Motorola DROID RAZR 4G LTE Review (Verizon)

Motorola’s DROID RAZR takes two of Motorola’s most successful phones series and merges them at the same time. In particular, the DROID RAZR brings the prowess of the DROID series and combines it with the super skinny but strong form factor that has traditionally been associated with the RAZR series. Is the DROID RAZR 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology) for Verizon Wireless the ultimate Android Smartphone? Read on for our full review.

Measuring 5.14″ long by 2.71″ wide by 0.28″ thin, the DROID RAZR as well claims to be the world’s thinnest smartphone. And  the DROID RAZR does manage to to be super svelte. Actually, the first thing you’ll notice when you hold it in your hand is how incredibly thin it is and how light it feels, weighing in at 4.5 oz. But, in spite of being super thin, the device feels super strong and sturdy thanks to its aluminum body and complimenting Kevlar back finish. The Kevlar back finish helps ensure that the DROID RAZR stands out against the plethora of Android smartphones coming out day in day out. It as well creates an impressive finish, the kind of which we have come to associate with the RAZR series. If you liked the Galaxy S II for its ultra thin and lightweight body, than you’ll likely lust for the DROID RAZR too, as the build quality manages to one-up the Galaxy S II. Motorola has as well thrown on “a force field of water-repellent nano-particles that shield the phone against water attacks” so that even the phone’s precious electrical boards are protected.

Really, the Kevlar finish is a bit gimmicky since it’s not like the whole phone is made out of Kevlar, nor does its Kevlar materials mean that the DROID is bullet proof, however it is a nice design touch in a world of smartphones that all look after a fashion the same. We’ve as well noticed that the DROID RAZR is more of a guy magnet. The women we have shown it to weren’t all that taken with it, during the guys have usually been very impressed with its skinny form factor and Kevlar finish.

The Motorola DROID RAZR packs in a 4

The Motorola DROID RAZR packs in a 4.3″ super AMOLED advanced qHD display, with a 540 x 960 resolution. The display is made out of Corning Gorilla Glass which should help defend against scrapes and scratches. The display gets plenty bright, and produces vivid colors. Unfortunately, like so many of Motorola’s smartphones, the display is as well PenTile based, which means it has a mesh-like finish which we find pretty irritating. This same kind of PenTile display can be found on the likes of the Nokia Lumia 800 and Samsung Focus Flash. The reality is that most users won’t notice it, nevertheless if you are very sensitive to your device’s display quality, than this display isn’t for you.

Under the hood, the Motorola DROID RAZR is packing in a 1.2Ghz TI OMAP 4430 dual-core processor with 1GB of ram. The device earned a benchmark score of 2572 in Quadrant. This score shows that the phone ranks amongst higher end Gingerbread devices as far as performance is concerned. In general, performance on the device feels very peppy, responsive and smooth, however it’s not the fastest smartphone out there.

The DROID RAZR comes running Android 2

The DROID RAZR comes running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread. Some of the non-standard apps on the Motorola DROID RAZR include GoToMeeting. Let’s Golf 2, Madden NFL 12, Mobile Hotspot, MOTOACTV, MOTOPRINT, My Verizon, Netflix, NFL Mobile, Quickoffice, Slacker, Task manager, V CAST Tones, Verizon Video, VideoSurf, VZ Navigator, etc.

And in spite of its industrial chic exterior, Motorola has as well worked hard to make sure that the DROID RAZR has plenty to offer the businessman or woman. To that effect, it comes preloaded with GoToMeeting, and Quickoffice. Plus it has support for government-grade FIPS 140-2 encryption for e-mail, calendar, and contacts, the ability to remotely enable or disable the camera, along with remote wipe, PIN lock, SD card and device encryption. And clearly the DROID RAZR has full support for Microsoft Exchange.

The Lapdock running the Webtop operating system

Remember the Lapdock running the Webtop operating system, that Motorola first introduced with the Atrix? Then Motorola hasn’t given up on the concept of transforming your smartphone into a pseudo laptop / netbook. The latest generation of the Motorola Webtop experience has been improved since we first tried it out with the Atrix. Dock the DROID RAZR into the Webtop and the Lapdock piggy backs off of the DROID RAZR’s processors and internet connection so that you can experience the DROID RAZR with a full-sized screen and keyboard.

Also, because the HDMI and MicroUSB ports are located at the bottom of the DROID RAZR, the DROID RAZR can’t dock into the back of the Lapdock by properly lying inside of it. This is a bit of a bummer since it defeats the whole purpose of the design of the Lapdock, which is to slide in and dock your Motorola smartphone into the backside of the Lapdock.

Does the Motorola DROID RAZR 4G LTE live up to all of the hype? It’s by all means a quality smartphone with a lot of going for it – including svelte and very in a class by itself looks, speed and plenty of business chops.  It’s as well got a plethora of innovative accessories  available for it like Webtop, an HD dock, MOTOACTV and a battery extender, which furthermore make it help stand out against the Gingerbread competition.  That said, the DROID RAZR is a bit of a let down by its PenTile display and mediocre camera and battery life. Regardless, if you’re ready to jump on getting the DROID RAZR, you couldn’t have picked a better time, since it’s on sale for $0.01 at Amazon because of Black Friday.

The Good: Very unequalled aluminum design with Kevlar back; 4G LTE and dual-core powered, large 4.3″ AMOLED display; plenty of business chops and available accessories;  does a good job of handling both social media and important business features.