Hands on opinion with the Razr M

[Joe the Insider]

Just got the official demo in today and I just wanted to say that I am really impressed with this phone. I have a Galaxy S3 and I have no intentions of getting the Razr M, but if this phone is any indication of the HD, then I might consider. Either way here is a few things I like...

The screen quality is top notch and this was the biggest surprise of all. Edge to edge needs to be done more.

The size is small, but they still were able to fit a 4.3" screen on such a small body and I think more companies need to take note. I would love to have a 4.7 on a smaller body.

I love that Motorola went with on screen buttons and this is what makes me mad about Samsung and still using the buttons on the button.

The build quality is top notch once again and puts other phones to shame. This is the type of phone I would keep nude for sure.

As for performance, it's very smooth and with jelly bean coming soon, it can only get even smoother.

Battery life is very good actually. I'm not sure what AC is complaining about, we had this off charge since 8am and everyone has been playing with it since, it's now 5 and we are still at 68%.

If you guys have any questions, let me know.

 

[phositadc]

How visible and noticeable is the notification light?

 

[Joe the Insider]

Very visible. You'll have no problems seeing it.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[phositadc]

Awesome thx

 

[XenIneX]

How's the screen in direct sunlight?

 

[les017]

How about that Motorola corporate camera?

 

[Hbomber110]

Pentile or not ? i dont want this cr** anymore !

And how is the loud speaker ? my Milestone (droid og) had an awesome speaker and i dont know if they kept the same route with new phones.

 

[Ry]

Do the screws on the side look/feel awkward?

Care to run any benchmarks?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Android Central Forums

 

[chram893]

Pentile or not ? i dont want this cr** anymore !

And how is the loud speaker ? my Milestone (droid og) had an awesome speaker and i dont know if they kept the same route with new phones.

Droid-Life confirms that its "... still is a qHD PenTile display."

- - - Updated - - -

Do the screws on the side look/feel awkward?

Care to run any benchmarks?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Android Central Forums

PhoneDog's video review of the Razr M shows them running a benchmark test. I honestly don't know if I'm breaking any forum rules in posting this youtube link of the review... If I am, PLEASE let me know so I can take it down! Thanks! Motorola DROID RAZR M Review Part 2 - YouTube
I hope this helps you out.

 

[phositadc]

Very visible. You'll have no problems seeing it.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I just saw that the pocket now review claims that the notification led only works for low battery. Can you confirm that it also works for email, messages, missed calls, etc.? Or is pocket now actually correct?

 

[zxphenomenalxz]

my store also received their demo a few days ago I been playing with it pretty hard core. I love the feeling of it. Nice one handed device with a nice size screen. not to mention a gorgeous screen. The camera does lack in some areas but the hdr mode extremely enhances photos. I have a galaxy s3 now and I actually just added a third line to get this device. As much as I love my s3 I love the screen buttons and bare bone android ui, well almost bare. I wanted to lock into a 10 months upgrade contract before I left company and this was only other phone worth getting out at the moment. I plan on giving it to my fiance to take her away from the iphone and them upgrade in October to either razr hd or maxx hd. We shall see.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Android Central Forums

 

[hollip3020]

The second moto announced this phone I basically had made up my mind I was going to get one. I'd had my mind set on a galaxy s3, simply because it was the best phone you can get on verizon. The only problem was, I enjoy rooting and rom'ing, and it was only recently that phone was unlocked. Also, I'm not a fan of how big phones are getting these days. I loved the size of my OG Droid (except for the thickness), and I like the screen size of my TBolt. So the thought of getting the screen size of my TBolt, in a frame closer to the size of the OG Droid, with basically the same specs as the S3, made it a no brainer. However, I can't buy something I'll be using every day without checking it out first. So, I popped into my neighborhood store to check it out yesterday. One of the associates was happy to let me play around with the demo units they were setting up. When he handed it to me, it still had the plastic film on the screen and he hadn't even gone through the initial out-of-box setup, which was nice. In other words, I was the first person in my neighborhood to get my hands on one (except associates, of course). He went through the whole spiel, then left me on my own to check it out. My thoughts:

First, all the reviews that said the camera sucked are pretty harsh. No, it's not the best, but from what I could see snapping various photos in the store, it'll do just fine in normal situations. I didn't get a chance to get any really low light shots, but either way, it's better than the TBolt (which is all I really have to compare it to).

To me the build felt solid, not cheap like some of the reviews said, and fit perfectly in my hand. The edge-to-edge display is pretty sweet, immensely brighter than my TBolt (though that's not saying much), and though I definitely noticed the pentile-ness of it, it didn't bother me as much as some other phones I've used. The power and volume buttons are very responsive and give you a sense that you've actually pushed a button, which apparently HTC didn't understand when they put the jello like buttons on the TBolt. I'm kinda split on moto's (google's?) decision to go with the software back/home/app switcher buttons. I'd always been one to detest phones that have a non-removable battery, but I've recently changed my view (razr maxx, anyone?), so it doesn't really bother me anymore, especially if I can be assured my phone will last at least one full day without regard to how much I use it. I'm not a "power user" so I've rarely had issues with battery life on any phone (except my TBolt when I'm off WiFi for extended periods), but it's nice to not have to worry.

Moto's overlay over ICS isn't so bad, it even has auto-reorganization when you move widgets/apps around on the homescreens (like jelly bean). I loathed Sense on my TBolt after having a completely vanilla experience on my OG Droid, and vanilla JB is one of the main reasons I picked up a Nexus 7 at launch. Anyway, on the razr m, I like the quick settings "homepage" much better than having the same settings in the notification pane. It frees up space for an extra notification or two and shows the actual names of each of the settings (not that I forget what each of the icons is, just that it seems to be a bit faster), which is a win-win in my book. Also, I like that it only comes with 1 homescreen as standard. Having a ton of widgets on your various homescreens has always mystified me. If I need to see what's going on within an app, I'll open it, and to me it's always felt like extra labor to have to swipe through all your homescreens to see what's going on. Maybe on a tablet with the much greater screen real estate it makes sense (I'm a huge fan of the chameleon launcher).

Overall, it seems like my perfect phone. The only downside is I'll have to buy it outright to keep my unlimited data (ugh), so I'm probably just going to get the developer edition (which is actually probably an upside ).

 

[richard_rsp]

I ordered a BNIB one off eBay on Tuesday night and it should be here tomorrow (I am PRETTY sure that it was one given away at the announcement.).
Since I don't get mine today, I decided to stop by my local Verizon store to check it out (and to pick up some accessories).

Holy-moly this phone is fast! I was VERY presently surprised at how quickly text was 'focused' when zooming in or out of a webpage. The size is awesome and it was much lighter than I thought it would be. I am not a pixel-a-haulic (i kept the iPad2 because the 'Retina' display on the iPad3 wasn't that big of a deal to me) but the screen looked great to me! I tried taking a picture and it looked as good as my iPhone 4, so I'm not worried.

I really hope that people see how great of a deal this phone is... I am looking forward to getting mine tomorrow!

 

[CSI Guy]

All that I can say is this is a great little phone. It does everything nicely.

 

[Notrega]

My two cents

Got mine this morning. I hard to travel out of town to Kissimmee, FL for a meeting. We got there early and I asked a coworker to Google where the local VZW store was to see if we had time to stop. Walked in when it opened and walked out in time for my meeting.

Got it with 40% battery but the meeting location had no service and drained to 17% pretty quick with little use BUT it was also struggling to pull down 60+ apps. I didn't bother to try to stop it.

What little I have been able to pay with it I like it. I am coming from the Thunderbolt (I jumped to the Galaxy Nexus but I didn't like the size or the way it did t in my hand compared to the TB so I went back and the wife got the Nexus) this phone is a waif compared to the TB and FAST.

There has been no lag, everything loads quick, 4G is pulling 20+MB down consistently. I like that the native email app and the sms app has dark themes.

The screens stacking to the right takes some to get used to as well as left for quick settings.

Display is nice but if I look real close, like up to my nose, I can see pixels but I have to really look for it.

One thing I do not like at all is the Google search bar is at the top of every page. I disabled it and it goes away but the widgets and apps do not use the vacant space.

The fit, finish, and build is great. My biggest test will be the battery life. I am SO tired of carrying spare batteries for the TB, if I can get from waking up to leaving work I will be happy. I can shut 4G off on the Thunderbolt and not get that.

I plan to abuse the heck out of this thing for 13 days and decide whether to turn it in, keep it, or give it to the wife and get the Maxx HD.

 

[keewee10]

One thing I do not like at all is the Google search bar is at the top of every page. I disabled it and it goes away but the widgets and apps do not use the vacant space.

If you use GoLauncher, you can reclaim the space...

 

[Notrega]

If you use GoLauncher, you can reclaim the space...

Meh... I am using Nova now but I kinda liked the Moto treatment.



Sent from my XT907 using Android Central Forums

 

[lawmonkey13]

I just picked up the M as my personal phone to replace my old Dinc. I love this phone! It has a great form factor and feels perfect in the hand. The kevler back doesn't thrill me but otherwise it does feel pretty solid. It's zippy and responsive. I like the camera better than my Gnex, but that isn't saying much. The battery life is good and lasted almost a full day after a 4 hour of playing tunes during my marathon. I think the skin is pretty light and the few enhancements aren't overdone. I hope Googlrola comes out with more edge to edge phones.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[lololovestech]

So far this phone is really spectacular. I wasn't expecting such a nice piece of equipment from Motorola. I've owned HTC (DInc) and Samsung (GS2) in the past. Speed, form factor and size are excellent. The phone is snappy and such an improvement from my GS2 (a beautiful phone with an amazing camera, but couldn't hold a charge to save it's life and the stock dialer was a joke. Plus it froze constantly.) The M's camera is mediocre at best but I've managed to squeeze a few really good photos out of it using camera360 (will post in the other thread soon). I love, love the size and I was worried it would be hard to downsize from the GS2 (great for watching videos but otherwise just a big, empty screen mostly - boring to look at - and not enough cool widgets to make it worthwhile). I'm surprised I got all this for $99 - and they call it a mid-range phone! Moto M ftw!

Just scouring the interwebs for a cool-looking case.

 

[erwaso]

The second moto announced this phone I basically had made up my mind I was going to get one. I'd had my mind set on a galaxy s3, simply because it was the best phone you can get on verizon. The only problem was, I enjoy rooting and rom'ing, and it was only recently that phone was unlocked. Also, I'm not a fan of how big phones are getting these days. I loved the size of my OG Droid (except for the thickness), and I like the screen size of my TBolt. So the thought of getting the screen size of my TBolt, in a frame closer to the size of the OG Droid, with basically the same specs as the S3, made it a no brainer. However, I can't buy something I'll be using every day without checking it out first. So, I popped into my neighborhood store to check it out yesterday. One of the associates was happy to let me play around with the demo units they were setting up. When he handed it to me, it still had the plastic film on the screen and he hadn't even gone through the initial out-of-box setup, which was nice. In other words, I was the first person in my neighborhood to get my hands on one (except associates, of course). He went through the whole spiel, then left me on my own to check it out. My thoughts:

First, all the reviews that said the camera sucked are pretty harsh. No, it's not the best, but from what I could see snapping various photos in the store, it'll do just fine in normal situations. I didn't get a chance to get any really low light shots, but either way, it's better than the TBolt (which is all I really have to compare it to).

To me the build felt solid, not cheap like some of the reviews said, and fit perfectly in my hand. The edge-to-edge display is pretty sweet, immensely brighter than my TBolt (though that's not saying much), and though I definitely noticed the pentile-ness of it, it didn't bother me as much as some other phones I've used. The power and volume buttons are very responsive and give you a sense that you've actually pushed a button, which apparently HTC didn't understand when they put the jello like buttons on the TBolt. I'm kinda split on moto's (google's?) decision to go with the software back/home/app switcher buttons. I'd always been one to detest phones that have a non-removable battery, but I've recently changed my view (razr maxx, anyone?), so it doesn't really bother me anymore, especially if I can be assured my phone will last at least one full day without regard to how much I use it. I'm not a "power user" so I've rarely had issues with battery life on any phone (except my TBolt when I'm off WiFi for extended periods), but it's nice to not have to worry.

Moto's overlay over ICS isn't so bad, it even has auto-reorganization when you move widgets/apps around on the homescreens (like jelly bean). I loathed Sense on my TBolt after having a completely vanilla experience on my OG Droid, and vanilla JB is one of the main reasons I picked up a Nexus 7 at launch. Anyway, on the razr m, I like the quick settings "homepage" much better than having the same settings in the notification pane. It frees up space for an extra notification or two and shows the actual names of each of the settings (not that I forget what each of the icons is, just that it seems to be a bit faster), which is a win-win in my book. Also, I like that it only comes with 1 homescreen as standard. Having a ton of widgets on your various homescreens has always mystified me. If I need to see what's going on within an app, I'll open it, and to me it's always felt like extra labor to have to swipe through all your homescreens to see what's going on. Maybe on a tablet with the much greater screen real estate it makes sense (I'm a huge fan of the chameleon launcher).

Overall, it seems like my perfect phone. The only downside is I'll have to buy it outright to keep my unlimited data (ugh), so I'm probably just going to get the developer edition (which is actually probably an upside ).

Nice review! But is that last statement right? If my sister upgrades her vzw droid X to the razr m, she'll lose her grandfathered unlimited data???