Motorola DROID RAZR HD review: Now in HD

Final words

The Motorola DROID RAZR HD is a one of the most well-rounded packages on the market right now. The handset offers good performance and great battery life, tucked into a well-built, nice looking package. With Google pulling the strings at the company now, we are all but certain that the smartphone will extend the good software experience with timely OS updates too.

Where we found the Motorola DROID RAZR HD to be lacking is processing power. It’s not that the smartphone is slow, but its competitors all come with notably more capable chipsets and it shows more often than you might think. The PenTile matrix of the display isn’t ideal either, but we reckon this one isn’t as bad. Most users will have a hard time telling the difference, while on the other hand everyone will see the great contrast and the nicely saturated colors.

The 8MP camera is also far from the best shooters out there. The specs are all there, but the output came way behind the main rivals.

The Motorola DROID RAZR HD is priced at $199.99 with a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless. This puts the smartphone in the middle of the most heated battle on the US smartphone market as this is the price point where every manufacturer has thrown its best device. Just take a look as the kind of elite competition the RAZR HD faces.

The LG Optimus G is one of the strongest rivals of the DROID RAZR HD at the moment. It is priced at $199.99 as well, but offers twice the oomph and way sharper screen. The Optimus G is available to AT&T and Sprint Wireless, so we guess this one also depends on your preference of carrier.

LG Optimus G E970 • LG Optimus G LS970

The Samsung Galaxy S III is available on all major carriers, and on some of them it could be found for just $99.99. It does have slightly shorter battery life (though it’s pretty good on its own, particularly after the Jelly Bean update), and a far superior camera. The Galaxy S III also outdoes its Motorola rival in terms of functionality with cool home-brewed tricks like Smart stay, direct call etc. On the other hands the Nature UX is a bit too colorful for some people and they might prefer the more toned-down UI of the DROID RAZR.

Samsung Galaxy S III I747

HTC One X+ is also just around the corner. The AT&T-bound smartphone offers quad-core Tegra 3 beef, Android Jelly Bean out of the box, and more built-in memory (although it lacks microSD card slot for cheap expansion). The One X+ will likely be priced the same as the RAZR HD.

HTC One X+

Finally, if you are a bargain hunter, you will find a gem in Motorola’s own stable. The well-rounded (literally as well) Motorola Atrix HD for AT&T offers plenty of bang for its 100-buck asking price. In most cases we’d say you are better off with the Galaxy S III, but if the PenTile matrix ruins the deal for you, you might as well consider this one.

Motorola ATRIX HD MB886

So, all in all, the Motorola DROID RAZR HD’s biggest problem isn’t that it’s not a solid device. Just the opposite – it’s an excellent performer that is only bound to get better when the updates start coming in (and when you have Google’s word for it, you know they will come in). However, on current merit, it’s hard to recommend it over the established players in the game.

It’s up to Motorola to react with a proper price readjustment and unlock the potential inside this otherwise well thought-out package. A solid marketing budget might be of great help too, if Moto is serious about challenging the established players