Anyhow, Android 2.3.5 on the RAZR is almost identical to the software and Blur skin we saw running on the Droid Bionic. That is to say, both come with Motorola’s not-Blur motoblur skin replete with resizable widgets....../quote]
Can we all just agree that the software skin Motorola uses is called Blur, and stop with this "not-Blur" nonsense? I know Motorola wants to claim it's not Blur, but obviously by the version number info, it is. Several tech sites are doing it, and it's getting ridiculous now.
Motorola a few times made specific note that their skin isn't called Blur, even though in build.prop and relevant places, it's called "Blur." I guess it all just boils down to semantics. :)
S2 benchmark values are different with November/December stock firmware. I get 1130 on vellamo with recent S2 firmware. Sunspide/Browsermark values are better than also higher than Razr.
Thanks for the review, but do you have any more info on audio quality in terms of music playback? You are saying that it is an improvement over the Bionic but how does it compare to other phones like SGS2 and iPhone?
Your detailed review of audio quality on the SGS2 was really helpful and I thought you were going to include this testing methodology on all smartphone reviews from now on...?
We're definitely going to do some more in-depth audio testing, it's something new to me but we've finally got the hardware and methodology, just have to interpret results. I did link to the RMAA runs from here for your own perusal, which we're going to talk a bit more about in the Galaxy Nexus piece.
As I asked in my comment below, will you do a comparative audio test with other phones when you do the Nexus review? The test results for just the phone you're testing don't mean much unless we know how they compare. Cheers
Actually, when finishing a sentence with etc. it is correct to put a second period afterward, as the first one is to indicate an abbreviation and the second is to indicate the end of the sentence. It is acceptable to use just one period, but it is not incorrect to use two.
Why don't you ever lose a word about rSAp (remote SIM Access Profile)?
I regularily use my phones in my car, where I want to use the built-in antenna when connecting my phone via bluetooth.
Connecting via Handsfree is really a PITA: The speech quality is bad and the phone's battery is stressed.
Hence for three years now I use rSAP, first in my Audi A5 and now in my BMW 5er (via the Snap-in adapter SAP from BMW).
I still have my good old Nokia X6, this one does rSAp very well. Android, OTOH, does not support rSAP (neither does iOS), but AFAIK e.g. Samsung added rSAP-capabilities to the Galaxy line.
I know that testing rSAP is not easy because of the different systems the various Auto makers use, but it would even be interresting if you could test it at least a little bit (e.g. checking if the Adress Book synchronization works or if one has to use the SIM card itself).
A phone without rSAP is useless for me, but perhaps I am part of a small minority, who knows.
I'm located in Germany, but I would think that rSAP is a global tech.
It supported by VW/ Audi, Mercedes and BMW. For BMW, you need the 'Snap-in-adapter SAP', though.
With rSAP, the phone is put to standby-mode, since the phone itself is in the car. The car gets the SIM-card-information via bluetooth and also reads the address book, then you use its built-in phone.
It's a cool technology, the speech quality is very good, since the antenna of the car is used. Also there is almost no drag on the phone's battery, since it doesn't do anything at all.
The downside is that you cannot stream music from your phone to the car's stereo, you also can't use E-Mail with rSAP. For me this is OK, though, I don't want to receive mails while driving and the car's stereo is fed by a USB-harddisk attached to it.
There is no technical reason for you not to be able to stream music even when using RSAP. They are 2 different profiles, RSAP and A2DP, and should be able to run in parallel. It's a limitation imposed by the car manufacturer, not by the spec.
Its not really a debate. Using a cell while driving should be illegal. When you're operating a vehicle that can take someone's life in a 30mph crash then your eyes, hands, and mind should be focused on the task of driving. I learned that in driver's ed and I believe its still part of the test to get a driver's license. Driving is a privilege and so many of the younger generations today have such a sense of entitlement..
As someone who was nearly killed because the person that hit my car was changing the radio station; there will always be distractions in a car. If you feel that Cell phones should be illegal then you should also ban all radio's, gps, cd-players and ipods. Further you should also make all cars have a single seat. We can't let someone talking to you distract you. You should also have some way to measure if a car is being driven by someone that is sleepy. It's been shown over and over again the lack of sleep is worse that drunk driving. I propose a mandatory system of cameras that monitor the driver of a car and if they detect that the person in question is sleepy and not attentive enough that they slowly cut power to the car and force them to pull over for a 30 min nap.
I am taking it to an extreme but if we should ban cell phones, we should really ban many other things. Things that we would never ban, like more than one person in a car. The problem isn't the device, it's the person using it. If the person driving is a distracted driver(for whatever reason) and they cause an accident it should be handled with existing laws.
Remote SIM access profile is part of the Bluetooth Specification, it's just one of the profiles defined by the Bluetooth SIG. Unfortunately, RSAP never took off in the same way that HFP (Handsfree Profile) which is the profile that nearly every other phone available uses when connecting to a car. One of the reasons may be that RSAP requires the car to come bundled with a GSM baseband/radio since it only obtains the SIM info from the phone and then uses it to place calls using its own. On the other hand HFP simply instructs the phone to place the call using the phone's own GSM radio and then transfers the sound to the car. So it's clearly cheaper to include in a car since the car manufacturer doesn't need to include a Bluetooth _and_ a GSM radio.
As usual, the reviews of wireless devices here kick ass. I'm not really interested in this phone - the wide bezel around the screen and the motoblur really bugged me - but it is a treat to read something about it that amounts to more than "how is this not like an iphone?"
Looking forward to the Galaxy Nexus review, even though I'll likely already own it by the time your review is published. On principle, I can't bring myself to buy any phone loaded down with skins and bloatware, so there's only really one Android phone choice for me.
