RAZR M: First Impressions

AntimonyER said:

Screen: Well, you know, its the RAZR screen. Its not horrific on its own, but compared to my Nexus, well it loses.

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I played with the M in the Verizon store today. I took some time and really checked it out (fortunately the store was empty and no one cared ). I currently have the Inc 2 and in terms of performance the M blows it away. The responsiveness and speed of the M when swiping the screen is very good. Because of the edge-2-edge technology the M is about the same size of the Inc 2 - another plus as it would fit perfectly in my pocket. I was disappointed with the screen though. The Inc 2 screen actually seems a little brighter, or at least more white. White on the M was a little dingy. Also although the screen is technically 4.3" it's closer to 4" much of the time because the on screen buttons take some space along the bottom edge. Yes those buttons disappear when you do some things like play a YouTube video, but they are there a far bit of the time, so it doesn't feel like a larger screen.

Over all the M is a good phone, but whether or not it's a good choice depends on what you already have and your expectations. I'm going to pass on it for now and wait to see what the Razr HD is like.

Got mine this morning. I hard to travel out of town to Kissimmee, FL for a meeting. We got there early and I asked a coworker to Google where the local VZW store was to see if we had time to stop. Walked in when it opened and walked out in time for my meeting.

Got it with 40% battery but the meeting location had no service and drained to 17% pretty quick with little use BUT it was also struggling to pull down 60+ apps. I didn't bother to try to stop it.

What little I have been able to pay with it I like it. I am coming from the Thunderbolt (I jumped to the Galaxy Nexus but I didn't like the size or the way it did t in my hand compared to the TB so I went back and the wife got the Nexus) this phone is a waif compared to the TB and FAST.

There has been no lag, everything loads quick, 4G is pulling 20+MB down consistently. I like that the native email app and the sms app has dark themes.

The screens stacking to the right takes some to get used to as well as left for quick settings.

Display is nice but if I look real close, like up to my nose, I can see pixels but I have to really look for it.

One thing I do not like at all is the Google search bar is at the top of every page. I disabled it and it goes away but the widgets and apps do not use the vacant space.

The fit, finish, and build is great. My biggest test will be the battery life. I am SO tired of carrying spare batteries for the TB, if I can get from waking up to leaving work I will be happy. I can shut 4G off on the Thunderbolt and not get that.

I plan to abuse the heck out of this thing for 13 days and decide whether to turn it in, keep it, or give it to the wife and get the Maxx HD.

Just got back from the VZ store. I was the only person in there, beside one guy that stormed out and said 'F U' to someone behind a register. I spent a solid 15 minutes with the M, so here are my 2 cents based on that.

To summarize, I left the VZ store actually wishing I had the SGIII instead of my Gnex, but felt that the M was the third best phone in the store, Gnex being #2. If the SGIII didn't feel so damn fragile, I think I would have already purchased one on ebay prior to posting this. The M would hold me over for a month and then I'd be itching for something else.

Build/Feel: The M felt incredibly solid, just like the OG Droid and DII. Compared to the SGIII and Gnex, the M felt like you could throw it against a wall and it would be fine (don't try that at home kids). It was very thin and light and built better than the Droid Razr/Maxx.

Size: Hmm. It's funny, when first contemplating purchasing my Gnex, I thought it was too big, I mean I have an iPad and the Gnex is just a phone. Well, it's going to be tough now to go back. Despite the edge to edge screen, the M felt diminutive in my hand next to the Gnex. While the Galaxy Note is definitely too big in my opinion, the Gnex, or something slightly smaller is perfect for me.

Screen: Thought the screen was much better than some of the reviews out there. Not as good as the Gnex and certainly not as good as the SGIII, but better than the Droid Razr/Maxx.

Battery/Camera: Didn't get a chance to test these out, but as my two biggest hangups for the Gnex, I don't think the M could be any worse. In fact, the M battery is supposed to be much better than the Gnex.

Personally, while I'm still thinking about the SGIII, I think I'm going to wait until the new HD Maxx comes out before making my next purchase.

Congrats to those who got the M!

So does the backing have a split diagonal, or is it calm like the prior razr's.

IE, the pre-production shots have the cf going different angles, 45 degrees.

But what I see as the production shots, the back looks exactly like the prior razr's.

syntrix said:

So does the backing have a split diagonal, or is it calm like the prior razr's.

IE, the pre-production shots have the cf going different angles, 45 degrees.

But what I see as the production shots, the back looks exactly like the prior razr's.

