Motorola RAZR Review

Introduction:

Probably the best phone to come out of Motorola in this new smartphone era that started 2007, is the Motorola RAZR. The thinnest Android phone out there was a title previously reserved for a Japanese handset by NEC.

The company obviously banks on the iconic RAZR brand from times past, which received cult status with its game changing sharp looks and razor-thin profile. The Motorola RAZR of today carries the design tradition with its 7.1 mm waistline, and the exotic materials used for the chassis, like Kevlar.

Are these enough for the Motorola RAZR to lure the spoiled smartphone shoppers, which have an excellent smartphone crop this holiday season? Read on to find out…

This is the GSM version of Verizon’s DROID RAZR and is called simply the Motorola RAZR. It is identical, except for the baseband radio, which allows it to work on AT&T and T-Mobile (2G only) in the US.

If you've read our DROID RAZR review, you wouldn't really need to read this one. Especially if you are in the States.

Design:

The Motorola RAZR flaunts one of the most compelling handset designs in recent memory. Aesthetically, it reminds other high-end smartphones in Motorola's stable, but is able to separate itself from them thanks to its remarkable razor thin construction and the slant corners.

Right off the bat, we're mesmerized by its 0.28" (7.1mm) thickness – making it the thinnest smartphone on the market. However, it's not uniform because of the hump towards the top where the camera sensors are placed. And to complement its svelte appearance, it's by far one of the lightest smartphones in its size category.

For something so thin, some would probably envision it to be frail, but there's nothing to be worried about because it's constructed out of the finest materials out there. Specifically, it's internally strengthened by its stainless steel chassis, which is further supplemented by its Kevlar fiber back cover for reinforcement, and water repellent nanocoating to absorb some levels of liquid splashes - though, it's not completely waterproof. Tell you the truth, this is easily the most solidly built device we've seen put out of Motorola's camp.



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

It's not the first time we're seeing a 4.3" qHD (540 x 960) display with Gorilla Glass on a Motorola smartphone, but what's new is the fact that it features a Super AMOLED Advanced panel instead of a traditional LCD one. The cold colors typical for Super AMOLED are present in the RAZR screen, too.


Granted that it utilizes the PenTile matrix arrangement, but it's more than capable of producing distinctive details with pixel density of 256 ppi, which, however, is behind those of the upcoming GALAXY Nexus or the Apple iPhone 4S, which clock at 316 and 326 ppi, respectively.

Not surprisingly, we're captivated by the saturated colors it's able to produce, although they appear a tad gaudy for some tastes. Throw in its high contrast ratio, deep black color, and wide viewing angles, and it's well equipped in providing plenty of visual treats to our eyes. Still, we wish it had higher brightness, especially outside.

Typically for an Android 2.3.x phone, we find the same set of capacitive Android buttons sitting beneath its display – with the microphone situated very close to the home button. Meanwhile, the front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera and narrow earpiece are all located directly above the display. The square opening of the front cam is not the most elegant of sights, but the small sensor records 720p HD video of your pretty face while doing video chat. To profoundly exhibit its premium taste, the Motorola name is etched into the diamond-cut aluminum accent.

On the left side of the phone sits a plastic flap that hides away the handset’s microSIM card slot and microSD card slot to complement the 8GB of internal memory.

Rather than finding the dedicated power button on the top side of the phone, like most other recent devices, this time around it's positioned on the right edge along with the volume rocker, which we prefer. Between the two, the power button is slightly more raised versus the flat feel of the volume rocker, which is on top of that too short for comfortable operation, and not as tactile as the lock key.

The top edge of the phone claims home to the handset's 3.5 mm headset jack, microUSB port, and microHDMI port. To think that they're all there is indeed impressive for device that's razor thin!

Finally, the 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and the speakerphone grill are all stuffed into the handset's hump, which forms the slight bulge. In order to retain its slim appearance, Motorola has opted to keep its battery shut out from the world – essentially requiring you to send it away to get it replaced.


