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Motorola Atrix hands-on review
THE INQUIRER got to play around with Motorola's Atrix smartphone and some of its accessories at Motodev today, and it has some impressive hardware and innovative add-ons.
The Atrix is a smartphone running Google's Android 2.2 Froyo operating system. Motorola told The INQUIRER that it will release an update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread at a later date.
The phone has a large 4-inch screen that has a generous 540x960 resolution. Its key features are a 1GHz dual core processor and 1GB of RAM that power the phone well and enable the docking function.
The Atrix comes with an impressive 16GB of storage that can be expanded with a further 32GB using the microSD slot. The device comes with Motoblur, which we don't think is the best user interface available for Android, but nevertheless it does the job that is asked of it.
While the phone is a nice device on its own, it really moves into a different league when you introduce the docking station. Most notable is the Lapdock, which turns the phone into a mini-laptop.
The Lapdock is powered by the phone's hardware, has a nicely sized 11.6-inch screen, stereo speakers, full keyboard, track pad and its own battery, which apparently delivers up to 8 hours of juice.
We really like the idea of docking the phone to turn it into a laptop style device. The Lapdock is both light and thin, making it ideal for traveling and it keeps content centralised on the one device. One downside is that the Lapdock can't run off the phone's battery alone.
The phone is hot pluggable with the dock and we found that the switch between docking and undocking was fast. Its limitation is the fact that you can only run Android applications but Motorola told The INQUIRER that it will be possible to run virtualisation technology.
There's also a full version of Firefox for web browsing that has support for Flash 10.2. This makes browsing the Internet on this phone comparable to doing so on a laptop or PC.
The smaller HD Multimedia Dock is also a handy accessory with its headphone socket, three USB ports and mini HDMI output. This means you can plug the phone into your TV or monitor, much like other phones, but the USB ports mean you can also plug in a mouse and keyboard to turn the device into a PC with one USB port to spare.
The docking systems present a really attractive option, especially if you're considering a hybrid tablet like the Acer Iconia Tab W500 or the Asus Eee Pad Transformer.
The Atrix and its docking options are nice innovations from Motorola, since no other phones offer a similar package or experience. Motorola has said that the phone will launch exclusively with Orange, which will be announcing prices soon.
We'll follow this first look with a full review of the Atrix once it's available. µ
Tags: Hardware
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In answer to Julia's question above... A resounding YES, according to hands on reviews from other professionals. NOW... Get this. As one reviewer said use your Atrix either as you would normally your mobile. Enjoy. OR
Use it as a Comm Center in the field as you normally would. Come home plug it into your Favorite KB&Mouse + Monitor with one motion by connecting to the HD Multimedia Dock. Oh.... DOn't forget the headphone plug in the MM dock. So you can skype/ Fring/ Whatever..... SIMULTANEOUSLY. OOps a call just came in. A box pops up. You answer the call. Or if need be make a call from your Atrix as you surf the net/ carry on your biz ( DOWNLOADING/UPDATING YOUR SS/ EDITING SALES RECORDS.) RIGHTEOUS!!! AND an answer to a question I had earlier this year. WOW! I said why do I HAVE to have all the technology all over the home office, and out with me. Wouldn't it be nice if...... THANKS MOTOROLA for pioneering the way.... OH! NOW don't forget, your only as good as...... ;)
Looks a great concept. And would probably go for it to replace my netbook etc with something a lot smaller and lighter to lug around. Shame Moto messed up on the phone though looking at all the reviews, and as for Motoblur no thank you at all! It needs taking out back and shooting.
Now if HTC or maybe Samsung can do something like this we'll be talking!
Awesome. This'd be way better than carrying my iPhone and netbook around. I mean, the netbook can run separately from the phone! What a terrible idea. That method also lets me call while browsing on my netbook, and I don't have to stick my phone onto the back of the netbook and make it cumbersome to handle.
Why the hell can't my netbook manufacturer inconvenience me as much as this? It's unfair.
My netbook has twice as much RAM and a faster CPU to boot. If only I'd seen this product first!
Soon other vendors will come out with similar 'docking' smartphones.
And this docking need not happen , persé, in a lap-dock, it could be a table-dock, a car-dock... a dock could look like anything really. In fact, it does not even need a display if a wall is close-by you could do with some kind of a projection-on-wall mechanism that springs to life.
but what I hope for is that a Standard Docking mechanism is agreed upon soon in the industry, so we start seeing all those docking-'stations' come to market soon.
Can you talk on the phone and use the browser on the lapdock at the same time? I am deaf and this would allow me to use www.sprintcaptel.com where I make a voice call and an online operator types in to me what the person on the other end is saying.
Also, do you think iPhone/iPad will be coming out with a comparable product?
Thanks!
Julia