cereal killer
Android Expert
I just got back from the Verizon store after spending a good solid 45 minutes on the Droid RAZR.
My first impression(s)? very impressed but not perfect.
Lets start off with the Boot Animation. I always reboot a device before testing anyhow so this was a chance to see it live and in person and what a treat it is. If you haven't seen it yet check out DL for the video. It's very nice. Boot time was pretty fast. I didn't time it but it couldn't be anymore than 20-25 seconds.
Build quality. The build quality on this handset is simply stellar. It has but one problem though which I will get to in a moment. The phone is incredibly light, which was a huge surprise. It's very hard to describe the feeling in hand. When you look at the phone you see a solid, razor thin phone. Well thats the way it feels in hand but it's more than that. Very hard to describe but it's not bulky or cumbersome at all. It's just comfortable. Those familiar with Gorilla Glass already know the smooth silky feel it has. No need to mention that.
The Kevlar backing. Ahh yes Kevlar. The Kevlar backing will NOT be easy to scratch and believe me it wont. Unless you are applying excessive pressure with a metallic object the Kevlar will NOT scratch. It almost has a very slight rubber feel to it when you depress your fingernail against it. Applying pressure on a fingernail or key and dragging it across the Kevlar will not mark it or mar it. Believe me I did it
The phone naked will hold up in your pocket with change and keys just fine. Can it be scratched? Of course, what can't. Everyday normal use and the phone will be fine.
The one mark against the build quality is the power button. On a naked phone I can see it getting snagged and torn off while pocketing the device if one is not careful. The aluminum button is very "sharp" around the edges and doesn't sit too firmly on the handset. It is not going to fall off through normal use but since it is sharp I can see it getting snagged and torn off. The particular demo unit I used had some play in the button. So that is a mark against it.
Last thing about build and aesthetics. The phone is very masculine. Sorry ladies but this phone may not be very appealing to you. I took my girlfriend with me and the first thing she said is "I don't like it. Thats more of a phone for you." I knew what she was saying asked anyway "What do you mean?" "It's too masculine" Personal opinion? Yeah probably but she's a girlie girl. You know the type that like to bling their phones out or put pretty pink cases on them? Well thats her.
Camera: I'm going to put the camera issue to rest. The camera takes pics instantly. You point it at something, it focuses and once you hit the button it takes it. There is no wait. Quality is subjective and I'm no expert but the pics I took looked good to me. I posted a couple below. Again, there's no wait and the camera is fast. Plenty of options too.
Screen: The screen while beautiful is not anything you have not seen. If you have seen the Charge and SGSII's well you've seen the RAZR's to an extent. There is but two big differences. The text under the icons (while on home screen) is pixelated. Now before you run off and get bent out of shape it's not horrendous, but it is noticeable (to me at least) and to be perfectly honest some may not even notice it. Battery icon there is absolutely no pixelation at all. In the menu's and while on webpages it's not even noticable but there is something about the homscreen Icons that makes the pentile matrix evident (again to me) Whites are NOT bright (see the Charge and SGSII) The good news about the screen is that it is not as blown out with saturation as the SGSII or Charge. Once again to the average user they won't even notice these things but to the seasoned users don't expect to be blown away. It's a beautiful screen and like I said it's really nothing you have not already seen. I will say Bionic owners will want to burn Motorola down after seeing this screen on the RAZR
Speakers: plenty loud and clear. Is it Bose? No, but it gets the job done. I played Madden Football on it and had to turn it down because it was so loud.
Call Quality: N/A
UI: As to not write a novel here. The UI was very fluid (no lag at all) and snappy. Animations are real nice. As you scroll though home screens the widgets are slightly faded then as they settle into place they brighten up. There is an option to turn off animations. Something I should mention that will make many happy. Bloat does not run on the RAZR. If you don't launch the bloat and just hide it they don't run. After a fresh boot no bloat was running. So the RAZR runs very lean-n-mean.
Livewallpapers: Nothing to see here. Booorrrring. Not even the Droid neural network is on it
The wallpapers that come with it are outstanding though. Again just my opinion.
So i played games, watched video, texted, surfed the web, emailed, shot pics and downloaded apps (market) and after 45 minutes the phone was still purring along and still cool as a cucumber. Don't mistake that for no heat though. The screen generates the most heat interestingly enough but the back of the phone was not anything out of the ordinary. Heat was not an issue and this was on 4G the whole time.
So after 45 minutes I'm more than excited to finally receive my device. It's going to be an excellent phone and I think everyone will be more than pleased with it. This phone delivers on speed, smoothness, build and looks. It's not perfect, but what phone is.
I hope when everyone gets their phones they enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks for reading!
My first impression(s)? very impressed but not perfect.
Lets start off with the Boot Animation. I always reboot a device before testing anyhow so this was a chance to see it live and in person and what a treat it is. If you haven't seen it yet check out DL for the video. It's very nice. Boot time was pretty fast. I didn't time it but it couldn't be anymore than 20-25 seconds.
Build quality. The build quality on this handset is simply stellar. It has but one problem though which I will get to in a moment. The phone is incredibly light, which was a huge surprise. It's very hard to describe the feeling in hand. When you look at the phone you see a solid, razor thin phone. Well thats the way it feels in hand but it's more than that. Very hard to describe but it's not bulky or cumbersome at all. It's just comfortable. Those familiar with Gorilla Glass already know the smooth silky feel it has. No need to mention that.
The Kevlar backing. Ahh yes Kevlar. The Kevlar backing will NOT be easy to scratch and believe me it wont. Unless you are applying excessive pressure with a metallic object the Kevlar will NOT scratch. It almost has a very slight rubber feel to it when you depress your fingernail against it. Applying pressure on a fingernail or key and dragging it across the Kevlar will not mark it or mar it. Believe me I did it
The phone naked will hold up in your pocket with change and keys just fine. Can it be scratched? Of course, what can't. Everyday normal use and the phone will be fine.The one mark against the build quality is the power button. On a naked phone I can see it getting snagged and torn off while pocketing the device if one is not careful. The aluminum button is very "sharp" around the edges and doesn't sit too firmly on the handset. It is not going to fall off through normal use but since it is sharp I can see it getting snagged and torn off. The particular demo unit I used had some play in the button. So that is a mark against it.
Last thing about build and aesthetics. The phone is very masculine. Sorry ladies but this phone may not be very appealing to you. I took my girlfriend with me and the first thing she said is "I don't like it. Thats more of a phone for you." I knew what she was saying asked anyway "What do you mean?" "It's too masculine" Personal opinion? Yeah probably but she's a girlie girl. You know the type that like to bling their phones out or put pretty pink cases on them? Well thats her.
Camera: I'm going to put the camera issue to rest. The camera takes pics instantly. You point it at something, it focuses and once you hit the button it takes it. There is no wait. Quality is subjective and I'm no expert but the pics I took looked good to me. I posted a couple below. Again, there's no wait and the camera is fast. Plenty of options too.
Screen: The screen while beautiful is not anything you have not seen. If you have seen the Charge and SGSII's well you've seen the RAZR's to an extent. There is but two big differences. The text under the icons (while on home screen) is pixelated. Now before you run off and get bent out of shape it's not horrendous, but it is noticeable (to me at least) and to be perfectly honest some may not even notice it. Battery icon there is absolutely no pixelation at all. In the menu's and while on webpages it's not even noticable but there is something about the homscreen Icons that makes the pentile matrix evident (again to me) Whites are NOT bright (see the Charge and SGSII) The good news about the screen is that it is not as blown out with saturation as the SGSII or Charge. Once again to the average user they won't even notice these things but to the seasoned users don't expect to be blown away. It's a beautiful screen and like I said it's really nothing you have not already seen. I will say Bionic owners will want to burn Motorola down after seeing this screen on the RAZR
Speakers: plenty loud and clear. Is it Bose? No, but it gets the job done. I played Madden Football on it and had to turn it down because it was so loud.
Call Quality: N/A
UI: As to not write a novel here. The UI was very fluid (no lag at all) and snappy. Animations are real nice. As you scroll though home screens the widgets are slightly faded then as they settle into place they brighten up. There is an option to turn off animations. Something I should mention that will make many happy. Bloat does not run on the RAZR. If you don't launch the bloat and just hide it they don't run. After a fresh boot no bloat was running. So the RAZR runs very lean-n-mean.
Livewallpapers: Nothing to see here. Booorrrring. Not even the Droid neural network is on it
The wallpapers that come with it are outstanding though. Again just my opinion.So i played games, watched video, texted, surfed the web, emailed, shot pics and downloaded apps (market) and after 45 minutes the phone was still purring along and still cool as a cucumber. Don't mistake that for no heat though. The screen generates the most heat interestingly enough but the back of the phone was not anything out of the ordinary. Heat was not an issue and this was on 4G the whole time.
So after 45 minutes I'm more than excited to finally receive my device. It's going to be an excellent phone and I think everyone will be more than pleased with it. This phone delivers on speed, smoothness, build and looks. It's not perfect, but what phone is.
I hope when everyone gets their phones they enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks for reading!
