Motorola Backflip hands-on video

By Phil Nickinson  | Mar 15 2010 | 12:29 pm  | 19 Comments

Motorola Backflip

Ah, the Motorola Backflip. An odd little phone with a keyboard that flips up under the screen, and a trackpad on the back. Strange, to say the least. But, oddly enough, it works. At least until you turn the thing on.

While some have lamented AT&T's locking-down of the device -- namely in not allowing the sideloading of apps switching to Yahoo instead of Google for search -- it's the internal hardware that's a letdown with the Backflip. Join us after the break.

[YouTube link]

Phil Nickinson

Phil Nickinson Editor in Chief

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There are 19 comments

browns1 says:

It kind of looks like Motorola messed this one up royally with the processor...

Chaos5 says:

Or with the worst idea IMO with that nasty looking/flipping/what they call a keyboard.

Anonymous says:

I bought one a week ago, and I have to say that mine is not nearly as slow as the one depicted in the video. Now, I turned off all the silly Motoblur widgets, and maybe that has some effect as a whole. Otherwise, the phone seems fine to me. Yes, there is some lag occasionally, but I have seen far worse on other phones I have had.

entwined82 says:

Take away Motoblur, you're left with a less laggy but still locked down vanilla Android 1.5 phone. Seems like for AT&T customers they're better off with an Edge only Nexus One or just waiting to see what comes next

Alan Wild says:

Can someone post the youtube link... my company STILL filters embedded videos. :)

Phil Nickinson says:

Done!

timnickless says:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1suL4cYk1oY

entwined82 says:

At first I thought it was weird that AT&T wasn't even mentioning the fact that this phone runs on Android on the commercials..but now I'm sort of glad. My HTC mogul/6800 ran smoother out of the box. This is shameful for a phone in 2010.

Usman says:

That phone's running slower than my G1. I think Phil needs to do a factory reset... I've seen that sometimes fix a slow phone...probably something wonky with the initial installation of the software by Moto.

Oh, and "a lot of people" might use Yahoo, but 4 times as many use Google. So Phil...your comment there is really irrelevant. The chances are that someone is being forced to change Yahoo more than someone would be forced to change to Google.

rufflez says:

Looks slow and pointless. Way to go Moto and ATT to letting Apple come out as a clear winner on that carrier. For the same price you get an iPhone with more storage.

rufflez says:

Just saw Luke Wilson in a an ATT commercial with the Backflip, what happened to that cool phone with all the apps?

mg says:

I picked up a Backflip yesterday. And I have to say, I think this video is bogus or there is something funny going on. My Backflip runs extremely fast. It is very snappy with everything I have thrown at it. I have even downloaded some pretty intense third party apps from the store and ran them through their paces.

I am a very happy Backflip owner, anxiously waiting for a root and/or an upgrade to 2.1

gquaglia says:

Motorola = Garbage
If you're on ATT, wait for an HTC phone.

bllen#wp says:

I had the backflip for 2 days until I returned it. I will admit I loved the keyboard. It was very easy and fast to type. Much nicer keyboard than the Moto Droid has. Aside from the keyboard the phone was garbage. I could not stand yahoo seach and integration. I bought an Android phone for GOOGLE integration not yahoo.

I will wait for something better like the AT&T 3G friendly Nexus One. If Verizon could use voice & data at the same time I would drop AT&T and buy the VZ Nexus One in a heartbeat when it comes out. But sadly VZ fails in this category.

redman213 says:

Who even uses voice and data simultaneously?

Anonymous says:

That looks painful. What's the point of focusing on form factor, keyboards, etc if the processor can't even keep up? I mean really, I'd rather pay an extra $25-50 for a phone that's a little faster and USABLE! Not to mention Yahoo Search on a Google OS phone, WTF?! Junk.

CB says:

Just purchased the backflip yesterday & this is the best phone at&t currently have to offer in my opinion. The processor isn't as slow as reviewed actually its pretty freaking fast so something is definitely going on with that particular phone used for this review. Overall the phone is great, the only con is the battery life but that's nothing major. I'm glad at&t finally went with a droid phone its the hottest thing out right now & I can't seem to put my phone down FOR NOTHING its literally glued to my hand. I'm officially a Droid head...

rickr#ac says:

So far I have not run into any problems with the Backflip and I WAS an Iphone and Blackberry user. I actually put the phone through its pace by using facebook, myspace and my email account and did not experience the lag that everyone else is talking about. The screen is smaller than I am used to but the backflip practically does everything the Iphone can do. I still cant get used to the customization that this phone can do but I'll find out what suits me. The battery life on the phone wasnt that great the first day due to the constant usage on the phone, internet and installing/playing all the Android Apps. Lasted a little over 4 hours. The charging cord needs to be a little longer but other than that its a great phone.

Motoglide127 says:

I haven't had any problems with my backflip other than it being locked down by at&t, and the fact it's adroid 1.5 >:( this phone has the chance to be a heavy hitter with 2.2 or even 2.1 installed, when are we getting it?!