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It's still busy...good gallery: Motorola DROID RAZR M Review – Droid Life

syntrix said:

No, the production ones appear to not be that way, can anyone confirm?

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I picked one up yesterday and the kevlar backing appears to be exactly the same as the white one in the link above. 45 degree angle. This is a US phone.

Very quick first impressions:
1. Screen has really nice color compared to my Galaxy Nexus but very slight pixelation which I don't notice on the GNex

2. Screen is a bit more sensitive to touch, so sometimes you hold on an icon to move it and it opens instead. Also, with the edge-to-edge display you can hit the screen on the sides every so often opening an unwanted app. I have a feeling it won't take more than a day or two to get used to that and it shouldn't be an issue.

3. At least with the car charger that I have, when streaming audio through Pandora or Slacker with the phone charging through the cigarette lighter I was getting really bad interference. Luckily my car has a direct USB input and I can charge it via USB while using the auxiliary plug and it didn't exhibit the same behavior.

4. Quadrant standard tests were 4800-4900, which seems to be really good. I think when the JB update comes through it will be REALLY smooth because it's not quite as smooth with transitions and scrolling as my GNex running JB.

I will try to post more later.

I have had the phone for about 4 hours now and I am extremely impressed with the speed, build quality and the screen. I seen bad ratings online for this screen but I think it is one of the top 3 or 4 screens I have seen on any smartphone. Also, the edge to edge really makes a difference when watching videos.

The biggest knock on this phone was the camera and so far what little I have messed with the camera I think it is quite good. The 1080 video seems to be very sharp as well but seems to have trouble picking up great audio on video.

My biggest problem is I have only owned HTC smartphones so getting used to the UI is hard for me but that is my issue and not the phone itself.

I have been running 9+ hours, 4G on all the time and just dropped below 15%.

Screen has been on 3 hours and 38 minutes...

Bunch of email, texts, light web surfing, and pretty heavy RSS reading.

I am using the smart actions and it seems to help.

Pretty satisfied so far. Leaps and bounds over the Thunderbolt.

have you guys noticed any "ghosting" issues with the qhd pentile display? I had the D4 for a week but had to return it because it was so apparent. I'm thinking about dumping my lg spectrum for this, but wanted to get some feedback about this. Thanks guys

My phone has been off the charger since 5pm yesterday with moderate use and I have 65% battery left. I have the brightness all the way up and the timeouts set to 2 minutes. I am not used to this type of battery life on a smartphone...

Got mine. Very pleasantly surprised. It is a great little phone with a nice big screen great battery life and it does exactly what I need.

It's a great phone for those of us tired of the ever larger size of the new phones. I don't want a tablet, I want a phone that fits in my hand. Have had the phone two days now after a Thunderbolt for two years and what an improvement. Same size screen but much smaller phone size. Great battery life also -- on for 17 hours with 78% battery remaining. Same processor and speed as the yet to be released Razr Droid HD and Maax.

Thinking about getting one of these for my wife. Really the only thing holding me back is most of the reviews I've read about the poor camera quality. To the people that have this phone and used the camera, is it really that bad?
I've got a Galaxy Nexus and I found the camera to not be as bad as the reviews made it out to be.

Only my first day with it and so far it's far beyond what I'm used to, original Droid. It's very light and comfortable in my hands. Fast and battery at 88% since off charger this morning around 6:30am. Used it on the 40 minute commute on train and sporadically at work. Will report back with more impressions when I get more time with it.

Loving mine so far. About damn time there was a phone you could operate without having to dislocate your thumb. I think its the perfect balance between battery, screen size and performance.

sixlaps said:

Thinking about getting one of these for my wife. Really the only thing holding me back is most of the reviews I've read about the poor camera quality. To the people that have this phone and used the camera, is it really that bad?
I've got a Galaxy Nexus and I found the camera to not be as bad as the reviews made it out to be.

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I read those reviews too, and I think they are rubbish. I see no difference between the M and my original Razr in terms of photo quality.

iploya said:

I read those reviews too, and I think they are rubbish. I see no difference between the M and my original Razr in terms of photo quality.

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yes but that's the problem, most feel the razr camera like most Motorola phones is average at best compared to other premium phones. I too would love to get the razr m but the bad camera reviews are also keeping me away for the moment.

It's your typical Moto camera. It can do good with proper natural lighting, but it can also suck and struggle to focus. Honestly, I feel it's slightly more inconsistent than the Razr Maxx was, especially if you have to use the flash. One pic will look pretty good, then the next pic (exact same conditions) will have the face completely washed out by the flash. It's kinda odd. If the camera was even marginally better, I'd have no qualms keeping this phone. But I use my phone's camera a LOT, so it's frustrating seeing Motorola continuing to ignore this. Hopefully some software tweaks can improve it.

Bottom line, if you go out and take perfectly still photos in broad daylight, you'll be pleased. Otherwise, expect to be underwhelmed by the inconsistent experience most of the time.

It may just be me but i feel the camera is being grossly underrated. I have taken plenty of pics and they have turned out great. Outside in optimal light, lowlight, and inside under lowlight and I have not been disappointed yet. Plus I absolutely love the HDR setting. Really adds a nice twist to bright colors.

[this is identical to a thread I posted on xda, so if you read that, don't waste your time reading this ]

So I was interested in this phone from the moment that it was announced. I've been waiting for a phone of reasonable size, but that also has high-end specs, for quite some time now, and the Razr M finally fit the bill. In the past year or so I've owned the following: 1) HTC One X (returned due to all sorts of bugs, including delays in receiving push email, not to mention that it was huge); 2) Galaxy Nexus (this was actually an AWESOME phone... just way too big for my taste. My wife owns it now.); 3) HTC One S (decent size, although still much larger than the M. Riddled with bugs though... funky wifi, delayed push notifications, etc.).I was not on Verizon prior to yesterday, but I did have various other incentives to switch from AT&T, so I waited a week to see what people's initial impressions of Razr M were before I finally pulled the trigger yesterday. Here are my first impressions after ~24 hours of use.

Build quality and form factor are awesome. This thing is just a perfect size. Roughly the same size, or even smaller, than last year's phones with 4" screens. I've been waiting over a year for a high-end phone that's not huge, and this thing does not disappointment. The little flap that has to be pulled up to put in the SIM and SD cards feels a little old school, but it seems solid enough. Overall, if you've been waiting for a smaller phone, I think you won't be disappointed.

The M is fast and smooth. I've owned a number of high end phones in the last few months and the M is as fast as and as smooth as any of them. Benchmarks prove it (read reviews; I'm not going to post any numbers here.). If you are obsessed with specs and benchmarks, the M will not disappoint. If all you care about is a smooth user experience, the M will certainly not disappoint.

Blur / Motorola android overlay. I don't really like it. It's MUCH better than old versions of blur, and some of you will probably think my complaints are nitpicky, but I just prefer the stock experience (so I use Nova Launcher). First of all, I don't like that the "4g" symbol stays in the notification bar even when connected to wifi. It's the only Android phone I've ever used that leaves the cellular network symbol ("4g" or "3g" or "H+" or whatever your network happens to have) in the notification bar when connected to wifi. It's just a waste of space, and it makes you wonder if the mobile network is somehow sucking down battery life even when it shouldn't be.

Second, I don't like the fact that the dock icons have labels beneath them. WTF? Again, I don't think I've ever seen a launcher that puts labels in the dock. I get rid of all icon labels anyways using Nova, but labels in the dock is just too much for me.

Third, I don't like the persistent google search bar. Even if removed, you just have a row of dead space at the top of the screen. All of these things led me to ditch the stock launcher and go with Nova. I think Motorola's attempt at a quick settings area (scroll all the way to the left) was a pretty good effort, but I think it should have just stuck with the tried and true quick settings in the notification pulldown. This way, you wouldn't lose it when you change launchers. Overall, this version of blur is probably the best yet, but it still doesn't compare to AOSP, nor does it compare to Nova Launcher, in my opinion.

Bloatware on this phone is bad. All sorts of garbage. Thankfully, 95% of it can be disabled. Even so, what a waste of space. I really hope the carriers are making a ton of money off of bloatware, otherwise they are just idiots for continuing to include it despite a very clear message from users that we don't want bloatware.

The screen on the phone is good. I won't go into pentile, but it doesn't bother me. The one comment I have is that compared to my HTC One S (which also has a 4.3" amoled pentile display) the whites on the M are more of a dull yellow. You only notice it if you hold the M up next to a phone that has superior whites, but if you do, you will see that whites on the M are pretty bad. No big deal to me though, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Signal strength has been a concern for me with this phone. There were some reports of weak 4g LTE signal compared to other Motorola phones on Verizon. Honestly, I haven't really been able to nail this down. I can say that both the 1x and 3g EV-DO signals on this phone seem to be just as good as they are on blackberries, iPhone, and other Motorola phones, so I don't think there's a 1x or 3g signal problem. Unfortunately I haven't been able to directly compare it to other LTE phones on Verizon. If I can, I'll report back. Suffice it to say that in the metro-DC area, I hold a steady and decently strong 4g LTE signal, so if it weren't for the reports, I would have no reason to believe there are any signal issues.

