• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

The quality of Motorola phones

H

hitraj47

Newbie
I really like what I see from the atrix and as a nerdy early adopter I would like to get this phone. My contract will be up in about a month and I will be selling my Nexus one (which has been an amazing phone, on a less than amazing network )

The thing is, asking some of my friends, I have 2 of them that say negative things about the quality of Motorola products and one friend who disagrees.

Has anyone done any long term Droid reviews? What about reviews in general, what do they say about the build quality? What do you guys think?

And one final question, I like the stock Android interface, will the atrix have anything like sense or touchwiz?
 
To answer the first question, the build quality of Motorola is probably as good as it gets. They're known for great build quality...especially on their higher end devices. The razr, for example, was nearly bomb-proof.

Second question, it runs MotoBlur. You'll have to decide whether or not you like it. Go mess around with a Droid X or Bravo. I like it more than touchwiz or Sense, but some hate it and most everyone prefers vanilla android over all of them (Nexus line).
 
hitraj47 said:
I really like what I see from the atrix and as a nerdy early adopter I would like to get this phone. My contract will be up in about a month and I will be selling my Nexus one (which has been an amazing phone, on a less than amazing network )

The thing is, asking some of my friends, I have 2 of them that say negative things about the quality of Motorola products and one friend who disagrees.

Has anyone done any long term Droid reviews? What about reviews in general, what do they say about the build quality? What do you guys think?

And one final question, I like the stock Android interface, will the atrix have anything like sense or touchwiz?
Click to expand...

It seems to depend on who you ask; some people have good impressions while others had bad experiences, just like any manufacturer... I wonder if there is a website that aggregates people's experiences with handset makers?

In General, though, I think it has a pretty good reputation. After all, this is the manufacturer that made the DROID 1, 2, and X, which are all great android phones and helped make android popular. From everything I have heard / seen, HTC seems to have the best reputation, but personally I would suggest you steer clear of the HTC Inspire 4G because, while a great phone, the tech is getting dated (think EVO) and the battery is really, really bad (1230 mAH vs atrix 1920 mAh). I'm sure some HTC fans will disagree with me, but that's just my 2 cents.
 
I've had great experiences with Motorola over the years. Tough phones with great reception and call quality. My husband has an original Droid that has held up well. A friend with a Droid X said it's the only Verizon phone he can get good reception on in our rural area. I had a V365 that could get reception in places nobody else could. I am really hoping this Atrix has a good antenna so I can actually make calls on it! I tried a Captivate, loved that screen!, but had no service for calls in areas I'd always had great reception in with all previous AT&T phones. I really want the Atrix, but I'm getting really tired of the lack of information on a release date. If something else comes out first I'm really going to give it a good look!
 
I think I agree with komodo its definitely who you ask. I will see if I can find someone who has a custom ui on their phone. I've never known anything except stock Android since I had a g1 before I had my Nexus one

I'm willing yo put up with a different interface and I think I am now settled on the atrix. My contract is.up in February, I hope it comes out soon!
 
So far in my experience my favorite phones have all been Motorola ones, starting from my initial forays with Nokia feature phones, then going to the Moto StarTAC, then RAZR. I really like the Droid line, and hear nothing but great things about them.

Motorola does have some android phones on AT&T and T-Mobile that have somewhat ruined their reputation. There is the Backflip and Cliq, then the newer models of the Flipside and Flipout. The Backflip and Cliq are not bad phones, but the majority of Motorola android phones run their proprietary UI "Motoblur". This UI has been blamed for causing poor performance on the phones.

One of the big features of the UI is compiling information from the different social networks, Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace into one place. The Cliq and Backflip do not seem to have the processing power or memory to be able to handle the constant stream of information and function as a smooth running phone. To compound people's frustration with these devices, they took forever to be updated by Motorola to 2.0+ from Android 1.6.

The Flipside and Flipout came out at the same time as the Bravo, and I believe all three have a slightly more slimmed down version of Motoblur than the earlier Backflip and Cliq. The two "Flip" phones are definitely on the low-end of the Android spectrum although they both run 2.1. The main oddities of these phones are their form factors. The Flipout is a small square brick that has a miniscule screen which makes it very difficult to actually use the phone for more than a phone and a few status updates, in addition I think the phone would be way to fat to comfortably fit into a pocket. The Flipside in my opinion is a glorified quick messaging phone. It has a 3.2" screen with a small trackpad at the bottom of the phone. The phone is unremarkable but I haven't really heard any quality complaints.
 
roadkizzle said:
Motorola does have some android phones on AT&T and T-Mobile that have somewhat ruined their reputation. There is the Backflip and Cliq, then the newer models of the Flipside and Flipout. The Backflip and Cliq are not bad phones, but the majority of Motorola android phones run their proprietary UI "Motoblur". This UI has been blamed for causing poor performance on the phones.

