Motorola today unveiled three new additions to its family of Razr smartphones: the Droid Razr HD, Droid Razr Maxx HD, and the Droid Razr M. PCMag was at the event in New York City and got to take a hands-on look at them.
If you're familiar with the Droid Razr, or even the original Motorola Razr from 2004, you know that a good deal of a Razr's appeal lies in its design, and the new Razrs don't disappoint. Let's start with the stars of the show, the Droid Razr HD and the Droid Razr Maxx HD. These are high-definition updates to the Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx, two of our recent favorite smartphones on Verizon Wireless.
Unlike the originals, these new phones are virtually indistinguishable at first glance. The Razr Maxx HD is just a little bit thicker, at 0.36 inches compared to 0.33 inches for the Razr HD. They aren't as svelte as the 0.28-inch original Razr, though they're certainly in line with the rest of their high-end smartphone competition.
The two phones share the same exact specs, save for two features: The Razr HD has 16GB of internal memory and a 2530mAh battery, while the Razr Maxx HD comes with 32GB of memory and a whopping 3300mAh battery. But everything else is the same, so keep that in mind as you read on.
The phones are made using the same Kevlar material as the Droid Razr and Razr Maxx, which gives them an expensive, luxurious feel. And the angular corners of the previous phones have been smoothed out for a sleek new look. To my eyes, these are some of the nicest looking Android phones out there.
Thankfully, the extra size on these phones has been put to good use. The 4.3-inch, 950-by-540 Super AMOLED display on the previous models has been being replaced by beautiful 4.7-inch, 1280-by-720 Super AMOLED HD displays. That size makes for a high 312 pixel-per-inch density. Motorola's ColorBoost technology is also at play, which it claims makes for more vibrant color reproduction. Jargon aside, text looks super sharp and images are clear and saturated on the screen. It looks every bit as nice as the Samsung Galaxy S III I held up next to it.
The Razrs are powered by a 1.5-GHz, dual-core processor, though Motorola isn't saying what kind; a Moto executive said "you can probably guess." Well, my guess is Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4. That's the same chip as you'll find in the Galaxy S III, and it makes for screaming fast performance. That, combined with support for Verizon's speedy, widespread 4G LTE network makes these some of the fastest smartphones around, though not significantly more powerful than the GSIII from a hardware perspective. Using the phones felt fast, and navigating my way around was quick and responsive.
Unfortunately, the Razrs are running Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich). That's a big disappointment. Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) has already been out for nearly three months now. But what's more is that Google owns Motorola! Surely new phones from Motorola should ship with the latest version of the OS. Motorola promised an update before the end of the year, but it would be a big reason to switch to Motorola if you were promised you'd get the latest software first.
At this point, an 8-megapixel camera is par for the course, and it doesn't look like this one is set to break any new ground. I was able to snap photos quickly, and Motorola gives you plenty of controls up front, but so far it hasn't given us a great camera phone. We'll have to test it, of course, but it doesn't seem like anything to get too excited about. The camera also records 1080p video, and there's a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chats.
And the rest is specs. Each phone comes with a microSD card slot. There's also NFC support. And there's even an HDMI port, which is a nice touch.
Timing is an issue though. There's no info yet on pricing or a release date, except that the Droid Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD will be available in time for the holiday season. There are lots of promising new phones on the horizon, so Motorola will want to get these out of the door as fast as it can.
In addition to the Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD, I also got to take a look at the Razr M. It's running on the same exact specs as those phones, but in a much smaller form factor. It features a nice, edge-to-edge 4.3-inch, 960-by-540 display, packed into a device closer to the size of the Apple iPhone 4S. It comes with 8GB of storage and a 2000mAh battery, and it doesn't have a micro HDMI port. Still, it's a really nice little phone. Best of all is the price. The Droid Razr M costs just $99.99 with a new two-year contract and is available now. That's a lot of power for a relatively inexpensive phone.
The Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD look poised to duke it out with the Samsung Galaxy S III for the title of top smartphone on Verizon Wireless. Of course, Apple's iPhone 5 also looms imposingly in the distance.
We're excited to get our hands on these phones and put them through their paces for full reviews.
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