For the past week I’ve been reviewing the Samsung Focus S. I believe that competition drives innovation, so I love spending time with multiple devices and operating systems to see what works well and what doesn’t. I think most of us have spent some quality time with an iOS device and are aware of the competition it presents, but I’m guessing that most of us haven’t played with Windows Phone very much. So how does Windows Phone 7 stack up against Android?  

Lock Screen
One of the most important things on a modern smartphone is the lock screen. I think this is one of the areas that Microsoft did really well. As you can see in the image above (the quality won’t be the best because WP7 doesn’t have an easy way to take screen shots), the lock screen gives the usual information at the top of the display (connectivity, battery), the time and date, and my next appointment. To unlock the device, you slide the lock screen upwards. The lock screen is simple, yet elegant.

Start Screen
The Start Screen is  where the simplicity of Windows Phone really shines. If you use Launcher 7 then you should be fairly familiar with the appeal to Windows Phone’s Metro UI. Rather than have pages of widgets and app icons, Windows Phone highlights important applications and information through Live Tiles. The point of these Live Tiles is to give users quick information or to jump into an app’s feature or content more quickly. The calendar tile launches the app, shows me the date, and shows me an upcoming appointment. Another feature is pinning an album or a contact to Start for easy access. Sliding the start screen to the left reveals a list of all most of the apps installed on the device.

Multi-Tasking
Windows Phone 7.5 introduced multi-tasking to the platform, though the implementation of multi-tasking is one of the worst I’ve seen on a modern smartphone.  To access multi-tasking, you hold down the back button. At first I thought this was a strange implementation, but holding back to return to an app makes sense. What doesn’t make sense, however, is the limit to only six applications being stored for multi-tasking. Perhaps the most frustrating part of this limitation is that often times applications are duplicated in the list, as can be seen in the photo above (Internet Explorer is the middle and left option). To make matters worse, the only way to jump back into an application from where you left off is to use the back button. Opening the app from its Start icon re-launches the app, even if it’s been cached in multi-tasking. This needs to be improved upon greatly if Microsoft wants to compete with Android and iOS.

Applications
The selection of applications available for Windows Phone 7 is sparse at best. Though the Marketplace has 50,000 applications, many big name developers and apps are missing. Even the apps that are present often lack major features that are present in their Android and iOS counterparts. Twitter, for example, lacks push notifications (and good luck finding a third party app that compares to third party apps for Android). The YouTube app is just a shortcut to Internet Explorer. Many major apps like Facebook and last.fm were developed by Microsoft, demonstrating a lack of developer support for the platform. If Microsoft wants to succeed, they need to start pushing more of their cash in front of developers.

Gaming
Gaming is even more of a joke. Light games like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja are available for $2.99 and more graphically intense games like Assassin’s Creed ($4.99) Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 ($6.99) are available. It’s a bit strange to me that these games are all more expensive than their Android and iOS counterparts. Perhaps the higher costs are developers’ way to make up for the low market share of Windows Phone. Another annoyance is how gaming is organized. Instead of listing your games along with other apps from the Start screen, games are collected in the Games hub. They can be pinned to the Start screen, but it’s still a sloppy implementation.

Productivity
Windows Phone comes with Microsoft Office built in. The Office apps work well for editing documents and spreadsheets and viewing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. OneNote, Microsoft’s premier note taking application, is also built in. The editor is very basic and you’re limited to local storage, Office 365, SharePoint, or SkyDrive to store files.

Email offers a decent experience with support for Exchange (shocking!), IMAP, and POP accounts. Surprisingly, Gmail is well integrated. Unlike iOS devices, selecting Gmail when setting up email will set up sync with email, contacts, and calendars (this can be done with iOS, but only by setting up Gmail as an Exchange account). That said, the application uses especially large fonts when viewing messages, making the browsing experience sub par (the relatively low resolution of Windows Phone devices may be influential as well).

Other productivity apps like Calendar and Messaging continue the same Metro trends of clean text and hyper-simplistic graphics. The Calendar application is similar to the email application in terms of giant fonts and restrictive resolutions, but unless your calendar is especially crowded it’ll get the job done. The messaging app is extremely simplistic, with white text boxed off in solid hues. It certainly isn’t flashy, but it also doesn’t look like Microsoft spent much time on it.

Major and Minor Annoyances
Throughout the past week there have been a number of major and minor issues that have bothered me about Windows Phone. One of the more annoying issues is the volume level. Windows Phone has thirty (30!) different levels of volume. Try as I might, I had a hard time really telling the difference between 13 and 14. It’s a minor oversight, but it’s an annoying one.

Another minor issue is the inconsistency of the physical button’s functions. As I mentioned before, holding the back button to see your recently opened applications makes sense. Just hitting the back button functions almost identically to the Android back button. The Start button brings you back to the Start screen, but holding it launches voice command. Hitting the search button launches Bing. That’s it. Holding it does nothing. Hitting the search button in an app launches Bing. In other words, it’s a rarely used button. Hopefully in a future update Microsoft will allow the use of the search button for an in-app search.

A more critical issue is notifications. If you’re in the middle of an app, a bar with the notification will slide along the top of the screen and stay there for about ten seconds before going away forever. After the notification disappears, the lock screen will display a badge for the app and the app will have a numerical badge next to it if you’ve pinned it to the Start screen. There is no centralized place to see all of your notifications, which can be a bit maddening if you’re used to a modern operating system.

Conclusions
I honestly can’t imagine using a Windows Phone 7 device as my main phone for any extended period of time. The animations and scrolling are slick, the UI is cohesive, and the simplicity is attractive, but the overall experience is not on par with Android or iOS. Android offers a better experience in terms of apps (both availability and price), multi-tasking, notifications, service integration, gaming, and productivity. It doesn’t matter how fast your phone is if it’s lacking in so many areas. So many parts of the operating system feel unfinished or untouched that it’s honestly astounding to me that this is the second major release.

As I’ve said elsewhere, Windows Phone 7 feels like 21st MS-DOS. Microsoft says that the inspiration for Metro UI is “street and airport signage.” The signage inspiration is clear, but what isn’t clear is why Microsoft thought that reverting the majority of visual cues to text would provide a better experience to the overtly graphical interfaces found in Android and iOS. Even if the apps were there (and to be clear, there is a serious dearth of quality apps), there are so many part of Windows Phone 7 that still feel incomplete or not thought through. Why would you make the email text so big that you can only preview four to five messages on a screen without scrolling? Why limit multi-tasking to six applications? Why do applications relaunch if you slect them from the Start menu instead of the multi-tasking menu? Why doesn’t the email app replicate changes made on the server for IMAP connections? These are massive oversights that were possibly forgivable in the initial release, but to still have these issues in the second major version is incredible.

