Premier Engineering August 27, 2011

Reviewer:  S. Starinski "engineer"  (USA) -

PEOPLE GET OFF OF i*Phone FAD!
First, before Review (below) let me mention:
No, I don't work for Motorola/Google (they're partners in Atrix), and did blast Motorolas when they release poor products, but this Atrix has a potential of Razr. Remember Razr?? Back in 2004 thru 2008 it ruled. Then came i*Phone. Now I think Atrix is simply the best. better than i*Phone.". Below is the Review:
==

Moto Atrix is the world's bestest Smartphone @release time, from my technical point of view (I did own plenty Telecom equip. incl. latest i*Phone), +Dualcore w/nVidia Tegra chip packs more computing power & Corning's "GorillaGlass" ==> both unseen in iPhones.
If you go further and add Moto add-ons it turns into a NETBOOK. I feel like wasted money on a Netbook when this phone if not a fullblown Laptop, certainly a Netbook killer (docks are great), builtin Display is latest technology & of course microHDMI output. All else you can find in other reviews BUT:
Two specific Tech spec I wish to mention, especially:

The new generation (teenagers?) are forgetting what the Phone was invented for - core feature is to TALK (or Text), not computering :)
What I like in Motorolas, is RADIO/RF/Antenna module & Voice Processing, as this defines Voice Quality. Some Smartphones forget that they're Phones first, and all else second, remember the now historical case of an i*Phone released to market with defective Antenna design, as one example? Something infested with "smartphone niceties" but working poor as a Phone/Voice, is worthless at least to me. i*Phones might be better in some respects but they traditionally suffered from less than perfect Radio chips. On the contrary, Motorola is also a Semiconductor company which makes their OWN [RADIO] chips (I used to own Moto V3xx, it let me talk on a remote beach with nearest Cell towerantenna far far away, no other phone worked!).

Another thing people overlook in nontechnical reviews, is repairability.
Apple is notorious for using proprietary stuff (from screws to connectors), in their i*Phones they often GLUE LCD panel to GLASS, if you drop/crack/scratch glass, you're likely to pay for entire LCD replacement. Why?? Atrix's display is not just BETTER looking/specs, not just using "GorillaGlass" (new product from Corning Specialty Glasses), but also they had wisdom NOT to glue LCD to Glass, nice! So if you do damage glass by applying a hammer or dropping a pile of bricks on it (less brutal accident is unlikely to damage GorillaGlass) , you only replace this cheap part rather than whole LCD panel as would be for i*Phone.
This thing was torn apart by some geeks (as an experiment) & confirmed to be far nicer to deal with than with Apple's i*Phone & i*Pad insistence on using proprietary hardware - e.g. Torx 5-point screws (normal Torx screws should be 6-point!), so people would be forced to pay extra.
Just to show "i*Phone" logo?
It is about as clever as paying extra to have "Gucci" label on your socks, which your carrier will let you upgrade in 2years anyway.
=====

Having mentioned these 2 overlooked specs, I now go back to the overall impression:
Really they don't lie or lie tiny bit - it is indeed world's smartest Smartphone.

I got mine from Carrier (can't mention names due to Amazon's Review policy), not Amazon b/c I didn't know at that time Amazon had Atrixes (or Atrices?) ! Mine cwas a result of upgrade (w/as usual required 2-year Contract). Hate to sound like a "Motofan Boy", but I thought a good product deserves my review:
Love this Phone? Computer? Both?
Probably made a mistake getting a Netbook a few months back, when instead "Atrix" does what I need on the go (or connect to large Display/HDMI & keyboard), like i*Phone Atrix got FingerPrint (biometric) Reader for security & Remote Kill !
====