One of the big features of the UI is compiling information from the different social networks, Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace into one place. The Cliq and Backflip do not seem to have the processing power or memory to be able to handle the constant stream of information and function as a smooth running phone. To compound people's frustration with these devices, they took forever to be updated by Motorola to 2.0+ from Android 1.6.
Click to expand...

Well, the phone I'm planning to get is the Atrix, so I'm certain there won't be any performance problems. I also feel that I'm a more advanced user and so I might experiment with custom ROM's and maybe see if people find a way to disable the custom UI, should it ever not be that great.

I actually asked the same question about ATT, if the quality of their service (data service specifically) is any good. Again, it seems to depend on who you ask. I think now I have decided on the Atrix 4G and I don't think I'll change my mind.

Now I'm with the rest of you, all painfully waiting for this awesome phone!

Thanks for all the replies!
 
thabends said:
To answer the first question, the build quality of Motorola is probably as good as it gets. They're known for great build quality...especially on their higher end devices. The razr, for example, was nearly bomb-proof.

Second question, it runs MotoBlur. You'll have to decide whether or not you like it. Go mess around with a Droid X or Bravo. I like it more than touchwiz or Sense, but some hate it and most everyone prefers vanilla android over all of them (Nexus line).
Click to expand...

Only disagree with one thing here and this the part about the Bravo. If you want to see where blur is go play with a Droid X, Droid 2 or Droid pro. The bravo is an older device that has a older version of blur. And even with the devices listed it seems as if blur gets less noticeable with every new round of phones.

As to people liking vanilla most that have it skin it with ADW or launcher pro upon getting it so they don't really like vanilla. They like the speed at which it gets updated. And if you put either one of those on a blur device you will not notice it has blur either.
 
I had a Motorola Cliq XT and it was a great little phone. I did exchange the phone one time (figured out after I got the replacement that it wasn't the phone causing the issue it was the network and an app). For every line of phones there will be some bad ones out there. I've sworn off just about every phone manufacturer for one reason or another and of course was always drawn back in by something new they had.

The UI's are all preference. I'm not a huge MotoBlur fan or Touchwiz fan. The one nice thing about MotoBlur (at least the version I had) is that even with using a different launcher you could still keep the widgets that were included in MotoBlur. Touchwiz has a couple of widgets (there could be more than a couple) that you cannot even see in the app drawer and cannot use those widgets if you use a different launcher. There also seems to different degrees to MotoBlur. The Cliq, Cliq XT and Backflip all seem to be the same and very big on social networking. I saw a pic of the Bionic and it looks different. The Droid line I have heard run a bit different version of MotoBlur.

I of course would love to check out the Atrix, can't wait for it to hit the shelves so I can go play with one.
 
tsanuri said:
Only disagree with one thing here and this the part about the Bravo. If you want to see where blur is go play with a Droid X, Droid 2 or Droid pro. The bravo is an older device that has a older version of blur. And even with the devices listed it seems as if blur gets less noticeable with every new round of phones.
Click to expand...

This is mistaken. The Bravo was released alongside the Flipside, and just after the Flipout in November. They were announced on October 5. The Droid X was launched in July.
 
Yeah, not trying to start an argument, but not only is the Bravo newer than the Droid X, it also looks to be running a different version of blur than the Droid X. The Atrix looks to run the same version as the Bravo.
 
thabends said:
Yeah, not trying to start an argument, but not only is the Bravo newer than the Droid X, it also looks to be running a different version of blur than the Droid X. The Atrix looks to run the same version as the Bravo.
Click to expand...


My bad I was thinking of the HTC phone that was from 2009.
 
the droid x ix hella solid the only thing i dont like about it is the camera button doesnt feel solid other than that just as bulletproof as the other moto phones
 
I used one yesterday and really liked the way it felt. It was very light, but not cheap-feeling and for a device with such a large screen, it fits in the hand quite comfortably. Definitely buying...
 
