With its super-slim, fashionable body, Motorola's Razr telephone became unbelievably well-known in 2004 - a smash hit that Motorola hasn't been capable to duplicate. Now, a lot of a long time later, the business is attempting to recapture some of that magic by ushering the Razr to the smartphone age.
The brand new Droid Razr, obtainable Friday by way of Verizon Wireless for $300 using a two-year support agreement, echoes the svelte kind and excellent looks of its ancestor.
It's got a lot of great functions, such as a large touch display and the capacity to use Verizon's high-speed 4G LTE network for zippy Net surfing. Furthermore, it has Motorola's MotoCast provider for wirelessly streaming and downloading material stored on your personal computer.
Yet I could not get a lot time to enjoy the mobile phone since utilizing it with LTE swiftly wore down the battery.
And although the phone runs the most up-to-date edition of Google Inc.'s Android software package that is offered for smartphones, buyers could be tempted to wait around. Verizon will soon offer Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, that will have a good newer model of Android named Ice Cream Sandwich. The Droid Razr is predicted to have that update, way too, but not till up coming calendar year.
Never get me improper, although: The Droid Razr is actually a sizzling phone.
Gazing at it for your first time, I had the exact same imagined as I did when i first laid eyes about the now-ancient Razr telephone: How the heck did Motorola make the cellphone that skinny? Apart from for any chunk at the leading that properties the rear camera, flash and an exterior speaker, the Droid Razr is slimmer than any other smartphone. It really is merely a 3rd of an inch thick. It is mild, also, at four.5 ounces.
It helps make other smartphones - Apple's iPhone included - search chubby by comparison.
Its back again is covered in diagonal gray and black lines composed of Kevlar fiber, which can be meant to extend the phone's strength. An additional perk, though a single which is not noticeable: The cellphone features a water-repellent coating equally inside of and outside which is meant to shield it from harm brought on by the occasional spill.
The Droid Razr features a 4.3-inch show, which can be too large to match also comfortably in my hand, but plenty huge for observing movies and looking at internet sites. It's not the highest-resolution display you will find on a smartphone, but colours looked vibrant and pictures were crisp.
The display screen also functions effectively being a viewfinder for your Razr's 8-megapixel camera. The digital camera snaps pictures rather quickly. I was able to capture sharp shots in brilliant and minimal light.
The telephone is speedy all round, owing to its dual-core processor and 1 gigabyte of memory. I had no dilemma streaming tunes whilst I bounced between IM'ing buddies, checking up on gossip websites and making use of Google Maps to seek out a great restaurant close to my place of work.
The phone has a large battery that promises 12.5 hours of discuss time. To maintain the phone slim, the battery is built-in and can't be very easily changed.
And, as predicted, it will not likely final extended if you're on Verizon's more quickly data network: Employing a combination of LTE and Verizon's slower 3G network to surf the internet, stream an episode of "The Office," download apps and stream audio from Pandora, I only had 15 % battery existence still left soon after two-and-a-half hrs.
That seemed lame. Obviously you can lengthen the battery lifestyle by not making use of the LTE network, or by seriously limiting what amount you employ it. But use of this high-speed network is amongst the phone's greatest functions, strengthening all sorts of Web-related jobs, which includes video streaming and World wide web surfing.
Thankfully, Motorola incorporated a really neat app referred to as Sensible Actions that will relieve somewhat from the battery drain. Wise Steps might be set to automatically alter the Razr's configurations at a specific time, both through the use of built-in "rules" that you simply can modify or through the use of types you figure out.
For example, you are able to set a reduced battery saver rule to dim your display screen, turn off the phone's GPS and quit content from syncing in the history when the phone's battery reaches a specific amount or once you get property. It is possible to also set principles to support your very own laziness. I instituted 1 that makes the phone start its new music app when I plug within a pair of headphones.
The phone also features a services called MotoCast, which will come across as Motorola Mobility Keeping Inc.'s answer to Apple Inc.'s iCloud content material streaming provider. With MotoCast, you are able to wirelessly accessibility and download documents, music, video clips and images saved with your Mac or Computer on your Razr.
Unfortunately, since content you stream with MotoCast is housed with your laptop or computer - not on remote personal computer servers since it is with iCloud - that computer need to be on and connected to the web for you personally hear to the Beatles or watch previous episodes of "The Simpsons." I do not know about you, but I don't depart my residence or function personal computer on the internet the many time.
You are able to download files to your mobile phone for use at any time, but even with all the phone's 32 gigabytes of space for storing you cannot probably retailer as a lot subject material when you could in your computer.
Even now, MotoCast is cost-free. The software package, which operates that has a variety of Motorola smartphones, was easy to put in place on my property pc. Around the Razr, streaming songs demonstrate up while in the phone's new music app, denoted by a very small icon, plus they played flawlessly. Videos are significantly less evident: I discovered them inside the phone's file supervisor and gallery apps. They did not appear to stream too, seeking pixelated even with my connection to LTE.
Outside of the strengths and weaknesses of its hardware and computer software, even though, I could not ignore the Razr's $300 value tag. This can be increased than most other Android smartphones offered by the major wireless carriers. Even the most cost effective iPhone 4S could be had for $200. It can be sure to make some potential customers balk.
The Droid Razr is as impressively skinny and stylish as its namesake. But shortcomings like its temporary battery existence when making use of LTE will very likely allow it to be difficult for this smartphone to be as common as its predecessor.
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