Digtal Camera Reviews – The Imagery Resource!

“Longest talktime of any smartphone”

Just how important is a good battery life on a smartphone to you? Very according to Motorola. With that in mind its been busy working away at its Motorola RAZR MAXX, a smartphone that doesn’t skimp on features, but most importantly won’t die on you before the day’s out.

The Motorola RAZR MAXX is no shrinking violet. It’s got a huge 4.3-inch display with a thick border surrounding it, meaning you almost have to stretch you hand around the device when making a call and you’ll certainly be aware of it while it’s in your pocket.

Yet Moto has managed to keep the waistline down to an impressive 8.99mm, which helps explain why it feels far lighter than it looks – 145g.

There’s a slight chin at the top of the rear of the phone in order to accommodate the 8-megapixel camera and LED flash. The power button is located on the right hand side of the phone – as you look at the display – just around the point your forefinger would rest when taking a call in your left hand. Perhaps we’re being pernickety but we have concerns that we might inadvertently switch the phone off mid-conversation.

There’s no removable back cover with the SIM, micro at that, being inserted in the bottom left side of the phone. The protective door, which also leads to the microSD card slot, felt a little flimsy especially as you need to pull it right back to access either port.

Found on the top of the phone is an HDMI, microUSB and 3.5mm headset jack neither of which comes with cumbersome pullout door. A headset jack positioned at the top of the phone is always preferable because it makes it easier to take the phone out of your pocket without damaging your plugged in headphones.

Fire up the phone and an impressively vibrant Super AMOLED Advanced display greets you. It’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass and has a resolution of 540×960 pixels. It really is quite stunning, especially when you turn the brightness to full, which you can afford to do thanks to the mammoth battery life, right?

So far so good. Now for the not so good. Once switched on it’s immediately apparent that this is no Android Ice Cream Sandwich phone. Well not yet anyway. Running on Gingerbread 2.3 from launch, Moto hopes to upgrade the phone to ICS by the end of Q2 2012.

The processor is also only dual-core 1.2GHz. It seems ridiculous to baulk at a processor of this magnitude, but the truth is with more and more smartphones featuring quad-core processors the bar has been raised. To be fair when playing with the phone it was a far from lethargic experience, though it did take a while for images to appear on any shortcuts we set.

Motorola has also included its innovative “Smart Actions” feature, also found on the previous RAZR. You can set the RAZR MAXX to administer specific functions depending on where you are and what you’re doing.

For example, have a meeting scheduled in your Google Calendar and the RAZR MAXX will automatically put itself in silent mode. What’s more should you have… erm…. a wife who’s about to go into labour for example, you can set a VIP number (ie, your wife’s) which will overrule the Smart Action and ring as normal. There are plenty of other actions to have a play with, such as automatically firing up the music player as soon as a pair of headphones are inserted.

The MotoCast app is also on board which enables you to access music, documents and photos from a remote computer either by streaming or downloading it to the Motorola RAZR MAXX. The files will then be stored locally on the phone, meaning you can access them even when offline. The remote computer will have to be switched on in order to access the files originally, but it makes for a useful alternative to cloud storage.

In terms of memory we’re looking at 1GB RAM and 16GB ROM, with a 16GB microSD card also included, though it can support cards of up to 32GB, which we’d recommend investing in especially if you plan to use the MotoCast app.

Yet, as Motorola kept telling us, the Motorola RAZR MAXX is all about a long battery life. So all that’s left to say, according to the manufacturer, is that the 3300 mAh capacity battery should provide up to 1,056 minutes talktime, the “longest of any smartphone” according to Moto, and over 25 days standby.

We’ll be bringing you a full in-depth review of the Motorola RAZR MAXX before you have time to run one out of juice.

The Motorola RAZR MAXX is available now from Clove, Expansys and Amazon.

Tags:
Phones Motorola RAZR Maxx Motorola Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Motorola RAZR MAXX pictures and hands-on originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 17 May 2012 17:33:00 +0100

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We Defy you to ignore our advice

We reviewed the Motorola Defy+ some time ago, and we didn’t care for it. Not at all. So when the Defy Mini arrived, we couldn’t see our hearts splitting in half with the love. And we aren’t sure why it’s called the Defy Mini either, because it’s not much smaller than the original one.

Design

In terms of styling, little has changed with the Mini over the Defy+. In fact, placed together, the two phones look very similar. If you like the look of the Defy+, that’s probably a good thing. We think it’s a dark and slightly depressing design.

