Last Friday when everyone else was buying the iPhone 5 I bought the new Verizon Motorola RAZR-M. As some of you might remember I gave a less than glowing review of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and I might have been one of the first people in the country to return one for a refund. In the above picture I’m doing something you can do with an S3. Can you tell what it is?
What I’m doing is holding the phone by the bottom or corner. On the Galaxy S3 you can’t do that because your fingers are pushing the buttons. Nor can you hold it on the sides for the same reason.
I’m upgrading from my old Droid X which is rather dated to say the least. I’ve been in the upgrade window for over a year wanting to upgrade to some kind of 4G phone, but until now I haven’t found the phone that did everything my old Droid X did, until now.
Granted that I probably would have been happy with the Razr Maxx and even more with the new Razr Maxx HD that’s coming. However my experience with the S3 taught me that bigger isn’t always better and I think that 4.3 inch display is the sweet spot on cell phone screen size.
Android is not like the Windows world where all windows computers are very much alike. In the Android world it’s very different and Motorola is way better than Samsung at getting the thing working right. With the S3 everything was an annoyance. The screen brightness controls were far to aggressive and it was hard to even dial a number without the screen going blank while you were dialing. And the RAZR M even works with the bluetooth in my car. Something the S# didn’t.
And – it’s an Android – not an Apple. It still amazes me that people still follow that cult. I did look at the iPhone 5 and ZZZZZZzzzzzz – boring! I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and Google Maps/Navigation is one of my most important apps. I need something that will get me there, not look pretty on the screen.
Apple’s SIRI is crap and the Android clones of SIRI are even worse. This phone had some new Voice Commands app that didn’t come close to working. It was the default voice commands app for the mobile car dock mode. However I got into the running apps list in Setting and disabled it and it switched back to Google Voice which works well for the 4 command I use. “Navigate to” “Map of” “Text to” and “Call”.
The initial release was good in that most everything works. It will get better with newer releases. The one annoying thing that didn’t work is the pause/resume control on my car dash doesn’t work right. The pause doesn’t work, the resume does. Hoping that will get fixed in the next release.
No root for it yet at this time but I have less need to be root than I used to. But I like the idea of being root just because that’s who I am.
Battery life is good so far. Looks like it’s better than the Droid X. But I’m just 3 days into it.
One of the things I like best is the way it feels in my hand. It’s not slippery like the S3. I can pick it up without pushing buttons. It’s slightly smaller that the Droid X. Thinner too. And lighter.
Got lucky on the dash mount too. I have the old one glued in pretty good and the new one is different. However they both used the same ball ond socket joint and I took it apart and swapped sockets and it worked. I’m a happy camper with my RAZR M.
And no one committed suicide in the process of making your phone either!
I got it. You are admiring your squirrel.
I thought you had a Nexus, I like the Nexus, a good phone.
I was a Droid X user’s long ago (now a NY cab driver has it), solid phone, but Motoblur had it’s issue back then.
@Derek you don’t think Motorola gets phones made at Foxconn too?
@Rich the author isn’t Dvorak, JCD has been using a GNex.
I support GOOD(for Android and iOS) and a BES for my company. I’ve been using Droids for a few years. I’m by no means an iFanatic, but I do give the devices credit for stability. While the Android devices are solid, I put them on the bottom of the list in stability for our corporate use. No matter what model of Droid I happen to be using(and I’ve used quite a few) I will have to reboot them occasionally. Some models require daily, others weekly, others monthly and few models really enjoyed rebooting on their own. But for Blackberries and iPhones/iPads — I rarely if ever have to reboot them.
I realize its all anecdotal, but that’s just my opinion having worked with them all on a daily basis for a few years. I’m looking forward to seeing how the new Windows 8 phones perform.
Wishing you had a larger keyboard?
How is camera?
I thought the answer was you set the phone to see-through.
You are holding it on it’s edge with two chubby fingers.
Why should we care about what phone you like?
Are you going to share with us your thoughts on selecting a car insurance company next? Tube socks? Floss before or after brushing?
Zzzzzzzzzz!
Must be in the eye of the beholder. In my eye, that’s ugly as sin. Like most things that run Android.
But it’s not an iPhone. You really want an iPhone
Does it have a removable battery that you can replace?
No removable battery. 🙁
Droid X for a little while longer…. Hilariously unreliable in terms of the need to re-boot (like Win98ME), but otherwise not too bad. I really could use Java, though, and haven’t been able to make that work. (The built-in browser seems better than any of the add-ons. Just IMHO….)
It’s predecessor was a Samsung Omnia. Much better in terms of reliability, but it appears that the engineers who designed it never actually tried to use it – in many cases, the same function was implemented in a totally different way between applications. IOW, something like the button on the bottom left exiting the Browser, while the one on the right exiting the calendar. (Can’t remember exactly what did what.)
My daughter has a i3 or i4 (I’m old…. About all I remember is that the counterkid who sold it to her had an IQ similar to her bra size. Cute, though….) She loves it. I’m not sure I could stand it, though. My wife wouldn’t let me keep the counterkid.
Probably another Droid (like the Razr) next time – I’ve at least already figured out how to work it by now….
Someday….
Something about tech on this web site! How shocking!
Not bad though of course the right size for you depends on the size of you hands and personal preferences.
That background looks like a gross nipple shot…eeeewwwwww!
I got my new Razr M last week. Replaced a DroidX. Totally sweet display, very responsive, and “just right” size. Toss in the now required 4G and NFC, you got a honey of a phone.
I like it. I really, really like it!
The only real strike against this smartphone is its slightly underwhelming camera. If you want an excellent user experience at a reasonable price, the RAZR M is your best choice on Verizon Wireless.