Tim Cook is right, Microsoft will keep trying. I’m glad they decided to start over with Windows Phone 7, but if they want to break into an already established industry, they need to offer a product that blows the competition out of the water. Microsoft does not have that product. For the foreseeable future the smartphone space is going to continue to be dominated by Apple and Google. That’s a disappointing sentence to write, but it’s the truth. I want more competition. More competition drives real innovation. Android would not be as polished as it is today if Apple hadn’t pushed the importance of design. iOS wouldn’t have the excellent notifications it has now if it weren’t for Android paving the way. I believe that Microsoft has some good ideas in Windows Phone 7, but if they really want to make an impact they need to do a lot better.

Since we already reviewed the DROID RAZR and there are very few differences other than the battery in the MAXX, this won’t be the full review that you would normally see with a new device. Instead, I will go through my thoughts on the subtle changes and of course, talk about the 3300mAh elephant in the room. I will say that I was as impressed with this phone as I was the original RAZR, but the single-charge life was a massive bonus. 

The Good:

• Full review:  Again, please read our full review of the DROID RAZR to get our thoughts on the software experience and other little tid bits.
• Battery:  Let’s get right to it. The 3300mAh battery in this phone is amazing. With all other LTE phones continuing to struggle to make it throughout an entire day, that is a worry that will disappear should you choose the RAZR MAXX as your next device. I spent the entire weekend with it, putting up day 1, day 2 and day 3 results and thoughts. Never once did I run into battery concerns. The most amazing part of the whole experience was on Saturday, when I only had time to charge the phone to around 60% before heading out for the day. Even at 60%, I never did find myself wondering where the closest outlet was; something that I constantly do with other LTE phones.
• Thickness:  You would think with a 3300mAh battery inside that the RAZR MAXX would suffer from Tank Syndrome, but it doesn’t. Motorola is working magic on the thickness front these days and has kept this phone under 9mm. For comparison, the original RAZR is around 7.1mm while the Galaxy Nexus weighs in at 9.47mm – neither come close in battery capacity.
• Camera:  I covered camera in the RAZR review, but wanted to touch on it again. Not only is this camera incredibly fast, it also takes pretty damn good pictures. As someone that has been on the Galaxy Nexus since it was released in December, this was a welcomed change. It may not match the camera of the HTC Rezound, however, it’ll do the job.

• Call quality and signal strength:  The slightly thicker build has not affected the call quality or signal strength with this phone. Not that bars are the most scientific of methods to compare two phones, but the RAZR MAXX almost always pulls in more than my Nexus. Phones calls are also as clear as any other phone.

The Not-so-Good:

• Charging time:  Most phones with sub-2000mAh batteries can be charged in under 2 hours. Since the RAZR MAXX has a 3300mAh behemoth inside, it takes a heck of a lot longer than that. You are looking at anywhere from 2.5-3.5 hours to charge this device fully should you run it down to under 20%. Charging time is definitely not reason enough to decide against a phone, but just be aware that you will want to charge it while sleeping so that you won’t have to worry about it during the day. If you ever caught yourself in a pinch with little time to charge, you might be in trouble.
• Locked bootloader:  Motorola announced a new RAZR variant with an unlockable bootloader today. The RAZR MAXX will likely never see such freedom. This phone is locked down just like every other Moto phone. It’s too bad really because this phone could be tough to turn down by even developers were it to be unlockable.
• Not Ice Cream Sandwich:  Like I mentioned earlier, this phone is running the exact same software as the skinnier RAZR which means Gingerbread. With Ice Cream Sandwich now being a couple of months old, it’s disappointing to see phones hit store shelves with year-old software. Sure, it will see Android 4.0 at some point, but it could be a while.
• Price:  It’s $299 on 2-year contract, so definitely not cheap. Knowing Moto’s track record from the last few months, potential buyers should understand that there could be yet another upgraded version of this phone on the way. I know that sounds like a silly joke, but would you really be surprised if Moto pumped out an even better phone in April? That’s the mobile game these days though.

Unboxing:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gallery:

The Verdict:

The DROID RAZR MAXX is my favorite Motorola phone to date. Actually, it’s pushing the Galaxy Nexus as my favorite Android phone period. While it’s locked bootloader will continue to hold it back on the development side of this game, it’s still one heck of a phone thanks to battery life and a somewhat surprisingly polished manufacturer skin. If you aren’t interested in hacking your smartphone, this phone should be strongly considered even at the $299 price. Moto should actually be applauded for figuring out a way to stick such a massive battery inside such a skinny phone. It feels weird to recommend a phone based off of battery performance, but with the #1 complaint about LTE phones continuing to be battery life, it’s warranted.

And there she is, the DROID RAZR MAXX and its 3300mAh battery back in our hands. After a quick tour of the device at CES, we have it again to hopefully see if it can live up to the massive single-charge numbers that Motorola was touting. The hardware for the most part is exactly the same as the original RAZR with a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP4430 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8MP shooter and 4G LTE connectivity, so rather than putting together a full review, we may end up just doing a whole bunch of battery tests. We’ll see over the next couple of days how things go and may change our minds on that.

For now though, enjoy the quick unboxing and comparison shots to the regular RAZR after the break. We have the MAXX on the charger now so that we can start pounding on it within the next couple of hours. 

Unboxing:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gallery:

RAZR MAXX vs. RAZR:

(RAZR MAXX on the right and on top in case you could not tell.)

Our brief moment with the LG Spectrum at CES 2012 was exactly that, brief. In order to give this new release from LG and Verizon a shot at taking top Android phone honors from the Galaxy Nexus, we had to get one in hand for an extended period of time. Today marks the start of our quest to put the Spectrum through the ringer to decide if this reasonably priced ($199 on contract), yet highly spec’d phone is worth your money. With a 4.5″ HD display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 8MP shooter, and 4G LTE connectivity, this phone is by no means a slouch on the hardware front. Does it have enough polish on the UI side to make it a winner though? We will soon find out.

For now, let’s see what it looks like in hand and out of the box.  

