Atrix 2 thoughts...

[planoman]

Coming from the webOS world, I am not sure what this motoblur is. I know that manufacturers put their own skins on top of android, but this sounds like something more than that. Is that correct, and is this something that most users like, or would most prefer it to be left off, as you do?

A motoblur account was something you had to set up on the OG atrix. It was also what the skin was called, this was just another feature. It was an account that backed up everything on your phone along with some other features such as remote lock, wipe and locating the phone to an account that was kept in motorola servers. You had to have it with the Atrix which I never liked being forced into. I think you could bypass it with a 8 step method which was just too complex. I just logged into it to try and delete it since I no longer have my OG Atrix. It said I have to contact my wireless provider to delete. Oh great...

The Atrix 2 does not have this requirement from my understanding.

 

[TimmyB]

A motoblur account was something you had to set up on the OG atrix. It was also what the skin was called, this was just another feature. It was an account that backed up everything on your phone along with some other features such as remote lock, wipe and locating the phone to an account that was kept in motorola servers. You had to have it with the Atrix which I never liked being forced into. I think you could bypass it with a 8 step method which was just too complex. I just logged into it to try and delete it since I no longer have my OG Atrix. It said I have to contact my wireless provider to delete. Oh great...

The Atrix 2 does not have this requirement from my understanding.

According to wikipedia (FWIW!), motoblur was their attempt to match palm's synergy, which was a great feature on webOS phones. The parts I liked best were combined contacts from all sources and the constant backup of my phone. My phone's touchscreen died, so att gave me a new one. As soon as I signed into my palm account, my phone was updated to be exactly as my old one was, apps and all. Will I need motoblur to have these with the atrix2, or are there other solutions available?

 

[excalis]

I never used Palm's backup service as it had it's own issues. Sometimes it would just plain lose your information. I just placed my contacts with Google and manually backed up what I could.

 

[planoman]

According to wikipedia (FWIW!), motoblur was their attempt to match palm's synergy, which was a great feature on webOS phones. The parts I liked best were combined contacts from all sources and the constant backup of my phone. My phone's touchscreen died, so att gave me a new one. As soon as I signed into my palm account, my phone was updated to be exactly as my old one was, apps and all. Will I need motoblur to have these with the atrix2, or are there other solutions available?

I use gmail so this happens automatically for me. When you start an android phone it will ask you for a gmail account. I use the gmail, contacts and calendar and set my phone to auto sync so whenever I switch phones etc, everything is automatically updated and loaded. The motorblur account was essentially redundant. As far as andriod market, all paid apps will be available once you sign in with your google log in. I do not think the free ones are loaded, at least I have not figured that out as it always takes some time to load all of my apps again. (make sure you are on wifi) lol!

If you do not use gmail, I can see how an motoblur account would be helpful. At least they are giving the choice now instead of forcing user to have an account they do not need or want.

 

[excalis]

Update on my Atrix 2 experience, GPS locks on like a pitbull on a leg. On my Epic 4G it took forever or not at all, EVO was pretty good but I think this one has it beat.

This is around the West Texas Area, don't think that would make a difference but just in case

Also, I like how you can group apps in the app drawer to your liking. The default ones are good enough for me but you can make your own.

Also, I like the "Sense" type of screen previews here vs HTC's own. I like how you can place what you want in the bottom dock area. I like that there is no screen marker as well, Touchwiz had the dot/circle.


So far, no need for a third party launcher, widgets are good as well.

 

[TimmyB]

I use gmail so this happens automatically for me. When you start an android phone it will ask you for a gmail account. I use the gmail, contacts and calendar and set my phone to auto sync so whenever I switch phones etc, everything is automatically updated and loaded. The motorblur account was essentially redundant. As far as andriod market, all paid apps will be available once you sign in with your google log in. I do not think the free ones are loaded, at least I have not figured that out as it always takes some time to load all of my apps again. (make sure you are on wifi) lol!

If you do not use gmail, I can see how an motoblur account would be helpful. At least they are giving the choice now instead of forcing user to have an account they do not need or want.

I do use gmail and google calendar, having switched over from Yahoo this year, so that shouldn't be too bad. I guess the main concern I have is the apps if my phone crashes.

Either way, after holding this phone again last night, I am really impressed. Nervous, but impressed.

 

[TimmyB]

Update on my Atrix 2 experience, GPS locks on like a pitbull on a leg. On my Epic 4G it took forever or not at all, EVO was pretty good but I think this one has it beat.

This is around the West Texas Area, don't think that would make a difference but just in case

Also, I like how you can group apps in the app drawer to your liking. The default ones are good enough for me but you can make your own.

Also, I like the "Sense" type of screen previews here vs HTC's own. I like how you can place what you want in the bottom dock area. I like that there is no screen marker as well, Touchwiz had the dot/circle.


So far, no need for a third party launcher, widgets are good as well.

Have you had a chance to play with bluetooth at all? My car has it built in and I love not having to ever find my phone while I am driving.

 

[excalis]

I have my bluetooth paired with the Blu-Logic handsfree on my Tacoma and works like a champ (voice quality). The voice dialing does not work well but could just be me mumbling words

 

[R.Bendt]

I have the ATRIX 2 and love it so far. The wife has the sgs2 and the ATRIX definitely has faster download speeds. It out scores it on speed test app from the market every time by a fair amount.

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk

 

[planoman]

I have the ATRIX 2 and love it so far. The wife has the sgs2 and the ATRIX definitely has faster download speeds. It out scores it on speed test app from the market every time by a fair amount.

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk

I just picked it up at best buy and they did match the att non contract price of 449. (I had another thread where there was a debate). It is charging and I will set it up later! Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this phone!

 

[Slayers]

I just picked it up at best buy and they did match the att non contract price of 449. (I had another thread where there was a debate). It is charging and I will set it up later! Thanks everyone for your thoughts kn this phone!

Lets us know how you like it I see you had or have the SG2. I was at the ATT store the other night and they told me to wait a few weeks that other phones were going to be out by the end of Nov but they dont know which phones yet

My problem is I like the look of the Atrix but I have never had a moto android.

 

[TimmyB]

Lets us know how you like it I see you had or have the SG2. I was at the ATT store the other night and they told me to wait a few weeks that other phones were going to be out by the end of Nov but they dont know which phones yet

My problem is I like the look of the Atrix but I have never had a moto android.

Are you thinking Samsung Nexus? While that phone looked really nice in it's intro, I think the atrix2 looks just as nice, and will have ics soon, I hope. I'm not sure I want to wait until Thanksgiving!

 

[planoman]

Lets us know how you like it I see you had or have the SG2. I was at the ATT store the other night and they told me to wait a few weeks that other phones were going to be out by the end of Nov but they dont know which phones yet

My problem is I like the look of the Atrix but I have never had a moto android.

Yes. Currently have the SGSII which I got on launch day Oct 2. I had a OG Atrix and like the moto phone except for motoblur. I think the OG Artix has been updated 4 times already so it got better as time went on and with gingerbread it was like a new phone! If the Atrix 2 improves on screen size, camera/video,and hspa+ speeds which it looks like it does in all of these areas it will be a great phone.

I bought the Atrix 2 off contract and will keep it for a while as a primary or backup depending. I plan on returning the SGSII tomorrow and freeing up my upgrade since I hear some new phones are coming. Also with my upgrade experience with Samsung, I did not want ICS to be out and wait on the upgrade for ICS with a Samsung phone. I would be really SHOCKED it the SGSII receives the update to ICS before the Atrix 2.

 

[Mes3]

Anyone else had their phone just randomly turn off? Pulled it out of my pocket and there it was off and unresponsive. Had to do a battery pull. Hopefully this is a one time thing.

 

[excalis]

No random reboots or lockups, right out of the box has been rock solid. Oh, it does have screen markers but under the dock icons so at least less noticeable.

 

[ifellasleep]

Can the people who have the atrix test something for me please? I had the original atrix and the problem I had is when I listened to music there was bad feedback and the auto cut in and out making listening to audio on the phone a no go. Can someone tell me if this was fixed with this update? I use my phone to listen to pandora while in the car so this little feature is very important to me. Im using a samsng infuse and Im on my 3rd device so i would try the atrix again if this lil quirk has been fixed.
Thanks in advance and sorry for the length of this message

 

[Mes3]

Can the people who have the atrix test something for me please? I had the original atrix and the problem I had is when I listened to music there was bad feedback and the auto cut in and out making listening to audio on the phone a no go. Can someone tell me if this was fixed with this update? I use my phone to listen to pandora while in the car so this little feature is very important to me. Im using a samsng infuse and Im on my 3rd device so i would try the atrix again if this lil quirk has been fixed.
Thanks in advance and sorry for the length of this message

Audio out quality has been great. Just as good as my old CLIQ 2.

 

[planoman]

Can the people who have the atrix test something for me please? I had the original atrix and the problem I had is when I listened to music there was bad feedback and the auto cut in and out making listening to audio on the phone a no go. Can someone tell me if this was fixed with this update? I use my phone to listen to pandora while in the car so this little feature is very important to me. Im using a samsng infuse and Im on my 3rd device so i would try the atrix again if this lil quirk has been fixed.
Thanks in advance and sorry for the length of this message

I just picked up the Atrix 2 yesterday and am putting it through the paces. I did listen to music for quite a while yesterday. I listened to my SD card music, Pandora, the FM Radio (Yeah! The SGSII advertised one but did not have it) and Netflix. All were clean except Netflix where I was getting a clicking sound from the phone speaker. I then tried it with earphones and got the same. I then watched the same show on my ipad and did not hear it. I then read reviews on the netflix app and the latest update to the android netflix app has some distortion in the video/sound mix.

The speaker on this phone is a champ! Certainly on par with the OG Atrix, which I also never had issues with. I would rate this speaker/sound quality above the SGSII. The wifi connectivity is very strong!

 

[bubbatad]

I have had mine for about a day now. Seems to connect to the network well. Download speed around 7 megs. Latency about 89. Sound quality great. Battery seems to last all day, easily. Speakerphone loud! Very happy so far.

 

[Mytwuk]

My thoughts are that this phone is spectacular. It is super fast and smooth, and very easy to use. The GPS is stunning fast, the first time I used it I turned it on and set it down (I was in my truck) thinking it would take a few minutes to lock on but I looked down about 15 seconds later and it was already locked and tracking my route. I installed a class 10 PNY 16gb card and the write speeds are 10.85 and the read speeds are 17.35 using sd card tester. The speakers sound great, HD videos (either downloaded to card or streaming) play perfect. No lockups or lags at all just super fast response to everything I have done or tried. The camera is very fast and takes great pic's and video. Blur is no problem at all it does not get in the way and actually has some benefits. Call quality is crystal clear and the speaker is very easy to hear. I had an LG Thrill 3D for 3 weeks and traded up for this on my last week of eligibility (30 day return) and I am very happy it is a much higher quality phone and a better overall experience. The LG would barely last until I got home without recharging but the Atrix 2 usually shows 50-60 percent over same time with probably more use during the day. I will share more thoughts about the phone later after I have more time with it.