Battery life is awesome. When I picked the phone up yesterday and turned it on, it had 42% battery life. By the time it died this morning, it had been on charge for about 16 hours, and it had 3 hours 20 minutes of screen on time. That extrapolates to about 35 hours off charger and 7 hours screen on, if starting from a full battery. Given, this was mostly on wifi, but that's still pretty good. And the battery hasn't even been conditioned yet, so I suspect it might get even better. Also, this was with no battery saving mechanisms in place. I'm not using smart actions or juice defender or anything else. I've got a gmail account, gtalk, and a couple other things syncing in the background. Overall, compares favorably with every phone I've ever used so far. Hopefully the first day was representative!

The notification LED. This thing is effing awesome. I LOVE notification LEDs, and for some reason most phones have really crappy ones, if they have them at all. The Galaxy Nexus (and now the S3) have great ones. But HTC devices have horrible LEDs the size of pin heads, that are recessed into speaker grills so you can barely even see them. The M's notification LED is bright, large, and easy to see from a distance and from an angle. LOVE it. It also works with Light Flow out of the box. So far I'm using Green, Magenta, Orange, Yellow, and Red, and they all work. Haven't tested blue, pink, or purple, but no reason to think they wouldn't work, too.

Call quality. Who makes phone calls anymore these days, anyways? =P (haven't tested call quality yet. sorry).

Camera. Haven't really taken many shots, but initial impression is--as most of the reviews said--mediocre. Not terrible by any means, and sufficient for my needs (taking the occasional photo of my dog). But clearly does not hold a candle to the amazing camera on the One S or One X.

Wifi / GPS / Bluetooth. Haven't tested GPS or bluetooth yet, but the wifi antenna appears to be awesome. I get a much better signal (and speeds) on the M than I get on the One S or on my wife's Gnex. Thumbs up on wifi.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. I have too much time on my hands. But my initial impression of the phone is extremely positive. If anybody is on the fence, I'd say go for it. Fingers crossed that a few devs pick this thing up and that we at least get root. But because I love the size of this phone so much, and since I haven't really located any annoying bugs thus far, I think it's a phone I'd be content to own for a year or two even without root

After the week I like the M though I have some beefs with it even compared to my 3 year old iphone4. For $99 you have reasonably well built, small and light 4G world phone with 4.3" screen, big battery and all the latest hardware. So, where's the catch? Moto had to cut corners somewhere. And they did - no hardware buttons, mediocre screen and camera and noisy and weak headphone output. Latter is something that may force me to return the M back and even probably get back into the Apple fold since other than M and iphone5 I don't see on Verizon any reasonably sized smartphones.

See I'm a bit of audiophile and actually consume my tunes on a go via $400 Westone4 canal phones and I never use EQ since with good cans, source and record you don't needed it and it only distorts. Apple normally doesn't skimp on internal amp and produce a relatively clean and powerfull signal which's is enough to drive decent phones without external headphone amp. Not so the M, not only it hisses (not clean) but it simply is weak and doesn't provide enough oomph. I'm not talking about it not being loud (it's ok) but not having enough energy to drive even reasonably sensitive, low impedance headphones so that they produce good sound.

klopus said:

After the week I like the M though I have some beefs with it even compared to my 3 year old iphone4. For $99 you have reasonably well built, small and light 4G world phone with 4.3" screen, big battery and all the latest hardware. So, where's the catch? Moto had to cut corners somewhere. And they did - no hardware buttons, mediocre screen and camera and noisy and weak headphone output. Latter is something that may force me to return the M back and even probably get back into the Apple fold since other than M and iphone5 I don't see on Verizon any reasonably sized smartphones.

See I'm a bit of audiophile and actually consume my tunes on a go via $400 Westone4 canal phones and I never use EQ since with good cans, source and record you don't needed it and it only distorts. Apple normally doesn't skimp on internal amp and produce a relatively clean and powerfull signal which's is enough to drive decent phones without external headphone amp. Not so the M, not only it hisses (not clean) but it simply is weak and doesn't provide enough oomph. I'm not talking about it not being loud (it's ok) but not having enough energy to drive even reasonably sensitive, low impedance headphones so that they produce good sound.

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Personally I like software buttons. But I have to agree screen isn't quite high end, nor is camera. I'll test the audio jack and see if mine has the same issues as yours.