RAZR Maxx is here!

[MA2GA28]

Got a nice little surprise and received my RM a day early! Good deal!

It's charging as I type (arrived with 60%, but getting it to 100 before activation/playing with it). Will report back here later with my initial thoughts/findings/questions.

I must say, I do like the charging feature where you can click the power button while it charges to see how full the battery is, as I always turn my phone off while charging. Better than relying on the mystery of my LED light changing colors on my DInc.

 

[MA2GA28]

Been playing with my phone, in essence, for 6 hours straight (5 hours, 45 min to be exact, but its been on longer than that). Hit a bit of a speed bump with activation, but Amazon Wireless was great in assisting (aside from the 13 minutes I spent on hold).

Back to the phone. Here are my initial findings/thoughts:

- Been on wifi basically the whole time, but 4G signal was awesome here (good to know).
- After hours of screen on (40-80% brightness, been on for 4.75 hours so far), downloads galore (apps, songs, ringtones, the system update, photos, etc), a couple phone calls, setting up apps, and general fooling around with the phone, battery sits at 40%, which is quite awesome. I don't doubt that with my average usage, I will be able to get 30 plus hours out of one charge.
- I am loving the phone, in general. Still getting used to the size and the non-Sense interface, but its going well (already set up some smart actions). There are a couple quirks that I don't care for, but I think they'll just be items I need to get used to.

But now for a couple questions, if you all wouldn't mind offering feedback/advice:
- Is there any way to get the battery meter to show single percentages? Mine just works in 10's, it would seem. Not a huge deal, but was wondering.
- Anyone have a good screenshot app to use? I tried one, and it doesn't work with the Maxx (even though the description says it works on Moto phones).
- For some reason, not all of my contacts that are connected to FB show a picture. Most do, but for a few of them, the picture just doesn't show up. On some, it seems to be due to name differences (even though the FB is connected to the contact on my phone). Anyone run into this?
- I noticed Backup Assistant+ is always running, and that annoys me, because I don't use it. Anyone know how to get rid of it?


I think that's all for now. Back to the exploring!

 

[Eclipse2K]

I bought Battery Indicator Pro for like $2 and it leaves a battery icon on the notification bar. You can set this application up to show by 1.

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk.

 

[MA2GA28]

Thanks Eclipse. I don't know why phone makers do that. Just show it in 1% increments. What could it hurt? If I have to pay $2, I'll probably just hold off. Not a big enough deal for me.

Anyone have input on the other questions?

 

[sully1541]

Search for "circle battery widget". It's in 1% increments and is fully customizable. It lacks some features that I'd like, but it's the only free one I've found with 1% increments.

 

[MA2GA28]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out.

The FB picture issue seems to be clearing itself up, as most pictures have populated after a reboot of the phone. Still a few outstanding, but it seems as though they'll show up over time.

However, I ran into another issue. I shut my phone off while charging (just a preference of mine). When I powered back on, none of the ringtones/notifications I had set up stuck. Everything went back to the 'default' tones, so I had to go back and re-set them all. Hoping they stick this time. Anyone else run into this? I've seen it posted as an issue, but I think it was with another phone.

Also, has anyone noticed the wifi radio being a little on the weak side? With my DInc I could easily carry my N link signal in my bedroom. But, with the Maxx, the wifi signal goes in-and-out between one and no bars. Even standing right next to my router, the wifi signal floats between full and minus one bar.

Finally, I also have the wifi/4G active issue with the phone that some have posted about. If I come off 4G onto a wifi signal, both will remain 'active' until I shut off and turn on wifi, at which time 4G shuts off. I know they are both active because I lost 30-40% battery life over 8 hours last night. When I woke up, both 4G and wifi were active (didn't notice when I got home). That's the only way the battery could have drained so much. Hopefully they'll fix the issue in a future patch.

Otherwise, things are going quite well. My first day got 17 hours off the battery (with 6+ hours of screen on time, lots of downloading, and general playing with the phone) before I charged. For the latest cycle, I'm at 19 hours (about 2.5 hours of screen on time, my typical FB, Twitter, Gmail, a few downloads, a couple pictures) and sitting at 30-40% left (which includes that 30-40% abnormal drain last night). Most of my use is on wifi, so take that for what its worth, but I was on 4G alone for about 4 hours last night. I am quite pleased though, as it appears like I'll easily hit the 30 hour mark before I need to charge again (I charge when I hit 10-15% battery). On average, I'd say I should be able to hit the 35 hour mark on a typical basis once all the bugs and issues get worked out. Works for me!

Any advice on the issues I mentioned though?

 

[MA2GA28]

Seems as though the ringtone issue is corrected, as they all stuck after the last shut off/charge.

My wifi is still a bit weak, at best. I'd say its more finicky than anything, as the signal constantly falls and comes back up. It doesn't lose the signal, but it'll float in strength instead.

 

[nhjosh]

I've noticed that my wi-fi is a bit weaker as well, I previously had the DINC 2 which picked it up better. However, when it comes to the tower cell signal, the Moto Max picks that signal up about 3 times better than the DINC did, so that's huge for me.. at my house my HTC averages 1 bar or no bars.. and now I always have at LEAST 3 bars and often all of them.

As for the battery indicator.. I love the "Tiny battery" widget. It's free, gives 1% increments, and also can be used to turn on and off things like wi-fi, airplane mode, etc.

Hope that's helpful... it sure is a great phone huh? I really love it.