Author: Kristina Russo-Swick
Phone
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr, who doesn’t remember the Razr name, it was once a phone that everyone needed to have because it was the best around. Will the rebirth of the Razr brand take off again? At first glance this phone looks like an updated version of the Droid X and Droid X2.
The Razr of course it links with Facebook, Twitter, and now the new Google+ data (contact’s photo and profile info) in the address book however it is a few extra clicks to make it all link. The applications are not pre-installed however they can be added through the market with ease! There is also a favorite callers list that is displayed at the top of the main home screen and only shows 5 favorites to choose from, however if you drag it down it opens up the list of all the favorites instead of just the top 5. This favorites list can be moved to one of the five various screens.
There is a quick launch for the phone at the bottom of the screen; it is a little green button with a phone. The placement of it was in a spot that took some time to get used to. The clarity of the phone is good there were no problems with people being able to hear. The background noise was not an issue in the slightest which is great specially when there was a 2 year old screaming in the background.
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr has the normal touch screen droid keyboard and also the option of the Swype keyboard too. It was difficult to go back to correct misspellings on texts or emails, because there is no back arrows. There is a curser at the top inside the text box that can be moved, but it doesn’t always go into the spot that is desired, so most of the time just deleting the whole word or phrase and retyping it was easier then trying to back up to the problem.
Design
The design of this phone sure helps set the standard for future devices. The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr the thinnest Android device to date, which makes it true to the Razr brand. It measures out at 2.71 W x 5.15 H and a whopping 0.28 inches thick.
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr has It is running the 4G LTE with a dual core processor TI OMAP running at 1 GHz with a full 1 GB of RAM. There is almost 2.5 gigabytes available for app installation and an extra 8 GB accessible for internal storage for pictures, music, or anything else! It also includes a pre-installed 16 GB MicroSD card as well. There will be no shortage of space available for all the phone can do!
Even with all the storage and the extremely fast processor something is going to suffer, battery life, but that is no surprise to anyone all the power and speed always comes with a price.
It also has the built in voice input on any text field and it works very well as long as you are not in an area with large amounts of background noise or in a car with road noise, them it will not pick it up.
There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top right side of the top and the power port as well as the HDMI ports side by side on the top of the device. The power/sleep button has been moved from the top of the previous devices to the top of the left side. The volume rocker is also on the left side just below the power/sleep button. On the right side of the Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr towards the bottom of the phone is a hidden flip down door that holds the SIM card as well as the Micro SD card for storage. These posts are normally found on the inside of the phones under the battery, this is the first device that has them on the outside, but for very good reason.
There are quick launch touch keys for menu, back, home and search below the screen.
There are also multiple microphones all over the Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr one of them being on the bottom of the device as well as two more on the rear of the device. This is a great feature and helps with making the phone the best around for not being able to hear the background noise!
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr is also compatible with the Motorola Lapdock that runs a full version of Firefox which allows for use just like a normal Laptop would. The Razr connects to the Lapdock via the top power/HDMI ports on the top of the device and then secures into a port to keep the phone in place. The Lapdock can then be used just as a normal Laptop would be giving full internet access yet being able to see the phones various screens and still use the phone through the Lapdock screen. Get a text, email, or want to play a game, not a problem, it call all be done right through the Lapdock. Full internet and phone access all rolled into one!
Display
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr has a large 4.3 inch Super AMOLED display with qHD resolution. The display is 540 x 960 and that is the best that an Android smart-phone can buy right now and it is beautiful to say the least. This is very nice and makes the images and text look crisp and clear.
Camera
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr camera is an 8 megapixel on the rear of the devise with a 1080p recording capabilities and a front facing 1.3 mega pixel camera. The front facing camera also has an ambient light sensor. There is also various modes including single-shot, panorama, multishot, and timer as well as various camera settings they include, auto, portrait, landscape, sport, night portraits, sunset, and macro.
The rear video recorder captures 1080p HD video with image stabilization and also has HDMI mirror mode output to be able to share the videos on an HDTV or Monitor! As the rear camera the video camera doesn’t default to 1080p HD it is set to default at 720p but just like to camera this is easy to change.
