Motorola's latest batch of devices launched on Verizon today. Starting at the lower end is the Droid RAZR M, with a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 display and 2,000 mAh battery for $99.99 on a two-year contract. It's followed up by the Droid RAZR HD, which has a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 screen and a 2,530 mAh battery starting at $199.99. If you want to go really big, there's the Droid RAZR MAXX HD which bumps up the battery to 3,300 mAh and adds another 16 GB of local storage, though it will cost you $299.99 plus the commitment. All of them have a dual-core 1.5 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel camera, and 4G LTE connectivity.
If you're thinking of hitting up the Verizon online store and picking up any of these, be sure to check out our Droid RAZR HD and Droid RAZR M reviews first. Any takers, or is the lack of Jelly Bean at launch a deal-breaker?
Reader comments
Motorola Droid RAZR M, RAZR HD, and RAZR MAXX HD now available on Verizon
I'm about to switch from Sprint to Verizon and am trying to decide between the RAZR HD and the S3. Only real differences I see (other than form factor) are that the RAZR seems to have better battery and radios while the S3 has better camera and more RAM. I'll of course see them side-by-side in the store, but does anyone have any real-life comparison experience between the two yet?
Owning the Galaxy S3 has been a true pleasure. Software and features alone the Galaxy S3 BLOWS the Droid Razr Hd out of the water. Samsung and it's power saving options on the S3 are excellent when it comes to battery life. Plus the Galaxy S3 will have LESS CARRIER BLOATWARE everyone knows Verizon and Motorola are so in love they can pass for one another. That means Verizon can do whatever they want to the device and install bloatware galore and that's pitiful to all customers who may want these devices. The extra 420mAh in the battery that the Razr Hd has isn't enough for me to want that device for free. New phones coming out with Ice Cream Sandwich which already 1yr old.. Not Kool. These phones should have jellybean straight out the box not this Ics garbage. And as far as switching to Verizon been there done that. I left Sprint for Verizon thinking I would be home free on the best Lte network in the country OH WELL that was a bold face lie. All I got for my trouble was poor Dbm/asu daily on my Verizon Galaxy Nexus. Dreadful battery life and piss poor signal strength issues and pitiful reception why cause Verizon and it's low frequency Lte doesn't go through walls to well. Who knows you may have better luck than I did I wish you well If that's the case. Another thing to think about is the fact that Verizon is the WORST CARRIER EVER with updates to handsets even it's stock Verizon Galaxy Nexus can't get updates in a timely manner. In my mind after kicking Verizon to the curb for Tmobile I now see how overrated and overpriced Verizon and it's CDMA LTE NETWORK really is they can keep it bigger/larger market doesn't mean better here in New York City Tmobile pimp slaps Verizon all day long. I love my Galaxy S3 but looking forward to the upcoming Galaxy Note 2 next week so that will be my next device. Good luck in your choice either way android rules..
I thought that 700 Mhz that Verizon uses for LTE was better for building penetration with the signal. Is your concern because they use LTE from the C block?
Concern for bloatware is so 2 updates ago before you could disable and hide apps.
-_-
the RAZR line could very well get the update to JB before the S3. When they announced this phone they already had phones running JB it is likely already testing. I also hear the new moto UI is very close to stock as opposed to the S3 which is bloated as hell.
"That means Verizon can do whatever they want to the device and install bloatware galore and that's pitiful to all customers who may want these devices." Bloatware that can be disabled in ANY Android 4.0+ device. SMH at your stupidity/ignorance.
"New phones coming out with Ice Cream Sandwich which already 1yr old.. Not Kool." 1. It's spelled "cool". Get a dictionary or actually try using autocorrect on your "pimp slapping" SGSIII. 2. You obviously don't understand all that goes into making a phone before it even gets to market. It takes many many months (at least) from the conceptual stages to the final product. Phones that are being designed right now have Jelly Bean in mind for the OS version, but it could be in a few month's time that Key Lime Pie (or whatever it's called) will be out by the time it releases. And you talk of being "educated" when it comes to "all things Android"? What a joke.