The screen is noticeably smaller on the Mini, and there’s a grille at the bottom that’s not present on the Defy+. There are the standard four buttons for Android navigation, on a phone that runs Gingerbread. It won’t get an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, we promise you that.

As with all the Defy handsets, there’s protection from water. So ports and sockets are all covered with little plastic plugs. These are held to the cover, so you won’t lose them, and they are reasonably easy to pop out when needed. They don’t, however, give you any protection if left out – which means if you drop this phone down the toilet while the headphone cap is out, it may well die like any other phone.

The power button is located on the top, next to the headphone jack. On the right-hand side, there are volume controls and a dedicated camera button. Meanwhile, the left side houses the USB socket, for charging and copying music to the phone.

The screen

Visually, the screen is quite good. It’s bright outdoors, and although it’s small, the resolution is reasonable. We often find, on these budget phones, that the PPI is too low, and too many compromises have been made with the screen technology. Here, the PPI is average, but there’s no blur when you scroll through menus, and that’s good.

We did find it too small though. Perhaps we are equipped with a set of sausage fingers, but typing on the Motorola keyboard was a struggle, and we constantly had to let the spell-checker make up for our mistakes. The more dainty fingered might not struggle, but we think most people will have similar issues.

A minor niggle is the depth of the LCD screen from the outer glass. It’s quite a large space, and it gives the phone a cheap look. Indeed, we’d say this is one of the things that marks budget phones from premium models. It’s the least of our worries here though, and it doesn’t cause any problems.

Audio and video quality

Happily, all is well with the quality of audio on the Defy Mini. We streamed some music over our home network, via Plex, and it actually sounded very good on our reference headphones. This is great, because our reference headphones can make low-quality devices sound utterly rubbish. So here, at least, Motorola gets some credit for its audio processing.

Video is more difficult. We weren’t able to get the video streaming to work, no matter what we tried – the Motorola DLNA client, Skifta, Plex – we were never able to get a picture on the screen, regardless of the codec used. This is a shame, because that screen is actually quite reasonable and would make for quite good video viewing.

Power and customisation

Motorola has stayed away from heavy tweaks to the OS. The lock screen is genuinely useful. You can see upcoming calendar events, or switch the phone in to, or out of silent mode too. You can also directly access the camera, by flicking the unlock symbol to the left of the screen.

Motorola also provides its connected music player, and this is a nice little app that has more features than the stock Android player. You can find song lyrics and identify music through it – it’s a SoundHound system, but totally free. You can also search YouTube for music videos, and connect to Shoutcast internet radio stations. All-in-all, it’s a nice piece of software, and another reason that the Motorola will appeal to music fans.

The reason for light customisation is very possibly the low-spec hardware. The Defy Mini is running on a 600MHz CPU and has just 500MB of RAM, with a further 500MB of app storage space. This would have been a great spec for a phone in the 12th century, but now it’s a bit cack and not up to the job of running a modern smartphone.

On the plus side, it has a 1750mAh battery, which is pretty epic for a small, low-powered phone. So you should see good battery life. We used ours for 10 hours, and knocked only 25 per cent of the charge, so it’s capable enough.

Call quality

Another thing we liked was the call quality. Voice calls are clear and crisp, and there’s plenty of volume from the earpiece. Indeed, this phone is easier to make calls with – from an audio perspective – than Motorola’s brilliant Razr. So, if you’re someone who makes a lot of phone calls, this could be a plus point.

Camera

The camera too, isn’t great. Images seem to lack detail, and while I’m sure you could coax a decent image out of it in broad daylight, indoors in normal conditions, it’s not brilliant.

The interface is fine though, and using the dedicated camera button to take a photo is handy – not enough phones have proper camera buttons. There’s a flash too, but like all LED devices, it’s far from perfect and usually produces too much light close up, and nowhere near enough at greater distances.

The biggest problem is the price

Well, actually, the biggest problem is everything. The phone isn’t that good. It’s not fast, it’s not pretty and it’s not cheap. But the price is what makes us choke. Sure, if you really need a tough, rugged phone, then you could argue that the Defy Mini makes some sense. But at this price – it’s about ?160 SIM free – we just wouldn’t be happy spending our own money on one. And we’re not in the business of telling you to do things we would not.

The issue here, is that the budget phones from ZTE and Huawei are all much better. The T-Mobile Vivacity, Orange San Francisco II and the Huawei G300 are all much nicer, much slicker, and most importantly, more than 50 quid cheaper. Sure, none of those phones is rugged, but are you really so careless with your phone that you need it to survive an apocalypse?

