Official Motorola Atrix Review Thread!!

[s.m.knipe]

Why didn't go back to your Nexus One or did you sold it to finance the Captivate?

I have recently, but it is the t mo version (first one before one for AT&T was even rumored) so it is edge only...
i refuse to sell my G1 and N1 as they were such huge Android game changers (unless i ever absolutely have to)

 

[=KLRS=ZERO]

woops, wrong thread

 

[rad204]

does motoblur have scenes on it? like the sense

 

[dyezak]

HAHAHAHAHA, really? AT&T sells a 4g phone that is consistantly getting slower network access than a regular old iPhone 4. Yup, sounds like the buy of 2011, and remember...you are signing a contract to committing yourself to using this service! HAHAHA

Even though Sprint and Verizon don't have true 4g, their branded "4g" is getting significant bumps in speed (with multiple real devices in the wild unlike AT&T). Verizon is being independently tested up to 30mbps download speeds by engadget.com while on a fully loaded network at CES! 20mbps is normally being reported in San Fransicso, and here in DFW we are seeing 22-25mbps.

AT&T is getting what? 1.3mbps in NYC by mobileburn and 2.7mbps by PCworld. Heck, a regular 3g iPhone 4 tested in the same spot by mobileburn seems to have gotten 3mbps down!

Yea...go sign that 2y contract committing to using THAT service! Don't even get me started on 300ms latency.... The latency is caused by the link from your phone to the tower, the backhaul update will never fix the latency. That's an inherent flaw of HSPA (and HSPA+). LTE is getting 15-30ms pings and WiMax is getting 30-60ms...

Anyone now want to guess why AT&T is going LTE? It's inherently better for data. Don't know about you, but I'll go get the Atrix's sister phone, the Bionic, on LTE..............

MOBILEBURN:

3G speeds on a "4G" device

AT&T labels its HSPA+ network as 4G and, as such, the ATRIX 4G is expected to deliver speeds that are faster than AT&T's 3G network. That's not the case. It offers the same chipset as the Inspire 4G and its download speeds were topping out around 1,300Kbps in New York City. Sure, we saw some spikes upwards of 2,000Kbps, but that's still not surpassing the 2,500-3,000Kbps we sometimes see on our 3G iPhone 4.

From Pcworld:

"The Atrix 4G runs on AT&T's 3G HSPA+ network. AT&T brands the network and related devices "4G" because, the company says, the network pumps out "4G-like" speeds, including download speeds of up to 6 mbps. With the FCC-approved Ookla tool installed on the Atrix, I tested the network connection of the phone from several locations around San Francisco, and found the download speeds were consistently in the neighborhood of 2.7 mbps. Only in my tests at our offices south of Market Street were the readings lower, averaging around 1.7 mbps.
Upload speeds across all five of my testing locations averaged 0.3 mbps (300 kbps), a very 3G-like result. Of even more concern were the latency times I saw. The Ookla tool consistently measured about 300 milliseconds of network latency--the time it takes for a packet to move from the device to an online server. That's roughly six times the latency seen in Verizon's LTE network and about a third higher than the latency in Sprint's WiMax network. The high latency number combined with the mediocre upload speed could hamper the smooth operation of apps like video chat and mobile gaming."

CNET:

The bad: No 1080p HD video recording or playback at launch. You can't install non-Market third-party apps. We didn't experience great HSPA+ 4G data speeds.

PCMag:

Call quality wasn't great in my tests, but it was good enough to pass. First, the Atrix tends to over-report signal strength; in my weak-signal test, I saw two bars but couldn't connect calls.

The Atrix bills itself as a "4G" phone, but just like the HTC Inspire 4G ($99.99, 4 stars), which uses the same modem, I found the Atrix to run largely at 3G speeds. Testing the handset in Manhattan, I saw speeds mostly in the 1.5Mbps range, with a peak of 3Mbps, which is good 3G, not 4G.

Laptopmag.com:

Using just the Atrix in our midtown Manhattan office, with 4 bars of HSPA+ service, we measured average download speeds of 1.37 Mbps and upload speeds of 0.29 Mbps using speedtest.net. These slow rates were confirmed when we tried loading ESPN.com, Laptopmag.com, and NYTimes.com; all took more than a minute to fully load. Out in Queens, speeds were a bit better. We measured Speedtest.net average download and upload speeds of 3.83 Mbps and 0.35 Mbps, respectively. We also saw markedly faster load times of 13 seconds (ESPN), 13.2 seconds (Laptopmag), and 9.83 seconds (NYTimes).

Businessinsider.com:

The Atrix is one of AT&T's first "4G" phones. More specifically, it runs on the HSPA+ network. Even though our demo unit said we were connected to HSPA+, we experienced speeds similar to 3G.