Unboxing:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Gallery:

As the Galaxy Nexus approached launch on Verizon here in the U.S., you couldn’t pull up an Android site without seeing some sort of rumor, tip or leak that had to do with it. This phone was hypebeasted as if it was the second coming of some religious tech figure. Over the last couple of months, things have been unbelievably wild (both positively and negatively) around these parts, and the majority of the thanks can be attributed to it. As a “Nexus” on Verizon, the release of this phone marked an industry first on a number of levels including the combination of Ice Cream Sandwich, 4G LTE, NFC, an unlockable bootloader, and the support of the entire developer community. It has been dubbed as one of the first truly finished Android products to date. With so much to live up to, we will do our best to let you know whether or not it has.

The Good:

• Hardware:  The insides of the Galaxy Nexus are what you would expect from a top tier phone in 2011. It has a dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM, both front and back cameras that can shoot HD video, an HD display, 4G LTE and an NFC chip. You will find ultra-enthusiasts out there claiming that Google should have done more to push the envelope, but truthfully, they didn’t need to. They optimized top notch hardware with the latest version of Android making this phone run like butter. Oh, and we should also point out that this is the only device on the planet running the OMAP4460 processor if you really need to justify it.
• Feel:  In hand, I’m not sure there is a phone that feels better. Its curves and weight make the Galaxy Nexus a joy to hold. We were slightly worried about how it would feel when Samsung announced that it would sport a massive 4.65″ display, but those worries were washed away the minute we got it in hand. You will hear critics claim that the device feels cheap “like all Samsung devices” – I would beg to differ. I’ve had the Galaxy S2, Fascinate, and some of their tablets, so I know what cheap feels like.  This phone, feels completely different and of a higher quality than past Samsung releases.
• Design/Build:  This could have gone in the “feel” department, but that just wouldn’t be fair because the design of this phone is a work of art. With its slightly curved HD Super AMOLED display, bottom-placed headphone jack, textured back, volume and lock switch placements, and on-screen buttons, the G-Nex is easy on the eye and easy to use. If there was a design standard that manufacturers should take going forward, this and the DROID RAZR are the two phones to look at.

• Performance:  We have been off the benchmark train for quite some time now, so when we talk performance, you aren’t going to see them anywhere. When we mention “performance,” we tend to go with a little thing called the feel test. And with this phone, the feel test is passed with flying colors. What we mean by that, is that the feeling you get while buzzing through home screens, switching apps, using the camera, watching video, playing games, etc. just feels great. There are no stutters, the phone never seems to get bogged down by too many processes, and no matter what you throw at it, the Nexus can complete it. Also, thanks to Ice Cream Sandwich, you can limit the number of tasks that your phone keeps in the background, making this phone as fast as you want it to be.
• NFC:  NFC will some day be the future of mobile payment technology and the sharing of info between two devices. With the G-Nex, you get an NFC chip, so going forward, you are set. Now, the real struggle comes on the back end of things where we see if Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile will allow you to have options to make those mobile payments and share information. So far they have chosen to lock it down to their yet-to-be-released NFC payment option. Thankfully this is a Nexus, and you already have other choices.
• Screen:  The HD Super AMOLED display on the G-Nex is simply put, beautiful. At 316ppi, it falls short of the HTC Rezound’s 342ppi, but most human eyes won’t be seeing pixels either way. If there was one downside, it’s that the colors are a little more vibrant or cartoon-like than some may want, especially after you see the natural tones on the Rezound. No matter what though, this is as high of quality of screen as you’ll find on any phone and will not disappoint. Plus, with the phone’s ability to hide the on-screen buttons to give you a full 4.65 inches of viewing goodness, you will be searching for excuses to continue to use it.

• It’s a “Nexus”:  As someone that’s life is now dedicated to Android, I look forward to seeing what Google has dubbed the next “Nexus.” It’s always the ultimate developer phone that launches with the newest version of Android before any other phone. This is what it is all about if you can’t get enough green robot. And with this being the first Nexus on Verizon, I’m not sure you will find a happier tech geek. The developer community has already flocked to this phone to give you more hacks, tweaks and ROMs than you will know what to do with. If tinkering with your phone is a must, then this is the phone to look for.
• 4G LTE:  4G LTE may kill batteries at a record pace, but we still love it. Having faster internet speeds on your phone than your home computer is something I still struggle to wrap my brain around. Couple LTE with a Nexus and you have a match made in heaven.
• Camera (speed and software):  I’ll touch on the quality of the camera down below as it is most definitely not in the “good” category. As far as speed goes, no other camera phone can match the instant shutter of the Nexus. You tap on the camera button and it takes photo before you can even blink. And better yet, it’s ready to go that quickly so you can snap a whole series of photos and not even realize you have. The software is also improved with panoramic features, a whole bunch of on-device editing tools, and fancy “hipster” filters.

• Camera (video):  As you will see in the 1080p sample that is attached down below, the video quality that the Nexus shoots is surprisingly good. The zooming while recording is much better than expected and time lapse recording is an added bonus. While this may never replace my HD camcorder, it will do just fine as a replacement in a pinch.
• Ice Cream Sandwich:  As you all know, the Galaxy Nexus runs the newest version of Android (4.0) that has been named Ice Cream Sandwich. It’s the most advanced, polished and user-friendly version to date. If there was a time to get started with an Android device, this would be the one as ICS is the future of Android. And with ICS and the Nexus, you get some extra features like Android’s Beam sharing feature that utilizes the NFC chip. You also get the on-screen buttons that rotate with the phone instead of the built-in soft keys that most phones have. Some would argue that the real draw to the Nexus is the fact that it is the first to run Android 4.0 and they may be right. Then again, the phone coupled with ICS and the attention to detail by Google is what really makes it. If you want complete overviews and tips and tricks on Android 4.0, you will want to see our G-Nex guide to the world.
• Updates:  You won’t find a phone attached to a carrier that will see updates as quickly as the Galaxy Nexus. Since it’s a “Nexus” and receives new OS updates directly from Google, you will always be on top of the Android game. Rather than seeing an OS update roll out and then asking yourself when you will see it on your skinned phone, you will be the one with the new OS watching everyone else ask that question.

