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back to article Motorola Backflip Android smartphone

Motorola's embrace of Android has certainly got the company's creative juices flowing. For the Backflip it has eschewed the traditional slide-out keyboard design and cooked up something altogether new. Motorola Backflip Star turn? Motorola's Backflip The name Backflip perfectly describes the new form factor. Hold the phone …

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  1. labberdasher
    FAIL

    Android 1.5 ...

    Not only is Motorola not updating the Backflip, they are claiming that Android 1.5 gives it the "best combined hardware and software experience". So, take them by their word, and accept that this is an outdated device that is lacking the innovations of the last two years, and is immune to future innovations. This is the best Motorola can do?

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Nice phone, shame about the OS sums it up nicely

    Yet another really nice phone from Motorola. There was a time when saying that would have raised a hollow laugh, but it's true, their hardware designers really are on form these days. That was why I bought a DEXT. But really, no software upgrades mean I've bought my last Motorola. I'm not going to get stung like that again. I'd rather have a nasty phone with an up-to-date OS than a well-designed and robust phone that won't run the apps I want to have.

    Advice from someone who already owns a Motorola Android phone: don't buy this one. Sorry, I'd love to recommend what is almost certainly a good phone, but can't recommend a company that leaves its customers out in the cold like that.

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  3. jaduncan
    FAIL

    Oh, Motorola

    At this point, providing Android 1.5 is similar to selling a modern PC with Windows 98. It's Android without the ability to run the latest Maps, Gmail, Voice Actions, or any non-Google app with requirements beyond the very least sophisticated.

    Separately from this, providing the upgrade to 2.1 for US customers but not anyone else is just disgusting. Don't get treated as a second class customer, don't put up with mutton being sold as lamb, don't buy it.

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    1. Jason Hall
      Reply Icon

      Rip-off

      Unfortunately, most people who buy these phones are not nerds, and won't understand any of this.

      It's a shame Motorola want to rip-off their less techincally-able customers in this way.

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    MotoFail

    "Sadly, no upgrade is planned for handsets outside the USA", just like my sodding Dext.

    So one has to root it then?

    Joke Alert because Moto = laughing stock, funnier than the moderators posturing over on the Moto "support" forums.

    Ever get the feeling you've been cheated, shoppers?

    I'd sooner eat my own faeces than ever purchase a Motorola product again.

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  5. Ku...

    Android 1.5?

    Sorry Moto, I have loved your phones in the past but snafus like rolling with Andorid 1.5 mean I'm still on track for another HTC when my upgrade comes in.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    could that phone...

    be anymore meh and me too, my god, its all so *bland*

    do. not. want.

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  7. Sartori
    FAIL

    Oh dear...

    I was thinking this could be an interesting handset to get until I saw Android 1.5 and no upgrade plans then I thought no chance! What is it with handset manufacturers releasing such outdated software on phones, it's like Dell releasing a machine today with Windows 95 on it.

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  8. PaulR79
    FAIL

    Motorola on self-destruct outside the USA

    I don't know what the hell is up with Motorola but after coming back from near death with the Droid in America they appear to be purposely shooting themselves in the foot. The Motorola Milestone only recently got confirmation that it would be getting an update to Android 2.2 / FroYo, about six months after the Motorola Droid got the update. The only difference between the models is the GSM radio... Worse still is that there are other regions outside of Europe that won't be getting the update for some bizarre reason. Similarly this phone and numerous others have been updated in the US but outside it's either planned sometime later or not at all.

    Motorola, why are you trying to piss off your customers so much? I bought the Motorola Milestone about a month ago but after seeing how poorly you view non-US customers I upgraded to the new HTC Desire HD. The Milestone is a great phone and I absolutely love it but it will be my last Motorola phone since I'm not a US citizen and therefore a second class customer.

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  9. davethetekkie
    FAIL

    Proof that you're behaving like an absolute doughnut, cupcake.

    The DEXT has been a brilliant device to own; I was torn between it and the Nokia E71 (I am a fan of E series devices because I think that they prove that a smartphone CAN be a phone first and everything else second where other OSes almost put communications as an afterthought hence why I am the only tech in our office using a Nokia E50 as my work handset and NOT a WinMo or iPhone unit). The lack of hardware call and end keys was probably my main concern, but that was put aside in favour of having a closer look at Android...

    With the exception of a few niggles it's one of the best devices I've ever owned; NOT the best PHONE I've ever owned (That would be the E61 btw), but the software update situation has pretty much put me off the idea of buying another Moto out of principle.

    Samsung and HTC should be rubbing their hands with glee. One of them will be getting a new customer very soon.

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  10. Magnus_Pym

    In the past...

    ... US producers made products for US buyers and US buyers would not look at elsewhere no matter how bad the products were. The producers thought this would always be the case. The rest of the world doesn't matter because the home market is safe. The US motor industry thought so, the US white goods industry thought so. Motorola still think so.

    The truth may have leaked through to the design department but the board are still living in the 1950's. Not for much longer I fear.

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  11. Justin Pasher

    Nice design, poor performance/quality

    I bought this phone right after it came out because it was the first Android phone available for AT&T (I really didn't want to get an iPhone). Initially I thought it was great (my previous phone was a Blackberry Pearl from work). However, since this was my first Android experience, I didn't have much to compare it to.

    I like the keyboard flip out design. I have always been a much bigger fan of physical keyboards than virtual keyboards, and it seems like more and more Android phones are moving to virtual-only handsets. However, that's about the only thing that really stands out. It has poor video quality, a lackluster processor, and measly storage included. Oh, and it's still stuck on Android 1.5 (and based upon the Motorola timeline, no one knows when 2.1 will *actually* be released in the USA). I personally think they are still releasing it in the USA to avoid a class action lawsuit for falsely advertising that it was upgradeable to Android 2.0. This makes me question how the performance will be. The phone has been rooted recently, and the people that have done it have said good things, but I don't think I want to take the risk (I have to use the phone for work).

    Personally, I'm looking at something in the Samsung Galaxy S series, such as the Captivate. My wife recently bought one and it's pretty nice. It has a lot nicer screen, it's much faster, and it already has Android 2.1.

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  12. Robert Hill
    FAIL

    Funny, this just killed the Moto Defy for me...

    Was really thinking about NOT buying an iPhone upgrade, but buying the Defy when it comes out in a few weeks, as I sail and a waterproof phone would be a good thing...

    But this treating non-US customers differentially is just shite, really. Totally unacceptable, regardless of reasoning (probably due to reseller/channel/carrier issues, I would guess). But in the end - I DON'T CARE - I will NOT be treated as a second-class citizen just due to the side of the Atlantic I live on. HP does it with their laptops, others do it - but Samsung seems to do it less, and Apple also seems to be pretty good at treating it's customers as global customers.

    I'll get a waterproof case for my iPhone, thanks for playing Moto...

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  13. Dirk Munk

    Motorola made an update commitment

    I bought a Backflip some 6 months ago. At that time and even now (!!) Motorola promised an update to Android 2.x for Q3 on its Western European web page for the Backflip. That was the reason I bought a phone with a very outdated Android 1.5 . In my view that update promise is a firm commitment.

    The reception and transmission quality is not very good. With my old RAZR I could have a telephone conversation on places where the Backflip looses the connection.

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