Monday, March 4, 2013

Hands-on review: MWC 2013: Motorola Razr HD

Lovely screenNice buildBattery life promisingIt's 4G

The Motorola Razr HD came out in the US at the end of last year (where it was known as the Droid Razr HD) but elsewhere we're left with the more sensible Razr HD.

It's hardly the hottest handset at MWC this year - you only have to compare the Motorola stand with the Samsung one to see that. One is almost completely deserted while the other is rammed so full of sweaty phone-frenzied bodies it was almost suffocating. Guess which was which...

The Razr HD may not have the best specs at the show, but a dual core 1.5GHz Qualcomm CPU isn't bad, and is joined by 1GB memory, a 720p 4.7-inch AMOLED display and an 8MP camera. All decent if not industry-leading specs.

It's enough to make this handset Motorola's undisputed flagship model, sitting above its Intel-powered little brother.

Motorola Razr HD

It has the same kevlar backplate that we saw on last year's Moto handsets, but don't go thinking that makes it bulletproof - you'd need seven interwoven layers of the stuff to stop a bullet - instead, this tough material is used to make the phone 'tough enough'. So we're talking drops, not grenades.

It feels solid, too. We always find it interesting to see the different approaches these companies take to materials, design and build quality and Motorola is one of the few that has it right.

motorola razr hd

With edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass and a lovely smooth feel, the Razr HD is no ugly duckling - although admittedly, like most phones, it's still a just a shiny rectangle.

Performance-wise, the Razr HD was smooth and responsive in our demo, though that is normally the case with clean new phones like this. Choke them full of apps and they'll soon start coughing up blood, but we'll have to wait and see about that when we get our full review sample in next week.

We took a few snaps with the handset and were disappointed with the speed it took to take them - the quality of the pictures didn't look stellar either. But, again, we'll test more when we can.

motorola razr hd

For the time being, then, we can report that the 4G-enabled Motorola Razr HD is a nice phone and will launch in the UK running Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 in the next few weeks.

It appears to be a very capable handset and promises excellent battery life with its 'only' dual-core CPU.

The screen looked lovely even under the bright lights of MWC and we look forward to playing with it more. It's no Xperia Z though, so don't expect to be able to flush it down the toilet and get it back in one piece.

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