Has Moto lost its way?

Somethingsfishy

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Maybe you guys haven't heard, but the successor to the Razr is already on it's way. Remember the Motorola Dinara? Well it's coming stateside already, in the form of the Droid Razr Max:

Motorola DROID RAZR MAX Revealed In EXIF Data – Updated RAZR Headed Our Way?

The Dinara, we already know, has a 13 MP camera, probably with an exceedingly mediocre sensor, but it also comes with a faster proc, larget battery, and a slightly better screen.

What is Moto playing at lately?

Rather than delivering bugfixes, they simply release a new flagship every six weeks. It's been this way since the Bionic now. They are simply riding the Droid marketing campaign for maximum yield, trying to snatch as many customers as possible before they realize that there device will be a "has been" in an even shorter time than they think, then repeating with the next iteration. Motos phones no longer have anything special about them- their screens are poor, their battery life is mediocre, their physical keyboards, at least the ones I have used, are terrible, Blur is awful, and their cameras have been consistently behind the pack. Only call quality is decent on these things anymore.


So, Bionic owners, do you think Moto has lost its way? I asked the same of Razr owners, I am curious to see how the responses compare.
 

doogald

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HTC just reported that November sales fell 30%. HTC has been far less aggressive about releasing new handsets. It seems to me that, in the Android market, rapid turnover and more marketing leads to more success?

We're all on 20 to 24 month contract cycles here in the US, right? Isn't it easier just to get the best phone that you can when your contract is able and then stop stressing about better phones coming out later - because you will have a better phone that that when your upgrade time comes again.

And, of course, also remember that the timing of new Moto phones are determined as much by the carriers as the OEMs. The carriers need to order the phones, and obviously Verizon wants them refreshed very frequently.

I think that a lot of the rapid turnover this year on VZW has more to do with the transition to LTE than anything else. VZW really wants to push LTE, and the radios and software drivers will continue to improve rapidly, as they did when 3G was new. This rapid refresh may be a temporary thing.

The Droid3 hardware keyboard is excellent, by the way. I'm not sure I agree about poor displays, either; I've had both a Bionic and a Droid3 and I think both are great. The recent VZW Moto phones, with the exception of the battery covers, seem very solidly built.
 

BasPilot

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Funny, I was just in the Razr forums and saw this exact same post. Maybe moto isn't the only one who's lost its way... huh? huh?!

As for the question at hand... It seems more that you're a motorola hater than anything. Stirring up anger toward them trying to get people on your boat. Here's the cool thing about us here in America. If you don't like one company, you just don't buy from them. I suggest you just do that instead of spam for us to hate them too.
 

2defmouze

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Funny, I was just in the Razr forums and saw this exact same post. Maybe moto isn't the only one who's lost its way... huh? huh?!

As for the question at hand... It seems more that you're a motorola hater than anything. Stirring up anger toward them trying to get people on your boat. Here's the cool thing about us here in America. If you don't like one company, you just don't buy from them. I suggest you just do that instead of spam for us to hate them too.

He says plainly in OP:
"I asked the same of Razr owners, I am curious to see how the responses compare. "

FWIW I don't think OP is drumming up hate. He's posing some questions and asking for opinions in a pretty calm tone, IMO. No reason to get so defensive.

To address it, I think the company is doing like every other company and make profit. I think doogald had some good points so I'm not going to reiterate them all. The plethora of phones moto seems to be releasing lately are in large part directed by the carriers, yes. Additionally its not like they are rushing out junk followed by slightly better junk. Its been quality phones coming out lately. The bionic is a very solid, well-made phone. And you can say the same for the Razr I'm sure, and I'll bet the Razr max or HD or droid 4 or whatever else will follow the trend. You buy something and its outdated quicker and quicker these days... That's the speed of progress and it's only going to get faster. If we didn't want that we could all get iPhones so that we know we'll have the "best" thing out there for the next year-ish.

I will say that Moto certainly could show some more haste in releasing software updates. Yes I'm one of those who is running leaked updates, and never had much issue with my phone before anyway, but I understand that some people's Bionic experience has been disappointing and they are patiently waiting for the official update to address a number of issues. It wouldn't kill the company if they spent a few more resources supporting the devices they have released rather than rushing out the next thing, which sure I agree it looks like. I feel for you guys having issues, Moto needs to update stuff much quicker.

Think I said all I needed to.
 

1812dave

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No; I don't think Moto has "lost it's way", but rather is innovating at a fast pace and sticking it to Apple that has enjoyed too much of a cut of the cell phone pie. It's nice to see that collectively, the Android handset makers have overtaken Apple. Keep 'em coming!!
 

PhoenixMike

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Funny, I was just in the Razr forums and saw this exact same post. Maybe moto isn't the only one who's lost its way... huh? huh?!

As for the question at hand... It seems more that you're a motorola hater than anything. Stirring up anger toward them trying to get people on your boat. Here's the cool thing about us here in America. If you don't like one company, you just don't buy from them. I suggest you just do that instead of spam for us to hate them too.

Calm down. He's just saying his opinion and from what I've been experiencing, he's correct.
 

KillerG

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I don't believe Motorola is doing anything different than they have been. I'm perfectly fine with them releasing new phones every once in a while, but the Razr doesn't match the Bionic to me because of the integrated battery (and the poor battery life issues it's having compared to my Bionic). Sure, the camera isn't perfect, but I care more about my phone being the best PHONE, not camera. I could care less about anything but using the phone as a smartphone and mainly a PHONE that you make CALLS on, and send a few text messages. They're still leading the pack in everything but camera and maybe the battery cover is something they need to work on.
 

BasPilot

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i dont actually need to calmdown cause inever really got upset. My post was designed with more of a joking tone intended than anything. Sorry for the confusion.
 

Stelv

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I don't think Moto has lost its way. If Moto doesnt innovate then some other company will, although they should slow down a bit.The Bionic, Razr, Razr Max and what ever comes out in the next year will all be good phones. Just because they are releasing a slightly updated phone every 2 months doesn't mean your current phone is bad or will not get updates. Moto in the past has generally updated pretty quickly. What's wrong with the bionic or razr? They can hold their own for the next year or so, I have relatively no bugs with my bionic or my girls razr and I think the screen is great.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
 

bobsageek

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Same reply I gave in the Razr forum, it's not like Motorola only has half a dozen engineers, they have hundreds if not thousands. The group that tracks and fixes bugs has little to nothing to do with new product launches. This is not a binary choice, so the whole premise is silly.

I have a Razr and my wife uses the Bionic and neither has major issues, not dismissing those that do, but message boards often get into that herd mentality where a few people having issues cast a huge negative halo over the whole.
 

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