As usual w/good Smartphones, you can start a car, lock home security, and things lke that using Atrix.
===

best phone on market August 15, 2011

Reviewer:  AT1988  (New York, NY) -

After having an Inspire 4G for two weeks, I was hooked on Android. I was a longtime Blackberry user, and tried the Inspire 4G after the Torch was the last straw for me. I love everything about Android, but as a heavy user, wanted more battery life out of my phone. I also want 4G (or the closest thing ATT has to it), which is why this phone is as close to perfect as can be. The Atrix has much faster data speeds the Inspire 4G or Iphones have, but you can delete bloatware on it, it the OS speeds are much faster, without all the HTC clutter! Its also got a ton of internal memory, which is great to use as an Ipo/Iphone replacement. I love the front facing camera too, as well as the clear, crisp reception and sound! The new Gingerbread 2.3.4 makes this phone pretty much perfect: now the dock stays in place as you browse. Its also durable, unlike HTC phones, where dropping it means death. This phone, in my opinion, actually outdoes tablets, especially android tablets. I strongly recommend.

Best phone I've ever had July 22, 2011

Reviewer:  S. wayda 

Sold my iPhone 4 and got this beast. The Android experience is so much better for me. I customize my phone however I want. The Atrix is great.

Pros:

4 inch screen
free turn by turn navigation
android OS
fingerprint scanner
compact size
good battery

Cons:
sometimes if squeezing the phone too tight the keyboard won't respond. Hopefully gets fixed in 2.3 update.

BEST PHONE EVER! I HAVE HAD ALL KINDS OF PHONES! July 10, 2011

Reviewer:  heavencutstma32 

THIS PHONE IS GREAT! I have never had a phone that did not have any issues nor lagging, freezing, black screen, drop service. I have had all kinds of phones, and each phone I had, had issues. I use a phone as a mini-computer, im always on it and clicking too fast. This phone keeps up, no lagging. The battery is great. I was able to not charge it for a whole day (24 hours) and it did not die at all. I never had a phone where you can keep clicking on different things, and it would bring them right up.. No problems! I even have 4g in my area, which i live in BFE. It is great, the internet is fast, and so is the phone.

My only complaint is the video calling, one the other end you hear a screaching sound and the quality of the video is lagging and freezes. I have not tried a mic with it, so i don't know if that would help at all. I don't use video calling, so im not worried about it at all. Also, the screen is very slippery, so do not sit it down on a surface where it can fall (like the edge of a couch) or on the box of the phone. It slides.

The camara on the phone is great, to even have a front facing camara to take pictures, so you can see yourself (so you are not turning the phone around all the time, looking at the picture. You see it is bad picture, then turn it back around and take another picture). It even has the light, so you can take pictures in the dark.

The call quality is great. No dropped calls, nor hissing or even hitting the end button on the phone (since it is touchscreen). My last phone, was a samsung captivate and I was always ending the call since the end button was on the screen and screen would not stay dark during the call (it flashed the screen). It is great to not end the phone call all the time!

The more pixels on the phone is great, even though it is a 4" screen, it seems bigger. I had the captivate with the 4" screen and AMLOED (spelling?) screen but, the atrix's screen seems so much bigger and better. The keyboard on the phone is great also, I have always liked the slide out keyboards. The keyboard on this phone is great.

Videos on you tube load very fast, typical phones. Internet is fast. No long lagging periods.

I WOULD TOTALLY RECOMMENED THIS PHONE TO EVERYBODY. I HAVE ALWAYS HAD PHONE ISSUES, AND I HAVE NOT HAD AN ISSUE WITH THIS PHONE YET. IT IS GREAT PHONE! GREAT JOB MOTOROLA, YOU DID AN AWSOME JOB!

GREAT PHONE June 8, 2011

Reviewer:  Kawang  (NYC, NY) -

This is phone of the best phones out there. For the everyday consumer who don't know much about phone modding and software modding this is definitely a great phone

PROS:
1)The phone sports a 1900mah battery, which is one of the largest OEM battery for a phone.
2)The Tegra 2 Dual Core by NVIDIA blows away the competition in terms of heavy graphics and flash contents/games.
3)The size of the screen works really well if you're one of those people who love to watch videos or view web content on their phones
4)The "4G" although not true 4G, it is HSPA+ is pretty fast on AT&T network, of course that is only if it's available in your city
5)HDMI port allows viewing of your phones media content on the big screen if you really want to.
6)If you bought the Laptop dock or Multimedia dock, you can use it as a on the go web browser.
7)The specs on this thing is a beast, 1GB RAM, 16GB Internal Memory, and a 5MP camera with VGA Front Facing.
8)For those who want security, the fingerprint swipe is something new that no other smartphones have.

This phone packs a big wallop for its form factor.

CONS:
1)There are some technical software issues on the phone, however most of it usually gets resolved pretty quickly with OTA updates from Motorola
2)If you're a modder, the boot loader is locked.
3)For those who care, Motoblur is somewhat a CON, but Gingerbread(2.3) should make it better.
4)Laptop dock requires additional tethering plan on AT&T

OVERALL:
This phone is a powerhouse, and there is no denying that. The software, IMHO could be better as I am not a fan of Motoblur, but I can't say it's a bad phone. This is one of the few smartphones that have lasted me more than a day with moderate to heavy usage on a single charge.

For those of you who have experienced Android, or are coming to Android from iOS, Blackberry, Symbian, or a dumb phone, the Atrix is definitely not a let down.

Awesome phone May 22, 2011

Reviewer:  W. Dormann 

I went straight from a Blackberry Curve to this phone, and I'm blown away by the difference. A lot of it is just Android in general, but the phone itself is quite nice. Very fast and good battery life. How/why did I put up with the Curve for so long??

Beats the iPhone 4 May 18, 2011

Reviewer:  Ajanta 

I've been using iPhone for more than 2 years. I got this phone on 17th May. I promptly updated the phone with latest firmware and replaced MotoBlur with Launcher Pro. Its a joy to use this phone. I can say that Motorola Atrix beats the iPhone in almost all departments Hardware, Software, Screen, Battery Life & Speed. Android OS itself is much better than iOS.
Highly recommended.

Excellent Phone April 22, 2011

Reviewer:  ZWG  (Washington, D.C.) -

This is my first smartphone and I am entirely satisfied. At the AmazonWireless price, the phone is a bargain that can not be beat. At the AT&T price, I might have expected more (not that I can think of what more I could expect from a mobile device). Be sure to make all of the updates before trying anything too complex like syncing with a personal computer. The touchscreen is very responsive and provides clear, rich screen resolutions. The speaker is very good as is call clarity even with minimal reception. Download speeds are more then satisfactory from both WiFi and AT&T (at least in DC). Function speed is amazing thanks to the dual core. Battery life is respectable given what the phone is capable of doing. You really can't go wrong with this phone at AmazonWireless's price.

Better than iPhone May 10, 2011

Reviewer:  ttomaz  (Austin, Tx USA) -

I bought the Motorola Atrix to replace my iPhone 3GS. The iPhone frustrated me - there were basic features I thought the iPhone should have that it didn't, such as quick calendar appointment entries, configurable keyboard and autocorrect, better integration with google voice search, speech to text entry for every app, etc. I was a bit skeptical about Android at first but now I can see that Android phones will take over the world.
First of all the Atrix works great out of the box and is intuitive to use. Android has widgets which allow the app to interact from the home screen - for example to display live updates without actually switching to that app. So you get live weather, news, social network updates, stock quotes etc. through your home screen. Music players (like Rhapsody) allow you to skip songs through the widget. This is a really nice advantage of Android vs. iPhone.
However, the best thing about Android is that it allows customization. So, if there is something that you'd like to change, Android allows full customization of the phone (while iPhone does not). There's an app called "Tasker" that allows you to configure almost any aspect of the phone operation. For example, if the phone is in the car dock, I have the Atrix read me my incoming SMS messages. Google "tasker lifehacker superphone" for many more examples.
Speech to text works great and is available on nearly every app, including todo lists, sms, and email. Just tap the microphone icon and start composing. No more pecking at the touchscreen keyboard and having iPhone (incorrectly) guess what you intended. However, if you like the touchscreen keyboard of iPhone, you'll be blown away by the Android Swype keyboard - many times faster and you have full control over autocorrection.
All the iPhone apps that I used regularly have Android versions.
Battery life is great (better than iPhone), the processing power of the phone is way better than iphone4 (Atrix uses the Tegra2 processor which has the same processing power as an iPad2), and the form factor is very thin and light.

Excellent All-Rounder April 20, 2011

Reviewer:  Parry "laptop freak"  (MI, USA) -

I have been waiting for the release of fast dual core Android phone since some time. Although Android phones were adequately fast before the Atrix came along - there is something to say about the fluid and unrelenting experience of the Atrix - the phone feels very quick and doesn't show any signs of slowing down - more so than any other phone I have tried before. And that's with version 2.2 (Froyo) of the Android OS - with 2.3 it will only get better.

First thing you notice when you turn on the phone is Moto BLUR - enough has already been said (may be mostly negative) about BLUR but frankly speaking I did not find it to be a bad experience - in fact I did not have any issues keeping that as a default, even though downloading a replacement launcher is both free and quick if you don't like the default launcher. (Launcher Pro for example.) In fact since BLUR keeps most of my Accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Corporate Sync etc.) in the cloud and restores them if I restore the phone - it's useful. Point is you have a choice.

Next thing you will need to do is install the System Update 4.1.57 - recommended as it definitely improves battery life. Speaking of battery life - it is very good for such a powerful phone - I can easily get through a heavy use day after the update.

I make lots of voice calls for sustained periods of time - sometime on speaker phone, sometimes over Bluetooth headset and sometime just normally phone-to-the-ear. Atrix really shines in this department - I haven't had a dropped call and call quality has been excellent. Motorola knows their stuff and it clearly shows - audio is just flawless, the speakers are good and there is virtually no "noise" to the calls.

As many have stated - AT&T and Motorola have not enabled the HSUPA - yet - on the Atrix. I have not noticed any limitations due to that - streaming Audio Galaxy over 3G works just fine and I don't have any uploading going on.

Browsing with Flash - it's there and it mostly works well. Way better to have Flash than to not - just set the browser to load Plugins on-demand and you can click to flash.

Storage - it shines in this department too - it comes with 16GB storage and an empty microSD slot. I used my Sandisk 32Gb card and it works great - 48Gb total storage.

Webtop - I bought the HD Dock and have used the phone with a Microsoft USB Keyboard and Arc Touch Mouse - it works well for browsing and other lightweight desktop tasks. Motorola's Media Center application works great for watching your movies, photos etc. on the TV - you can use the bundled remote control which works great and comes with all regular Android controls.

Fingerprint sensor sounded like a gimmick at first but I have now gotten used to it as the only method to unlock the phone and I prefer it - it works well if you are a bit careful. (Based on how you hold the phone it might be a little tricky due to alignment issues.)

At home the Atrix is paired via Bluetooth to my Panasonic KX-T series cordless phone in the Link-To-Cell mode. It works well - all phones ring when either one is called - and so I can put the Atrix on the charging dock and take calls over the cordless phone at night. I was also able to transfer contacts from the Atrix to the cordless.

AT&T bundled apps - I was able to uninstall a few of them. The other ones - Launcher Pro allows you to hide the ones you don't need. With plenty of space I don't think this is an issue but I would much rather prefer AT&T did not bundle needless stuff.

WiFi - Phone works great with my Linksys E3000 Wireless-N router. Wireless sync worked OK using DoubleTwist AirSync.

The phone also comes with DLNA client which is handy for wireless media transfer if you have UPnP based media servers like the PS3. Video format limits remains an general issues with Android although most common ones seem to work. The one other somewhat geeky feature is Phone Portal - you can look at your messages and other things on the phone using your desktop web browser over Wi-Fi.