Maybe I'm just surly this morning, but Motorola's latest industrial design language really isn't doing it for me. It has this Tron Legacy-esque cheesy vibe to it that is going to age quickly and poorly, I think. By comparison, it seems like Samsung and Nokia are on the right track, focusing on designs that are respectively helpful and pragmatic, and personal and pleasurable to use.
Apple has been disappointing lately on design. The iPhone 4S body still looks great, but their software is getting more decorated and literal with every revision. I like a lot of things about the 4S - especially the camera - but the software was a huge disappointment.
Keep in mind the Galaxy Nexus is suffering some controversy vs. the "Pure Google" GSM version by having had VZW remove Google Wallet from it and adding My Verizon Mobile and Backup Assistant..
Why do mentioned manufacturers: Appl,Motorol,Noki need battery "tradeoffs" due to slimness and lightness, while Samsung doesn't? Hard to follow on this one.
Samsung makes an entirely different trade off, plastics. Sammy has perfected thin, hard plastics in their pursuit of slim, lightweight phones. The cost is feel. The RAZR feels as expensive as it is, the Samsung phones feel like shiny, low cost plastic. That said, using light plastics hasn't stopped Samsung from producing attractive designs, and though the plastics can scuff easily they are otherwise quite durable.
I got sick of waiting for the Nexis (or iphone 5) and purchased the Razr about a month ago upgrading from the Droid X. In real life use it is pretty nice. It is quick responding and well built. The camera to me is just OK. I got a widget that turns the 4g off most of the time extending the battery life dramatically. Overall I really like this phone.
1) I second lemmo's request for an audio quality section like the one for the GS2 review. That particular review revealed some nasty things about interference and a poor codec that completely turned me off to the GS2.
2) I completely agree about the importance of battery life. It's really the only complaint I have about my 1.5 year old Incredible running Cyanogen. Give me the same phone with 2x the battery life and I'd gladly take it over anything else in the market right now.
Thanks geniekid, yep I reckon audio testing will be a real diferentiating factor for Anandtech, as no other sites do it... similar to Anand's battery testing methodology which set the reviews aside from all the rest.
Maybe they will do a comparative audio test with other phones when they do the Nexus review...?
After so many Android reviews I am still waiting for Anandtech to review the only phone & OS I have tried that seems to me clearly better than iOS. I am talking about the Nokia N9 with MeeGo which blew me away so much when I tried it I bought it immediately despite the somewhat steep price. Am I alone to being unimpressed by most Android phones?
Hope you were ironic. Well i've read alot of N9 reviews already but it would be nice if Anand would do one, just part from the usual Android and iOS sphere of lately.
You mention you tested wifi hotspot with encryption off on this phone.. is that possibly why it bested the droid bionic's wifi hotspot battery life by so much? AES encryption could be a not-insignificant amount of the power draw when operating a secured wifi hotspot.
I think the phone would be way nicer without an edge that sticks out. It makes it look dated already, but there's probably a structural reason to have it there (or something).
Also wtf is Apple doing to make 3g browsing last so damn long?!
I think they avoid it in browser benchmarks because Gingerbread doesn't support multithreaded rendering, and the comparison would be unfair. Don't take my word for it though.
There are only certain benchmarks which can be carried out on both Android and iOS, and on particular handsets. Everywhere where the benchmark could be carried out, they included it, which is as informative as they can be.
It's not like you can buy any ICS devices yet ( the lack of SD on the Galaxy Nexus makes it a phone i wouldn't used if they payed me).The sad part is that it's not Krait or at least Tegra 3. As for when they'll get iCS and further updates,we'll see but it's doubtfull that any other manufacturer will be able to have faster updates that Googlerola.
How frequently do people really change out their SD cards? I have an OG Droid with 16 GB SD card from 2009 and I still haven't used up half the space. I wouldn't even consider multiple SD cards because I lose enough SD cards for my cameras, microSD cards would just fall in the couch or get eaten by my cats or something. When I first got my phone I thought I would end up swapping out cards a lot but for some reason I've never found a reason to.
I love your reviews, and I appreciate how in depth you guys go, but your reviews are getting increasingly more and more late and as a result less and less useful. This phone is over a month old at this point.
I would love to see a Nexus review, but am assuming that cant occur until after Christmas, and that is not that helpful.
I actually agree with Cali3350, there is a point at which the quality becomes redundant if the phone was released so long ago. When a new phone is released, people don't want to wait over a month for a review, however high the quality - the most sales of any handset happen within that first month.
I noticed the same thing happened with the iPhone 4S review, and made a comment to that effect at the time.
Quality is clearly excellent here, and this is definitely the best tech site - but by the time the reviews come out the article has already lost much of its value.
The Droid Charge review says the phone loses charge, even when plugged in, if using it as a hotspot. Same for navigating. This is a serious concern for me, especially when on-the-road.
Are any of these LTE phones able to stay charged (when plugged in) while actively navigating or being used as a hotspot? I'm hoping you guys can weigh in.
I don't mind plugging in, while driving, but if I'm still going to have the phone die before my destination - that's bad news... Same regarding tethering over USB.
I had the Bionic (swapped it out with a RAZR with all the data issues I was having), and I didn't have issues like I did with the original Droid. The original Droid would overheat and stop charging. I didn't have drain issues with the Bionic, haven't tried the RAZR yet.
The RAZR hasn't done the discharge-while-plugged-in dance the same as a bunch of other LTE phones. Navigation and hotspot use is fine on it, it'll charge while doing those activities if you use a charger that implements charging spec properly and has enough current.
