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Droid RAZR MAXX HD vs. Droid MAXX

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I haven't had much chance to use it yet but probably will this weekend. I will post an update then. I never had a problem with the camera on my HD though.

I will look for your updates. Just to clarify, I never had a problem using the camera, or the camera software, but the pics only came out sharp and clear if the lighting was perfect. Flash pics and low light pics were terrible. My reference point is the iPhone 5. No reason not to include a camera that is at least that good. I haven't used the SG4 or the HTC One yet, but from what I've heard, it sounds like the cameras on those devices are very capable.
 
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I've had better luck with the camera by turning on tap to focus in the settings. It's tap to focus and take the picture at once (that would be a better name), but at least it controls what the camera focuses on.

My only issue with the tap to focus is wherever you tap it does not really focus. It focuses right above your finger. I'm not sure if it's something that can be fixed in settings but if it is I can't find it.
 
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Hi JK,

I'm like you, wanting to try on of the new Moto phones or the HTC One.

I've owned several Moto phones (Original Droid, X, Pro, Droid 4, Razr, Razr M) and the camera on all of them have been sub par. I don't expect any different from these new phones and some of the early reviews confirms that. People thinking that a software update need to realize Motorola phones have always had these problems and a software update will unlikely fix their problems. Having a 5 and 3 year old, I take a lot of pictures and the camera is important.

With that said, I like Motorola's build quality and reception and will try one of these when the price is right. I have an S4 for now that I could fall back to.

I really like the way the HTC One looks. Looks so high end. I just can't pay high end pricing for a phone that is essentially a few months old already.

Hey RadYO! Trying to decide if I want any of the new Moto phones, or possibly the HTC One. Even though it's months old, it's still a very nice phone. Love Moto radios and build, but just haven't been able to accept the crappy cameras. Waiting for some more user feedback before I decide.
 
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I really like the way the HTC One looks. Looks so high end. I just can't pay high end pricing for a phone that is essentially a few months old already.

Well, remember that hardware-wise (from the point of view of CPU, GPU, display, etc.) that the Maxx, though newer, specs lower or the same as the HTC One.

The battery, though...
 
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Hi JK,

I'm like you, wanting to try on of the new Moto phones or the HTC One.

I've owned several Moto phones (Original Droid, X, Pro, Droid 4, Razr, Razr M) and the camera on all of them have been sub par. I don't expect any different from these new phones and some of the early reviews confirms that. People thinking that a software update need to realize Motorola phones have always had these problems and a software update will unlikely fix their problems. Having a 5 and 3 year old, I take a lot of pictures and the camera is important.

With that said, I like Motorola's build quality and reception and will try one of these when the price is right. I have an S4 for now that I could fall back to.

I really like the way the HTC One looks. Looks so high end. I just can't pay high end pricing for a phone that is essentially a few months old already.

Did you ever decide? I'm still on the fence.... The S4 is not an option for me, because I need really strong radios to get service when I am in West Virginia on the weekends. My iPhone can do it, my Razr Maxx HD could do it, but my Galaxy S3 couldn't get a signal strong enough to make a call. My next priority, I think, is the camera. I like to be able to use my smart phone camera instead of a point and shoot most of the time. I have a DSLR for major events, but for snapshots, I want to use my smartphone. My iphone can do it, but no Motorola I've ever had could. (I've use the Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Droid Pro, Razr Maxx and Razr Maxx HDO) My friend has the HTC One and the camera seems great. If Motorola could make a decent camera, I would snap up a Droid Maxx or a Moto X - no question.
 
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I actually was able to find an S4 at very good price and I like it a lot. I think Samsung provides the best combination of features, camera, sd card, hardware, screen, etc where the other manufacturers don't. I live in an area where my cell/4G signal is pretty good no matter what part of town so I don't notice that the Samsung's radios are weaker but from previous experience, the Moto phones are tops.

With that said, I really want one of the new Droid Maxx's. I might give the S4 to my wife and keep her S3 as a backup. Not sure yet as I don't want to get stuck with the Maxx if the camera is that bad.

