Hands On with the RAZR2 by Motorola
August, 15th - 10:26 am ET | posted by Scott in Cell Phone Models
We love when our friends from Motorola come by to visit. Sure, they are a good business partner, but more importantly they always bring the latest toys! Unfortunately we aren’t allowed to talk about most of them, but the RAZR2 was announced back in the spring and its features are well-documented by now.
Lost in the iPhone hype?
The RAZR2 got lots of buzz when it was announced, but soon after came the public relations juggernaut around the Apple iPhone, and suddenly it seemed like nobody in the press wanted to talk about anything else. Having spent some time now with the RAZR2, we are happy to say that Apple isn’t the only place where innovation is taking place.
Motorola RAZR 2: More than an Updated, Sleeker Look
Despite the bigger screen, the Motorola RAZR 2 is thinner than the original by 2mm. But thanks to the tapered edges and precision design, it feels even slimmer. This is one great looking phone.
When you hold the RAZR2, the phone’s quality is immediately apparent. This is a truly top-of-the-line phone; from the way it feels in your hand, to the finish of the metal, to the smoothly honed edges, to the firm feel of the hinge when you open and close it. Motorola claims the hinge can handle 120 pounds of pressure. Clearly they didn’t cut any corners on the design or the construction.
The RAZR2’s new second (outer) screen is especially impressive: it’s huge, it’s bright, and most importantly, it’s functional. The outside screen is covered by hardened glass with touch-screen controls a la the Apple iPhone. You can control the music player, view recent calls, and manage messages via touch screen with the flip closed. A haptic feedback mechanism uses vibrations to provide feedback when you’ve touched a button. Very cool!
RAZR2 Software and Processor
None of the above is as impressive as the processor and software, which is where this is a real step forward vs. Motorola phones of the past. Anybody who bought the original RAZR in 2004 can remember the lag in response time for certain functions. But with a 10x boost in processing power and a completely redesigned user interface, the RAZR2 now delivers speed and simplicity that lives up to the exterior design. Every function we tested from the address book to the MP3 player was fast, smart and intuitive.
Another software innovation in the RAZR2 is Motorola’s new “Crystal Talk� technology, which attempts to cancel out ambient noise to deliver superior sound clarity. We’re glad to see Motorola continuing to innovate in this area, because all the multimedia features in the world won’t make up for muffled conversations.
Copying multimedia and music files to and from the Motorola RAZR 2 was a piece of cake. Transferring songs took just 3-4 seconds each using the drag and drop interface. And unlike the iPhone, no proprietary software install is required for syncing music to the new RAZR2 — just plug the USB 2.0 cable into your PC and up pops Windows Media Player 11, ready to use.
Once songs are transferred onto the RAZR2, you can easily access the song list and play the music from the touch-sensitive exterior screen. The RAZR2 supports stereo Bluetooth headsets, or you can listen with the surprisingly loud built-in speakers. One of our employees spent several minutes trying to figure out where the speakers were hidden!
The Verdict: We Love Motorola’s New RAZR 2
Is the RAZR2 a worthy successor to the most popular cell phone ever, and will people pay a premium price for it?
We think the answer is yes on both counts. Sure, razor-thin designs are no longer as revolutionary as they were the first time around, and superior software can be a much harder sell than outward appearances; but as we’ve seen with the original RAZR and most recently with the iPhone, there is a market for beautiful, high-end, revolutionary cell phones.
We don’t have exact prices yet, but if Motorola plays its cards right, the RAZR2 could be formidable competition for the iPhone. With it’s beautiful slim design, available 3G data speeds, expandable memory, stereo Bluetooth, Crystal Talk voice quality, and available universe of downloads, I am certain we’ll see a lot of them around the offices here.
Ed. This RAZR2 review was published in August. You can now buy the RAZR2 from AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless at Wirefly.com.
(42 votes, average: 3.55 out of 5)
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kewl. When is it available? I don’t see it on your site?
Nice,
Who Cares when it comes out, Its a RAZR, whenever it does come out, it’ll still be a success, I’ve waited this long I’ll wait some more.
i wonder how they pack so much into so little.
what’s the $$$? I hope its freee!
We hope to have more news concerning the RAZR2’s availability at Wirefly in the next few weeks - stay tuned!
Nobody knows pricing yet, but it’s definitely not going to be free. It will be hundreds of dollars I’m sure. Remember the original RAZR was $550 when it launched and the iPhone is $500 to $600.
I forgot the original RAZR cost that much when it first came out.
Surprisely… The price of “Motorola Razr 2 V8″ only under US$ 450 (full pack) without contract and unlock.
I think the V8 is the version without 3G or a memory card slot, but it has 2Gb memory built in, which is huge for a cell phone.
Yes, you right. “Motorola Razr 2 V8″ is without 3G with internal memory 512 Mb and 2 months after that has internal memory 2 Gb.
