phones: Droid RAZR MAXX HD

[qwerty994]

I was thinking of getting the Droid RAZR MAXX HD when my contract end next month, mostly because I have been extremely disappointed with Apple lately. What to you guys think of the phone, and what are some downsides? Thanks!

[TacticalDesire]

The battery is the best on the market right now. Everything else is typical a smartphones these days.

[Peterg2]

Originally Posted by qwerty994

I was thinking of getting the Droid RAZR MAXX HD when my contract end next month, mostly because I have been extremely disappointed with Apple lately. What to you guys think of the phone, and what are some downsides? Thanks!

I really like the look and feel of the phone and was seriously considering it for a hardware upgrade. Two problems:

1) The camera is really sub-par. Whilst photos are not *that* important to me I am not comfortable with the fact that practically all its competitors sport a better one.

2). The phone came out quite recently but its processor is really behind the curve, having specs that were present in other phones over 6 months ago. Around the same time that this phone was released, you had quad-core Android models released, eg HTC One X+, Nexus 4, LG Optimus G, Galaxy Note 2. Within this quarter, the Sony Xperia Z and ZL will be available and that is a far more future-proof phone. If this were April 2012, then this would be a very competitive phone. Not now. Too late for me to commit.

You will say specs are not everything but with an Android phone that is generally more important than say with iOS or WP8.

[Stropaganda]

I have the phone and it is a really nice device. I'll do a quick run down:

Pros:
Rugged and masculine looking
Apple-quality build with premium materials
4.1 Jellybean
With a new launcher, icons, and keyboard, it can look very stock
MicroSD slot
32gb internal storage
Moto radios
Loud speaker
Big and unique looking notification light.
Never having to worry if the battery will last a day

Average:
Dual core
720p AMOLED screen
1gb RAM
Camera

Cons:
Locked bootloader
My phone froze up once. Hasn't happened again... yet.
Price

It's a very well-balanced phone. There are very little cons, but rather the important specs are very average compared to the quad-core, 2gb rammed, 1080p phones that are coming out. The Maxx HD would be a perfect phone if it packed in that. On the other hand, it lacks an Achilles heel that all too often ruins an otherwise great phone. It's got speed, battery, storage, display, OS, and build quality.

I recommend the Maxx HD if you will not put those impressive specs to use. I don't. I make texts, calls, play music, browse the Web, and play a couple games. It does all of it quickly enough and lasts longer than any other phone doing it.

[TPadden]

Originally Posted by TacticalDesire

The battery is the best on the market right now. Everything else is typical a smartphones these days.

Thought I'd bump this thread .......

After a couple weeks with this phone I can say the battery alone makes this phone a standout; the other non-typical features are: since Google now owns Motorola Mobile it was one of the first smartphones upgraded to Jelly Bean and the build is Motorola solid with water protection enough for a couple hour long motorcycle ride in the rain .

Comparing only my own personal battery usage I've gone from not making it through a day to 2 and a half to 3 days usage without needing a recharge.

If you use your phone as a Bluetooth/ WiFi hotspot it's a no brainier.

[blackhand1001]

Originally Posted by Stropaganda

I have the phone and it is a really nice device. I'll do a quick run down:

Pros:
Rugged and masculine looking
Apple-quality build with premium materials
4.1 Jellybean
With a new launcher, icons, and keyboard, it can look very stock
MicroSD slot
32gb internal storage
Moto radios
Loud speaker
Big and unique looking notification light.
Never having to worry if the battery will last a day

Average:
Dual core
720p AMOLED screen
1gb RAM
Camera

Cons:
Locked bootloader
My phone froze up once. Hasn't happened again... yet.
Price

It's a very well-balanced phone. There are very little cons, but rather the important specs are very average compared to the quad-core, 2gb rammed, 1080p phones that are coming out. The Maxx HD would be a perfect phone if it packed in that. On the other hand, it lacks an Achilles heel that all too often ruins an otherwise great phone. It's got speed, battery, storage, display, OS, and build quality.

I recommend the Maxx HD if you will not put those impressive specs to use. I don't. I make texts, calls, play music, browse the Web, and play a couple games. It does all of it quickly enough and lasts longer than any other phone doing it.

I recommend this phone as well. I have a galaxy nexus myself. This phone has the highest average rating on verizon's website followed by the original razr maxx. The battery really is that superb. The snapdragon s4 is no slouch either and the radios are excellent. The screen is great as well. Overall its an excellent phone and the battery really is the killer feature that is hard to pass up.

[vikingjunior]

I own the phone and the 1gb RAM is a killer get something with 2gb of RAM to ensure lag free updates.

[roxxette]

Why only cdma

[Stropaganda]

Originally Posted by vikingjunior

I own the phone and the 1gb RAM is a killer get something with 2gb of RAM to ensure lag free updates.

This would probably solve the occasional freezing up that happens with the MAXX HD. I don't care if the screen, camera, or processor stays the same, but 2GB of RAM would make it more robust.

[blackhand1001]

Originally Posted by Stropaganda

This would probably solve the occasional freezing up that happens with the MAXX HD. I don't care if the screen, camera, or processor stays the same, but 2GB of RAM would make it more robust.

I have no problem with 1 GB of ram on my galaxy nexus. You probably have a rogue app in the background.

[Stropaganda]

Originally Posted by blackhand1001

I have no problem with 1 GB of ram on my galaxy nexus. You probably have a rogue app in the background.

Yeah. From Verizon or Motorola.

[blackhand1001]

Originally Posted by Stropaganda

Yeah. From Verizon or Motorola.

You can disable most of the built in apps in the apps menu. Android 4.0+ allows you to turn off system apps.

[Stropaganda]

Originally Posted by blackhand1001

You can disable most of the built in apps in the apps menu. Android 4.0+ allows you to turn off system apps.

I did all that I could. Some system apps from Verizon you can't disable like backup assistant and vzw apps.

[blackhand1001]

Originally Posted by Stropaganda

I did all that I could. Some system apps from Verizon you can't disable like backup assistant and vzw apps.

Log out of backup assistant then. I know there's a way to do that. It should be causing it to lock up.

[vikingjunior]

Originally Posted by Stropaganda

This would probably solve the occasional freezing up that happens with the MAXX HD. I don't care if the screen, camera, or processor stays the same, but 2GB of RAM would make it more robust.

Yep the 1gb was OK for ICS but not for JB. I have the same apps from ICS so its not the apps its JB plus the Motorola and Verizon crap combined. Really wished I would of got the S3.

[blackhand1001]

Originally Posted by vikingjunior

Yep the 1gb was OK for ICS but not for JB. I have the same apps from ICS so its not the apps its JB plus the Motorola and Verizon crap combined. Really wished I would of got the S3.

Try factory resetting. My galaxy nexus has no issue with jellybean and 1gb of ram.

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Originally Posted by vikingjunior

Yep the 1gb was OK for ICS but not for JB. I have the same apps from ICS so its not the apps its JB plus the Motorola and Verizon crap combined. Really wished I would of got the S3.

Don't know if it's the way memory management works with 2gb to play with, but my GS3 easily reaches close to and slightly above 1GB on the regular. It rarely reaches 1.5GB. With everything closed it's about 350-475Mb.

[qwerty994]

I'm actually loving android at the moment. Thanks for all the feedback!