Overall, the RAZR manages to escape from the “black rectangular plastic” paradigm of many Androids, via its cut corners, slim waistline, and Kevlar on the back. Still, if you don’t know it’s Kevlar, you’d prefer the cozy feeling of soft-touch plastic, and those touted “metal accents” are mostly just a tiny plate with the brand at the front. The RAZR is slim, but is rather wide for the 4.3” screen it packs,  and some will find it uncomfortable in the hand. 

Interface:

In its quest to reign supreme over all other Motorola manufactured smart phones before it, the Motorola RAZR is equipped with a 1.2GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4430 processor with a PowerVR SGX540 GPU.

Supplementing its processing prowess, it's packed with a generous 1GB of RAM and 4GB of ROM for installing apps. The RAZR is exceptionally fast with its operational movements – even when it's tested with a graphically intensive Live Wallpaper. From opening up applications, pinch-zooming, and kinetic scrolling, it's pretty much spot on with its response. However, we still notice every now and then just a slight pause or delay with some of its movements, and zooming a picture in the gallery goes in stages instead of the fluidity we are accustomed to.

We have one pretty functional interface running on top of Android 2.3.5 in the RAZR, although not of the HTC Sense 3.0 or TouchWiz 4.0 caliber in terms of eye-candy and features. It’s still blessed with some fancy looking 3D effects and transitions to keep your eyes content. Additionally, most of the Motorola inspired widgets available on the handset are resizable, and their layouts automatically change to accommodate the new arrangement.


If you’re big on the social networking stuff, you’ll take pleasure with the deep integration that the interface has to offer. In fact, the Social Networking app manages to aggregate all services in one place – and it offers these nice looking 3D window panels as you’re looking through posts. But instead of running the app, you can still get your quick fix by using the available social networking widgets on the homescreen. For a comprehensive walkthrough of the customized interface, you can read more about it on our Motorola DROID 3 review.

The RAZR launches with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread on board, but Motorola said it will update it to Ice Cream Sandwich in the early 2012.

Contacts:

Essentially, the contacts app retains the fundamental elements we come to expect – like synchronization with our Google account. Besides that, we also find social networking integration that allows us to check out profiles, ‘poke’ friends, and view their most recent tweets. Of course, the listing can become somewhat disorganized after adding all of your accounts, but it’s nice to see filters in place to make it easier to view. And oh yeah, you can always resort to clicking the magnifier icon to search for specific contacts – as opposed to scrolling through a never-ending list.



Organizer:

Not surprisingly, there’s nothing new with any of the core organizer apps since they provide all the logical and traditional set of features we come to expect out of any Android smartphone. So whether you’re using the calculator, calendar, alarm, or timer, there’s absolutely nothing different about them in any way. Still, it’s nice being able to sync calendars from multiple accounts as well – plus, they’re color coded for better organization.



Messaging:

Blessed with a sizable display, the RAZR is especially adept in handling the needs of even the most demanding text messenger out there. Not only does the black themed keyboard accentuates the handset's Super AMOLED display, but it also offers a tastefully fresh look, and saves on your battery, since OLED screens don't consume power when displaying black. Whether it's the Swype or multitouch keyboard that you use, the spacious layout enables us to quickly compose messages with minimal effort – thanks mostly to its responsive nature and accuracy. Plus, when you activate the auto-correct feature, the experience is nearly seamless as we're able to type casually at a wicked rate.


Aside from the fact that scrolling is kept at a minimum with the Gmail experience on the handset, there’s nothing else beneficial that we can find about it. Luckily, the setup process is unchanged with its user-friendly approach by requiring only our email addresses and passwords for automatic setup with most generic accounts. In some instances though, it might ask for additional pieces of information, like server addresses and ports, to set up properly.

Camera:

Dominating most of the interface, we get a good view on what we’re shooting with the viewfinder, but we find the usual suspect of icons littered on its side – like the on-screen shutter key, digital zoom controls, and video mode toggle.

