Motorola Bravo Review

Introduction:

Allegiances are quite evident throughout the wireless landscape, but in the case of Motorola's Android powered smartphones, there is no arguing that Verizon is receiving the most love with their high-end offerings. However, Motorola kicked off AT&T's venture with the open platform thanks to the mid-ranged BACKFLIP from earlier in the year – and more recently, the Motorola FLIPOUT. Now the manufacturer is releasing its first completely slate Android powered handset for AT&T with the Motorola BRAVO, but it's going to require some flashiness in order to stand head above water over the crowded mid-range space of AT&T's lineup.

The package contains:

• Motorola BRAVO
• microUSB Cable
• Wall Charger
• Quick Start Guide
• 2GB microSD card

Design:

After spending some time with the Motorola DEFY, it's quite evident that the BRAVO was developed alongside that handset seeing that the two share some common design elements. As opposed to being rugged, the BRAVO feels slightly more casual with its metallic bezel and soft touch coating – which is something that contrasts well with one another. Not necessarily boasting the most impressive looks, this average sized (0.52” thick) device is fairly well-balanced (4.52 oz) and solidly constructed all around.




You can compare the Motorola Bravo with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

If there's something that's not quite mid-range with its hardware, then it has to be its brilliant and crisp looking 3.7” TFT display which features a high resolution of 480 x 854 pixels with support for 16.7 million colors. In actuality, it's one of the more unexpected surprises from this device as it delivers stunning clarity, savory colors, and good viewing angles to round out its prowess. Moreover, we're content with its level of responsiveness as it registers even the most subtle of touches very accurately.


Thanks to its three capacitive button configuration, which is directly beneath the touchscreen, we rarely experienced any instances when we would accidentally press them. However, the search button is sorely missed now that we have to go through a couple of items just to perform a Google search.


We're not particularly too fond of the volume rocker since it's thin in size and requires a firm press to activate. Conversely, the dedicated power button is raised enough to offer a good distinctive feel with the finger while being accompanied with a responsive touch. Other than that, we're treated to the other customary items like the 3.5mm headset jack and microUSB charging port.


Turning it around, we're greeted to a bare bones 3-megapixel auto-focus camera all by itself with no flash or self-portrait mirror to accent it. And towards the opposite area of the rear panel, there is a single notch which lets out audio from its speakerphone. Performing a sliding motion will unhinge the back cover from its place and will then offer you access to its 1,540 mAh battery. However, it's a bit of an obstruction when you need to remove the battery to gain access to the SIM card and microSD card slots.

Interface and Functionality:

Disheartening to say the least, the Motorola BRAVO opts to stick with the Android 2.1 experience – which makes you wonder when other recent Android smartphones flaunt Froyo already. Luckily, its 800MHz processor is more than ideal in exhibiting some responsive tendencies when navigating around the homescreen or launching specific apps. However, some may or may not like the most up-to-date MOTOBLUR customized experience as it heavily integrates social networking into the mix. Overlooking its shortcoming of relying on an older Android build, the experience is nonetheless unhindered seeing that it offers the usual array of features accustomed to the open platform. Still, it isn't as bad as a Bing-a-fied Android smartphone.


Aside from offering the customary features with its address book, like automatic syncing, the BRAVO enables you to quickly check out social networking happenings all within the core “Contacts” app. Naturally, you can quickly glance things like recent tweets on Twitter or Facebook status updates without having the need to launch a dedicated app.


Although it is the first time AT&T customers will see a non-QWERTY Android smartphone from Motorola's camp, the messaging experience on the BRAVO should be more than satisfactory thanks to its responsive multi-touch and Swype keyboards. Although the portrait option is still an ideal solution, the landscape one offers a little bit more room for your fingers to type away without feeling too cramped.


The Gmail experience follows accordingly like any other Android smartphone on the market as it offers a depth of features similar to what's seen on a desktop computer. Additionally, setting up alternative email accounts is a breeze thanks to its simple and straightforward process. Though, there are some instances when it'll require you to provide additional pieces of information, like server addresses and ports, to properly set up.

Being a social networking friendly device, users will appreciate the quick access it has to offer in posting messages to a variety of social networking accounts without the need to do it all separately. Moreover, the “Happenings” widget or “Social Networking” app aggregates all content in one centralized hub with the ability to respond to certain ones. If social networking is more in line to your liking, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the BRAVO's offering in keeping you updated with your friends.

If you really need to get in touch with someone, but detest placing a voice phone call or you don't want to wait for a response with a text message, then you might want to try out its instant messaging support for AIM, Windows Live Messenger, or Yahoo Messenger.


Not only do we find the usual set of Google branded apps on the phone, but AT&T manages to include their own as well with AT&T FamilyMaps, AT&T Maps, AT&T Music, AT&T Navigator, and AT&T Radio. Furthermore, there are also a handful of third party apps installed on the phone that's common with other AT&T feature phones – such as Mobile Banking, MobiTV, Quickoffice, Vlingo, Voice Commands, Where, and YPmobile. Finally, you can share an eclectic mix of content using included services like Moto Phone Portal, Media Share, or DLNA.

Camera and Multimedia:

Although its 3-megapixel auto-focus camera might look on paper as being quaint in stature, its quality is nevertheless decent enough to capture memories. For the most part, images are average looking with its neutral looking details and color tones. However, images taken in low lighting appear to lose more clarity with its muddy details, but thankfully, colors still exhibit a neutral tone to them. Far from being stunning, the mediocre shots offered by the BRAVO are filled with enough spark to keep it in contention over a regular point and shoot.




One thing we find irritating about the BRAVO is its maximum video recording resolution of 352 x 288 pixels – which is something disheartening for a mid-range device. There is very little evidence of distinguishable detail, thanks partly by its pixelated visuals, but it manages to chug along at a frame rate of 27 frames per second. Despite its fluid movements, it does very little in tastefully moving attention away from its utterly poor quality.

Motorola Bravo sample video:



The handset relies on the stock Android music player, of which still doesn't radiate the presentation factor, but is still more than functional in playing tunes. As for audio quality from its speaker, it's more than deafening at the loudest setting, but there is a screechy tone to it which makes it a little unpleasant to tolerate at times.

Thanks to its sheer crisp high-resolution display, the Motorola BRAVO is a handset that's made for watching videos. With that, we managed to load a movie trailer encoded in MPEG-4 1280 x 720 resolution without much falter as it boasts some nice looking details that are complemented with some vibrant looking colors. For all your high-definition video needs, the BRAVO will easily win people over with its spot on fluid playback.


Sure it's not as good as the minimum 8GB of storage generally accompanying most high-end smartphones, but the 2GB microSD card preloaded on the BRAVO should quickly suffice the most basic needs of people. Still, you can replace it with cards up to 32GB in capacity.

Internet and Connectivity:

Much like other phones on AT&T's lineup, the Motorola BRAVO is a quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and dual-band UMTS (850/1900 MHz) device – meaning that you can expect it to work in most locations around the world. Moreover, it comes included with Wi-Fi to get you situated with faster data connections in the event when cellular connections are sluggish. Finally, Bluetooth 2.1 is thrown in for good measure to enable a variety of wireless devices to connect to it.

In an attempt to ease the pain of lacking Android 2.2 Froyo, the Motorola BRAVO manages to offer support for Flash Lite which enables for some elements to load up. Although it's not exactly a faithful full blown desktop experience, there's much to take so openly with the web browsing experience on the handset. Pages load up in a timely manner, multi-gesture support for zooming is there, and smooth kinetic scrolling is evident to offer an acceptable experience that should appease most casual users out there.

Performance:

Despite establishing a reasonable level of calling quality on both ends as voices sound generally distinct, there is some low toned interference through the earpiece. However, it doesn't particularly impact the overall experience seeing that it's very subtle. Thanks to its noise cancellation microphone, there are a bunch of voice quality options you can choose from during a phone call to modify or enhance your voice – thus enabling your callers to hear you slightly better. Finally, we're happy with the level of output presented by the speakerphone with its strong and deep tones.

The Motorola BRAVO is more than capable of retaining a solid connection to the network during our time testing it as we did not experience any dropped calls in the greater Philadelphia region.

For any smartphone users out there, the battery life with the BRAVO is average as it manages to work through an 8 hour work day on normal usage – but don't be surprised to see it requiring a nightly charge. Needless to say that heavy users will want to have a spare charger or battery at hand, but light users will find it lasting at least one day. The manufacturer has it rated for 6.8 hours of talk and 238 hours of standby time.

Conclusion:

Although it's not a bad phone overall, for $129.99 with a contract, there is very little that substantiates a purchase for the Motorola BRAVO over competing mid-end handsets like the HTC Aria, except for the larger screen. For a bit more, you can go with the Samsung Captivate, which is obviously a much better all-round package, while the iPhone is always there, if you feel you should part ways with Android and become friends with iOS. If we set our sight beyond AT&T's lineup, there aren't any alluring features to drastically set the Motorola BRAVO apart from other Motorola handsets – like the large screen of the DROID X or the ruggedness of the DEFY. Ultimately, there isn't something too wrong with the Motorola BRAVO, it's just that it doesn't bring anything new to the table, making it feel like any other generic Android smartphone.

Software version of the reviewed unit: Blur_Version.3.5.350.MB520.ATT.en.US

Motorola Bravo Video Review: