Motorola Droid Razr M
There is a little brother in every family and the Razr M is that little brother. Even though it is the little brother, it offers some very nice specs. The Razr M has a 4.3 inch 960 x 540 qHD Super AMOLED display that is basically the same display found on the Razr and Razr Maxx from last year. The colors do not seem right on it, the whites look noticeably yellow, and the text looks kind of jagged. The panel is not bad per se, but it is just a meh panel that could and should be better. Even in the age of 720p panels, there are very nice qHD panels such as the screens on the Motorola Droid X2, HTC Sensation, the iPhone 4s (yes it is a little higher resolution than qHD but it is very close to qHD resolution), and the screen on the HTC EVO 3D. The Razr M also has a 1.5GHZ dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor paired with 1GB of RAM, which looks like it will offer performance that is close to the performance on the Samsung Galaxy S III and HTC One X. We have seen very nice performance from the S4 processor, and the best performance. We will have to test this device personally to say that the Razr M has this kind of performance though. The Razr M also has Android 4.0.4 with the new Motorola UI, and it will receive Android 4.1 Jelly Bean very soon. The Razr M has design cues from the original Razr with its patterned Kevlar back and silver Motorola logo, but it improves the design with its rounded corners and very thin bezel. The thin bezel is the main feature of the Razr M and it has made the M feel much smaller than the original Razr and feel somewhat diminutive. The Razr M is going to be offered at a very aggressive price point at $100 with a two year contract. This is not a jaw-dropping decision because you can get much nicer handsets at that price point (like the HTC One X), but it is a change of heart for Verizon after offering numerous handsets at higher prices than they should. We think that if Verizon were to offer the Razr M at $50, it would make this handset one of the best mid-range choices on any carrier. Overall the Razr M is a great addition to the Razr family and a great mid-range handset, but it does not have the same wow factor as the Razr HD and Razr Maxx. Our only gripe with the Razr M is that it would be a more compelling device to buy if Verizon had charged it at $50.
Motorola Droid Razr HD
The Motorola Droid Razr HD is the successor to the Motorola Razr that debuted last year. As the name says, the main upgrade with the Razr HD is the inclusion of its 720p HD display. We assume that this display is and will be under the ColorBoost moniker, so this display will probably have the same problems that we have seen on the Motorola Atrix HD. With the ColorBoost displays, the colors are usually over saturated and whites appear slightly yellow in some places. The display is a PenTile Super AMOLED HD display that is similar to the display found on the Galaxy S III, but it is slightly worse by also being a ColorBoost display. The ColorBoost display offers great viewing angles, nice color reproduction (except for the whites and the slightly over saturation of some colors), and is an overall pleasant display. On the Razr HD, the display is 4.7 inches big but Motorola has made a more ergonomic feel for it by fitting the 4.7 inch display in the same footprint as the original Razr. This also proves that the bezel on the Motorola Razr was ridiculously huge. The Razr HD has almost the same design as the original Razr with its patterned Kevalr back and with the camera pod being located at the top of the device. The Razr HD has an improved design from the Razr with a titanium-looking band wrapping around the back, the exclusion of the huge bump on the back, and by having the back be completely flat. The flat back makes for a more brick-like construction which looks like it will make for a solid feel, and feels much better than the lopsided hump design on the original Razr. Despite the inclusion of the bigger HD display. the Razr HD still keeps a relatively thin profile at 8.4mm thick. The Razr HD has a 1.5GHZ dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor accompanied by 1GB of RAM. The S4 processor usually offers great performance, but we will have to test the device personally to see if it offers the same top of the line performance found on the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III. Another big upgrade from the original Razr is that the Razr HD features a big 2,500 MAH battery to accommodate the 4.7 inch HD display, S4 processor, and 4G LTE radio. This bigger battery will probably solve the battery problems that the original Razr and the Atrix HD had. The HD version of the Razr has Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with the new Motorola skin on top of it. Since Motorola was bought by Google a while back, the Razr HD will also get an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update very soon. The Razr HD is overall a great device and will probably be one of the best devices on Verizon.
Motorola Razr Maxx HD
The final member of the new Razr family is the Motorola Razr Maxx HD. This device is an updated version of last year's Razr Maxx. The Razr Maxx was and still is renowned for its gigantic battery and holds the title for the longest lasting smart phone. The Razr Maxx HD keeps the huge 3,300 MAH battery but adds a 4.7 inch 1,280 x 720 Super AMOLED HD display to the equation. Like the Razr HD, the 4.7 inch HD display is sadly of the ColorBoost variety. The Super AMOLED HD display has been one of the best displays on any device, like the panel on the Samsung Galaxy S III, but the ColorBoost makes the display slightly worse. The ColorBoost makes the colors look slightly over saturated and the whites slightly yellow. This problem was found on the original Razr, Razr Maxx, and the Razr M, but the whites problem is not as bad as it is on the Razr and Razr Maxx. The display delivers the same quality and detail expected from 720p panels, but this one has the same color problems as aforementioned. The display also offers very nice viewing angles and a high pixel density. The design of the Razr Maxx HD is extremely similar to the design of the Razr HD with a similarly patterned Kevlar back, titanium-looking band wrapping the sides of the handset, the square camera pod, solid feeling brick construction, and with the silver Motorola logo. We can not explain how much we favor this design over last year's Razr design, because this design looks better, feels more solid, and feels more balanced in the hand. We would have wanted a more polished, simplistic design but this design is making a lot of progress. The Razr Maxx HD has the same dual-core 1.5GHZ Snapdragon S4 processor as the rest of the new Razr family and the HTC One X and Galaxy S III. Accompanied by the 1GB of RAM, the Maxx HD will probably offer similar performance to the One X and Galaxy S III or similar performance to it. As we said before, we can not say that the Razr Maxx HD has great performance because we have not tested it, but we think that it will offer nice performance. Like the Razr HD and Razr M, the Razr Maxx HD will ship with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with the Motorola skin but the demo version of the Maxx HD is an exception to that. The demo unit of the Razr Maxx HD had Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean with an even newer Motorola skin. The new Motorola skin looks almost exactly like the Ice Cream Sandwich skin, but the software keys look more like the stock keys rather than the droidified keys. Google's acquisition of Motorola is great for Motorola and hopefully deliver more Android updates to Motorola handsets. The Motorola Razr Maxx shapes up to be a fine handset and will definitely be competing for the top spot on Verizon's lineup.
Wrap-up
The new Motorola Razr family is a fantastic trio of devices. The Razr M caters to the mid-range market, and the Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD cater to the power users. The debuting of these devices at the same time is good for the consumers, because they do not have to be wondering if a new, and better device will be released soon. The only negative thing we can say about the new Razr family is that there is not much distinction between the Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD anymore. The Razr HD and Razr Maxx HD look almost exactly the same (if not exactly the same) and offer little reason to choose one over the other. Last year, consumers could choose either the super thin Razr or the slightly thicker Razr Maxx with better battery life. What Motorola should have done is that they should have either made the Razr HD the only one with the huge battery and have done away with the Maxx, or they should have done away with the Razr and kept the Razr Maxx. Another thing they could have done is made the Razr HD have a different, better, or thinner design than the Maxx. That is only nitpicking with these devices and these devices are still fantastic. Want more information on the newly unveiled Razr family? Check out the source links below for more pictures and information on the new Razr family.
Sources: Engadget hands-on with the Motorola Droid Razr M, Engadget hands-on with the Motorola Droid Razr HD, Engadget hands-on with the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD
Pictures from Engadget.com
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