Furthermore, there’s an accessible sliding bar that holds additional icons that allow us to change shooting modes, choose different effects, and get into its settings. Compared to others, it’s lacking on some manual controls that are near and dear to photo enthusiasts out there.


Photo details are rather faint in appearance, and at the same time, the phone generally casts a cooler color reproduction.


Meanwhile, in extreme low lighting situations, image quality is diminished due to its grainy appearance – with a bit of digital noise evident as well. Fortunately, its LED flash is able to illuminate the shot properly with an even amount of lighting. However, it still has some difficulty in properly focusing when attempting to take shots in complete darkness.

In the end, photos are below average for an 8MP shooter on a high-end phone! If you plan to print out 4" x 6" photos, it's not going to be that much of a problem, but if you intend on blowing them up, just expect them to be underwhelming.

Alright, still shot quality might be poor, but how about high-definition video recording? Well, it fails to impress us again. On paper, its 1080p high-definition video recording sounds great, but after previewing them on a computer, we're left scratching our heads. As it captures video at the rate of 30 frames per second and records clear audio, the biggest distraction that we find is its below average detail quality – it simply looks flat and indistinct. Also, it lacks continuous auto-focus, but features touch focus instead.

Motorola RAZR Sample Video:



Motorola RAZR Indoor Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Utilizing the same music player interface featured on other recent Motorola smartphones, it has a conventional approach with its presentation as songs are being played – displaying such things as the album cover and on-screen controls. However, we do like the nifty looking 3D carousel gallery available when we’re browsing through songs in landscape. Rounding things out, we definitely appreciate the usefulness of lyrics being displayed as a song is being played, which transforms the phone into a mini karaoke machine of some sort.



With its single speaker, it's able to produce strong volume, but tends to sound rather sharp when placed at the loudest setting. However, in order to fine tune things out, we're presented with a broad range of equalizer settings to better adapt to specific genres of music, which work in speaker mode.

The Gallery is separated into categories, which are accessed via buttons once you enter it, instead of picture stacks. We’d rather have the default Android gallery, which is prettier than Motorola’s effort.


Moreover, the same stuttering while pinching to zoom in or out that we noticed as a slight delay in the browser, is a full-blown nuisance when zooming pictures, which goes on in stages, instead of the fluid zooming we are used to on touchscreen handsets, even in the mid-range.

Before proceeding to load our tests video, we're already thinking in the back of our minds that it's going to be a phenomenal experience, partly because of its fast processor and brilliant looking Super AMOLED display. And right on cue, the handset is able to deliver just that as it's able to play our video that's encoded in MPEG-4 1920 x 1080 resolution. Easily, it’s able to play it effortlessly, while reeling us in thanks to its smooth playback, rich details, and iridescent appearance. Therefore, if you happen to love long trips on the road, the Motorola RAZR will be the perfect companion for you.

As we previously mentioned already, it's good to know that the RAZR packs a microHDMI port. Much like other smartphones that offer the functionality, we're given the ability to do things like outputting high-definition video, sharing other multimedia content, and a mirrored experience.

Furthermore, with the aid of some optional Motorola Webtop enabled accessories, such as the lapdock and HD station, we're given the full web browsing experience thanks to Mozilla Firefox – plus, we're still able to interact with the phone's various functionality. Naturally, it's not the first time we're seeing it, but it's nevertheless something that we truly appreciate.

Internally, it's packed with 8GB of storage, which is indeed stingy for a device of this caliber, but it's thankfully supplemented by the preloaded 16GB microSD card in its available slot. And if that's certainly not enough for you, then you can always replace it with cards up to 32GB in size.

Internet and Connectivity:

Besides the wicked speeds, the overall web browsing experience on the Motorola RAZR is solid thanks to its responsive nature. So whether it's panning or kinetic scrolling, its movement is very gracious to deliver an engaging experience.  Pinch-to-zoom is a tad less seamless than we’d like, though. Throw in the fact that it doesn't stutter even in the face of Flash content, it's remarkably equipped in providing us with that near desktop-like experience.