 

[s.m.knipe]

does motoblur have scenes on it? like the sense

Unless it is new for the Atrix's 1.5 version of blur, no. To be honest though I've always thought that was more gimmicky than practical. For me at least, you might like scenes (i cahnge stuff around too much for that to work for me).

 

[Left Coast DJ]

I hope the Atrix doesn't turn out to be a laggy turd! For once I'd like to have a phone with great hardware backed by outstanding software. I had a Blackberry a few years ago that was built like a tank, but Blackberry software sucked. Now I have a Palm Pre Plus with amazing WebOs, but the hardware is crap!

For once... please... I want hardware and software that's in sync. I'm going to wait for the Thunderbolt and Atrix to come out and read real reviews. If they both turn out to be underwhelming, I'm buying an iPhone! There, I said it.

 

[atlbuc]

Updated my post with a few more reviews. (OP)

 

[Jp77]

I'm not digging the ridiculous "4G" speeds being reported in reviews. Deal breaker?

 

[zizo79]

I'm not digging the ridiculous "4G" speeds being reported in reviews. Deal breaker?

I am going to wait until my local AT&T has one in display and check it out...

 

[Jp77]

I am going to wait until my local AT&T has one in display and check it out...

Good idea. I was hoping to order from Best Buy but I may have to check it out myself.

 

[mrvirginia]

you guys should try to be a little more patient first and foremost.
the network will likely improve a good bit.

regarding moto blur, this is why we're hoping the bootloader isn't locked. custom ROMs will get rid of that. if it is locked down, i can personally deal with just using Moto blur and no other launcher. right now i'm running a slightly modified stock Gingerbread launcher on my Evo. the only added functionality it has is instead of the dots on the left and right, i have sms and contacts there. sometimes simplicity can be better.

i'm sure most of the concerns with Moto Blur extend from it being a resource hog, but it's a dual-core phone with 1gig of RAM. just from the reviews, Moto Blur is obv not effecting the speed/snappiness of this thing. over time there will be updates to the phone to improve it. Motorola has been pretty on top of updates which is why i only consider them and HTC when looking at new phones. and, on top of that, Gingerbread will improve upon it even more. then when Android OS 2.4 drops for dual-core phones, it will get even better. so there's things to look forward to. out of the box it might not be perfect (what phone is???) but it has the potential to be.

it may be beneficial to some to just put on the brakes and wait a month or two after release. i know you're excited, but every new device has some sort of issue on launch. we all want it to be perfect but unfortunately, that's not how the world works. ever.

i've enjoyed the reviews i've seen thus far and have no complaints. pretty positive this will end up being my new phone towards the end of April/early May. cheers to you all.

edit: also, is anyone realizing that a phone is releasing that is so technologically advanced that the OS isn't even ready for it yet? i think this is amazing and holds promise for the future.

 

[atlbuc]

you guys should try to be a little more patient first and foremost.
the network will likely improve a good bit.

regarding moto blur, this is why we're hoping the bootloader isn't locked. custom ROMs will get rid of that. if it is locked down, i can personally deal with just using Moto blur and no other launcher. right now i'm running a slightly modified stock Gingerbread launcher on my Evo. the only added functionality it has is instead of the dots on the left and right, i have sms and contacts there. sometimes simplicity can be better.

i'm sure most of the concerns with Moto Blur extend from it being a resource hog, but it's a dual-core phone with 1gig of RAM. just from the reviews, Moto Blur is obv not effecting the speed/snappiness of this thing. over time there will be updates to the phone to improve it. Motorola has been pretty on top of updates which is why i only consider them and HTC when looking at new phones. and, on top of that, Gingerbread will improve upon it even more. then when Android OS 2.4 drops for dual-core phones, it will get even better. so there's things to look forward to. out of the box it might not be perfect (what phone is???) but it has the potential to be.

it may be beneficial to some to just put on the brakes and wait a month or two after release. i know you're excited, but every new device has some sort of issue on launch. we all want it to be perfect but unfortunately, that's not how the world works. ever.

i've enjoyed the reviews i've seen thus far and have no complaints. pretty positive this will end up being my new phone towards the end of April/early May. cheers to you all.

I agree totally, you guys need to calm down a little. Most of the reviews thus far have been quick reviews with probably a day use of the phone. I'm glad Engadget and a few other sites are taking a little more time with their reviews.

 

[skinien]

At&t has some fine print regarding the 4g network. They say they have upgraded nearly 100% of the network but the fine print is that you wont see 4g speeds until they upgrade the "backhaul" in your area.

 

[mayerr2]

i've enjoyed the reviews i've seen thus far and have no complaints. pretty positive this will end up being my new phone towards the end of April/early May. cheers to you all.

Funny you should mention that. I feel the same way and look forward to the phone even more after all of these reviews.