Verdict:

There is no reason at all to buy the Defy Mini. Its spec is so underwhelming, that it just can’t help but disappoint you. Considering the Defy+ is only another ?30, if you really must ignore our advice and get one, you should get the one that is much less rubbish.

Motorola has under-specified this phone in the worst way. Even scrolling around the home screens is a laboured, arduous and annoying process. The screen is too small really, although it’s not dreadful quality, and that means those with larger fingers won’t have an enjoyable time with it.

It’s also worth mentioning that with nano coatings becoming popular, and practical, it won’t be long before every new phone in the world is waterproof. And Gorilla Glass makes them all pretty tough too. So really, the Defy goes from being a one-trick pony, to being a pony that’s had all of its legs sawn off and whose days of trickery are, sadly, over.

Tags:
Phones Android Motorola Motorola Defy Mini

Motorola Defy Mini originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Mon, 07 May 2012 17:13:13 +0100

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Available for pre-order now

Motorola has confirmed that UK customers will be able to purchase its RAZR Maxx handset from the middle of May.

The Android-powered device will be the latest addition to Motorola’s most successful range of phones to date, with the manufacturer reintroducing the brand at the end of 2011.

There’s no official word on what contracts the handset will be available, but both Expansys and Clove are all taking pre-orders now, with the phone costing around ?430.?

Motorola has informed Pocket-lint that though the RAZR Maxx will begin shipping with Google’s Gingerbread Android OS, it will be upgradeable to the more advanced Ice Cream Sandwich later in Q2.

The handset itself sports a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Gorilla Glass touch-display and sticks to the RAZR tradition of size zero credentials, measuring in at 8.99mm thick.

Despite its svelte body, Motorola has managed to pack in a dual-core 1.2GHz processor.

It’s just a shame there’s no Ice Cream Sandwich at launch.

Tags:
Phones Motorola Motorola RAZR Maxx

Motorola RAZR Maxx mid-May arrival confirmed originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:30:00 +0100

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High definition Android

The latest member of Motorola’s revitalised RAZR family looks set to get the High Definition treatment after an employee posted some specs on Picasa.

The specs name the phone as the Motorola Droid RAZR HD along with various camera credentials that suggest it will be able to hold its own with other high-end camera phones.?

Stating its aperture as f2.4 this puts the Droid RAZR HD alongside that of the iPhone 4S, while the handset is also thought to be able to capture 13-megapixel snaps.

In terms of software, the specs read 4.0.3, which would fit with the expectations that the phone will run on Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

Motorola has been keen to give its RAZR range – the manufacturer’s most successful to date – the kiss of life in recent months.

After something of a hiatus, the first of the next-gen RAZR smartphones landed at the backend of last year.

Motorola has also already confirmed that the high-specced RAZR Maxx will be arriving in the US in May.

Read

Tags:
Phones Motorola RAZR Android HD

Motorola Droid RAZR HD specs revealed originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:20:00 +0100

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Free from ?20 a month

Tesco isn’t normally the place you head to get mobile phone exclusives, but if you want the new Motorola Motoluxe in white that’s exactly where you will be heading.??

The new phone is available in Tesco Phone Shops and online through Tesco Direct in the UK from today priced free from ?20 a month on Tesco Mobile.

“We are dedicated to offering great value and choice to our customers and we see the Motoluxe as one of the must have handsets of the summer,” said Tesco Mobile spokesperson forgetting briefly about all the other phones available on the market.? “The combination of the sleek and stylish MOTOLUXE and a choice of great value Tesco Mobile tariffs ensures this smartphone will be sure to turn heads both online and in-store.”

Meanwhile Motorola believes the new phone “offers even more choice to UK fashionistas”.?

Pocket-lint editor Chris Hall isn’t so sure:?

“If you are looking for an Android smartphone that won’t break the bank, then the Motorola Motoluxe is well worth consideration.But before you rush out and buy the Motoluxe, it might be worth waiting to see what other new arrivals have in offer, like the HTC One V or Sony Xperia U, which have more power, a newer version of Android and will likely be priced competitively.”

The white Motorola Motoluxe is available now.?

Tags:
Phones Motorola Motorola Motoluxe Tesco Mobile Tesco

White Motorola Motoluxe exclusive to Tesco shopping fashionistas originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:16:00 +0100

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