Motorola ATRIX HD unboxing and hands-on

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Motorola ATRIX HD unboxing and hands-on
No doubt, Motorola is late to the game with a high-end Android offering for AT&T’s lineup, but nevertheless, the time is finally here for its flagship to shine. After seeing quality devices like the HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S III, and Sony Xperia ion, AT&T’s lineup is continuing to be a healthy and solid one now that the Motorola ATRIX HD is poised for release very shortly. Donning one affordable $99.99 on-contract price point when it’s released July 15th, there’s a lot to love about this one – despite being somewhat tardy.

Hardly a surprise, the packaging for the Motorola ATRIX HD is similar to all other devices we’ve seen for AT&T – meaning, it boasts the usual white and orange colors attached to the carrier. Taking center stage, there’s an image of the handset in question both on the front and back of the box. In the rear, however, we’re treated to some quick standout features of the handset – like its 4G LTE connectivity, KEVLAR strong rear casing, SMART ACTIONS functions, and its 4-Star Eco-Rating. Inside, there’s nothing out of character as it’s packaged along with the usual set of documentation, microUSB cable, and wall charger.



Right away, there’s no denying the direct relationship with its design to Verizon’s Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX. Utilizing the distinctive design characteristics we’ve seen on previous Motorola devices, there’s nothing particularly fresh looking with the ATRIX HD’s design. Nonetheless, it’ pretty solid with its overall construction, which can be attributed to its durable plastic casing, KEVLAR fiber rear casing, and water-repellent nano-coating. Even though it doesn’t push the envelope with its 8.4mm thick frame, it’s still fairly streamlined enough to tuck away inconspicuously in a pocket – though, it does feel rather weighty for its overall size.

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Turning on this beast, we’re greeted with a brilliant looking 4.5” HD (720 x 1080) ColorBoost TFT display. Obviously, we dig its sharp details, high contrast, wide viewing angles, and rich color reproduction. In fact, it has a powerful glow that enables colors to pop with plenty of iridescence. Additionally, it's soundly protected due to the fact that’s packing scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass from Corning. Certainly, it’s pretty looking to the eyes and all, but we sorely wish it were just a bit larger to match its direct rivals. Specifically, the size of Motorola ATRIX HD is comparable to the HTC One X, so it makes us wonder why it's unable to accommodate a larger display.



In terms of hardware, the Motorola ATRIX HD comes to the table with some of the contemporary stuff we’ve seen of late – with nothing that’s really out of character. Powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz processor coupled with 1GB of RAM, the handset seems to move eloquently with various operations, and in our short time checking it out, we’re fairly content with its peppy performance. Naturally, it also helps that the handset is running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich – albeit, with a faint customization. Rounding things out for this lovely device, it features aGPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1080p video recording, 1.3-megaixel front-facing camera, microUSB port, microHDMI port, microSD slot, and a 1,780 mAh battery.

At heart, this is yet another high-end offering that’s stacked to the roof with some quality hardware, but even better is the fact that all of this can be experienced for a mere $100! We’ve already checked out the comparable Sony Xperia ion, so let’s cross our fingers that the Motorola ATRIX HD can continue the fine standard for this newly created budget high-end offering. Expect our in-depth review soon!



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