 

[Munchausen0]

Been reading this forum for a while since the Atrix was shown at CES (I always buy my phones outright and hate contracts). I was really pumped on getting this phone (still love my AT&T N1) but the 1st bubble burst was the price of the dumbtop, the 2nd was sideloading/rooting (but not a big deal since I have not rooted my N1) and 3rd was Mototrola track record on updates.

But what has got me now is that for a nice phone the Atrix is.. why didnt Motorola think about NFC in the phone? If (Big IF and it seems to be leaning toward alot of companies supporting NFC) NFC really takes off the Atrix will be a powerful phone with no NFC.

I really like the idea of the phone/dumbtop (just the price is WAAYY outa sight)..maybe Mototrola should have teamed up with a netbook or a laptop company to make a actually net/laptop that would incorporate the phone into it.. so you really get the best of both worlds (yes yes I know AT&T would not be able to rape peeps with the charge of this and extra charge of that etc etc to jack up ones bill).

The more time passes the more I think that i will wait to see if any other companies go down the path that motorola is paving and also with the other dual core phones that will be comming out later this year, for now my Nexus One still completes me (Plus my gal mentions if I get a new phone will she get my Sexy Nexy).

But the more reviews come in the more I Hem'n'Haw of the 'Do I want it or Don't I want it'.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Did anybody else notice how laggy the phone seems at times? In the cnet video when she is resizing the images it lags like hell, which doesn't really make sense seeing as how my low spec Aria is quite smooth when resizing an image. Is this motoblur or what?

Also the colors on the display don't seem to be very vivid or bright. Its kind of got a faded look to it, but then again its kind of hard to really judge it from my monitor.

Still though I think I might actually pass on this phone. I want to see what gets announced at MWC, and I really want to see what Samsung has got up its sleeve.

 

[Roze]

Updated my post with a few more reviews. (OP)

atlbuc, check A&M's list of review and see what you're missing from your OP list: Motorola Atrix 4G review roundup – Android and Me

 

[atlbuc]

atlbuc, check A&M's list of review and see what you're missing from your OP list: Motorola Atrix 4G review roundup

 

[atlbuc]

For those (Inspire People) who said the Dual core in this phone wouldn't make much of a difference check the 1:36 mark of this video for a little snippet of what most reviewers are saying so far. http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/motorola

 

[MarcMaiden]

After reading these reviews, I feel pretty neutral about the phone, but as of right now its a tough choice for someone thinking about the atrix or inspire.

I compared the reviews of the Optimus 2x and the Atrix and it seems like most of the bugs are tegra related. Its probably because most apps havent been updated to work well on them. Fring was used as a common example, but fring is horrible at updating their software for new devices......My Dell streak is still buggy with fring, (no FFC support) and it was one of the first android phones with a FFC.

well....time till tell...I'm still thinking that for the reliability and ruggedness, im going to get the Inspire, and get my tegra 2 fix mixed with a little honey on the tablet side.

 

[atlbuc]

After reading these reviews, I feel pretty neutral about the phone, but as of right now its a tough choice for someone thinking about the atrix or inspire.

I compared the reviews of the Optimus 2x and the Atrix and it seems like most of the bugs are tegra related. Its probably because most apps havent been updated to work well on them. Fring was used as a common example, but fring is horrible at updating their software for new devices......My Dell streak is still buggy with fring, (no FFC support) and it was one of the first android phones with a FFC.

well....time till tell...I'm still thinking that for the reliability and ruggedness, im going to get the Inspire, and get my tegra 2 fix mixed with a little honey on the tablet side.

Atrix for me all the way baby. Hey Marc are you guys at AT&T' really that in the dark about the Atrix pre sale. I've called At&t several times asking about the Atrix and they were like what can you spell that, is that a phone.

 

[MarcMaiden]

Atrix for me all the way baby. Hey Marc are you guys at AT&T' really that in the dark about the Atrix pre sale. I've called At&t several times asking about the Atrix and they were like what can you spell that, is that a phone.

I took the last 3 days off from work to get a little bit of beach time in before the 4g madness, but a lot has changed this week and i have a lot of catching up to do. Ill check the archives for you and see if there is any information.

Today our store has gotten the inspires in and my coworkers were teasing me with pictures haha

 

[atlbuc]

I took the last 3 days off from work to get a little bit of beach time in before the 4g madness, but a lot has changed this week and i have a lot of catching up to do. Ill check the archives for you and see if there is any information.

Today our store has gotten the inspires in and my coworkers were teasing me with pictures haha

Sounds good dude, need some of that myself as I'll be heading to Miami soon.

 

[zizo79]

Hey OP, I just watched this video about the docks for the Atrix from ATT (if you want to add it) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz5bogvU6wo

 

[atlbuc]

Hey OP, I just watched this video about the docks for the Atrix from ATT (if you want to add it)

Thanks, added it.