Thank you for the reply! This is comforting to hear. The Droid Charge article on Anandtech mentioned this problem and Engadget reported similarly on the Verizon version of the Galxy Nexus. That had me worried that this would be a more widespread problem.
Brian, have you seen any data connectivity issues that plague the Droid Bionic on the RAZR? It was something Verizon confirmed was a known issue (there was a patch released yesterday but don't know if that addressed that issue) and was happening to me quite frequently. I managed to move from the Bionic to the RAZR because of Verizon, and I've seen some hiccups that looked similar to the Bionic issue (it's the same LTE and CDMA baseband).
I to am an (almost) former owner of the Bionic. The phone will loose all cellular data after coming in contact with 4g and trying to negotiate back to 3g. And especially in the Hagerstown Md. Area where verizon has no 3g service only 4. I would always find the bionic lifeless. I spoke with a verizon rep and he is sending my Razr tomm. Are we seeing these same problems in the Razr?
Hmmm. I have had the Bionic for three months, since it first came out, and never had a single issue. Here in the greater metro Atlanta area I go between 4G and 3G all the time depending on how far outside the city. I have roamed all over the Southeast while driving and never had a problem either.
Big one is "Improved stability of data connections on 3G and 4G". Worst part for those who still have it: Verizon says it will "help alleviate" the problem.
You're only one of three people that I know of who have said they weren't affected, out of about 10-15. Consider yourself lucky.
Yes I guess I was lucky. I actually had no idea this update was even coming until trying to make a call Thursday evening last week. About the only gripe I had of the phone was the crappy autofocus problem. It seems to be a lot better now. I surmise the 3G/4G issue depended at least to some extent what region of the nation you lived in. Two co-workers have the phone (one got a RAZR and gave the Bionic to his wife) and neither reported problems either.
Both 4G and 3G data drops for me. I live 30 miles north of Indy, which is 3G, but work in 4G territory. The upgrade has not helped and only created other buggy issues.
I just did a lot of research before picking up a phone this week. The RAZR was among the half a dozen smartphones I considered --until I picked it up.
I have relatively large hands with long fingers, and the phone is STILL too wide to comfortably hold in the hand. It's actually wider than the Droid Bionic (which I did purchase), and its relative thin-ness makes it less comfortable in the hand rather than more. Making a slightly thicker phone, and using that extra thickness to increase battery size would have actually made it more comfortable.
Of course, that would make the phone a Droid Bionic. Which is now $100 cheaper due to the RAZR coming out, so you can save $100 and get a phone that's every bit as capable, with more battery options. They also released a major update to the Bionic this week that squashed a ton of bugs.
At the $299 price, I'd probably look at the Galaxy Nexus or the HTC Rezound --not the RAZR. The Bionic is a much better value if you want a Motorola phone. So far, I'm happy with mine.
Yep, I like the feel of the Bionic more than the RAZR. I got the thin rubber-like enclosing protective case and it helps even more on the grip. My friend's RAZR feels too fragile and I'd definitely be more worried about dropping it. Thinner isn't always better to some of us.
I would have waited for a price drop on the Bionic, but since my older Droid died and I was going month to month without a contract, I had to buy a new phone like yesterday, and in September, the Bionic was the best. Verizon threw in $70 worth of free accessories for me at the full $299 purchase price, so that eased the pain a little (case, car charger, screen protector).
"Thankfully holding volume down and power/lock for 10 seconds reboots the device even when the device is totally unresponsive (which I did in fact encounter once)."
Something I often encountered on my original DROID and also on my Thunderbolt 4G LTE. I'm honestly a bit sick of the issues with Android. You would think they would fix them. My phone has been known to do some really quirky stuff. From calling people on contact lists from that others who share a phone plan with me have on THEIR phones (the people my phone called are NOT on my phone!), to random reboots, SMS's not sending, and the 3G/4G service acting dodgy, even though I may not leave the house for awhile. Those are just a few of the issues I have suffered through over the last 2 years.
I should probably mention too that when I got my phone (through Verizon) that I had mobile hotspot, it was one of the reasons I got the phone. Of course, a month later they had made it pay-to-use and blocked me from it with an update. Its kind of like the whole ISP industry putting caps on it because they quote "can't afford" to not do it. Laugh. ArsTechnica had a whole article on that. Its a really good read.
Don't worry, the hot spot connection is a known Razor issue, or at least that is what I have read doing a Google search. I just dropped my hot spot, today. I also got a refund of al charges since my purchase. It will connect, but will immediately disconnect.
The razr screen might look bad under a microscope, but compared with the SGS2, the colours are so much better, and no banding at all.
The SGS2 with it's supposedly better layout, looks like sh*t next to a razr in the real world displaying photos or even most games that happen to have a color fade.
It’s a bit odd to see the Epic Touch getting better battery life with Wimax than with 3G. Could this be related to a bad Sprint signal at your test location? Sprint 3G data speeds have been terrible in many locations for the past 6 months.
This is what should be called Review! "Reviews" done by other sites are a joke. We can decide with much more success. We can read facts and not only biased opinions. Anandtech is the place I have been for years. This will continue. Cant wait to the Galaxy Nexus review.
I don't want to start another flame because I actually feel this Razr is a damn fine phone (apart from it's not bundled with ICS yet), but truly .. Apple just did it again.
Some hi-end Android now start to use a user un-effin-replacable battery in pursue of thinness and the ability of using hi grade material..
Adobe start to drop future support on Mobile Flash plugin.
Some Android now bundled with software or apps which basically iTunes wannabe with all syncing, copying, and not-so-free device managing, something most people bash on iPod and iPhones?
And I'm sure more and more Android handset going to adapt microSIM on their phone. Just like this phone.
