back to article Motorola Razr i hands-on review

Motorola Mobility's launched its first Intel-based smartphone today and I've been playing with it ahead of its release this October. The compact beauty - which continues with the company's Kevlar-backed design - features a 4.3in 'edge-to-edge' OLED display and it's easy to see why this is one of the Razr i's major talking …

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  1. IR
    Thumb Up

    All I can think after seeing that review is "You have a stuffed vulture wearing a bobble hat and scarf!"

    1. Dave 126

      Catch a death...

      Of course it is wearing a hat and scarf... circling at altitude trying to spot carrion can be a chilly activity!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Catch a death...

        You want to look after your vultures... else the RSPB will tear you a new one!

        1. Steve Knox
          Paris Hilton

          Re: Catch a death...

          From what does one tear a new vulture? Are there vulture dispensers out there with rolls of vulture-paper?

  2. mrdalliard
    Thumb Down

    20 Hrs of use.

    Is that twenty of full-on usage? What does that convert to in terms of lower/moderate usage and standby time?

    If that's moderate usage, then the battery life is pretty shockingly bad to not even last a day.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: 20 Hrs of use.

      20 hours of full-on use would be amazingly good.

      20 hours of standby would be shockingly bad.

      It must be somewhere in the middle.

      Wait for a full review or bench mark.

      But yeah, you raise a good point- cars have two bench marks for their fuel consumption, Urban and Highway, presumably on a rolling road at a defined temperature. The closest phones get is "we looped a 720p movie on it, wi-fi on, screen at half brightness til it died" though half bright on one handset might equate to full brightness on another.

    2. leexgx

      Re: 20 Hrs of use.

      that's why i am selling my HTC one X (ebay item 190726103100 if your interested) not really bad phone just i tend need little more battery life, aiming for the Razr maxx my self

  3. Gashead

    Thrice shy unfortunately

    It's a lovely looking phone and the strength of the case and screen would make it an ideal present for those clumsier people on my birthday list. But it is a Motorola phone so the chances of getting timely software updates in the near future and any whatsoever after a year or so are remote. I bought the original Milestone, got sick of waiting for Android updates. Bought a Xoom, turned out the Google Experience was only felt within God's own country and have never seen as much frustration on any technology subject as that expressed in the Motorola forums.

    Even if it had a virtual keyboard and holographic display like the fanboi's iPhone that fooled Fox 5 in New York the name Motorola on the phone will ultimately end in tears.

    1. Dave 126

      Re: Thrice shy unfortunately

      well, at least Google's other ODM partners don't feel Moto are getting any special treatment!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Thrice shy unfortunately

      Lovely?

      I suppose, if tabloid newspapers can describe female members of the Royal Family as lovely, then you can call this phone lovely.

  4. Justin Clements
    FAIL

    Wow

    A kevlar insert. Groundbreaking.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wow

      No, don't try and use it for groundbreaking. Its tough stuff, but not that tough.

      1. Fibbles

        toughness != hardness

        I have to say I'm loving the exposed screw heads though.

  5. EddieD

    Hell fire!

    You have the same "comfy seat" that I was issued with for my office.

    I thought I was the only poor sod to have it inflicted on them

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hell fire!

      "You have the same "comfy seat" that I was issued with for my office.

      I thought I was the only poor sod to have it inflicted on them"

      Well, after all, no one expects the Spanish Inquisition ... do you have the soft cushions as well?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    When will the manufactures of android phones realise we need it attached to a hip flask. Lets be honest it would suit the (yawn) android ramblers

  7. regprentice

    Been waiting for a bezel-less phone/PDA for years. And I'm still waiting.

    seriously... a true edge to edge screen doesn't have a bezel of any kind.

    Idiots.

  8. Paul Shirley

    how did the ARM emulation perform?

    Be nice to see some benchmarks on various apps, to see what sort of hit emulating native ARM code has. Don't believe many apps have ported to native x86 yet.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sounds like it could be nice hardware. Shame it's running Android.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Meh.

    Intel based, so there are huger swathes of apps that won't run because they use native compiled code.

    It's also lower spec than a £300 Xperia S, that has a better camera, better low light performance, better display, and a dedicated camera button too (not that it ever got mentioned.. until a review needed to find a selling point).

    1. Shades

      Re: Meh.

      "Intel based, so there are huger swathes of apps that won't run because they use native compiled code.

      If its anything like the Huuuwaeieieiei G300, also an Atom powered phone, it will still run all apps. Those apps that hit the hardware, expecting ARM chippery, will actually be talking to an emulation layer, provided by Intel, and therefore be none the wiser. No doubt Intel will release an NDK of their own in time so apps can be re-written to hit the Atoms innards directly. It will be a pain in the arse for app developers, who's apps need the extra grunt of talking directly to the hardware, having to develop for two platforms but for consumers it shouldn't make (too) much of a difference. Well, that's the theory anyway.

      You don't seriously think Intel would by trying to make inroads with an x86 chip, into what was an exclusively ARM market, without thinking about this do you?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Meh.

        Yeah but the emulation is shit.

        1. Shades

          @dx

          So you've used a G300 or managed to get your hands on one of these pre-release then?

      2. Wang N Staines

        Re: Meh.

        I've got the G300 from Tesco, it's definitely not an Intel. Assuming you're talking about the same model.

        http://www.gsmarena.com/huawei_ascend_g300-4594.php

        1. Shades
          Thumb Up

          Re: Meh.

          Oops, my mistake on the manufacturer/model of the other Atom powered smartphone. Thanks for the correction. The phone I'm thinking of was actually reviewed on here not so long ago but if its not the G300, and obviously it isn't, then I can't for the life of me remember what it actually is (and can't be bothered to look! lol)

  11. RonWheeler

    Will there be a maxx version?

    If they could get a maxx version out at a competitive pricepoint I'd be tempted.

  12. Wang N Staines

    I think £200 is about the right price.

  13. Mad Frankie
    Thumb Down

    SAR level

    Looks like you could fry an egg on it.

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