Jahmakan said:
I used one yesterday and really liked the way it felt. It was very light, but not cheap-feeling and for a device with such a large screen, it fits in the hand quite comfortably. Definitely buying...
Click to expand...
Are you (still) testing the Atrix? Did you see any problems (big or small)?
 
As far as UI's go, I'm not bothered. The atrix has more than enough power so it wont be slowed down. I've personally never used a custom skin but I don't care either way. From what I've seen it doesn't look bad at all.

From everything I've read from various sites I've decided I'm getting the atrix. I really can't wait for this phone!
 
Motorola is probably the only reason I wont buy this phone. I bought a droid x on the day it came out and had 7 replacements until verizon agreed to give me a Samsung Fascinate. I was also given an early upgrade and with that I will most likely buy a thunderbolt.

I had problems like bad touchscreens to constant crashing of the phone. When contacting Motorola support they had nothing to say but keep talking with verizon and that theres nothing that they will do even though verizon told me to call them. A motorola supervisor even told me that any refurb phone I get is going to have a problem. That it is someones broken device that they just give to someone else. As nice as this phone looks I just can not justify giving this company my money for anything especially locking myself into a 2 year contract for.
 
moondrius said:
Motorola is probably the only reason I wont buy this phone. I bought a droid x on the day it came out and had 7 replacements until verizon agreed to give me a Samsung Fascinate. I was also given an early upgrade and with that I will most likely buy a thunderbolt.

I had problems like bad touchscreens to constant crashing of the phone. When contacting Motorola support they had nothing to say but keep talking with verizon and that theres nothing that they will do even though verizon told me to call them. A motorola supervisor even told me that any refurb phone I get is going to have a problem. That it is someones broken device that they just give to someone else. As nice as this phone looks I just can not justify giving this company my money for anything especially locking myself into a 2 year contract for.
Click to expand...


I have been echoing this between this above and the locked bootloader I can't justify getting this phone just because it has dual core
 
moondrius said:
Motorola is probably the only reason I wont buy this phone. I bought a droid x on the day it came out and had 7 replacements until verizon agreed to give me a Samsung Fascinate. I was also given an early upgrade and with that I will most likely buy a thunderbolt.

I had problems like bad touchscreens to constant crashing of the phone. When contacting Motorola support they had nothing to say but keep talking with verizon and that theres nothing that they will do even though verizon told me to call them. A motorola supervisor even told me that any refurb phone I get is going to have a problem. That it is someones broken device that they just give to someone else. As nice as this phone looks I just can not justify giving this company my money for anything especially locking myself into a 2 year contract for.
Click to expand...

You are going to have problems with a select batch of any phone that comes out, it is made by man and man is imperfect. I personally never had a problem with my Droid and being that you got a refurb on every replacement and the Moto Supervisor telling you you are going to have problems then you really can't blame the hardware. I would blame Verizon or the Moto rep for giving you someone else's problem 7 times.
 
I have owned a few Motorola phones, including a very early "brick" phone, no joke it was the size and weight of a brick, a Motorola StarTac, a RAZR, and a Milestone. All of these phones were rock solid, they are just well built devices. I have personally never found fault with any of there hardware.
 
atlbuc said:
You are going to have problems with a select batch of any phone that comes out, it is made by man and man is imperfect. I personally never had a problem with my Droid and being that you got a refurb on every replacement and the Moto Supervisor telling you you are going to have problems then you really can't blame the hardware. I would blame Verizon or the Moto rep for giving you someone else's problem 7 times.
Click to expand...


Have to agree here. I don't understand the whole refurb policy it seems as its a faliure and you would think they would give new phones. I mean crappy refurb situations tarnish your brand
 
As an owner of the Droid X with interest in the Atrix 4G and the awesome laptop dock (potential replacer of my Macbook Air)... Motorola makes quality phones. My Droid X is very solid and well built. I can just toss it in my bag and not have to worry about scratches. I just looked at it and after 6 months of owning it... absolutely 0 scratches.
 
Vihzel said:
As an owner of the Droid X with interest in the Atrix 4G and the awesome laptop dock (potential replacer of my Macbook Air)... Motorola makes quality phones. My Droid X is very solid and well built. I can just toss it in my bag and not have to worry about scratches. I just looked at it and after 6 months of owning it... absolutely 0 scratches.
Click to expand...


Dude that laptop dock winter replace your MacBook air
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom