Atrix First Impressions/Reviews

[terpitude71]

Howdy everyone,

The purpose of this thread, is to hear members thoughts & opinions on how the Motorola Atrix stacks up amongst a suggested list of attributes:
Aesthetics
Screen
Hardware
Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage
Overall User Interface (including Motoblur)
Widgets
Signal quality (Compared to other devices)
GPS
Social Networking
Email/Calendar
Battery Life
Performance
Media (music, movies, DLNA)
Keyboard's
Camera (both still & video)
How the Atrix compares to your previous smartphone (if applicable)
Disappointments (if any)

Feel free to provide as little or as much detail as possible, while trying to make it as useful as possible. Hopefully this will help others who are considering the Atrix, but would like to hear some user feedback first. Also, please do not review the Atrix prior to having one

And if you read a review that you found helpful, please use the Thanks button to show them your appreciation!

 

[rickwood]

You mean Motoblur (not Sense), right? And Atrix (not Inspire) right?

 

[terpitude71]

You mean Motoblur (not Sense), right? And Atrix (not Inspire) right?

lol, yes, thanks. thats what happens when you move a template but only skim the body of the post . typos fixed!

and welcome to android central!

 

[iJITSU]

Screen is good. One notch off of IPS or SAMOLED but nice. Colors are good and text/images are crisp.
Form factor is great. Feels good in the hand.
Motoblur is a non-issue for me. I don't mind the contacts and calendar and I use Launcher Pro for the launcher so all is good.
Can't get any app (Tango, Fring, Yahoo, etc) to recognize/use the front facing camera. Hoping that the apps just need to be updated.
Can't speak to signal or battery life yet but call quality seems good.
Having alot of mistypes with keyboard but obviously still in an adjustment period. Notice that it used Vlingo instead of Google voice dialing (maybe that can be changed?)

 

[ka3yan]

My initial impression is that this is a quality device. This is my first android phone, so I'm still learning how it works. I switched from Motoblur to LauncherPro and then back to Motoblur. I actually like Motorola's launcher, but once I play with it some more, maybe I'll change my mind.

The screen is beautiful, unfortunately I covered it up with AT&T's "anti-glare/anti-fingerprint" screen protector. That thing is awful. As soon as I can get a Zagg Invisible Shield...this one is gone. It might be helpful in glare and fingerprints, but it ruins the screen's look and makes it difficult to view in daylight.

The Motorola Phone Portal is super nifty. Too bad it is so darn slow. Accessing anything on the external media card is like watching paint dry. But I can see how the portal could be useful. Many people might not ever try it, but I like it.

Ditto on getting anything (but maybe Qik) to recognize the front facing camera. I hope this is fixed, because it was a major reason why I chose this phone. Honestly, if nothing works with the FFC, I'll probably end up taking this phone back.

The keyboard is fine for me. I find that I like texting on the landscape keyboard a lot more than the portrait. My chubby fingers do tend to mis-punch the keys quite a bit in portrait mode.

Google Navigator is freaking awesome!!! It does eat through my battery, and since no one seems to be carrying the car dock, I'm stuck holding the darn thing or resting it on the passenger's seat. The AT&T rep told me today he can't even see a reason to push the AT&T Navigator anymore. He doesn't even use it since he has Google's.

The rear camera is a little hazy. I have to admit that this really is disappointing for me. Even though I saw the review, I was still hoping that it was just the reviewer's device that was bad. Nope, the pictures look like they've been taken with a camera phone. Yes, yes, they were...but when there are phone's that can take really good pictures, you want yours to take them too.

I did buy the Speck case from AT&T. Super pricey for what you get. I'm sure it'll be a lot cheaper online. I just needed something to protect my new baby and didn't want to risk it. The case is really decently made. If someone is looking for a mix between a jell case and a hard case, this one is the one to get. It seems to offer good protection and not a lot of bulk. The Otterbox Defender is just enormous. I looked at it and just decided I didn't need that much protection.

I'm slightly disappointed in my signal strength on both WiFi and HSDP+. It seems like when comparing signal to my BlackBerry 9700, the Atrix is not getting the same level of signal. I haven't had any dropped calls yet, but the signal is very weak. I have to practically beside my wireless router to get full signal. I really have no idea what the problem is. I may address this with AT&T actually.

The battery is in its "burn-in" period so I really hesitate to comment on battery life. I will say that it takes forever to charge and not so long to eat through it...at least so far. I do expect for battery times to increase over the next few weeks.

That's about all I have to report right now. More to follow I'm sure!

 

[jyar727]

Only complaints are the slow upload speed and the four touch buttons seem to be off a little... I keep having to re-press them because they're not very reactive if you touch them in the middle (which only makes sense to do.) They're more responsive if you touch them a bit off-set towards the top. I guess I just gotta learn and remember to do that so I don't keep double tapping! Maybe its just mine though.

 

[sk622]

Finally retiring my Nexus One

I picked up my Atrix today at noon, I was worried that there may have been a run on the phone and I would miss out. As it turned out I was the first one to inquire about, and purchase the phone at this particular store.

So far I'm very pleased, this is the phone I've been waiting for since rumors of the Nexus 2 started flying. When I purchased the Nexus 1 I was amazed at the leap in technology from my prized blackberry storm. Now I have a phone that has addressed most, if not all of the changes I wanted from the Nexus 2.

1) Slightly bigger screen
2) Better performance in sunlight
3) More RAM
4) Faster processing
5) Better battery life
6) HDMI out
7) ...to be continued

 

[bobbiac]

Typing on the laptop dock.

Hardware is really cool. Software is sorely lacking. Quadrant is out of the park, but the user experience is .... not there yet. I would imagine Ice Cream (2.4?) would help a great deal. 7 home screens is a bit excessive and i wish it could change.

The webtop leaves me wanting. But that, agian is software. I really get the feeling this was pushed out be for it was ready. I am hoping we get a major update to the laptop enviroment soon. More apps, more install options. i am thinking root + command line could get very interesting very quickly. Adding a casper file for persistent storage and allowing application installation. That or find out how the webtop uses storage.
If we can bootstrap a decent distro i think the limit. But yeah, needs more polish.

 

[PhxBlue]

My impression of the device is very positive. The build of the body feels very solid. The screen looks good but i find the fonts to be a bit too small. There are quite a few apps that dont fit the screen right and look weird but i imagine updates are forthcoming from the developers. So far i am also very pleased with the battery performance.

 

[Bl00dRunzC0ld]

I got mine this morning and I'm loving it. Build quality is nice, screen is great and I'm coming from iPhone 4/Samsung Focus. This is my first android so I'm trying to learn the ropes. I'm really loving swype, i can text so fast with it. I'm disappointed that skype doesn't have video chat, hopefully that will be updated soon so I can sell my iPod but still video chat with my son. I'm loving the fingerprint scanner, makes me feel like a spy or something. All In all, I'm happy I got the atrix.

 

[Duvi]

Got mine early afternoon. My boy woke me up and rushed me to come buy it as he was trying to win one for whoever sold the most on launch day. My purchase put him in the lead before he went home.

My first impression is... it ROCKS!

I was able to play with the Inspire and Atrix, both brand new out of box, side by side and I noticed a difference in performance -- speed. The atrix is a beast and from what I read, the dual core isn't even being fully utilized yet. Scary!

I will write more as I play with it more =)

 

[quixoticelixer]

I picked up my Atrix today at noon, I was worried that there may have been a run on the phone and I would miss out. As it turned out I was the first one to inquire about, and purchase the phone at this particular store.

So far I'm very pleased, this is the phone I've been waiting for since rumors of the Nexus 2 started flying. When I purchased the Nexus 1 I was amazed at the leap in technology from my prized blackberry storm. Now I have a phone that has addressed most, if not all of the changes I wanted from the Nexus 2.

1) Slightly bigger screen
2) Better performance in sunlight
3) More RAM
4) Faster processing
5) Better battery life
6) HDMI out
7) ...to be continued

How much better in the sun. That's the biggest downfall of the N1

 

[jwolfe99]

Well being a BB convert so to speak. I am really impressed. Got mine yesterday. Hard to give an objective review as I dont know much about the Android OS yet but in time will figure it out. GPS seems to pick up quickly and fairly accurate pending on where I am, inside gets withing 80 meters meaning its on cell towers not satalites. Oh well once I figure out everything I will post something a little more concrete.


Julian

 

[eallan]

I'm undecided so far.

The bootloader situation pisses me off, as does moto's attitude about it.

The screen is good, but in some situations aliases pretty badly.

The build quality is great.

Battery life is absolutely ****ty for me so far.

Cameras are bad.

Phone is fast and speedy.

Touch sensor seems good so far (LIGHT YEARS better than the N1).

Speakers sound good.

Fingerprint scanner is cool!

Accessories are all overpriced.

Motoblur and the stock software is super terrible. I'm finding myself really missing the vanilla experience of the N1. I will likely have to buy the next nexus device, the nexus S was disappointing.

Still not sure if i'll keep it. Honestly, i think i'd rather have the infuse or the galaxy s 2 at this point. At least i can load whatever I want. I'm so damn tired of my iPhone 4 i can't go back again!

 

[Garz]

Negatives:

-screen seems very pixelated. Not too crazy about it
-battery life seems like its pretty crappy. Not impressed at all
-Camera. Not impressed for 5MP

Positives

-Everything else I love about this.

 

[mgymnop]

I like the phone in general. The HSDPA+ network is as expected 3G, I come from t-mobile and know that 4G speed is wishful thinking for HSDPA+. Upload speed is capped at the moment and I hope that AT&T will change that in the future. The touchscreen is very responsive similar to samsung phones and much better than HTC phones. I am a fan of SLCD so SAMOLED and this new qHD screen are very strange to me. I think I become used to it after a while. The phone is fast; here and there is a lag but nothing serious. I am a fan of the sense UI and miss it a bit. Blur is not as bad as expected. I still have the problem even though I checked in the address book to show only contacts with telephone numbers that it still shows all my facebook contacts. A bit annoying.

 

[stray]

Came from an old iPhone, with a short pit stop on an HTC Inspire. Absolutely loving the Atrix so far pending battery life.

Fingerprint scanner is awesome, button placement... worries me in the long run. I've realized I'm a blur person, and that I despise Sense. Only gripe I have with blur so far is managing contacts. Love the resizable widgets, mail client, and even the text client is servicable.

Screen... seems dark, but I'm happy with how sharp it is. Everything... seems small with the qHD, but I kind of like it. Hopefully more resolution independent apps in the future. Opera not working is kind of a downer but it's still in beta so I'm hoping it'll be fixed soon.

Still getting used to Swype, but it and Vlingo seem pretty nice. Being able to uninstall U-verse TV and Blockbuster apps made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I'd like to get the car dock or the HD dock... maybe down the road. HDMI cable was a great addition, though.

 

[octavian96]

LOVE IT.

The build quality is pretty nice for being plasticy, but the thing I dislike is that the sides are too slippery.. i'd like to have kept this phone without a case, but I am going to get a matte case just so it doesn't slip out of my hands.

Battery is sweet, 1950mah is good.. but def not a "sure thing". Wake up 9am, use it pretty heavily throughout the day and by 8pm it is ready for a charge. This is fine for me. By that time I can plug it in, and if not, I will have two spare batteries so I can easily swap it out for a spare.

This won't be a problem for people who work 9-5pm and will be home around 7 or 8 to charge. But i'm younger, so I go out and stay out sometimes until 3 or 4am, so I definitely need a spare battery. It isn't a 24hr heavy-usage battery.

Screen.. nice quality when you're out of the sun. Looks pretty lousy in sunlight (probably my only complaint of this phone.)

Motoblur? UI? I love it. No problems. I've never used HTC sense so maybe that's why? I have no issues with it.

Speed... Ok obviously we all know this is a joke. The speed of operations is extremely fast. I have never seen a quicker phone. It runs circles around an iphone's processor.

Data speed.... dunno. Seems like it can be better, but whatever. It serves my purpose. Fast enough for me. Sure, it'd be nice if data was faster, but for the "average person" it'll be fast enough. Once AT&T releases LTE it'll be sweet.

Fingerprint scanner..absolutely amazing. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't have a passcode lock (too annoying). Works really well... and it is mindblowing how well it works. Def will not be able to buy a phone without fingerprint after this.

Size of screen..4inch seems perfect. 3.5 is too small, 4.5 too big. If you want a big screen, this isn't it... you'd probably want a 4.3 inch. But honestly, this is a phone and not a tablet or laptop, so 4inch should suffice.

Camera... Awesome. Video awesome. Cmon now, sure i'd love an 8mp camera but I have a DSLR. Pics are awesome for a smartphone.

All in all, I like the phone a lot... have had some issues with it having to reboot and apps randomly crashing..but I assume that is just because an update is needed for compatability reasons.

Accessories: Can't afford to be an early enough adopter on these accessories.. i'll be waiting until the notebook dock goes below $200 ($500 is ridiculous), and wait until the multimedia dock gets below $30.

 

[textiaac]

Can't get any app (Tango, Fring, Yahoo, etc) to recognize/use the front facing camera.

Use Qik (Motorola Edition). It works great.

 

[sublime187]

I'm coming from a blackberry 9700, and have used rim devices for the last 6 years. Absolutely loving the phone and android experience so far... For the most part...

CONS:

** Not getting good battery life. I am a pretty heavy user. Display is by far my biggest energy hog. I had brightness set at about halfway, I guess I need to start using Automatic. Phone calls are the next highest hog, and I don't even do a ton of voice calls. Anyway, I've ordered a car charger and plan on picking up a cheap spare battery. My 9700 could last me a day and a half of heavy use. When my car charger broke, I didn't even buy a new one. Didn't need it.

** My other gripe (about Android, not the Atrix) is that the Blackberry was ultra fast and reliable when it comes to notifications. My Android experience has been that email/yahoo messenger, etc. notifications come late and sometimes not at all. I'm a newb but Android seems to have a lot of quirks. It definitely needs some refinement, but so does every platform.

** Call quality is also not as good as the Blackberry. I've turned Noise Supression to High and that helped a bit, but this are still a bit fuzzier. Also, the speaker buzzes a tiny bit at max handset call volume.*** After swapping today for a new handset buzzing is still slightly noticeable for the first few seconds of calls.

** The screen is a little washed out. I don't have any experience with other Android sets so I can't compare. I'm satisfied with it though.

** Build quality isn't exciting, but still pretty slick. I do get a bit of creakiness from the back (battery door)***Swapped my phone today for a new one due to slight speaker buzzing. The body on the new one is rock solid and no creaky sounds from battery door.

PROS:

** 150,000 X more fun than a BB device
** about 2 generations ahead of Blackberry regarding hardware

My BB9700 had maybe 10 apps that I actually ever used. And that includes games. The Android Market, along with the better hardware, makes for an awesome mobile experience.

Too stoned to keep writing ****. Hopefully this all made sense.