We have 14.4Mbps HSDPA radio, A-GPS with Glonass support, Bluetooth 4.0 with EDR, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, mobile hotspot functionality and DLNA on the Motorola RAZR, as well as FM Radio, so you can't complain from a lack of connectivity options.

Software:

At this point, we've been thoroughly amazed by the handset's hardware, but underneath it all in the software side, Motorola has managed to plant some of its presence in the included applications. For starters, it includes MotoCast, which empowers the handset to stream files from an internet-connected computer. Essentially, it's a cloud-based system that provides almost an unlimited amount of data storage for the smartphone – seeing that we can stream and gain access to shared files and folders on a computer.

If you happen to be particular about having complete control in everything surrounding the RAZR, the Smart Actions functionality will be especially appealing to you. Honestly, it turns the handset into your very own personal digital assistant – but the beauty in it is that it's actually smart! Basically, Smart Actions is a reminder system on steroids, seeing that it provides a wide array of actions based on specific triggers. For example, if you happen to activate the ‘work’ Smart Action, it'll know when you arrive at work due to your GPS coordinates, while at the same time, it can even automatically send a text to someone informing them that you've arrived safely.

Another example is found with the ‘car’ Smart Action, which senses that you're in your car when the handset is connected to some sort of Bluetooth system; say like a Bluetooth speaker of some sort. Once the phone registers that the trigger has been executed, it can automatically set it so that you can't send text messages or accept phone calls. All in all, it's definitely a neat feature that gives you a lot of control in what you do on the device.

Motorola also packs along a branded app on the RAZR – MOTOPRINT, for wireless printing. For the enterprise or business user, apps like GoToMeeting and QuickOffice are particularly useful. And of course, all of the typical Google branded applications are on board to give us that tried and true Android experience.

Performance:

The RAZR has one fantastic calling quality. So if you happen to be a chatterbox, you'll definitely find the handset more than ideal for your yapping needs. Not only are voices distinctive and robust on both ends of the line, but there is no evidence of any background noise or static heard through the earpiece. Additionally, the earpiece's volume output is strong enough to make conversations very audible. Switching over to the speakerphone, we experience an exact performance as it's able to whip up the same clear tones and strong volume.

We can ponder over how Motorola is even able to pack a 1,780 mAh battery into its shell, but they somehow managed to do just that. It's rated for 9 hours and 20 minutes of talk time in 3G mode, which is very good, and keeps up with the tradition of Motorola handsets with OMAP chips to provide above average battery life.

Conclusion:

There's no arguing that the original Motorola RAZR was an iconic device that's seemingly forever ingrained into our minds, but more importantly, it showed us the kind of ingenuity behind Motorola.

In a time when high-end smartphones seem to be in a cutthroat race, the Motorola RAZR is able to captivate our attention thanks to the engineering marvel it is. For something so thin and light, it's hard to fathom how remarkably strengthened the phone is to offer superior durability.

As much as some of us are eagerly awaiting Ice Cream Sandwich on board of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Nexus, there should be no cause for alarm because it's announced to be coming to the RAZR in the future too.

A natural competitor to the Motorola RAZR in the Android camp is the Samsung Galaxy S II, which is also pretty thin, and is lighter and more compact than the RAZR, offering mighty dual-core performance too, and way better camera/camcorder. If you are looking for a more distinct design, you can check the HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio, whose camera is only marginally better than the one on the RAZR.

In iOS land, the iPhone 4S offers smaller screen in a heavier handset, whose steal and glass chassis differs markedly from the design concept of the RAZR. You will be greeted with a more capable camera here, too, and will also have the iOS apps to serve and entertain your needs.

Software version of the reviewed unit:
Android version:  2.3.5
Build number: 6.5.1_73_SPU-9
Kernel version: 2.6.35.7-ge439ab5

Motorola RAZR Video Review: