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RAZR Reviewed in Store

shadrap said:
The ones I posted above is what I got. Believe me I want the camera to be great(3 kids). If someone gets a chance to play with one again. Message the photos to yourself and then post them. Maybe I had a bad one? They actually had 3 on display but I do not remember if I tried the camera on the others.

The screen is great and is LEAPs and BOUNDS better than the Bionic. Closest comparison on the market to it is the GS2.
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And I'm with you on wanting the camera to be good (2 kids here myself!) - the biggest thing that had me concerned about the RAZR was just how good the camera was going to be, especially since I heard and saw how bad the one on the Bionic was. I'll stop by the store again after work sometime this week and text the handful of pics I took to myself and will post them on here because the image quality I saw made me lean heavily towards the RAZR camp in the RAZR/Nexus debate.
 
I just don't get how Moto can bounce back and fourth on cameras. The DX camera was alternatively good and bad in responsiveness based on the software update. But the picture quality was generally pretty damn good.

Now the Bionic camera is considered pretty crappy. I'll need to see the pics off camera and on a real monitor to know what's what.
 
pm1066 said:
I just don't get how Moto can bounce back and fourth on cameras. The DX camera was alternatively good and bad in responsiveness based on the software update. But the picture quality was generally pretty damn good.

Now the Bionic camera is considered pretty crappy. I'll need to see the pics off camera and on a real monitor to know what's what.
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Part of the problem may be that the folks on the fruit side of the war keep upping the ante on phone camera quality and resolution! As such expectations throughout the industry continue to increase. And apparently Moto doesn't see the camera as anything more than an accessory on the smartphone. As such they don't put a lot of effort into it.

People now seem to feel smartphones are more than just a marriage of PDA and cell phones. So things like cameras become increasingly more important to them.

And then, of course, there are folks like me who simply don't care about the camera. I think I use my DX camera more to take pics of cool stuff in stores that I want to look into. In that sense the camera becomes really useful to me... see something that I think the ole lady will like, take a picture of it, go online and find it for half price! Get the brownie points from being thoughtful and generous... at half the cost! Woot! :cool:
 
I handled a live Razr with no connection today. Felt very sturdy and no lag whatsoever. Camera loaded pretty quickly and pics snapped almost continuously. Given the abuse it'll endure being shoved in my front or back pocket, in my bags, in my car, dropped on occasion, I'm thinking this is what I need rather than the rather frail looking GN or 4S. The back frame does look like it will mark/scratch up over time. May not be the ultimate in every spec, but it'll do for now
 
I too went by the local VZW store and looked at the Razr on display.... very impressive from the hardware standpoint... Software seemed a bit laggy but I haven't used Android lately... been stuck on iOS and Windows Phone. I tried to twist the case or bend it and it wouldn't budge... downloaded the Speedtest.net app and got 27mb down and 8mb up on 4G LTE WOW!!!! Can't wait to get mine.
 
Martimus said:
Part of the problem may be that the folks on the fruit side of the war keep upping the ante on phone camera quality and resolution! As such expectations throughout the industry continue to increase. And apparently Moto doesn't see the camera as anything more than an accessory on the smartphone. As such they don't put a lot of effort into it.

People now seem to feel smartphones are more than just a marriage of PDA and cell phones. So things like cameras become increasingly more important to them.

And then, of course, there are folks like me who simply don't care about the camera. I think I use my DX camera more to take pics of cool stuff in stores that I want to look into. In that sense the camera becomes really useful to me... see something that I think the ole lady will like, take a picture of it, go online and find it for half price! Get the brownie points from being thoughtful and generous... at half the cost! Woot! :cool:
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Funny, I use my camera in stores exactly the same way!

I get all the other points, I just don't get how the bounce backwards in quality between models. You'd think if they don't want to put effort into it, they would just move the old camera forward. It takes effort to screw up something that works!

Good news is the Razr camera doesn't seem to be an absolute fiasco, and is actually looking to be a step up from what I have now.
 
sean76 said:
Thanks for the feedback!

I must say, I'm a little disappointed! Well alot disappointed to be honest! Alot of Forum members have stated that its to be expected with moto phones. I was just hoping that moto would have listened to the enormous amount of complaints that mounted when the Bionic released, and would put a quality shooter with a snappy auto focus in the Razr.

For this reason, I most likely will skip the Razr and just go with the Nexus...I need a fairly good camera on my phone that doesn't take 10 seconds or better to focus on a shot...Damm, bummer!
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I hate to say it, but Moto cameras have never been great, and unfortunately from the sound of things it seems like they've continued that trend.

I'll have to check out the display quality when it comes out, it can't be as bad as the Bionic ;)

So I'm hearing the Kevlar backing is bulletproof, but not scratch proof :p

Other than that it sounds like it's a good phone.
 
Ok peeps...
I got news....Bad...Good...more bad...lol

Bad...
Ok I went to a store near my place...no dice, and the women (Mgr) was so extremely nasty when I asked her about the Razr...rolled her eyes and said come back on the 11th....lol, I called her a nasty witch and walked out....Lmaooo

Good...
On my way home I stopped at a store near my house...Bingo!!! They had one on Display...whoop whoop..

Bad...
Battery was as dead as a door nail...and I guess the charger that was plugged into it wasn't working....Jeeeeez!

Ok so what I can say is this...

Build Quality felt fairly good, the phone felt very lite and pretty good in the hand. The power button did indeed feel like a camera button, and was a little loose...
As for the bullet proof back...I must say, it felt pretty good...buy yes, it can deff get scratched...

Well that's all I have to go on for now...

Full Sean 76 review next week with one I can turn on...lol
 
Played with one of these at a Verizon store today. I have to say, I was blown away by how nice this phone is. Screen is definitely an improvement over the Bionic and almost on par with the Samsung screens. Phone is responsive and snappy, even with the Blur homescreen and widget animations which I have to say are really tasteful and nice. The thing that really surprised me, however, is just how nice the phone is to hold. It's even thinner and lighter than I imagined. It almost felt like a dummy unit with how light it was. Even with the big security device attached to it, it felt lighter than my OG Droid.

I am still leaning towards the nexus b/c of ICS and dev community, but I'll be damned if Motorola hasn't managed to build a phone that even without the latest OS is still damn competitive. I certainly haven't made up my mind yet and won't until I try out the Nexus, but this phone has some serious advantages to it. I expect the Razr to win in the build quality department and it seems like with the Smart Actions and MotoCast that Motorola might be the only carrier to actually add some useful, practical features to an Android phone (aside from just extra widgets). It's going to be a tough call, but I'm somewhat tempted by the Razr and wondering if when it gets ICS (hopefully within a few months) that it will actually be a better device than the Nexus. Moto's smart actions and motocast + ICS's quick responses to ignored phone calls would make for a phone that can really do it all.

By the way, I don't think we need a dozen different threads with people posting their impressions from demo units. Maybe a mod could merge all the threads into an official review/first impressions thread?
 
To the OP, did you clean the lens? These are demo units that have probably been handled quite a bit already. Those smudges from fingers can lead to...hazy photos!

Not saying that is the case, just a possibility.
 
The Verizon store near where I work had one RAZR on display. It was attached to the security cable, so it's hard to judge the hardware. However, it seems really nice. At its thickest it is thinner than the thinnest part of my Droid X (did you follow that?) The power button does suck (wobbly), much like the camera button on an X.

It unfortunately had a bad SIM card and couldn't turn on completely. All I could see was the boot animation, the SIM error screen, and the emergency dialer. The employees said they're going to activate it at the launch or something.

I certainly have not wrote off this phone for the Nexus yet.
 
Got mine 15 minutes ago. Unboxed to see if I wanted to keep it. After starting it up I knew it was a keeper in 2 seconds.

Screen not dim.
No pixelation.
Fast as hell on the built in launcher.

A beauty.

I am going on holiday today so will not be posting any time soon as I have to set it up to be ready for action :)
 
How on earth did you get yours already? I haven't even had a chance to check for shipping email. All I know is if it does ship today and gets here tomorrow it had better be before I leave for work. Gotta close tomorrow and I want something to do. One of the people I work with is too quiet and the other one is a B****
 
Xiogua said:
How on earth did you get yours already? I haven't even had a chance to check for shipping email. All I know is if it does ship today and gets here tomorrow it had better be before I leave for work. Gotta close tomorrow and I want something to do. One of the people I work with is too quiet and the other one is a B****
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Szadzik is across the pond...
 
I tested the Razr out in store for another hour today just to substantiate or refute my first test concerns of heat and battery life. I stick with my concern the device runs too warm. This will not be as bad an issue for fall and winter, but when ambient temps get up (or folks living in warm place now- duh), I think people will notice. The Razr always seems to be warm and favor the 1.2ghz clock. Two demos, same result- but key issue is they are demo units.

I am also not liking the display as others are. I prefer the Bionics (not to mention the Bionic is more comfortable to hold and does not feel warm all the time). Both units also had very iffy sd slots that were a challenge to keep locked in. Maybe bum units?

The display is a subjective thing, but the temp of the device when holding is less so. Be nice to know other people's experience when they use their Razr device a few days.

One other thing I noticed is though there appears to be a space from the display and the capacitive buttons, there really is not. It is just as easy to trigger them when using virtual controls as the Bionic or other devices, since the touch points are flush with the display edge. Bummer.

As far as battery life, two hours is no better than one to conclude anything, so takes REAL users who own the device.


Added:

BTW, the Rezound was in the house too, but I will not even go there ;) Added again: Actually, I will. IMO, the Rezound's display looks better than the Bionic and the Razr. It is kind of like a chubby Incredible, but that is as far as I am going......
 
First impressions:

I played with the store display for about 15 minutes. I used BUMP to move images to my DX and used bluetooth to get the video transfered to my DX.

Camera: Don't worry about lag. Auto-focus to snap was less that 1/2 second (maybe 1/3 second). Much faster than my DX! Images look good, but I used bump to transfer to my DX and they are thumbnails (25% size) so I don't have any full size images. Video looks good, but it doesn't look like it can focus on near objects. Of course this may be a settings issue. See the sample at the bottom of this post.

Screen: Colors are much more vibrant than my DX. The screen did seem slightly dimmer than the DX, but not much. Maybe just the blacks being portrayed better. Looks like screen is still the #1 battery hog though. There were a couple of times where the touch screen was unresponsive. I had to hit an icon twice to get it to register.

Speed: Exactly what I would expect from a dual core processor. Nothing else to say about that.

Size: The widest part of the RAZR (the hump) is equal to or thinner than the thinnest part of my DX! Yeah, I was impressed! The hump is less prominent that the hump on the DX, meaning there is not as much difference in thickness. The RAZR felt like it weighs less than the DX, which it does. But it is noticeable, if slightly. Fits easily in my shirt pocket, which is where I keep my DX usually.

Feel: Like I said above, very light. Feels solid in my hand. No harder to grip than my DX.

General: A little worried about that 2.47Gb available for apps showing on the storage screen. My DX has never gotten under 5.5Gb available for App storage, and I've had over 100 apps on the DX before. Also, the battery screen showed 20.5 hours. It wasn't plugged in while I was reviewing (playing with) it, so I'm not sure how reliable than figure is.



Pictures of the RAZR (taken with my Droid X)


Pictures taken by the RAZR


Sample 720p video:
Droid RAZR Sample video - YouTube
The sample is just under 30 sec. MP4 at 29Mb


Now get to the store and see for yourself!
 
rushmore said:
I tested the Razr out in store for another hour today just to substantiate or refute my first test concerns of heat and battery life. I stick with my concern the device runs too warm. This will not be as bad an issue for fall and winter, but when ambient temps get up (or folks living in warm place now- duh), I think people will notice. The Razr always seems to be warm and favor the 1.2ghz clock. Two demos, same result- but key issue is they are demo units.

