Droid RAZR Review

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In 2004, Motorola released the first RAZR flip phone, and it quickly became one the fastest-selling phones of its time. The Droid RAZR is the third RAZR phone Motorola has released. It is a higher-end phone willing to take on any other smartphone on the market.

When you think of the RAZR name, you think of a super-slim phone, and this one does not disappoint. Measuring just 7.1mm thick (compared to 9.3mm for the iPhone 4s) and weighing just 127g, it’s very light yet manages to feel extremely solid. Typically, when I think of slim and light, the first thing that comes to mind is fragile. Such is not the case with this phone. The Droid RAZR proves that thin is no longer frail. To protect the phone from daily abuse, the Droid RAZR features a Kevlar fiber (the same thing they use for body armor!) backing and scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass display. The phone also has a water-repellent coating that protects it (including its inside components) from spills.

Even though the RAZR is one of the thinnest phones on the market, it doesn’t skimp on features. This phone has a beautiful 4.3-inch screen that spans much of its length and height, and the display is both luminous and crisp. The 4.3” Super AMOLED advanced display (960×540 resolution) on the DROID RAZR rivals resolutions found on most LCD HDTV’s! The one thing I did not like about the screen and the size of the phone is the difficultly involved for one-handed use. With a smaller screen (say 3.5”), you can easily thumb through the whole screen without needing to adjust your hand position.

The phone comes with two cameras: one front-facing and one rear-facing camera. The rear-facing camera is an 8-megapixel camera capable of shooting in 1080p format. The camera takes excellent photos and videos. The RAZR’s camera app comes with an excellent panorama mode that allows you to “stich” six shots together to get a great panorama shot. The front-facing camera is 1.3 megapixel and capable of shooting video in 720p format. The camera certainly doesn’t disappoint. It is one of the better front-facing cameras I have seen.

The RAZR comes with a 1.2 GHZ dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM that will handle just about any task you throw at it with ease. There is little-to-no delay when browsing Motorola’s custom user interface based on the Android operating system. Loading the apps and games on the phone is quick and snappy. The phone also features an HDMI port to connect it to your HDTV or anything else that accepts an HDMI input. This phone is also on Verizon’s 4GLTE network. As I stated in my previous reviews, Verizon’s LTE network is FAST! It is just as fast as many home networks, with speeds in the 10+ MPS range. Storage for the phone comes in the form of 16GB installed internally as well as a pre-installed 16GB microSD card. That should be plenty for the average day-to-day user. However, if it’s not enough, you can upgrade the microSD card to 32GB.

The battery life for the phone is average. I have seen both better and worse. However, battery life on a dual-core phone featuring the LTE network is typically poor. Both features use A LOT of power. So to say that the battery life is average is not such a bad thing. One thing I would have liked is the ability to remove the battery. Motorola decided not to allow this, which means no spare battery and no chance of a larger battery. Also, in full disclosure, I must say I did have one problem with the phone charging. One day, after the battery died completely, I tried to charge the phone from my laptop, and it would not charge at all. I also tried charging it from the desktop with no luck. It did, however, charge once I plugged it into the wall. Once it did charge, I was able to continue charging it from my computer. I am not sure why this happened, but I did some research and found that I was not the only person with this problem. Hopefully, Motorola will have this fixed in a future update.

The Droid RAZR comes with the typical apps you would expect from today’s smartphones. You probably won’t use some of them, but others are useful. The mobile hotspot app is always welcome, especially when you are on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. You’ll also find QuickOffice, which allows you to open, view and edit your Office files. Motorola also offers a ton of accessories for the RAZR, but unfortunately, the company did not send any for me to review with this phone (hint, hint).

All in all, the RAZR is a great phone for even the most demanding smartphone user. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a feature-packed phone on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. The RAZR has some of the best Android hardware I’ve seen in a long time. It’s incredibly thin and has great build quality.