The Not-so-Good:

• Camera (picture quality):  If there was one thing that I think we can all agree on, it’s the fact that Google and Samsung skimped on the camera in this phone. It is just not as good as the competition at taking still shots. Forget the fact that it’s only 5MP and not the industry standard of 8MP for high end phones, the camera in this phone should be better than it is. Low or bright lit areas, the shooter here is simply not good enough when you compare it to the HTC Rezound or even the RAZR for that matter. It may not be as bad as the Bionic’s camera, but man is it pushing it. You definitely can’t expect this phone to “wow” any of your friends in the recently-snapped-photo department. Samples below:

(Click images for larger versions)

• Battery life:  It’s an LTE phone, so it sucks. On either the standard or extended batteries and with LTE turned on and WiFi off, you aren’t going to get a whole day of life out of this phone. Hell, you may not even get half of a day. I hit anywhere between 6-11 hours, but the average is probably closer to the lower end of that range. If you want your phone to last for 20+ hours though, simply turn off LTE and you will never worry about battery life again. On an average day using WiFi and 3G-only, I consistently see well over 20 hours of life on the extended or standard batteries.

• Rear speaker:  The rear speaker has been a pain for some, including myself at times. It has an incredibly low volume even when turned all of the way up. There are apps out there that can adjust the stock volume settings to make your external speaker louder though, just be careful that you don’t overdo it. Depending on your need for a high-pitched ringtone, this isn’t necessarily a deal breaker on this phone.
• Connection issues (for some):  I haven’t run into the signal and connection issues that many of you have, but it still needs to be addressed. There are all sorts of antennae-gate signal strength issues going on with this phone, some of which have been debunked time and time again. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t Nexus owners experiencing real issues though. Some have reported that when sitting side-by-side in low coverage areas with their other 4G phones, that the Nexus can’t even lock onto LTE while the others can at least grab a couple of bars. It’s tough to tell if this can be fixed with software or if it’s even widespread. One thing is certain, if you spend the majority of your days in a low signal LTE or even 3G area, just make sure you keep track of the time you have to return it in case your Nexus struggles.

• Price:  We are almost a year into the $299 on-contract phone pricing scheme and I’m still not a fan of it. I get that Verizon tested us all with the DROID Charge and a few people actually forked out that kind of change leading Big Red to push forward with this being the standard for high end LTE phones, but that doesn’t mean I can’t complain about it. And I totally get that we should expect to pay a premium for a device we use on a daily basis, yet it still seems a little much. Then again, I had no problem actually dropping Benjamins for it…so maybe this argument is completely unnecessary. Damn you ever-changing tech industry!

Gallery:

Hands-on and Overview:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video Sample (1080p):

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Verdict:

The combination of beautiful hardware, innovative design, and software has made the Galaxy Nexus one of the first Android devices to feel “complete.” There have been few times over the last two years that I reviewed a phone and felt 100% confident in recommending it – this is one of those times. Is it the best Android phone available? Easily. While the Galaxy Nexus may have a camera that doesn’t measure up to some of the other players in the game like the HTC Rezound or DROID RAZR, there are too many other positives to make this the phone that you should check out if you have an upgrade available. Actually, if you are a tech geek that always wants to be on the leading edge of the Android world, you may also want to look to go off-contract and upgrade. After having had both the GSM and LTE versions of this phone for the last month, it has easily become my favorite Android device.

Related:  Complete Galaxy Nexus “How To” Guide | Ice Cream Sandwich Features Part 1 and Part 2

Had a chance to pickup the Galaxy Nexus from Verizon yet? If not, maybe this quick video walk-through of it will motivate you to get your behind into a store. Assuming stores haven’t sold out that is, since many Big Red shops were running out within an hour this morning.

The phone is as good as you would expect it to be. It’s sleek, light, has a vibrant screen, feels great in hand, and performs like it has been optimized to perfection. OK, that might be a strong word after only having it for 4 or 5 hours, but as someone who has been toying with the GSM variant of the phone, I can say with a clear mind that there are very few flaws here.

Check out the video below to see for yourself.  

Click here to view the embedded video.

The DROID RAZR not only welcomes the return of an iconic cell phone brand, but it marks the beginning of a new ultra-slim smartphone era. Motorola has outdone themselves with the build of this 7.1mm thick device, but the question still remains – “Is it enough to drag people away from the Galaxy Nexus?” As with the HTC Rezound, it’s going to be an uphill battle, but one that the RAZR feels ready to tackle. Let’s dive in to see how far it can climb.  

The Good:

• Performance:  One of the issues I had with te HTC Rezound was performance thanks to its Sense UI skin. With the RAZR, I get the feeling that Motorola has started to listen to consumers and made their Blur skin much less intrusive. In fact, the performance on this phone is on par with that of the Galaxy S2. It’s incredibly snappy, the dual-core processor cruises through any tasks, and even with those awful 3D transitions, the phone never slows down. Since I’ve had both the Rezound and RAZR running side-by-side for a few weeks, I can easily say that the RAZR outperforms it in every way – well except the camera.
• Screen:  What an upgrade over the Bionic and DROID3. It’s still a PenTile, but with Moto choosing the new Super AMOLED Advanced over the LCD that was used on those other two phones, you will be pleasantly surprised. If you macro shot the screen as I did in the Rezound review, you’ll see some pixels. However, scrolling through the app drawer, screens, etc. doesn’t give you that same headache that you may have experienced on Moto’s last few releases. It’s not on-par with the Rezound or the Galaxy Nexus, but it’s a giant leap forward from where Moto was hovering for most of the year.

• Hardware:  Tough to call this anything less than spectacular. Motorola managed to pack a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4.3″ display, front (1.3MP) and rear (8MP) cameras, 4G LTE chip, and 1780mAh battery into a 7.1mm thick frame. It’s ultra-light, includes Gorilla Glass, a kevlar backing and splash coating for protection. This phone should impress anyone that picks it up on feel alone. The insides can match any phone on the planet with the outside outshining everyone.
• Design:  One can make the argument that “Hardware” and “Design” sort of fall under the same category, but with Moto going with such a radical new design, we had to separate this one out. It’s a pretty drastic change from previous designs, yet it still holds some of Moto’s signatures like the rear hump. The side lock switch is very popular in this household along with the squared off edges and sharp angles. This phone is sure to “wow” your friends if you were to toss it on the table at your local pub.
• MotoCast:  I’m a big fan of MotoCast. Once a 3rd party app called ZumoCast, Motorola has built the access-your-PC-anywhere software directly into their Blur custom skin. With MotoCast set up on any or all of your computers, you can access the files on them from directly within a variety of apps on your phone. Your music syncs into the stock music app, your photos in the gallery app, and your computer documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, etc. from the Files app. There are other players in this game that can be downloaded from the market, but when one works this seamlessly and has been built right in, why not use it? Motorola’s Blur skin might annoy us at times, but after using the RAZR, you can see that they are improving it immensely with each new build.

• Camera:  It could very well be the same camera that was used in the Bionic and D3, but it acts a whole heck of a lot different. The beauty of software tweaks at its finest, right here. It’s 8MP and takes for the most part, pretty impressive shots for a smartphone camera. It’s not on the level of HTC cameras, but very few phones are these days. As you can see from the shots we took below, it should easily satisfy your on-the-go camera needs. And let’s not forget how much faster it is than those other phones – something we put on display for you in our unboxing video below.

• Call Quality and Signal:  The Bionic that I have used for the last couple of months struggled at times to hold signal or at least return to service after losing one. The RAZR, seems to be working much better. I haven’t experienced any noticeable hand-off issues from 3G to 4G. It also does as good as any other LTE phone in the download speed department. Call quality almost doesn’t need to be mentioned since it’s a Motorola device, but we’ll say it anyway. This phone has impeccable call quality that you won’t find on many other handsets.
• Easily Rooted:  If you are into the hacking game, then you’ll be happy to learn that the phone has already been rooted. Moto will likely patch the exploit in the next update, so if you buy this phone, jump on it immediately. Instructions here.
• Smart Actions:  Moto built in a new app called Smart Actions that allows you to customize your phone to your life. It can adjust settings or launch apps depending on a lot of things including location or time of day. They sell it as an app that can help extend your battery life, but personally I have not found that it can other than by toggling on or off your WiFi which you can do yourself in less than a second. The idea that it can have your favorite news feed up and running the minute you wake up though, is convenient and worthwhile. Smart Actions are probably the future, and Moto is at the forefront. Here is a video tutorial on how to use it.

• Accessories:  Motorola is proving that it is the king of accessories. With the purchase of a RAZR, you have the option to add on two different Lapdocks (the 100 or 500), two different HD docking stations, a webtop adapter, and a car mount. If you were looking to add on extras to a phone, the RAZR has plenty of choices.
• 4G LTE:  We would knock the phone if it didn’t have LTE, so we should at least give it props for having it. With Verizon’s LTE coverage expanding by the minute, it won’t be long before you can all experience the world of blazingly fast mobile download speeds. Now, if only we can figure out a balance between mobile speeds and battery life.

The Not-so-Good:

• Battery Life:  Saying that I have been frustrated with battery life on this phone is an understatement. After picking up a RAZR, I kept expecting to be impressed by battery life. I kept thinking that Motorola had come up with some magical trick to extend the life of this phone and was the reason they decided to go with a non-removable battery. I was so wrong. It’s just like any other LTE phone in that it crushes battery juice like Mark McGwire stuck needles circa 1998. And without the option to swap dead battery for good or use an extended one, this is a major downer. Smart Actions are not the answer. For me to get through an entire day (14-16 hours), I had to turn off 4G and GPS and toggle WiFi on. This may surprise you, but the Rezound and its smaller battery performed better than this phone.
• Price:  Is any phone worth $299 on contract? Probably not, but we sure seem willing to pay it. While I’m not a fan of Verizon’s new 4G LTE pricing, I’m afraid it’s here to stay.
• Non-HD Screen:  The HTC Rezound and Galaxy Nexus are both launching with the world’s first 720p HD screens. Motorola, to our knowledge, has a phone with a similar screen, but chose to release it in China instead. It’s not like the RAZR’s screen is a bad screen by any means – I actually enjoy it for the most part – it just seems like a step down from its two biggest competitors. We will probably see Moto’s first HD screen in 2-3 months, frustrating RAZR owners just like they are doing to Bionic owners.
• Bloatware:  Verizon is coming around a bit on this front by allowing users to remove some bloatware, however, the VCAST app selection that is non-removable makes my teeth hurt. Thankfully, Blur now gives you the ability to hide apps from sight, making your phone less bloated.

• Locked Bootloader:  Motorola told us that they would look into unlocking bootloaders by the end of 2011 where carriers permitted. That carrier part is the key here. When admitting on numerous occasions to this phone being as locked as all of their others, they pointed the finger directly at Verizon as being the reason why. We aren’t surprised that Big Red would ask them to keep this puppy locked up tight, but we still have to point out that this phone cannot be considered developer friendly. I’m sure the community will find some work-arounds as they have with all Moto phones, however, it’ll be a rough ride.
• Lack of Ice Cream Sandwich:  It’s tough to knock the RAZR for not having Android 4.0 since Google released the source only a week ago, however, we still would have liked to see it. Motorola assures us that they will update phone as soon as possible and we’ll take their word for that. There hasn’t been an Android phone manufacturer to update their portfolio faster than Moto.
• Lack of NFC:  NFC has been targeted as the future of sharing information between two pieces of technology. Motorola, for whatever reason, decided that it wasn’t important enough to include in the RAZR. Not many phone companies have other than Google – hopefully we’ll see a change in that stance here in the near future. If we all had NFC, the world woud be a better place. Or at least a more efficient one.

Gallery:

Unboxing and Quick Hands-on:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Software Tour:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video Sample (1080p):

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Verdict:

Let’s be honest here, I’m a big fan of the DROID RAZR. This phone feels as polished as any Android phone to date. It’s ridiculously slim, weighs little-to-nothing, looks gorgeous and performs with the best of them. It has an upgraded screen over its predecessors, enhanced software in the camera, and 4G LTE connectivity. Motorola took what they had on the Bionic and upgraded or improved it in almost every conceivable way. Going into 2012, phones should use the build of this device as a benchmark to try and meet or beat.

With that said, we would have loved to have seen the HD screen that they included on the Chinese version of this phone, a better battery experience, and a more open approach to Android. With the Galaxy Nexus just around the corner, Motorola needed to knock this one out of the park in every imaginable way. They certainly came close, but we would advise you to wait a couple of weeks, get your hands on this, the Rezound and the Nexus for a bit before making a final decision. Verizon has three incredible phones right now, so it’s best to give them all a shot before pulling the trigger.

Mr. Tim-o-tato contributed to this post.

By the end of November, Verizon may have the three best Android smartphones ever created all to itself. The HTC Rezound is one of those three, boasting next-gen specs, Beats by Dre audio enhancements, 4G LTE connectivity, and one of the first 720p HD screens even seen on a mobile device. On paper, this phone might be better than the DROID RAZR and Galaxy Nexus, the two phones it will compete directly with. In real life use though, can it use its sound-inspired name, HTC Sense skin, red accents, and spectacular design to come out on top of this epic end of the year battle? It’s going to be tough, but we have spent enough time with it over the last week to at least provide our opinion on that matter.  

The Good:

• Screen:  This might be one of the nicest screens we have ever seen on a mobile device. The Rezound’s 4.3″ 720p HD Super LCD display is fantastic to stare at for hours. I have yet to see what the pixel density is on it, but I would assume it’s as high as any phone out there aside from maybe the iPhone and Galaxy Nexus. The pixel density is 342ppi which is higher than both the iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus. It’s incredible. If you want crisp clean lines, correct colors, and none of that ghosting non-sense that we have seen from some of the other higher end phones over the last few months, this is the screen for you. Rather than selling this at Beats-enabled phone, HTC should have spent more time telling everyone how amazing the display is.

Rezound

DROID RAZR

• Hardware:  The specs in the Rezound are as good as any phone on the planet. It sports a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 4.3″ 720p HD Super LCD screen, 4G LTE, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, 16GB on-board storage, and a 16GB pre-installed SD card. And to be fair, it’s the first smartphone in the U.S. that has an HD screen – there are few phones that are even close to being on this level. We would have liked to see NFC tossed in there, just like HTC did with the Amaze 4G, but there seems to always be something left out these days that would make a device almost near perfect.
• Camera: Seeing an 8MP rear shooter with a 28mm wide angle lens on a smartphone is a thing of beauty. If you were looking for a phone that could come close to replacing your high-end DSLR in a pinch, this would be it. By no means am I a camera guru, but I still feel like I can tell if a camera rocks or not. This camera by all means, rocks. It allows you to use “hipster filters” on the fly, take amazing panoramic shots, and quickly share them with your favorite apps. We have some photo samples below that have only been resized and not touched in any other way. We also have a 1080p video clip for you in the video section at the bottom as well.

• Design:  HTC may not take many risks with their hardware designs, but I’m OK with that as I have always been a big fan of their simple, elegant style. The Rezound looks like a modern day DROID Incredible, but with some added red accents to make it really pop. The black and red theme fit nicely with the phone’s Beats integration and really give it an identity that other Android phones can lack at times. If someone saw your Rezound and follows any sort of technology information site, they would know exactly what it was. It’s a bold, beautiful and powerful phone.
• Beats:  We know that not everyone is a fan of Beats by Dre headphones, but the addition of special Beats software and a pair of ear buds with the Rezound is welcomed in a time when device features seem to be evolving so slowly. If there is a way to differentiate yourself from the Android pack, adding in high-end audio is a way to do it. The sound quality with Beats enabled is most definitely noticeable, and HTC assures me that it’s not just a “bass boost.” While I’m no audiophile, I can easily say that the audio experience on the Rezound far surpasses any previous Android handset. We’ll get into the one frustrating aspect of Beats integration in the “not-so-good” section below.
• Battery Life (sort of):  We should almost create an in-between category for these reviews, because things like Battery Life would fall right into it. What I mean by that, is that the Rezound held up pretty well in my battery tests – for a 4G LTE phone that is. If you follow me on Google+, then you probably saw my 4-day battery testing results which show that the phone, with my use, was easily getting me through 10-12 hours before having to charge it again. While that’s not an entire day, it’s at least a work day, and is much better than I think any of us imagined the Rezound’s 1620mAh battery was going to produce.

• Call Quality and Signal:  I experienced no issues with call quality or data connections. My LTE connection is pretty strong here in Portland and did not notice any hand-off issues or other problems that we experienced with say, the HTC Thunderbolt. Call quality again, seemed just fine to my average ears. I know in the past that HTC phones have been so-so in this department, but nothing stood out to me as being poor during my tests.

The Not-so-Good:

• Price:  There have been enough conversations on this site over pricing that I won’t go too deeply into this, but I can’t help but be a little frustrated by the steep price tags we are seeing with Verizon’s 4G LTE offerings. At some point we will probably be used to $299 just like we were with $199, however, I’m not ready to get there just yet. The Rezound weighs in at $299 on 2-year contract or $649 without one. It will hurt your wallet a tad no matter which route you go. Is it worth it? We’ll get to that in the Verdict.
• Beats Enhancements are Limited:  The Beats experience on the Rezound is for the most part, enjoyable. With that said, the fact that it only works through the native music app on the phone and with head phones plugged in, is disappointing. If you load up Google Music or Amazon or Winamp, you do not get the extra Beats audio enhancements activated. As our world becomes more and more dependent on the cloud, this seems like a giant oversight from HTC. And maybe it’s impossible to enhance streamed music the way they want, but it still needs to be pointed out as a flaw.
• HTC’s Sense and Performance:  With the Rezound, HTC introduced their latest version of Sense dubbed 3.5. It’s very similar to the 3.0 we saw on the EVO 3D and a variety of other HTC handsets from the last 6 months, but with some added…well, we don’t know. As someone that has never been the biggest Sense fan, it’s tough to tell what has changed from 3.0 to 3.5. What I can tell is that whatever did change, is not a good change. As a phone with a dual-core processor and tons of RAM, you would expect it to fly, right? It doesn’t and I’m willing to point my finger at HTC’s custom skin. The gallery app is incredibly slow to the touch, simple sliders lag behind your dragging finger, various keyboards all struggle to keep up with quick typing, and something as simple as having a WiFi toggle in the notifications menu is missing. On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S2 on T-Mobile that runs this same processor, is one of the most impressive phones we have ever tested, performance-wise. Sense is supposed to be an evolving and highly-polished skin, but all I’m noticing is its growing negative imprint on Android.
• Phone Thickness: With the DROID RAZR in stores as the thinnest smartphone on the planet, the thickness of the Rezound is a bit of a turnoff. Is it thick when compared to some of the other non-RAZR phones? Not necessarily, but with Motorola and Samsung continually finding ways to thin out their products, we would have hoped that HTC had found a way to do the same.
• Weight:  Again, compared to the DROID RAZR, this phone feels mighty heavy. Some people love a little bit of weight to a smartphone, but when you get your hands on the ultra-light players in the game like the Galaxy S2 series and throw them in your pocket, it’s tough to imagine life again with saggy jeans.
• Lock Switch and Volume Rocker:  I’m a huge fan of the design of this phone, but unlocking and locking your phone or adjusting the volume is a chore. Since HTC did their best to keep this phone sleek and without sharp edges, they also made these physical buttons almost impossible to toggle. This shouldn’t sway your interest in the phone, but it definitely will take some getting used to.
• Battery Life:  The Rezound performs better than a lot of the 4G LTE phones on the market today, but we would still like to see it last for more than 16 hours on a single charge. We know that current LTE technology will not allow for that, so we have to at least flag it something that could be improved.

Gallery:

Hands-on and Unboxing:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Software Tour:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video Sample (1080p):

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Verdict:

The HTC Rezound is for the most part, one of the more impressive phones I have ever used. The design is almost flawless, looks beautiful on display or in your hand, feels great while using, and has the specs to compete with phones for years to come. There are very few flaws here. I love the Beats audio integration, the included ear buds, the 4G LTE speeds, the stunning HD display, and of course the camera. This is about as high-end as you can get with a mobile phone, folks.  There is one issue that I have to point out though, and that’s the custom skin that has been tossed on top of it. HTC Sense 3.5 feels like it’s moving in the wrong direction, is growing in size by the minute, weighs down the performance of the phone, and makes you feel like you are no longer using Android at times. That may sound harsh, but this really is the one downer that makes this phone somewhat of a question mark for me. With that said, you can always toss on a custom launcher and make enough tweaks through apps and skins to get this phone almost Sense-less. So by no means is this a killer, but it is something that has made us all focus so much of our time on the stock Galaxy Nexus.

You can’t go wrong with the Rezound, but if you are not in dire need of a new phone this very minute, I can’t help but tell you to at least give the RAZR and Nexus a few minutes before making your next phone purchasing decision.

We were very happy to receive one of Philips’ anticipated docking stations for Android in the mail a little while ago and knew that lots of people have been looking for something just like this. Finally, a docking station for our Android devices that has good quality speakers that can rock the house and charge our devices at the same time. A simple device that turned a bit complicated due to software constraints and silly ‘non-existent’ requirements. Let me try to explain.

I have needed something like this on my desk for a long time. Something I could just plug my phone into and have some good tunes going in the background. The dock sounds great. Excellent low ends and clear highs. It’s good for any type of music in my opinion, and I usually strive to have a good taste in music. The design itself is great and can fit most Android devices with no issue, so size/device compatibility shouldn’t be an issue if you plan on picking one up.

It connects through Bluetooth and AUX but they intend for you to use Bluetooth. You can play music by just having your phone/tablet in range of the device and you only need it connected if you want to charge your phone. This is where I became semi-frustrated with it. It states that users need an app from the Market called, Songbird to use it right when you first load it up. Okay, that makes sense. Maybe I need an app to use a custom interface that Philips has made for the dock. Nope, they just want you to download Songbird. It’s not needed to use the dock and it was quite misleading when it kept prompting me to download Songbird after opening the needed Philips Fidelio application.

The Philips Fidelio app from the Market is an actual requirement. It’s used as a mediator between your phone and the dock, but it kind of hurts that I can’t just use Android’s native Bluetooth controls to set it up. These issues will only bug some who happen to constantly be plugging and unplugging your device. If you’re at the office though, and leave your phone plugged in all day, you’ll notice little problems.

There is a saving grace though. The dock comes with an AUX input and it comes with a cable. You can simply plug and play which is a life saver if you find yourself having troubles with the Bluetooth. Only problem is, if you decide to use the AUX option, depending on which device you use (I have the Nexus S running through it), you can kiss your charging hopes goodbye since it docks through the bottom and has the speaker cable coming from the same area. There just isn’t enough room.

The dock runs on AC but can also run on batteries. 4 AA’s to be exact. So you can set this bad boy up wherever you go. Camping, out fishing on the boat, or maybe your cars speakers are blown. Whichever your mobile audio purposes are, the Philips dock should be able to meet your needs. Beyond some of the smaller frustrations that I wish did not exist at all, it does exactly what I had hoped it would. Plays music great, looks wonderful on my desk, and charges my device. Can’t ask for much more from a docking station.

You can find yourself one of these Fidelio for Android (AS351) docks at Amazon for just $129. Thinking of picking one up?

This weekend, after more than a week with the DROID Bionic, I felt it was finally time to put my thoughts on the device together in one of our standard reviews.  Since most of you know the story of the Bionic, there is no need to rehash all of those bad times, so instead, I will just jump right into this.  This device was supposed to be game changing.  Is it?  In some ways it most certainly is.  But is it game changing enough for you to buy it now instead of waiting the month to see what may be the beginning of an era of smartphones that we never dreamed would come.  Let’s find out.  

The Good:

• Call Quality:  I don’t find myself highlighting call quality all that often during these reviews, but in the case of this phone, it had to be mentioned.  Motorola sure does know how to make a call sound spectacular.  If you were looking for a phone that essentially tops them all for making calls, this would be it.
• Speed/Power:  With its dual-core 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, this phone flies.  While it runs essentially the same version of Blur as the DROID3, it definitely does not suffer from those same slowness issues that over time plagued that phone.  From day 1 to now this phone has been fast.  It processes multiple apps at a time, jumps between them, and rarely (if ever) finds itself bogged down.
• Design:  Some are fans of the Moto hump, some aren’t.  I’m one of the fans.  It’s different that anything anyone else is doing and I like that about it.  Other than the hump though, I’m a fan of the black and metallic exterior, the smooth lines, light grey speaker highlights and big ol’ soft keys.  Another well designed phone, right here.

• Hardware:  I’ll just list it all out and you tell me what phone on the market matches up to it.  1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4G LTE, 4.3″ qHD screen, 8MP camera that shoots 1080p video, front camera for video chatting, HDMI mirroring, 16GB of internal storage, and a pre-installed 16GB SD card. Can’t think of another device that matches those specs?  That’s because there isn’t one.  There are no other dual-core phones with 4G LTE connectivity.
• Screen (at times):  This is one of those sections that I’m coughing while writing as someone who in the past has absolutely trashed on Motorola’s qHD PenTile Matrix screen choices.  So what are my “at times” thoughts on them now?  I’ll just say this – the brightness is unmatched.  If you use a blue background, it looks fabulous.  And as long as I try and avoid looking at greens or straight lines with black in them, I can live with it.  It’s definitely not perfect and I would prefer a Super AMOLED Plus, but I can at least admit that the screen has grown on me over the last couple of weeks.
• 4G LTE:  I had been using an unlocked Samsung Galaxy SII for 2-3 months because I found the HTC Thunderbolt to be one of the buggiest messes of a phone in I don’t even know how long.  So while I love my SGS2 still to this day, I most definitely missed having 4G LTE.  With this phone bringing me specs similar to the SGS2 but with LTE tacked on, I have found myself back in a very happy place.
• HDMI:  This has become a standard with most high-end phones these days, but having an HDMI port that allows for full mirroring to an HD screen is pretty fun.  Gaming, watching home videos, or showing slideshows of the pictures you just snapped, are tasks that are all easily completed with the Bionic.
• Front Camera and Google Talk:  I really wish Motorola had tossed in a 2MP front camera like Samsung did with the Galaxy SII, but that’s just not the case.  The VGA (0.3MP) shooter won’t be used any time for taking stills, however, it works just fine while video chatting on Google Talk.  Speaking of Google Talk with Video – it’s such a fantastic app.  I can’t wait for every front-camera’d phone to get it.
• Battery Life (sort of):  When compared to other 4G LTE phones from Verizon, the Bionic is king.  While it may not be world beating when compared to non-4G LTE phones, it’s at least showing us that this technology is headed in the right direction.  I saw anywhere from 8-10 hours of normal use on the standard battery and 14-16 on the extended big dog.  I should point out that standard use for me is checking emails, Twitter, Google Reader, and potentially browsing through some favorite internet spots. If you start gaming, watching video, or doing other intensive processes, you’ll get far less than those numbers I just gave you.  Don’t forget to take a look at our battery hands-on which included both the extended and inductive (wireless) cover.
• Accessories:  The accessory options for the DROID Bionic are really unmatched by any other phone at this time.  The webtop experience – which is sort of shaky at this point – is something that has a ton of potential.  And with 4 different options for you to experience it at a variety of price points, I’d say that Motorola is on the right track.
• Root:  The phone was rooted before it even became available to the public and that makes all of us happy.  It also has a bootstrap app that can put a custom recovery on it.  And CM7 is getting closer to being released.

The Not-so-Good:

• Screen (a lot of the time):  I know that I just got done semi-praising the screen on this phone, but that doesn’t mean I’m in love.  After coming from the incredibly vibrant screen on the Galaxy SII, it has been a struggle to get myself to a point where I can almost accept the one on the Bionic.  It has moments of brilliance, but for the most part, the grainy mess that appears far too often is unacceptable in today’s mobile landscape.  It’s time to switch it up Moto.
• Camera:  We had heard all sorts of rumors about the Bionic’s new shooter and how it was so much better than anything Motorola had used before.  Well folks, it definitely did not live up to that hype.  While it may not bring us that nasty blue tint like the DROID3 did, it has enough other downfalls to make even a novice photog frustrated.  It takes waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to focus on anything.  Doesn’t even know what to do in dimly lit areas.  And even struggles at times to create non-blurry shots in pristine lighting conditions.  Here are some of the best photos I was able to take:

• Headphone Jack:  What’s with the obnoxious hissing noise?  Moto, Verizon, anyone – please fix this immediately.
• Bootloader:  It’s locked.  Only a miracle would get it unlocked.  Still no word on when Motorola is going to start unlocking bootloaders either, but rumors would suggest that this phone could be one of the first. We are getting close to 2012 and were told that we would start to see this happen some time in the “end of 2011″, so stay tuned.
• Battery Life:  Back on battery life for a second.  We are aware that this phone bests the other LTE offerings in battery life, but still want to point out that this phone struggles to get through a day with even semi-moderate use.  I know that cell phones these days have multiple tasks going on and we rely on them more and more, however, the fact that none of them (including this one) can get you through even 24 hours is saddening.  We can do dual-core and quad-core this and that, but we can’t make battery tech that lasts longer?  Time to refocus some efforts into some other areas, I’d say.
• Blur:  Skins, oh skins.  This version of Blur has improved greatly over past releases, yet it still drives me nuts.  In order to make this thing acceptable, I had to turn off those ridiculous 3D transitions and animations and then put in GO Launcher EX and Widget Locker immediately.  I do like some of the polish that this build has, but it still has a long ways to go before I’ll even think about not doing my own customizing.  The dock bar is nice, the shiny gloss over widgets is fun, and the paginated app drawer is cool.  It’s still too much though.
• Lock Switch:  We actually ran a poll over whether or not people preferred to have a top left or right lock switch and the majority of you share my thoughts.  The left switch on this phone is in the wrong damn spot.  As someone that uses my phone mostly in my right hand, that top left button is almost impossible to hit.  This may seem like a minor thing to be complaining about, but when you are constantly locking and unlocking your phone, this can be quite the nuisance.
• Signal Issues (not widespread?):  There are known signal/hand-off issues with this phone that have plagued a number of you.  It doesn’t appear to be widespread, but we have heard from enough readers now that we made a separate post about it.  According to our sources, Verizon has an update in the works to hopefully address it.
• Phone Thickness:  I love the styling of this phone, but would love for it to be thinner.  After using the Galaxy SII for so long, it has taken me a bit to get used to a phone this big again.  It’s thinner than the other LTE offerings from Verizon, yet still isn’t thin enough.

Gallery:

Benchmarks:

To see how it compares to the Galaxy SII and DROIDX, check out this post.

Hands-on and Unboxing:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video Sample (1080p):

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Verdict:

I’ll try to make this quick, although I don’t know if that is possible when it comes to this phone.  I will say this though – I’m liking the DROID Bionic more and more each day that I use it.  The 4G LTE connectivity is something that every smartphone user on this planet should experience.  Even in the 2-bar area that I happen to live, it’s still almost faster than my home WiFi connection.  The specs are beefy enough that you should be able to use this phone for a long, long time.  In a world that is filled with 2-year contracts, I can’t imagine that this would not still be cruising along nicely at the end of one.  There is a vocal group of Android enthusiasts out there that would have you believe that this phone is garbage – they are 100% wrong.  This is actually a really excellent phone.  It is hands-down Verizon’s best at the moment.

But will it be able to compete with a couple of devices that could be here within the next month and a half, the Vigor and Galaxy Nexus?  Who knows.  Just remember, that when those come out, we will be asking if they can compete with the Motorola Dinaras and Galaxy S3s of the world.  And then after those, we’ll be asking about the rumored devices to come after them.  We are in this time period where mobile technology is evolving at such an incredible pace that many of you are nervous to pull the trigger; afraid that you will be locked in for 2 years on a device that turns out to be a dud.  The DROID Bionic does not appear to be a dud.