In my country who to be “Motorola” distributor. In 2 weeks, “Motorola Razr 2 V8″ already “SOLD OUT”, so must “Re-Order”.
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[...] at Wirefly, and for all four carriers. Someone in their office got to play with it, and posted this review on the Wirefly blog. Looks like a pretty solid phone - covers most of the bases. function fisherYates ( myArray ) { [...]
[...] y permite sincronizar música con nuestra computadora a través de conexión USB 2.0. El nuevo Motorola RAZR 2 permite conexión Bluetooth, soporta sonido stereo, y está listo para usarse con Windows Media [...]
Hi All,
I work for motorola. Felt happy after reading this blog.
Cheers,
Shrikant
[...] their personality and would include all the features. I really was very curious to know more about Motorola RAZR 2, heard a lot about it so was surfing the net to know more and at last i found a lot of info about [...]
Update: the Motorola RAZR 2 is now in stock. Current price (as of Sep 4) is $200. Check it out at http://www.wirefly.com/catalog/at&t/motorola/razr2-v9/
hope this phone blow the market
I still have my original RAZR, and I and all my friends who own one have a problem with dust getting in through the button holes on the side, and then messing up the inside screen. The screen is horribly impossible to read in any decent amount of daylight to begin with (I had a crappy Samsung before my RAZR and the screen was a lot brighter), and then the dust can make it even worse.
My questions are, have you noticed any improved screen brightness, and more importantly, have they finally decided to bother fixing the dust issue on the new phone? The dust problem was an embarrassing oversight at first, and then when they refused to do anything about it when people took in their phones and complained (I read that one person was told to take their phone apart and put electrical tape around the button holes. Are they serious?!), it was enough for me to write off Motorola. If the problem persists on their new RAZRs, I’m done with Motorola for good.
Thanks for your time.
The first RAZR phone was the worst cellphone phone I’ve ever had. It still does not send picture mail. I spent hours with customer service because of the set up issues. The phone still will not send picture mail. Go figure. did anyone else have this problem? Customer service tells me that the phone is very problematic as they have receives lots problem calls.
The baby-boomer’s are ready to retire. I have a hearing aid. With all this high tech emphasis, when are they going to make a hearing aid compatible hand set like the land-line phone has had for several years?
I am sorry but if the new RAZR is anything like RAZR V3 from Motorola I’d rather get the I-phone. The biggest problem with the RAZR is the hearing piece, you could never place it correctly on your ear. If you can hear the other person speaking youre lucky. The volume on these phone do not go high enough. The other thing is the vibrate you can barely feel the vibrate, and if someone calls and leaves a message you cant tell until you open up your phone or look at the little display on the flip panel. This phone is missing alot of perks that are pertinent to me.
These phone are over rated.
That is a tight phone I got ot buy it for real.
I hope the price is not to much at all.
man the new razrs a sweet i got one and it is tight
have had mine for two months, like the bigger size. Don’t like that you cant answer the phone straight to speaker phone (you have to open it to answer). Also I wish the the alarms could be functional with the phone off (have had other Motorola phones that will allow you to do that), so you have to leave the phone on to have it wake you in the morning. I think the sound is great, like the mp3 aspect. all in all, 4.5 out of 5.
these phones are horrible i only like the old pink ones
Love it but hate the video quality, its worse than the original razor, but i like the picture quality.
Also, it sucks that the touchscreen only works with music. How hard would it have been to make the touchscreen fully functional.
And it isnt user friendly, its a pain to navigate.
I have the Razor 2 v9 and the phone is just great love it and trust me is not like the the razor v8 . I havent had any problems .The price is fair i got it with us cellular i got a lil hook up cus i bought 2 of them . Anyways to you haters that dont wanna pay for something good go get yo iphone lol im happy with mine.
I HAVE ONE AND IT IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!
I always love these folks that post.. These phones are horrible. Clearly they have never really had one. I have to tell you I am a hard sell on phones and I love this thing. The software works without any hick ups. Connecting it to the computer has worked great, using bluetooth rather via an earpiece or the stereo headset which sounds GREAT. I love being able to do quick responses without ever opening the phone. I have tried to find something about this phone I don’t like and I just can’t do it. Fortunately my provider Centennial Wireless got the 2gb phones and gave me a great deal on it so I am very happy with this purchase.
I got of done the iPhone thing, but unfortunately I was not willing to be stuck with AT&T for a phone. Now with my Razr 2 I don’t have to be, because unlike Apple, Motorola has enough sense to make a flavor for all providers and not just a single provider exclusively. Motorola Rocks!
Cool phone. I’ve always had nokias so this was a bit of a change. Disappointed about the touchscreen though. If they could do it for the music player why not for everything else?
does anyone have a problem with the bluetooth connectivity?? i have 3 motorola h850 bluetooths and they don’t sound clear with the new razr2 phone??….any ideas??