"cause Verizon and it's low frequency Lte doesn't go through walls to well." You couldn't be more wrong. It's the high frequencies (like Sprint's failed Wimax at 1900 mHz) don't penetrate buildings well. Look up the crap you're talking about before spreading flat out lies.
"even it's stock Verizon Galaxy Nexus can't get updates in a timely manner." Most of the people who bought a Galaxy Nexus know how to root it and therefore don't care about updates from the carrier. Pitiful that you don't understand this and couldn't root your own after "looking into it" for almost 2 months.
You say on one hand "Good luck in your choice either way android rules", but then you slam anything that isn't an Galaxy SIII or Note 2. What a hypocrite.
Honestly, I used to hate Moto's design style, but this iteration looks EXTREMELY well built and feels phenomenal in the hand (at least the Razr M did anyway). I personally am a huge Samsung fan (own a gnex) but I would give the Razr HD a serious look. I love the on-screen buttons and I need a recents button, and the build quality/radios are a huge selling point to me. And it's freakin' water proof! Yea yea, I know they say splash proof, but when you can drop it in a tub for 20 seconds and it lives, that's water-proof to me. Also, there is an amazing battery saving system built into the Razrs, ignore some of these fools. I swear, some people are becoming such blind idiotic fans to one manufacturer they sound just like an iSheep.
went to check out the RAZR M yesterday b/c I'd really like a smaller phone - the SIII while a great phone is just too big for me. Unf. the screen just isn't up to snuff - its no better to my eye than my 2yr old Fascinate. Same with the Incredible LTE. amazing that with all the varieties of Android phone not one manufacturer has chosen to put out a truly high end 4" inched
Because the average consumer is never going to be able to justify buying a phone that's the same price but is much smaller. The have to be able to make it cheaper, so sacrifices must be made. It can be bought from wirefly for $50 OC. The Razr M is the BEST small android phone you are going to get, hands down. I think the screen looks just fine (it is only 4.3" after all), and the internals nearly match the gs3. If you're disappointed with the Razr M, you will always be disappointed.
I bought the razr m from vzw weeks ago...
I picked up my Razr Maxx HD at 9 this morning. So far I am in love :) Charging it now to 100% then going to play with it.
So you'll get back to us tomorrow then? (cuz the battery takes that long to charge oh ho ho)
I'm very interested in the hardware of the Maxx HD, but it is on the software side that concerns me. It would have been great if they could have boosted the RAM or something - right now it seems about on par with the S3 in specs so it's a bit late to the party if you ask me. This should have been going toe to toe with the S3 and One X during their launches.
For the life of me I don't understand the automatic $100 leap in price with additional battery/storage.
RAM would have been nice, but the touchwiz UI is wayyy heavier than moto's near-stock skin, so after considering that they're probably left with close to the same amount of RAM.
Does your notification light work on your maxx HD? i picked one up this morning but mine doesnt work at all and no one can find any settings to check it..i went back to store and the demo unit wouldnt work either but the razr standard hd did work when we text it..
I have 14 days to make a decision if JB is a Deal Breaker...I am coming from a GN so we will see. I heard or saw somewhere that JB might be comig out today, I am sure that is a complete rumor but that would be sweet.
Guys, Richard still hates Verizon.
Hilarious when you consider that not even 7 months ago he was going on and on about how Verizon was the "greatest thing since sliced bread", but then 6 months before that was comparing the company to the devil.
Just picked one up today for fun. Had an iPhone 4 that was 4 months out from an upgrade so got VZW to upgrade me early. Right now my main concern is battery life for my daily driver. As for GS3, I will be picking up the Note 2 when it drops, so no sense in having 2 Samsung devices. Also hoping that Google does some nice things with Moto in the future. When it comes to ROMs etc, I will still have my GNex and Nexus 7 to play with.
How did you get VZW to upgrade you early? I really don't want to wait until the end of December to get one of these...
I have had multiple phones for years, I was extremely nice to the loyalty department, I said that if I couldn't get the early upgrade I would buy the note 2 when it came out and cancel the line they upgraded, and reminded them that if they upgraded this line, it would renew my 2 year contract for this line and I would be adding a line when note 2 came out. So basically they do win when I follow through to get a note 2 as I will then have 3 lines with them. They didn't even take 10 minutes to say sure we can do that. Have a good reason and be nice.