I am also not liking the display as others are. I prefer the Bionics (not to mention the Bionic is more comfortable to hold and does not feel warm all the time). Both units also had very iffy sd slots that were a challenge to keep locked in. Maybe bum units?

The display is a subjective thing, but the temp of the device when holding is less so. Be nice to know other people's experience when they use their Razr device a few days.

One other thing I noticed is though there appears to be a space from the display and the capacitive buttons, there really is not. It is just as easy to trigger them when using virtual controls as the Bionic or other devices, since the touch points are flush with the display edge. Bummer.

As far as battery life, two hours is no better than one to conclude anything, so takes REAL users who own the device.


Added:

BTW, the Rezound was in the house too, but I will not even go there ;)
Click to expand...


I'm actually paying close attention to the Rezound! I must say HTC sucks on Battery life and Gluing down screens...However from the review I saw on wirefly...It looks pretty dam solid...thicker then I like, but a solid phone with a pretty good display.
 
sean76 said:
I'm actually paying close attention to the Rezound! I must say HTC sucks on Battery life and Gluing down screens...However from the review I saw on wirefly...It looks pretty dam solid...thicker then I like, but a solid phone with a pretty good display.
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It really seems like a big Incredible to me. The display looks more crisp, bright and the colors more natural then the Razr. Should have full hour tomorrow to mess with it (if can leave work).

Add: The definition of the display is also better IMO.
 
Does anyone have an initial impression of the battery heat? I've only seen one review comment on the battery getting hot. I'd think we'd have seen oven mitt warnings by now (crossing fingers).
 
pm1066 said:
Does anyone have an initial impression of the battery heat? I've only seen one review comment on the battery getting hot. I'd think we'd have seen oven mitt warnings by now (crossing fingers).
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Hard to tell, since the device seems warm in general and can get toasty piping through the display. Will disclaim due to both Razr's are demos.
 
Aside from thin, how does it compare to the DX? Is it wider/taller? as a DX owner, does it feel about the same, or bigger in the hand?

Also, how big is the glass front? I'm not talking the screen size, I'm talking the actual glass. I'm trying to figure out what Stenheil screen protector currently out will fit it.
 
Chi-TownTx said:
LoL Sean who are you kidding. You know damn well you will buy the RAZR and the Nexus either way. It's just not in you to skip on a new top model phone. Your not built that way. ;)

P.S. Side note, you really should start your own phone review site with the various models you have owned. And no i am not kidding. :)
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Because thats the way Sean is & thats the way he's wired ( get it anyone?)
 
rushmore said:
I tested the Razr out in store for another hour today just to substantiate or refute my first test concerns of heat and battery life. I stick with my concern the device runs too warm. This will not be as bad an issue for fall and winter, but when ambient temps get up (or folks living in warm place now- duh), I think people will notice. The Razr always seems to be warm and favor the 1.2ghz clock. Two demos, same result- but key issue is they are demo units.

I am also not liking the display as others are. I prefer the Bionics (not to mention the Bionic is more comfortable to hold and does not feel warm all the time). Both units also had very iffy sd slots that were a challenge to keep locked in. Maybe bum units?

The display is a subjective thing, but the temp of the device when holding is less so. Be nice to know other people's experience when they use their Razr device a few days.

One other thing I noticed is though there appears to be a space from the display and the capacitive buttons, there really is not. It is just as easy to trigger them when using virtual controls as the Bionic or other devices, since the touch points are flush with the display edge. Bummer.

As far as battery life, two hours is no better than one to conclude anything, so takes REAL users who own the device.


Added:

BTW, the Rezound was in the house too, but I will not even go there ;) Added again: Actually, I will. IMO, the Rezound's display looks better than the Bionic and the Razr. It is kind of like a chubby Incredible, but that is as far as I am going......
Click to expand...

Why don't you head over to the Rezound forum and post your impressions there? I'm sure plenty of people there would like to read them and probably quite a few people here as well.
 
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