 and all other similar models afterwards, as they all share the same basic design. In Italian the phone was also nicknamed "dattero", the word for dates.[13]
Motorola also marketed the 2001 V60 and V66, and candybars like the V120 and V2260 as the 'V series'. The V prefix continued to be used on later different products but without necessarily naming it 'series' (see List of Motorola V series phones), of which some models morphed into new lines such as the Razr or Pebl.
History
The models were announced as the V Series in July 1998 and were the first of Motorola's line of handsets with the V prefix.[14][15] Up until this point, flip phones were still a rarity other than Motorola's own StarTAC series. Motorola's V phone further popularized the form factor across the industry going into the new century. It also came out during a time when miniaturization was trendy in the industry. The V phone was the first clamshell phone in the west with the conventional flip phone design of a display in the top part and keypad in the bottom part. However, Motorola had already designed such a device and in this small light body for the PHS network in Japan, released in January 1998, from which the V3620 and V3688 borrowed the concept from.[16]
Motorola V3620 debuted in October and November of 1998 sold for approximately $600 on contract or between $900 and $1200 without.[17][18] The phone attracted considerable attention in American media because of its compact size. In a press release boast, Motorola named several famous actors who were actively using the V series phone, with Jennifer Aniston and Brett Ratner among the names listed.[19] In a Rolling Stone interview of the Wu-Tang Clan in fall 1998, Cappadonna is mentioned as using the V series phone and the author compared its size (when folded) to a "pack of Bubble Yum" while Cappadonna himself praised the size, comfort and cell reception.[20]
The Motorola V3688, which is the digital GSM (900/1800) model, was released at the beginning of 1999 in Europe and some Asian territories, and was presented at the CeBIT expo. Motorola once again stated in a press release its use by celebrities, for example naming here Liz Hurley.[21] The V3688 was also sold in China as the V998.[22] Motorola V3682 was the long-delayed GSM 1800 specific model for American markets.[23] Expected to have come out at the beginning of 1999, it did not release to market until the summer of 2000, initially carried by Cingular and Pacific Bell Wireless.
V3690
An updated version of the V3688 was released as Motorola V3690 in early 2000 for GSM networks. It adds a memo function and voice command similar to the Timeport models L7089 and P7389.[24][25]
V8160/V8162
For more than a year, the V phone was only available for analog networks in North America until the introduction of the Motorola V8160 in April 2000, codenamed and often nicknamed Vulcan.[26][27][28] The V8160 runs on CDMA 800 and also works with AMPS. The Motorola V8162 is a model for Sprint PCS, designed to be used on CDMA 1900.[29]
V8088/V51/V50/V150
V50
Motorola v8088 was released in Asian territories and Australia in mid 2000. It has a revised interior and exterior design compared to the previous v3688/v998 and has an additional WAP mini browser. However it does not have GPRS and data speeds are limited to 9.6 kbps. It sold for S$998.[30] The European version of the v8088 was marketed as the V51.[31]
The Motorola V50 is also an updated version of the V3688 and V3690 with an additional WAP mini browser but being closer to the original V phone's design and sold in silver. It also has a modified software menu and predictive text. This handset was released in late 2000 and early 2001 in other territories.[32] The V50 achieved popularity in the Chinese market, where it was known as v998+.[33][34] The Chinese market also received another variant in 2003, model v998c.[33]
The V150 is an upgraded V50 model featuring a color display and a revised keypad design. Internally it is almost identical to the Motorola C350, a popular entry-level model. The V150 was released in late 2003.[35][36]
In popular culture
One of these V Series phones appeared in the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven used by Brad Pitt's character.
↑ from 2004-15, Booth Moore As Los Angeles Times fashion critic; Paris, Booth Moore logged tens of thousands of miles covering the runways from L. A. to; Lagerfeld, interviewing style leaders such as Karl; Ford, Tom; Versace, Donatella (1998-11-08). "Talk About a Micro Phone". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-05-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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