Motorola Droid RAZR (16 GB) Smartphone

I like what Motorola tried to do with the Droid Razr ... unfortunately, it was an epic fail because of what the company did to its customers by introducing the Droid Razr Maxx (which I cannot find to review on epinions). I was one of the people who wanted the Droid Razr even though everyone told me IPhone was way better. Why did I go against the cult of IPhone? I have Verizon and currently, they do not offer 4G service for the IPhone, which would mean that an Android phone would bring up websites around double the speed of what the IPhones would.


However, the battery life of the Droid Razr is what made it a very poor seller ... I was very dissapointed having to charge my Droid Razr after a few hours of surfing on the web or even normal usage. It really was a bad battery life compared to many of the other offerings.


What made me buy the Droid Razr?


1.) The large screen. Which is great but has its pros and cons.

Con ... Much bigger than an IPhone but ... the Razr's screen is not as bright and may be a bit more pixelated when you bring up pdf files such as menus, spreadsheets and flyers off websites and try to blow them up to see the fine details. The resolution is one of the poorest out of any of the other comparitive phones (IPhone, Galaxy, etc.) The Razr has a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Advanced (960×540 resolution) – 256ppi. This makes it very hard to read small text that has been scanned (as you will find on many restaurant websites you will bring up.) It also makes it more difficult to see in the sunlight. Even on total brightness (which eats battery like you will not believe) it is hard to see in the sun.The 960X540 resolution cannot compare to the Nexus's 4.65 inch HD Super AMOLED (1280×720 resolution) – 316ppi screen. Forget about the IPhone's amazing resolution ... there is no comparison, but since the screen on the IPhone is smaller I won't hold the Razr to a serious comparison.

Con ... the size of the screen also makes it a bit awkward to hold. A bit might actually be an understatement. Taking pictures is almost impossible. Because the phone is so thin and light ... the size of the phone makes it very hard to hold when photographing and texting. I really did not like the overall feel of the phone as it is awkwardly big. Because it is so light and thin, it just doesn't feel comfortable to use.

Pro ... When looking at websites, this is easy to use. Almost like a mini-computer, it is a lot more appealing to see big portions of a website on this phone vs. the IPhone which has a smaller screen.    

2.) The durability

The Droid Razr might be thin but its tough ... my biggest concern with the Razr is that because it is so thin and so big, it would be likely to snap in half. When you actually feel the Razr, you will see it feels more durable than the IPhone. It is made of Kevlar (which is what bulletproof vests are made out of), Steel and Aluminum. It is surprisingly lightweight. It also feature's Corning's 'Gorilla Glass' which is supposedly an amazingly durable glass product which resists impact, cracking or scratching. You would certainly want to get a screen protector for this because I have read that Gorilla Glass is certainly not scratch resistant and the big screen and design of this phone makes it a magnet for scratches. While I would not want to drop this phone ... at the same time, I think it would be fine after a drop or two based on how strong it feels.

3.) 4G Lightening Fast Internet Browsing

People who do not have Verizon might wonder why someone would consider an Android strictly due to the 4G factor. Verizon is one of the last service providers not to offer 4G for the IPhone. I am not sure exactly how much faster 4G is than 3G but I used my brother's IPhone and noticed a good lag between tapping the screen and bringing up the website. It is instant on the Razr. This lightning fast internet makes using the web on the Razr as fast as using it on a home PC ... almost.

It also downloads pdfs very fast. Such as menus and spreadsheets. Opening them is not as easy due to the Razr's confusing interface.


The downsides of the Razr (which prompted me to return it)


1.) Battery Life -

The Razr is terrible with battery life. I seriously spent most of my time wandering around looking for an outlet to charge this while I am traveling. It takes forever for the battery to charge ... it is much slower than most other phones I have had. And when you are using the bluetooth, wifi or any other thing that drains the battery ... its only a matter of hours before you drain the battery. The screen also really takes away from the battery life. I found myself putting it on the lowest setting while traveling, which made the phone hard to see, because on full brightness or even half brightness the screen took away so much battery. What is the point of having a smartphone with all those features if you have to spend so much time turning the screen brightness up and down, wifi on and off, bluetooth on and off and constantly wondering which apps you should use because you need more battery later on.

When I found out that 6 months after the Razr came out at $400, Motorola came out with the Razr Maxx for $600 with a battery that over doubles the life of the Razr, I vowed never to buy another Motorola product. This is a total slap in the face to anyone who brought the Razr less than half a year earlier. Just based on the life of the battery, I would strongly recommend thinking twice before buying the Razr.


 2.) Interface

As a first time smart phone user, I had heard that there was a fairly big learning curve on using a Droid's interface vs. an IPhone. I had no idea what I was in for. The Droid is so confusing to use. Even someone at my work's IT Department had trouble finding the contact list on the phone while trying to synch my email. After a week, I still found myself looking through contant menus and doing 3 steps before I could find what I was looking for. The Razr has more widgets than the IPhone, but things are so much harder to find. For someone with a tech mind ... this would be a treasure chest. However as someone who appreciates more simple tech things ... I don't like the complexity of the interface.


Overall, for someone looking for a bigger screen, faster internet and durability ... this would be a good buy. For someone who travels a lot for work and needs a lot of battery life, I would pay the extra for the Razr Maxx. It seems like there are people who are Android people and IPhone people. (I find more IPhone people than Android people) In terms of the Galaxy vs. Droid Razr, I'd go with the Galaxy. In terms of IPhone vs. Razr ... I'd do Razr only because of the 4G. If you don't have Verizon ... IPhone might be the way to go.