Long story short, somehow .. smartphone trend start to follow something that most people hate .. the iPhone
Had to deal with two iPhones with batteries that stopped holding a charge and a few friends have had to deal with similar problems with their iPads. Sealing the battery inside gives the manufacturer an opportunity cut corners in the battery department. Totally unacceptable.
I have had the HTC ReZound for a month now, and did not like the width and height of the Razr (or the screen compared to true HD 720p on the ReZound) and hope to see a Galaxy nexus review soon even if Anad never publishes one for the ReZound. I researched all 3 before buying the ReZound and found it was best for my needs and wants for a halo phone.
Even if the SunSpider and Vellamo tests on GNex beat the ReZound..I am not switching. I love my first smartphone...with a non-Pentile HD 720p display, dual-core at 1.5ghz, a better 8MP camera with f2.2 lens and not as big a bezel. I like the phone dimensions on Rezound better anyway...I can swipe my thumbs all the way across holding it one-handed and can't on GNex.
So the only thing GNex has that ReZound does not is Android 4.0 (and that will happen eventually). So NFC is crippled anyway without the Google Wallet. Heh, all that waiting for a GNex which is already sporting outdated hardware....I bet both the Razr and ReZound beat it when they get Ice Cream Sandwich...just have to wait long enough.
I just came back from the verizon store in an attempt to escape apple hell. I so desperately wanted the RAZR or galaxy nexus to be a replacement for my old iphone. The razr and nexus seemed to be choking on this review or anywhere on anandtech. Scrolling was not smooth and the nexus even crashed once. I tried the newest iphone just for kicks and it had no problems. Was it the demo floor model?
Also the nexus seemed to be half as bright as my old phone. Yes I made sure brightness was as maximum and auto brightness was off. Was it the demo model?
Do I need to go to a different verizon store? Is that as good as it gets at this time and I should be looking or waiting for something else?
BIG DEFICIENCY!!! The hands free bluetooth implementation is broken in the sense that it no longer announces whom the caller is. Every previous Motorola phone I have owned tells me who is calling. Califorina has a handsfree cellphone law and it is very important that I know whom is calling before I answer in the car in freeway traffic. Business calls I may answer, personal calls can wait. This is a deal breaker! I'm stuck with this until they fix it but I am damed unhappy and if I had known I would not have purchased it. It is more of a toy then a useful phone, granted an atractive toy, but still a toy. Does the Apple 4S bluetooth work? sjprg
I am living in China, and trying to purchase the 4G version of the Razr (unlocked, of course, or at least unlockable). The Chinese version is the XT912, and does not have 4G support (which makes sense, since China doesn't have a 4G network yet). I travel back to the USA periodically, so having 4G for when I am not in China is worth something to me. I have heard said that the non-USA versions of the Razr might have 4G locked off, so this worries me.
I found an XT910 brought in by grey market here, but I noticed some things that seem off: 1) it only says Razr, not Droid Razr (so it is probably not the USA version of the phone, I think it was from Singapore) 2) No documentation indicates whether or not it supports 4G, and it doesn't ship with anything other than a basic charger (if there was an external 16 GB microSDHC, it was removed by the seller) 3) Under the different networks supported in the menus, I find one that says "other" with no explanation (could be 4G, but since China networks don't recognize it, it doesn't register?).
I don't care about the lack of the SDHC, I will get a 32 GB class 10 anyway, and chargers are cheap here, but spending roughly US$500 and not getting the actual phone I want seems like a bad option- there are no refunds for grey market. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the baseband ID number. Anyone have a guess?
Worth mentioning that the RAZR is the second (after the 4S) phone to include support for BLE. Instead of waiting for Google to get their act together and add a standard API to Android, Moto has bundled its own stack (provided by a third party) along with a set of APIs. This makes for very interesting applications such as key fobs, hear rate monitors and many others.
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Devo2007 - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Brian Klug - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Motorola a few times made specific note that their skin isn't called Blur, even though in build.prop and relevant places, it's called "Blur." I guess it all just boils down to semantics. :)-Brian
yas69 - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
S2 benchmark values are different with November/December stock firmware.I get 1130 on vellamo with recent S2 firmware. Sunspide/Browsermark values are better than also higher than Razr.
Brian Klug - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
What ROM and browser are you tesing in? I can't get any higher than what's in the article on our UK SGS2 with the latest ROM from Kies.-Brian
yas69 - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
I9100XWKK2 / I9100XWKL1 both perform better than previous versions.yas69 - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
sorry.I9100XWKK2 (2.3.6)
Vellamo = 1161
sunspider = 1980
browsermark = 78014
lemmo - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Thanks for the review, but do you have any more info on audio quality in terms of music playback? You are saying that it is an improvement over the Bionic but how does it compare to other phones like SGS2 and iPhone?Your detailed review of audio quality on the SGS2 was really helpful and I thought you were going to include this testing methodology on all smartphone reviews from now on...?
kishorshack - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Even i expect the same thing brian klug it would be awesome if you update this review someday :)Brian Klug - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
We're definitely going to do some more in-depth audio testing, it's something new to me but we've finally got the hardware and methodology, just have to interpret results. I did link to the RMAA runs from here for your own perusal, which we're going to talk a bit more about in the Galaxy Nexus piece.-Brian
lemmo - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
Thanks Brian that's great news :)As I asked in my comment below, will you do a comparative audio test with other phones when you do the Nexus review? The test results for just the phone you're testing don't mean much unless we know how they compare. Cheers
mfenn - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Dunno how many times I have to say this, but etc. is short for "et cetera". Putting more than one period in it is just plain wrong.jordanclock - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
Actually, when finishing a sentence with etc. it is correct to put a second period afterward, as the first one is to indicate an abbreviation and the second is to indicate the end of the sentence. It is acceptable to use just one period, but it is not incorrect to use two.BabelHuber - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
A question to the Anandtech guys:Why don't you ever lose a word about rSAp (remote SIM Access Profile)?
I regularily use my phones in my car, where I want to use the built-in antenna when connecting my phone via bluetooth.
Connecting via Handsfree is really a PITA: The speech quality is bad and the phone's battery is stressed.
Hence for three years now I use rSAP, first in my Audi A5 and now in my BMW 5er (via the Snap-in adapter SAP from BMW).
I still have my good old Nokia X6, this one does rSAp very well. Android, OTOH, does not support rSAP (neither does iOS), but AFAIK e.g. Samsung added rSAP-capabilities to the Galaxy line.
I know that testing rSAP is not easy because of the different systems the various Auto makers use, but it would even be interresting if you could test it at least a little bit (e.g. checking if the Adress Book synchronization works or if one has to use the SIM card itself).
A phone without rSAP is useless for me, but perhaps I am part of a small minority, who knows.
Have you had any thoughts on rSAP?
Conficio - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Where are you located? I have not heard about that tech.But sounds very interesting. Especially as there is a big debate going on in the US about driving and using the phone.
BabelHuber - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
I'm located in Germany, but I would think that rSAP is a global tech.It supported by VW/ Audi, Mercedes and BMW. For BMW, you need the 'Snap-in-adapter SAP', though.
With rSAP, the phone is put to standby-mode, since the phone itself is in the car. The car gets the SIM-card-information via bluetooth and also reads the address book, then you use its built-in phone.
It's a cool technology, the speech quality is very good, since the antenna of the car is used. Also there is almost no drag on the phone's battery, since it doesn't do anything at all.
The downside is that you cannot stream music from your phone to the car's stereo, you also can't use E-Mail with rSAP.
For me this is OK, though, I don't want to receive mails while driving and the car's stereo is fed by a USB-harddisk attached to it.
introiboad - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
There is no technical reason for you not to be able to stream music even when using RSAP. They are 2 different profiles, RSAP and A2DP, and should be able to run in parallel. It's a limitation imposed by the car manufacturer, not by the spec.JonnyDough - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
Its not really a debate. Using a cell while driving should be illegal. When you're operating a vehicle that can take someone's life in a 30mph crash then your eyes, hands, and mind should be focused on the task of driving. I learned that in driver's ed and I believe its still part of the test to get a driver's license. Driving is a privilege and so many of the younger generations today have such a sense of entitlement..cheetahfox - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
As someone who was nearly killed because the person that hit my car was changing the radio station; there will always be distractions in a car. If you feel that Cell phones should be illegal then you should also ban all radio's, gps, cd-players and ipods. Further you should also make all cars have a single seat. We can't let someone talking to you distract you. You should also have some way to measure if a car is being driven by someone that is sleepy. It's been shown over and over again the lack of sleep is worse that drunk driving. I propose a mandatory system of cameras that monitor the driver of a car and if they detect that the person in question is sleepy and not attentive enough that they slowly cut power to the car and force them to pull over for a 30 min nap.I am taking it to an extreme but if we should ban cell phones, we should really ban many other things. Things that we would never ban, like more than one person in a car. The problem isn't the device, it's the person using it. If the person driving is a distracted driver(for whatever reason) and they cause an accident it should be handled with existing laws.
introiboad - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Remote SIM access profile is part of the Bluetooth Specification, it's just one of the profiles defined by the Bluetooth SIG. Unfortunately, RSAP never took off in the same way that HFP (Handsfree Profile) which is the profile that nearly every other phone available uses when connecting to a car.One of the reasons may be that RSAP requires the car to come bundled with a GSM baseband/radio since it only obtains the SIM info from the phone and then uses it to place calls using its own. On the other hand HFP simply instructs the phone to place the call using the phone's own GSM radio and then transfers the sound to the car. So it's clearly cheaper to include in a car since the car manufacturer doesn't need to include a Bluetooth _and_ a GSM radio.
introiboad - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
As far as I know, only Symbian and Bada phones implement RSAP.ananduser - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Much better than the one on The Verge.GrizzledYoungMan - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
As usual, the reviews of wireless devices here kick ass. I'm not really interested in this phone - the wide bezel around the screen and the motoblur really bugged me - but it is a treat to read something about it that amounts to more than "how is this not like an iphone?"Looking forward to the Galaxy Nexus review, even though I'll likely already own it by the time your review is published. On principle, I can't bring myself to buy any phone loaded down with skins and bloatware, so there's only really one Android phone choice for me.
Maybe I'm just surly this morning, but Motorola's latest industrial design language really isn't doing it for me. It has this Tron Legacy-esque cheesy vibe to it that is going to age quickly and poorly, I think. By comparison, it seems like Samsung and Nokia are on the right track, focusing on designs that are respectively helpful and pragmatic, and personal and pleasurable to use.
Apple has been disappointing lately on design. The iPhone 4S body still looks great, but their software is getting more decorated and literal with every revision. I like a lot of things about the 4S - especially the camera - but the software was a huge disappointment.
zeagus - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Keep in mind the Galaxy Nexus is suffering some controversy vs. the "Pure Google" GSM version by having had VZW remove Google Wallet from it and adding My Verizon Mobile and Backup Assistant..medi01 - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Why do mentioned manufacturers: Appl,Motorol,Noki need battery "tradeoffs" due to slimness and lightness, while Samsung doesn't? Hard to follow on this one.JasonInofuentes - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Samsung makes an entirely different trade off, plastics. Sammy has perfected thin, hard plastics in their pursuit of slim, lightweight phones. The cost is feel. The RAZR feels as expensive as it is, the Samsung phones feel like shiny, low cost plastic. That said, using light plastics hasn't stopped Samsung from producing attractive designs, and though the plastics can scuff easily they are otherwise quite durable.TedG - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
I got sick of waiting for the Nexis (or iphone 5) and purchased the Razr about a month ago upgrading from the Droid X. In real life use it is pretty nice. It is quick responding and well built. The camera to me is just OK. I got a widget that turns the 4g off most of the time extending the battery life dramatically. Overall I really like this phone.loribeth - Tuesday, December 27, 2011 - link
I wonder if I turn off my 4G, my hot spot would stay connected?geniekid - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Two things.1) I second lemmo's request for an audio quality section like the one for the GS2 review. That particular review revealed some nasty things about interference and a poor codec that completely turned me off to the GS2.
2) I completely agree about the importance of battery life. It's really the only complaint I have about my 1.5 year old Incredible running Cyanogen. Give me the same phone with 2x the battery life and I'd gladly take it over anything else in the market right now.
lemmo - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
Thanks geniekid, yep I reckon audio testing will be a real diferentiating factor for Anandtech, as no other sites do it... similar to Anand's battery testing methodology which set the reviews aside from all the rest.Maybe they will do a comparative audio test with other phones when they do the Nexus review...?
ecuador - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
After so many Android reviews I am still waiting for Anandtech to review the only phone & OS I have tried that seems to me clearly better than iOS. I am talking about the Nokia N9 with MeeGo which blew me away so much when I tried it I bought it immediately despite the somewhat steep price. Am I alone to being unimpressed by most Android phones?kishorshack - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
That is an awesome phone, a request from all of usDo review it. The interesting part here would be running ICS on it :D
dj christian - Thursday, December 22, 2011 - link
Hope you were ironic. Well i've read alot of N9 reviews already but it would be nice if Anand would do one, just part from the usual Android and iOS sphere of lately.Araemo - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
You mention you tested wifi hotspot with encryption off on this phone.. is that possibly why it bested the droid bionic's wifi hotspot battery life by so much? AES encryption could be a not-insignificant amount of the power draw when operating a secured wifi hotspot.IKeelU - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
I think the phone would be way nicer without an edge that sticks out. It makes it look dated already, but there's probably a structural reason to have it there (or something).Also wtf is Apple doing to make 3g browsing last so damn long?!
PeteH - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
It must have something to do with that giant A5, because the iPhone 4 doesn't have nearly the same benefit.mr_thomas - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
If you are going to put in iPhone comparisons in the benchmarks, etc., please do it across the board. It isn't helpful to see it in only a few places.introiboad - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
I think they avoid it in browser benchmarks because Gingerbread doesn't support multithreaded rendering, and the comparison would be unfair. Don't take my word for it though.doobydoo - Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - link
There are only certain benchmarks which can be carried out on both Android and iOS, and on particular handsets. Everywhere where the benchmark could be carried out, they included it, which is as informative as they can be.RavnosCC - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Where's the comparison? HTC's Rezound has arguably much better hardware than the RAZR, and yet it's left out :(Plester - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
I find the really big bezel and angled corners results in a down right odd and ugly looking phone, but taste is subjective...jjj - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
It's not like you can buy any ICS devices yet ( the lack of SD on the Galaxy Nexus makes it a phone i wouldn't used if they payed me).The sad part is that it's not Krait or at least Tegra 3.As for when they'll get iCS and further updates,we'll see but it's doubtfull that any other manufacturer will be able to have faster updates that Googlerola.
zelachang - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
How frequently do people really change out their SD cards? I have an OG Droid with 16 GB SD card from 2009 and I still haven't used up half the space. I wouldn't even consider multiple SD cards because I lose enough SD cards for my cameras, microSD cards would just fall in the couch or get eaten by my cats or something. When I first got my phone I thought I would end up swapping out cards a lot but for some reason I've never found a reason to.doobydoo - Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - link
Exactly, and even if you do run out of space you can simply plug it into a PC for 10 seconds, save all the documents, and continue.Or you could use Dropbox (on Android) or iCloud (on iOS) to completely negate the need for multiple SD cards unless you have unusual requirements.
Cali3350 - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
I love your reviews, and I appreciate how in depth you guys go, but your reviews are getting increasingly more and more late and as a result less and less useful. This phone is over a month old at this point.I would love to see a Nexus review, but am assuming that cant occur until after Christmas, and that is not that helpful.
jeremyshaw - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
Quality. Anandtech beats all known in depth and thoroughness.doobydoo - Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - link
I actually agree with Cali3350, there is a point at which the quality becomes redundant if the phone was released so long ago. When a new phone is released, people don't want to wait over a month for a review, however high the quality - the most sales of any handset happen within that first month.I noticed the same thing happened with the iPhone 4S review, and made a comment to that effect at the time.
Quality is clearly excellent here, and this is definitely the best tech site - but by the time the reviews come out the article has already lost much of its value.
TrackSmart - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
The Droid Charge review says the phone loses charge, even when plugged in, if using it as a hotspot. Same for navigating. This is a serious concern for me, especially when on-the-road.Are any of these LTE phones able to stay charged (when plugged in) while actively navigating or being used as a hotspot? I'm hoping you guys can weigh in.
