Yuhnke Commentary: The Motorola RAZR is back as a super thin Android smartphone

PHOENIX - Remember the Motorola RAZR from 2005 ? It was super slim compared to other phones and everyone wanted one.  

After six years, Motorola and Verizon are bringing the RAZR name back.  The theme is the same, super slim.

Hardware

The Motorola Droid RAZR on Verizon Wireless is a Android smartphone with a dual-core 1.2 gigahertz processor that screams.  

It’s packed into a super slim package. The RAZR is 7.1mm thick. For comparison, the iPhone 4S is 9.4mm thick.  

It feels amazingly thin in your hand and is very light.  It has an 8 megapixel camera capable of shooting 1080p HD video.  The screen is bright and beautiful at 4.3”.  It’s a 4G LTE phone on the Verizon network.  Web pages loaded fast and test speeds were impressive.  

Software

The RAZR runs Google Android.  Motorola did add an assortment of apps and customizations.  Typically I am not a big fan of UI tweaks and “bloatware” (as some call it) but there was one Motorola app that impressed me.  It’s called Smart Actions.  

It’s a simple app that lets you setup actions based on certain events.  For example, you can set the phone to automatically load the Pandora streaming music app if it notices that you plugged in a set of headphones.  It could also automatically set your phone to silent when it notices that you arrived at a certain address.  I didn’t have the phone on loan long enough to see how much Smart Actions drains the battery.  None the less, I love the concept and can see many useful applications for it.  

Things I Like

- Super thin
- Super light
- Impressive screen
- Fast processor
- Good camera

Things I’d Change

- A bit too large in the pocket because of the 4.3” screen, perhaps a 4” version would be the perfect size
- Too many UI tweaks
- Running Android 2.3 and not brand spanking new Android 4.0 (Motorola is already promising a free upgrade)

Verdict

Overall, the RAZR is impressive in both size and performance.  You’ll pay for it though, at $299.99 it’s among the most expensive smartphones on Verizon.  

I think it’s the slickest smartphone available on Verizon right now although I’m anxious to see how it stacks up to the unreleased Verizon Galazy Nexus.