Motorola Droid RAZR Preview

The Motorola RAZR is back – revived as an Android-powered smartphone that’s thin, powerful, fast and ready to kick the competition around. Simply put, the Droid RAZR has something for everyone. It’s powerful with a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and has enough RAM to multitask like a monster without slowing down. Shutterbugs will also love the fact that it has an 8-megapixel camera that can shoot 1080p HD video and design freaks will flip out on the Droid RAZR’s Kevlar body and 4.3-inch qHD screen. Check out our quick hands-on and preview of the Droid RAZR after the break.

Specifications

1.2GHz dual-core processor
4.3-inch Super AMOLE Advanced (960×540)
Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread
1GB RAM
8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash (1080p HD video recording)
1.3-megapixel front camera (720p HD video calling)
16GB internal storage + 16GB microSD card
1,780 mAh battery (12.5 hours talk time / 8.5 hours standby)
130.7×65.9×7.1mm
127 grams

Design

Laser-cut woven Kevlar fiber. That’s what the Droid RAZR is made from. That’s the texture on the back of the smartphone. To keep the phone from snapping in half, its frame and internal core is crafted from pure stainless steel.

Only 7.1mm thin – making it the world’s thinnest smartphone, let alone 4G LTE phone.

During the press event, Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha repeatedly said that the device was made from premium materials (stainless steel, glass and kevlar). We’re inclined to agree. The Droid RAZR feels very solid.

Splash-resistant

The Motorola Droid RAZR has been designed to be resistant to water. It should survive rain or a beer/water spill without a problem we’ve been told. That said, don’t immerse it. While it has a coating that’s protecting it from regular spill, the design still expects gravity to move the liquid away quickly. Also the water could come in from the micrephone.

Performance

Keeping in line with most Android-based smartphones and of course the iPhone 4S, the Droid RAZR has a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. It runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and it just flies. We’re not joking – the Droid RAZR is the new king of Android on Verizon. It can match Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphones without breaking a sweat.

We opened apps, surfed the web on 4G LTE, watched streaming HD videos (from Netflix over 4G), took photos, and the maps app it never seemed to choke up.

Battery life is optimized by Smart Actions – software tweaks that learn when to turn off power-hungry features like Bluetooth and GPS when you don’t need them, or shut down cellular data when you’re home or at the office on WIFI. The result is 30 percent better battery life (or so Motorola claims).

Ports include a mini HDMI, microSD card slot (16GB of internal storage + 16GB memory card), micro USB and 3.5mm audio jack.

Camera

The Droid RAZR has an 8-megapixel rear camera capable of recording 1080p HD video. Firing up the app, the camera appears to be very fast, which is extremely important when you need to get a critical shot. There’s also an LED flash on the back as well.

Just like the Droid X and X2, the Droid RAZR’s camera sits on a “hump” on the back, making it thicker than than the rest of the body. Depending on how you like to hold your smartphone, the hump might not be much of an issue.

Located on the front of the Droid RAZR is a 1.3-megapixel camera that Motorola says can crank out 720p HD video recording for clear video conferencing. We didn’t get to test it out in our quick hands-on, but it should be of a caliber higher than the iPhone 4S’s VGA FaceTime camera.

Display

It’s virtually impossible not to feel impressed the Droid RAZR’s qHD 960×540 resolution Super AMOLED Advanced screen. It’s really gorgeous and bright. Colors are very vibrant and the contrast is unbelievable (that’s an OLED after all). It’s every bit as sharp the display on the Motorola Atrix and Photon 4G, but without the moire issues that other qHD Motorola displays have (read our Photon 4G review).

At 4.3-inches, the Gorilla Glass screen isn’t too large. We peg 4.5-inch as where it starts to become a bit too large for the average-sized hand. Typing on the spacious keyboard is fantastic in both landscape and portrait mode.

However, we can’t get over how incredibly smudgy the display on the Droid RAZR is. The units we played with were under pretty harsh lights, but it’s still picks up fingerprints with very easily.

Conclusion

Is the Droid RAZR the best Android smartphone? In terms of looks, it is definitely a contender. It’s sexier than Samsung’s Galaxy S II line in my opinion. It’s strong and slick. It performed relatively well and it’ll be on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. Battery life is pegged at 12.5 hours of talk time (twice that of the Droid Charge).

We’ll be reviewing the Droid RAZR soon enough, but in the mean time, what do you think? Is this Motorola making a comeback or what?

Raymond Wong
Categories: Cellphones, Featured
Tags: Android, droid, droid razr, Motorola, razr, Smartphones