I don't mind plugging in, while driving, but if I'm still going to have the phone die before my destination - that's bad news... Same regarding tethering over USB.
secretmanofagent - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
I had the Bionic (swapped it out with a RAZR with all the data issues I was having), and I didn't have issues like I did with the original Droid. The original Droid would overheat and stop charging. I didn't have drain issues with the Bionic, haven't tried the RAZR yet.Brian Klug - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
The RAZR hasn't done the discharge-while-plugged-in dance the same as a bunch of other LTE phones. Navigation and hotspot use is fine on it, it'll charge while doing those activities if you use a charger that implements charging spec properly and has enough current.-Brian
TrackSmart - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
Thank you for the reply! This is comforting to hear. The Droid Charge article on Anandtech mentioned this problem and Engadget reported similarly on the Verizon version of the Galxy Nexus. That had me worried that this would be a more widespread problem.secretmanofagent - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
Brian, have you seen any data connectivity issues that plague the Droid Bionic on the RAZR? It was something Verizon confirmed was a known issue (there was a patch released yesterday but don't know if that addressed that issue) and was happening to me quite frequently. I managed to move from the Bionic to the RAZR because of Verizon, and I've seen some hiccups that looked similar to the Bionic issue (it's the same LTE and CDMA baseband).flyfishin69 - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
I to am an (almost) former owner of the Bionic. The phone will loose all cellular data after coming in contact with 4g and trying to negotiate back to 3g. And especially in the Hagerstown Md. Area where verizon has no 3g service only 4. I would always find the bionic lifeless. I spoke with a verizon rep and he is sending my Razr tomm. Are we seeing these same problems in the Razr?Nfarce - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
Hmmm. I have had the Bionic for three months, since it first came out, and never had a single issue. Here in the greater metro Atlanta area I go between 4G and 3G all the time depending on how far outside the city. I have roamed all over the Southeast while driving and never had a problem either.Sounds to me like you just got a lemon.
secretmanofagent - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
Nope, they weren't lemons. Check out Verizon's update:http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/08/droid-bionic-...
Big one is "Improved stability of data connections on 3G and 4G". Worst part for those who still have it: Verizon says it will "help alleviate" the problem.
You're only one of three people that I know of who have said they weren't affected, out of about 10-15. Consider yourself lucky.
Nfarce - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Yes I guess I was lucky. I actually had no idea this update was even coming until trying to make a call Thursday evening last week. About the only gripe I had of the phone was the crappy autofocus problem. It seems to be a lot better now. I surmise the 3G/4G issue depended at least to some extent what region of the nation you lived in. Two co-workers have the phone (one got a RAZR and gave the Bionic to his wife) and neither reported problems either.secretmanofagent - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
I've seen a couple times like what I had seen with the Bionic, but only momentary losses.loribeth - Tuesday, December 27, 2011 - link
Both 4G and 3G data drops for me. I live 30 miles north of Indy, which is 3G, but work in 4G territory. The upgrade has not helped and only created other buggy issues.LoneWolf15 - Friday, December 16, 2011 - link
I just did a lot of research before picking up a phone this week. The RAZR was among the half a dozen smartphones I considered --until I picked it up.I have relatively large hands with long fingers, and the phone is STILL too wide to comfortably hold in the hand. It's actually wider than the Droid Bionic (which I did purchase), and its relative thin-ness makes it less comfortable in the hand rather than more. Making a slightly thicker phone, and using that extra thickness to increase battery size would have actually made it more comfortable.
Of course, that would make the phone a Droid Bionic. Which is now $100 cheaper due to the RAZR coming out, so you can save $100 and get a phone that's every bit as capable, with more battery options. They also released a major update to the Bionic this week that squashed a ton of bugs.
At the $299 price, I'd probably look at the Galaxy Nexus or the HTC Rezound --not the RAZR. The Bionic is a much better value if you want a Motorola phone. So far, I'm happy with mine.
Nfarce - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
Yep, I like the feel of the Bionic more than the RAZR. I got the thin rubber-like enclosing protective case and it helps even more on the grip. My friend's RAZR feels too fragile and I'd definitely be more worried about dropping it. Thinner isn't always better to some of us.I would have waited for a price drop on the Bionic, but since my older Droid died and I was going month to month without a contract, I had to buy a new phone like yesterday, and in September, the Bionic was the best. Verizon threw in $70 worth of free accessories for me at the full $299 purchase price, so that eased the pain a little (case, car charger, screen protector).
JonnyDough - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
"Thankfully holding volume down and power/lock for 10 seconds reboots the device even when the device is totally unresponsive (which I did in fact encounter once)."Something I often encountered on my original DROID and also on my Thunderbolt 4G LTE. I'm honestly a bit sick of the issues with Android. You would think they would fix them. My phone has been known to do some really quirky stuff. From calling people on contact lists from that others who share a phone plan with me have on THEIR phones (the people my phone called are NOT on my phone!), to random reboots, SMS's not sending, and the 3G/4G service acting dodgy, even though I may not leave the house for awhile. Those are just a few of the issues I have suffered through over the last 2 years.