Hmm well everyone in my family of 5 people has a smartphone. Maybe I can put on some puppy dog eyes and beg them...but then again I do still have unlimited data, so I'm guessing they won't cut me any favors until I move to a newer plan.
I would never buy a new phone without Jelly Bean on it out of the box, and I think Moto and Verizon have a lot of nerve bringing out a new phone without JB on it. Moto & Verizon do not have a good track record for updating the software.
Gonna get a white one.....had a white gs3 and it was ok but signal is big with me and it was not as good as my bionic.....it had a few other minor issues but was a good phone......
if the RAZR MAXX HD is selling for $299, how can VZW sell the upcoming Galaxy Note 2
for $299?
Pricing the Note 2 (or basically any new device...well, Android device) over $299 will, to me, spells doom for it...it wouldn't matter if it's a HD 5" phablet or whatever. Just my two cents.
I've had my Razr M for a few weeks now and it's really a nice piece of hardware. I've owned phones from Samsung and HTC and been on both Sprint and Verizon (and T-mobile and AT&T for that matter). Really love this little guy. I suggest checking it out if you like the smaller form factor. Very close to stock and it's rootable now if you're into that kind of thing. Check out the forums - very few complaints about the M. Fast, reliable and battery lasts forever (don't waste your money on the MAXX if you're just looking for good battery life). I'm a heavy user and I don't even throw the phone on the charger at night. Battery life, camera and size were important to me. Camera is just ok, but using third-party camera apps makes a huge difference (my only complaint, really). I've come from bigger phones and it seems like it's just a lot of empty screen space unless you're watching videos all day or gaming. I used to watch TV on my Sprint S2 to be honest, but I like the smaller screen on the M. People used to say to me all the time - whoa, your phone is SO big. So far I'm super happy and people aren't looking over my shoulder all the time seeing what's going on with my phone.
What 3rd party camera apps would you recommend? My last 3 phones have been in the HTC EVO line and the cameras are great, so I haven't really needed to look for anything.
What in the world are you guys complaining about with these razr phones not coming out with Jelly Bean, you can't wait a month and 1/2? We have become so freakin impatient about software upgrades, maybe u guys should work for these companies so you could get them out faster instead of bitching all the time. Choose a phone because you like the internals and because it works for you, not because it's not getting JB for a whole month and 1/2. I just bought a razr maxx online and I love it! I'm driving around all day not plugged into anything, using navigation, playing podcast, and all the other normal stuff you do on a phone and still had 40% of my battery by the time I went to bed. That's the way a phone should operate! I came over from the HTC family I have to say I couldn't take it anymore with the battery thing. My rezound was a great phone, but every time I went to an event I still found myself short on battery even if I went in fully charged. The last straw for me was the last concert I went to. I wanted to record the last encore song and because of the crappy battery it shut down 2nd to last song. I can't wait for my upgrade in June 2013, and If nothing new comes out to blow me away until then that has great battery life....I'm getting the razr maxx hd, I went to the store today and it was a sweet upgrade to the razr maxx, It felt great in the hand, was built like a tank, and by then it will be hopefully be $50-100 less!
Got my Razer HD Maxx this morning. Completely awesome, especially coming from the Bionic. Much faster and smoother. Kind of ironic the Bionic ICS update comes out tomorrow, but I'll give it to one of my kids.
I had considered the GS III, but I've always liked the build quality on the Motorola handsets, and this one is the best yet, in my opinion. I waited to get to the store to decide between the HD and the HD Maxx. The Maxx wasn't much thicker or heavier, so I went with it.
I haven't found anything I don't like about it so far. I was going to buy a new desk dock for it, and found out they have a new "Flip Stand" that takes any Moto phone or tablet. It's much cheaper than the HD docks, too, $38.00. Got it home and it works great, the best thing about it is you can just grab your phone out of it without having to extract it from the dock. (A pain if you're asleep and the phone rings and you need to answer it without using speakerphone).