There is a quick launch for the camera at the bottom of the screen, when first looking for the icon doesn’t really look like a camera it looks more like a front load washing machine, but that is the quick launch for the camera! There was no lag in the shutter with taking pictures or shooting video, but keep in mind, this is a phone, and it is not a DSL camera, so it should be treated as such. Overall it is great quality and easy to use!
Battery Life
Most smart-phone users have concluded by now that no matter the phone in use it will have to charge every day.
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr has a 1780 mAh battery which is good as far as a battery goes, however it is unlike and of its previous successors with the lack of a physical battery in the device. There is no ability to pull the battery if things go south with the phone. The sleep toggle/power button is going to act as the saving grace if anything happens with the device, so power it down and that should help with any issues that may arise. Anyone who has the joy of having the 4G LTE phone knows that the LTE drains the battery faster then the speed of lighting, so keep this in mind. It also the Razr tends to get a little on the warm side so don’t be alarmed.
Bottom Line: With the Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr carry an extra charger and plug it in through out the day.
Interface
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr runs the Android 2.3.5 which runs on the latest version of Gingerbread OS with the Motorola Application Platform that runs five home screens. It is also set to upgrade to the latest version “Ice Cream Sandwich” as soon as it becomes available.
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr never slowed and scrolling between pages or up and down long lists happened without hesitation. The user interface is wickedly fast and responsive. It does have to Dual Core Processor however that doesn’t mean anything to the average consumer they operate the same as a single core processor but where you notice the biggest difference is in the graphics, gaming, and the video output feature. The Dual Core Processor also helps with the battery life. Anyone who is a seasoned Droid user knows that the battery’s do not last for any extended length of time and the Dual Core Processor helps with saving on the battery because it doesn’t make the phone work as hard. The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr having the Dual Core Processor doesn’t seem to help with the battery life, it is running on the 4G LTE network and that tends to take all of the extra juice that is saved by the processor.
Web
It has a full HTML browser. It is integrated with Flash 10.1 for web browsing so viewing most sites with flash files is not a problem.
Pinch-zoom pages in as far as needed get a nice screen shot of bookmarked pages, and they can all be viewed in landscape or vertical configurations.
Special Feature Apps
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr has quite a few apps that are new and a great addition to the phones features.
- MOTOACTIVE: Is a Motorola fitness tracker
- MOTOPRINT: This is an application is used to connect wirelessly to a printer.
- TASK MANAGER: Included task killer for problem apps.
- SMART ACTIONS: This application is used to set the phone to do various functions throughout the day. For example, it can be set for “home” mode, which allows the volume to be set at 100% so a call is never missed within a certain time frame. “Battery Saver” mode allows for the phone to go into sleep mode during certain times of the day or if the phone has been inactive for a given length of time. “Sleep” mode turns the ringer off at a set time and turns it back on at a set time daily. There are also “Battery Saver” modes, “Workout” Modes, other preset modes, as well as an option to create custom modes. However this is confusing to set up if not familiar with different work mode settings.
Conclusion
The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr seems to be a hybrid of the Motorola Droid X and Droid X2. This is a great phone and worth every bit of dough that needs to be shelled out to get it. The only true test will be to see if the battery will hold out. That could make or break the success of this phone. Short of the battery this is a great phone for someone who wants all the power and versatility of the Droid OS on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE lightning fast network.
Specs
Processor: Dual Core 1.2Ghz processor
Storage: 1GB of LP DDR2 RAM / 16GB Internal memory / 16GB MicroSD card (pre-installed)
Screen: 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced Display, qHD resolution (960 x 540) for hyper-vibrant colors and images
Camera: 8MP with launch from lock screen, 1080p HD recording, and 1.3MP (720P HD Recording) front facing camera for video chatting
Audio: 3.5mm headset jack / HDMI Port / Bluetooth Wireless v2.1
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, Smart action apps, Citrix Receiver, Amazon Kindle, Blockbuster, GoToMeeting, IM, Let’s Golf 2, Madden NFL12, MOTOACTV, MOTOPRINT, My Accounts, My Verizon, Netflix, News, NFL Mobile, Quickoffice, Slacker Radio, Smart Actions, Social Location, Social Networking, Task Manager, Tasks, V CAST Tones, Verizon Video, Video Surf, Voice Command, VA Navigator.
Weight: 4.48 ounces
Battery: 1780 mAH Li-ION – Usage (approx) 12.5 Hours– Standby Time (approx) 8.5 Days