JonnyDough - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
I should probably mention too that when I got my phone (through Verizon) that I had mobile hotspot, it was one of the reasons I got the phone. Of course, a month later they had made it pay-to-use and blocked me from it with an update. Its kind of like the whole ISP industry putting caps on it because they quote "can't afford" to not do it. Laugh. ArsTechnica had a whole article on that. Its a really good read.loribeth - Tuesday, December 27, 2011 - link
Don't worry, the hot spot connection is a known Razor issue, or at least that is what I have read doing a Google search. I just dropped my hot spot, today. I also got a refund of al charges since my purchase. It will connect, but will immediately disconnect.Shinobi_III - Saturday, December 17, 2011 - link
The razr screen might look bad under a microscope, but compared with the SGS2, the colours are so much better, and no banding at all.The SGS2 with it's supposedly better layout, looks like sh*t next to a razr in the real world displaying photos or even most games that happen to have a color fade.
anandtech pirate - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
It’s a bit odd to see the Epic Touch getting better battery life with Wimax than with 3G. Could this be related to a bad Sprint signal at your test location? Sprint 3G data speeds have been terrible in many locations for the past 6 months.victorjr - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
This is what should be called Review! "Reviews" done by other sites are a joke. We can decide with much more success. We can read facts and not only biased opinions. Anandtech is the place I have been for years. This will continue. Cant wait to the Galaxy Nexus review.iSayuSay - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
I don't want to start another flame because I actually feel this Razr is a damn fine phone (apart from it's not bundled with ICS yet), but truly .. Apple just did it again.Some hi-end Android now start to use a user un-effin-replacable battery in pursue of thinness and the ability of using hi grade material..
Adobe start to drop future support on Mobile Flash plugin.
Some Android now bundled with software or apps which basically iTunes wannabe with all syncing, copying, and not-so-free device managing, something most people bash on iPod and iPhones?
And I'm sure more and more Android handset going to adapt microSIM on their phone. Just like this phone.
Long story short, somehow .. smartphone trend start to follow something that most people hate .. the iPhone
lexluthermiester - Sunday, December 18, 2011 - link
Had to deal with two iPhones with batteries that stopped holding a charge and a few friends have had to deal with similar problems with their iPads. Sealing the battery inside gives the manufacturer an opportunity cut corners in the battery department. Totally unacceptable.doobydoo - Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - link
Thankfully you're in a tiny minority. And you can get dodgy batteries whether it's removable or not.georgekn3mp - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
I have had the HTC ReZound for a month now, and did not like the width and height of the Razr (or the screen compared to true HD 720p on the ReZound) and hope to see a Galaxy nexus review soon even if Anad never publishes one for the ReZound. I researched all 3 before buying the ReZound and found it was best for my needs and wants for a halo phone.Even if the SunSpider and Vellamo tests on GNex beat the ReZound..I am not switching. I love my first smartphone...with a non-Pentile HD 720p display, dual-core at 1.5ghz, a better 8MP camera with f2.2 lens and not as big a bezel. I like the phone dimensions on Rezound better anyway...I can swipe my thumbs all the way across holding it one-handed and can't on GNex.
So the only thing GNex has that ReZound does not is Android 4.0 (and that will happen eventually). So NFC is crippled anyway without the Google Wallet. Heh, all that waiting for a GNex which is already sporting outdated hardware....I bet both the Razr and ReZound beat it when they get Ice Cream Sandwich...just have to wait long enough.
Rowlf - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
I just came back from the verizon store in an attempt to escape apple hell. I so desperately wanted the RAZR or galaxy nexus to be a replacement for my old iphone. The razr and nexus seemed to be choking on this review or anywhere on anandtech. Scrolling was not smooth and the nexus even crashed once. I tried the newest iphone just for kicks and it had no problems. Was it the demo floor model?Also the nexus seemed to be half as bright as my old phone. Yes I made sure brightness was as maximum and auto brightness was off. Was it the demo model?
Do I need to go to a different verizon store? Is that as good as it gets at this time and I should be looking or waiting for something else?
sjprg2 - Monday, December 19, 2011 - link
BIG DEFICIENCY!!!The hands free bluetooth implementation is broken in the sense that it no longer announces whom the caller is. Every previous Motorola phone I have owned tells me who is calling.
Califorina has a handsfree cellphone law and it is very important that I know whom is calling before I answer in the car in freeway traffic. Business calls I may answer, personal calls can wait. This is a deal breaker! I'm stuck with this until they fix it but I am damed unhappy and if I had known I would not have purchased it. It is more of a toy then a useful phone, granted an atractive toy, but still a toy.
Does the Apple 4S bluetooth work?
sjprg
QQBoss - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
I am living in China, and trying to purchase the 4G version of the Razr (unlocked, of course, or at least unlockable). The Chinese version is the XT912, and does not have 4G support (which makes sense, since China doesn't have a 4G network yet). I travel back to the USA periodically, so having 4G for when I am not in China is worth something to me. I have heard said that the non-USA versions of the Razr might have 4G locked off, so this worries me.I found an XT910 brought in by grey market here, but I noticed some things that seem off: 1) it only says Razr, not Droid Razr (so it is probably not the USA version of the phone, I think it was from Singapore) 2) No documentation indicates whether or not it supports 4G, and it doesn't ship with anything other than a basic charger (if there was an external 16 GB microSDHC, it was removed by the seller) 3) Under the different networks supported in the menus, I find one that says "other" with no explanation (could be 4G, but since China networks don't recognize it, it doesn't register?).
I don't care about the lack of the SDHC, I will get a 32 GB class 10 anyway, and chargers are cheap here, but spending roughly US$500 and not getting the actual phone I want seems like a bad option- there are no refunds for grey market. Unfortunately, I didn't write down the baseband ID number. Anyone have a guess?
introiboad - Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - link
Worth mentioning that the RAZR is the second (after the 4S) phone to include support for BLE. Instead of waiting for Google to get their act together and add a standard API to Android, Moto has bundled its own stack (provided by a third party) along with a set of APIs.This makes for very interesting applications such as key fobs, hear rate monitors and many others.
dj christian - Thursday, December 22, 2011 - link
What is BLE?doobydoo - Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - link
It says what it means in his post title, 'Bluetooth Low Energy' - basically it's Bluetooth 4.0.http://www.bluetooth.com/Pages/Bluetooth-Smart-Dev...
verasingh - Wednesday, August 28, 2019 - link
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