User Review History
jmastrol's review of the Motorola Atrix 4G
original version, submitted Nov 1, 2011, 10:17 AM:
Decent android device
I have owned 3 other android devices and use my phones for e-mail (corporate & gmail), web browsing, navigation (google maps), rss updates (google reader), and scheduling. I do not use any social networking apps or widgets. I bought the Atrix 4g when it first came out this year (2011) and have, overall, been pleased with it. It does disappoint in a few areas, but overall is a decent device. Price was way too high for the first few months, but now more in line with what it can do.
Pros: Fast, runs multiple apps smoothly (multi-tasking is excellent), beautiful display, gorilla glass is scratch resistant, decent camera, good call connectivity (voice over earpiece is great), nice speaker phone, like the fingerprint / power button combination, battery lasts a full day and then some.
Cons: Motoblur (horrible UI, IMHO), lots of plastic makes it feel cheap (though build is not too bad), camera flash not consistent for photos (it is hard to take good photos with this phone without plenty of practice), not easy to root / flash custom ROMs, terrible selection of ring tones from Motorola. Latest Android Gingerbread with Motoblur remains terrible (you can't remove the Motoblur bits separately).
Other thoughts: It is possible to root the phone, unlock it, and flash CyanogenMod 7.1 (Beta) on the device (Thank you CyanogenMod!). It makes using the device SO MUCH better than Motoblur which slows the phone down terribly! The device is much faster with this software installed and has many more software features than either Froyo or Gingerbread on the device. NOW, with CyanogenMod installed, it is an EXCELLENT device! Gave 3.5 rating because it can be made usable and speedy.
edited Jan 4, 2013, 12:08 PM to the current version:
Decent android device
I have owned 3 other android devices and use my phones for e-mail (corporate & gmail), web browsing, navigation (google maps), rss updates (google reader), and scheduling. I do not use any social networking apps or widgets. I bought the Atrix 4g when it first came out this year (2011) and have, overall, been pleased with it. It does disappoint in a few areas, but overall is a decent device. Price was way too high for the first few months, but now more in line with what it can do.
Pros: Fast, runs multiple apps smoothly (multi-tasking is excellent), beautiful display, gorilla glass is scratch resistant, decent camera, good call connectivity (voice over earpiece is great), nice speaker phone, like the fingerprint / power button combination, battery lasts a full day and then some.
Cons: Motoblur (horrible UI, IMHO), lots of plastic makes it feel cheap (though build is not too bad), camera flash not consistent for photos (it is hard to take good photos with this phone without plenty of practice), not easy to root / flash custom ROMs, terrible selection of ring tones from Motorola. Latest Android Gingerbread with Motoblur remains terrible (you can't remove the Motoblur bits separately).
Update: Having continued to use this phone since my review, I'd like to add that the construction is turning out to be very durable. And I do appreciate the call volume and speaker phone quality on this device. Big NEGATIVE: Motorola backed out of their commitment to port ICS to this device. This requires the user to flash non-Motorola software to the device, which always disables the fingerprint reader and other device specific funcationality. Very dissapointing on the decision to pull ICS support Motorola!! This is why NEXUS devices are the way to go!
