In introducing its new $2000 Aura cell phone today, Motorola repeated comparisons to luxury watches. So contrasting it to an iPhone or a BlackBerry or even the Prada phone may not do it justice. How about facing it off against one of the most famous mobile status symbols of them all, Rolex’s eternally popular Oyster Perpetual Submariner? I did just that for this T-Grid, and found that it’s a close contest–the two gadgets have much in common, but both sport some attractive features that the other doesn’t. Bottom line: If you’ve got a spare $8K, you might want them both!

The devices	Motorola Aura	Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner
Price	$1999	$6000 (16610 model)
$10 counterfeit version sold by guys on New York streetcorners?	Not currently	Yes
Availability	December	Introduced in 1954
Swiss craftsmanship?	Yes	Of course
Manufacturing time	Front piece takes nearly two weeks to make	“Up to well over a year”
Favored by James Bond	I don’t think so, but I haven’t seen Quantum of Solace yet	Yes
Case material	Steel	Steel
Crystal material	Sapphire	Sapphire
Circular display?	Yes, the industry’s first	Yes, but not the industry’s first
Display type	LCD	Analog
Display colors	16,000,000	Black, white, and green (16610 model)
Waterproof to 300 meters?	I kind of doubt it	Yes
Input	Phone keypad	Crown (call it a “click wheel” if you prefer”)
Powered by	Battery	Your wrist, thanks to ingenious self-winding movement
Rotates?	Yes, to open	Yes (bezel)
Tiny parts inside	200+	Hundreds
Jewels	Unspecified	31
Includes convenient wrist strap?	No	Yes
Bluetooth compatible?	Yes	Not as of yet
Web browser	Yes	No, but it would be kind of neat
Music player compatible with DRM-protected iTunes songs?	No	No
Camera	2 megapixel	None
Displays date?	Yes	Yes
Tells time?	Yes	Yes
Makes voice calls?	Yes	No (consider this model if feature needed)
Talk time	7.3 hours	N/A
Standby time	400 hours	Indefinite, as long as you wear it occasionally
Lofty marketing claim	“From the moment AURA owners hold their phones, they elevate their own experience in luxury and unmatched quality.”	“A Rolex isn’t a watch, it’s technology emboldened by the human spirit”

 
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Read more: Motorola, Phones, Rolex, Watches