Motorola Razr i: A Sturdy Answer to Android Woes

Motorola was once at the top of its game when it released the Motorola Razr series back in 2004. Of course they had a successful run for a few years until smartphones such as BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android sets took over the market.

Since those days we have seen Motorola steadily producing phones that fall in the mid-price range of most sets and being outdone by competitors such as LG and Samsung. Recently however (2011 onwards) we can see Motorola attempting to touch the baseline of high end phones, sort of testing waters (before it releases a promising high end phone in the future) perhaps with the re release of its Razr line. Of course, the fact that Motorola chose to stick to Android platform (despite the problems of android spy and cell phone monitoring apps) helped keep it running since Android holds the highest market share at the moment.

At such a point in time, the Motorola Razr i is definitely worth looking into, especially since everyone wants an Android without having to spend all that much. The set has some redeeming features and if you don’t mind not having the glammiest phone in town, then check out what it has to offer as we did.

1.Design. Strangely enough the Razr ‘i’ phone does resemble the iPhone 5 at first glance. But in true Motorola fashion the phone is pretty slim and sleek when it comes to size and handling. The frame around the display is made using aircraft grade aluminum and the outer frame is just simple black plastic. The phone has a KEVLAR back and overall is pretty satisfactory in the looks department but can be appreciated by anyone who thinks more is less.

2.Screen and Display. The Razr i comes with a 4.3 inch screen and super AMOLED display which is pretty impressive for a phone that one wouldn’t expect to sport anything more than a 4 inch screen. The 540x960 resolution is supported by PenTile pixel arrangement which means the pixel density is 256 ppi. The viewing is good in terms of color and outdoor visibility but there may be some difficulty with text when web browsing. Overall there isn’t much to complain of in the visual department.

3.Camera. The camera on the Razr is pretty run of the mill. The front facing camera is 8megapixels where as the front facing one is merely VGA-- with 1080p of video capture. It seems Motorola didn’t really put in much work here but despite the fact that the features are limited, image quality isn’t bad at all, with the camera being able to capture excellent motion stills in the right lighting. Perhaps it can’t compete with higher end phone cameras but again for a mid-range phone the set delivers.

4.OS and Interface. The Motorola Razr i runs the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but the chances of a Jelly Bean update look pretty good. The interface is basic but at the same time you can see that it attempts to keep everything clean and user-friendly. There is a prominent use of circle widgets is pretty space economical and there are also two keyboards to choose from for easier tapping.

5.Performance. The phone has a Intel Atom Z2460 chip which is definitely the crowning glory. Though it is still a dual core processor, its different use of ARM technology allows it to be a pretty capable device performance wise, being comparable even to the likes of greats such as the SnapDragon processor. So the phone is pretty fast, much faster than you would expect and is also easy to use which means it’s a perfect phone to invest your money in even if you aren’t satisfied with the camera and video specs.


Natalia David loves vintage phones and hence passionately reviews BlackBerry and other throwbacks from the early 2000’s. She blogs about new internet based technology, online privacy, and web marketing at MobiStealth.For details, visit website . You can follow her @NataliaDavid4.