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Need Pro's and Con's of the Razr M

Can anyone share their Pro's and Con's of the Razr M with me?

I currently have an HTC Incredible that's not so Incredible and I'm thinking about upgrading to either the Samsung Galaxy S3 or the Motorola Razr M. I've test driven the S3 and like it except for it's size. A rep at the Verizon store suggested that the Razr M was a good phone based on what I told her about the way I use the phone but I never trust sales people.

I basically use my Incredible for phone, text, browsing the internet, email and navigation. Although I have used my phone as a camera, I don't use it that way on a regular basis. My main criteria is good sound quality, good reception, good battery life and not crashing. I don't play games on it and seldom play music on it. Bells and whistles are nice but I would rather have a reliable workhorse so I'm looking for feedback on the Razr M to get some feel on whether this phone would be right for me.
 
Pros: Fast. long-lasting battery. about the perfect size. sharp screen. sealed battery. ui is easy to use.

Cons: Screen small compared with some if that is what you want. Camera isn't bad but isn't great either. Non-replaceable battery. Getting to the edge of the screen with an Otter Box is tough at first but you get used to it. No menu button but not a factor after about 2 days with it.

Tried out the S3 before this and it just felt "clunky" to me. Was nice but this just feels right and 'works the way I think'. I would have had no problem using the S3 at all though. The back button on the S3 seemed to be hit or miss and that got a bit annoying.
 
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I came from the HTC Incredible (first version) to the "M," and use the device similarly to what you describe. I like the smaller size of the M, and that was a major factor in my decision (also looked at Razr Maxx, S3, and others - all of which are larger form factor). On my old Incredible, I would plug it in for charging whenever I could since the battery drained quickly (email set to push). My M often still has 50+% battery at end of day without any charging. Sound quality on calls is as good as any cell phone I've used, but I'm not an audiophile. My M has never crashed in the about 4 months I've had it.

It takes a couple of days to get used to the operating system changes and interface, but the M does everything the Inc did. The only thing I miss from the Inc is the time/weather widget with the lightning, rain, etc. animations. The "M" has a similar widgit - functionally - called Circles, but it doesn't have the animations.
 
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You can get the Sense clock app. I used it on my Droid X with Go Launcher because you could set the number of icon rows with Go. Sense clock is 4X2 and it takes up too much room with the stock Launcher on the M. I use "Make Your Own Clock" in 4X1 setting and Weather Bug widget.
For me the weather clocks are all show and no go. I know what it looks like outside..lol. I rely on looking at radar for my weather. The stock circle app is OK but again took up too much room for my liking plus the "weather" part of it was not to my liking. Also I don't like icon labels on my screen. With the stock launcher you can't get rid of them like you can with Go. So I made all my icons as folders and deleted the label. What my phone looks like now:

Screenshot_2013-01-03-10-50-05.png
 
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Thread interests me immensely as my Razr M comes in this week (hopefully tomorrow). I'm a bit apprehensive TBH. I'm switching from the Incredible 2 and really love Sense. I've tried to switch twice before (Incredible 4g and Rezound) and failed and went back to the Incredible 2. The main thing is the battery life for me. It kicks so much ass on the DInc 2. So that's a game breaker for me. There also don't appear to be many accessories for this phone. We'll see what happens.
 
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You can get the Sense clock app. I used it on my Droid X with Go Launcher because you could set the number of icon rows with Go. Sense clock is 4X2 and it takes up too much room with the stock Launcher on the M. I use "Make Your Own Clock" in 4X1 setting and Weather Bug widget.
For me the weather clocks are all show and no go. I know what it looks like outside..lol. I rely on looking at radar for my weather. The stock circle app is OK but again took up too much room for my liking plus the "weather" part of it was not to my liking. Also I don't like icon labels on my screen. With the stock launcher you can't get rid of them like you can with Go. So I made all my icons as folders and deleted the label. What my phone looks like now:

Screenshot_2013-01-03-10-50-05.png

Very nice. I did something similar but added a battery widget.
 
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Thanks everyone for the feedback as the more I hear the more intersted I get in the M. The only thing that's holding me back now is a rumor that Motorola may announce an HD version of the M with a 4.5 instead of a 4.3 screen and a much larger battery. According to one rumor the announcement will be at CES next week so I'm going to limp along until then and see what pops. Hopefully if they do announce it then it will be available soon. If not.....

Here are a couple more questions for you all....

When my HTC Incredible locks up on me which it does frequently I have no other choice other than popping of the back cover to remove and reinsert the battery. Has anyone had a lockup and if so how were you able to get the device operational if you could not pull the battery?

When my Incredible was new I had to put a skin on the screen because even though it has a Gorilla Glass sceen everyone said that Gorilla Glass would still scratch. With these newer model phones do you feel that a skin is still required?
 
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Moondog -

I can't help with yur first two questions... I haven't heard of a "new and improved" version, but there always will be the next best thing as soon as you pull out your wallet on the old, obsolete, stupid phone/pad/computer/car/TV/wife....

As far as screen protector/film... I don't use it on the M and have had no issue. I'm not particularly gentle, but mostly keep it in my shirt pocket away from keys, etc. I never used one on the DINC either, and it held up well for nearly 3 years.
 
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I've enjoyed my M for the last month or so. Great call quality, solid battery, and I've yet to experience any kind of crash.

On the negative side, I'm not too impressed with the camera and I'm just not a fan of pentile screens. They're just not as sharp if you like to do a lot of reading on your phone.

I might wait to see if the M HD becomes a reality. The 4.3" screen loses some real estate to the on-screen keys, so the 4.5 would be a nice improvement.
 
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When using Google voice to dial does the call log show the access numbers or actual contacts ? How is Bluetooth stability / quality with oem systems especially infiniti and Nissan?
Had the Razr maxx and it sucked at those two things, switched to LG Lucid for the size and it is almost perfect save for the battery which only lasts a day.
 
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On 4G you can. But how many times do you really do that? I'd be like...."I'll look that up and get back to you" anyway.

Well, I've had situations where being able to use the browser while on a call would have been beneficial but instead I had to disconnect the call, browse and then reconnect. The bad point is when you are asked a second question that makes you repeat the whole process. That's what turned me off on the IPhone 5. If you cannot do both on that phone then why bother? If I get an M (leaning heavily in that direction) I just wanted to know if I can just in case that situation arises again.
 
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Well, I've had situations where being able to use the browser while on a call would have been beneficial but instead I had to disconnect the call, browse and then reconnect. The bad point is when you are asked a second question that makes you repeat the whole process. That's what turned me off on the IPhone 5. If you cannot do both on that phone then why bother? If I get an M (leaning heavily in that direction) I just wanted to know if I can just in case that situation arises again.

Ok I just tried going on the internet while on a phone call, they both work fine, I also opened Google maps and tried navigating to an address that I have never been to before, and again both worked fine. So to answer the question about the RAZR m, yes you can "surf the web" while you're on a call.
 
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I will say that the phone has impressed me with it's battery life in the 3-4 days I have it. I'm not happy with it not having a removable battery. If I knew that ahead of time I probably would've passed on it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do on vacation when I need the extra battery time.

The interface is unimpressive especially compared to Sense. I haven't found a replacement launcher that I like though so I'm stuck w/it.
 
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