Did you ever decide? I'm still on the fence.... The S4 is not an option for me, because I need really strong radios to get service when I am in West Virginia on the weekends. My iPhone can do it, my Razr Maxx HD could do it, but my Galaxy S3 couldn't get a signal strong enough to make a call. My next priority, I think, is the camera. I like to be able to use my smart phone camera instead of a point and shoot most of the time. I have a DSLR for major events, but for snapshots, I want to use my smartphone. My iphone can do it, but no Motorola I've ever had could. (I've use the Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Droid Pro, Razr Maxx and Razr Maxx HDO) My friend has the HTC One and the camera seems great. If Motorola could make a decent camera, I would snap up a Droid Maxx or a Moto X - no question.
 
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Well I couldn't resist and picked up a Droid Maxx. I'll have it this weekend, hopefully it arrives early enough for me to go to Verizon to get a new Nano sim. After I have a little bit of time on it, I'll report back.

Someone said the camera wasn't the issue, it's the software. I will try a 3rd party app to see if that makes a difference.
 
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Well I couldn't resist and picked up a Droid Maxx. I'll have it this weekend, hopefully it arrives early enough for me to go to Verizon to get a new Nano sim. After I have a little bit of time on it, I'll report back.

Someone said the camera wasn't the issue, it's the software. I will try a 3rd party app to see if that makes a difference.

I saw you got a pretty good deal ; ) I'll be interested in your feedback. I am still looking at the Maxx vs. the HTC One.
 
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My initial impressions after having the Maxx for a few days.

1. The camera is still very slow making it hard to take pics of my kids. It was faster when i used the Camera Zoom FX app but the picture quality wasn't very good.

2. The active notifications is more hype. Maybe I am not as important as I think I am but it seems the LED is more noticeable than your phone screen slowly blinking. Also, the notification will only allow the user to see the most recent notification. Other unread are shown towards the bottom of the screen and you have to unlock the phone to see them. It's not any more difficult pulling down the notification and seeing all of your notifications in one place.

3. No speed dials, I'm guessing Motorola wants you to use the voice commands, which I hardly use on any previous phone.

4. Build quality is very nice and of course the battery is awesome.

5. The X8 OS is very smooth and fluid. It does not work any slower that I've noticed compared to my S4.

6. The screen is also very nice. The S4 is more vibrant probably because of the AMOLED screen but isn't that much better. I guess my old eyes can't differentiate the PPI.

7. More of a gripe than a review but no SD card slot sucks. At least this comes with 32GB standard.

Comparing to the Razr Maxx HD, i'm not sure I see any reason to upgrade. If youre Maxx HD works fine, you have a great phone with an SD card slot. I think some of the stuff they loaded in the OS is gimmicky/hype. The camera isn't an upgrade that I could tell.

I'm sure I have more to add but trying to get this in at work!
 
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My initial impressions after having the Maxx for a few days.

1. The camera is still very slow making it hard to take pics of my kids. It was faster when i used the Camera Zoom FX app but the picture quality wasn't very good.

Try ProCapture. It can take full resolution photos. That said, I'm still using the stock camera app. It definitely needs work (and Motorola has said that an update with improved camera is in the works.)

6. The screen is also very nice. The S4 is more vibrant probably because of the AMOLED screen but isn't that much better. I guess my old eyes can't differentiate the PPI.

FWIW, the Maxx is also AMOLED.
 
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Really? Where did you see this, because if it's true, none of the usual Android blogs I look at have mentioned this (not that they capture EVERYTHING Android related). It would be great news to share on a more widespread basis!

See the Motorola.com forums, this thread, https://forums.motorola.com/posts/71d0e8a28e?commentId=727476#727476

See also the comments on this post here on Google+; this is for the Moto X, but I'm sure that the Maxx/Ultra/Mini is also being worked on: https://plus.google.com/105667393149694710389/posts/AKKNTNdLeYF
 
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I meant to say the AMOLED that Samsung uses. Their screens are more vibrant.

Thanks for the info on the app and the update. I can live with a lot of the flaws but having kids, the camera is the deal breaker.

Try ProCapture. It can take full resolution photos. That said, I'm still using the stock camera app. It definitely needs work (and Motorola has said that an update with improved camera is in the works.)



FWIW, the Maxx is also AMOLED.
 
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