Atrix ships with 2 keyboards - Motorola's Multi-Touch keyboard which is the default and is a pleasure to use - Swype is also available and works great as usual. You can also install SwiftKey if you like.

Camera - Rear one is decent - the front one could be better but I don't care about it.

Email - Corporate sync works great - auto configured all settings and the Motorola enhancements over the stock Exchange client are mostly welcome.

Overall I find the phone provides a very pleasant user experience - it surely seems to be powerful enough to handle whatever is thrown at it for next couple years.

Superbad phone, Make it yours, A review on the phone itself April 15, 2011

Reviewer:  R. Parker  (Florida) -

First I would like to say that this android phone isn't for everyone. If your a newbie and refuse to do research...Your gonna be one of those whining idiots giving this a 1 out 5.

This phone is getting negative reviews because of At8T and not because the phone lacks something necessary. A&t capping upload speeds is a valid argument but you should have know about this before you buy/Bought the phone. This also the same with sideloading apps from Amazon. Do your research and you"ll be able to get it.

My Review will be based on the phone itself and I'm gonna keep it simple

>>>>>Pros<<<<
4.0 inch screen( its not a huge phone)
Front facing camera( I don't get why the inspire was missing this)
Dual-core phone with 1gb ram( You'll be able to do multiple things with noticing any slow downs)
Nvidia and tegra Zone(its not much now but I think it will expand soon)
Starts with "R" ends with "ing"
Great Battery( have you ever seen the Evo4g in attention?)
Finger print scanner(Very cool)
Android( The amount of freedom you get vs Blackberry/Iphone to customize your phone)

>>>>>Cons<<<<<
Keyboard( Just download swiftkey, stock is meh)
Camera(Could be but it does a ok job)
MotoBlur(Most people don't like it, i recommend Launch pro)
Expensive accessories

>>>>>>>Neutral<<<<( this ins't the phone's fault)
At&t locking the phone down
Lack of "real 4g"
We want 2.3+ not sure when moto will bring it.

Also, My first Atrix was disabled(the screen would freeze) but amazon sent another one. Thanx Amazon! Now I could been a moron and diss the phone but mistakes happen.

4G is NOT the main purpose of this phone March 14, 2011

Reviewer:  Perfect Popcorn  (Clayton, NC) -

I've seen a lot of people talking, chatting and posting that AT&T doesn't have 4G in a lot of places...okay I agree with that. To me, it doesn't matter since I don't know what I'm missing and to me, there is soooooo much more to this phone than 4G. First, I love Android. This is so cool, now I know what I've been missing. I'm 43 years old so I remember the first time I got on the internet and thrill of it. I experienced the same thrill with this phone. Does it have an 8 meg. camera? No but I can remember getting my first digital camera that had 7.5 and people telling me that I didn't need a camera with so many megapixels. I love the flow of everything. I have to admit that I'm still trying to learn everything but I really love it so far.

Amazing Phone, But Beware of Motoblur and Default Noise Cancellation March 27, 2011

Reviewer:  C. Ramos  (Hagerstown, MD) -

This phone is fantastic. It's currently the best phone on the market. The complaints from the other customer reviews are rendered invalid when compared to the professional reviews from sites like Cnet and Engadget who praised the hell out of the device. But a little advice; DO NOT USE MOTOBLUR and TURN OFF NOISE CANCELLATION FOR THE PHONE MIC. If you don't do both those things, you might have some issues. Also the call quality is great on the phone. It's made by Motorola and they have a sterling reputation for excellent quality in both their mics and speakers, and the Atrix is no exception. Couldn't be more pleased with my new phone :)

A real review February 28, 2011

Reviewer:  kyle "hype"  (jax, fl) -

I still have my Iphone 4 and i just got the Atrix 4G... This phone does everything great, and flash works better on this phone then anything i've ever seen. The 4G is really deceiving because i see no difference in internet speeds except the browser is just faster then that of the iphone, but running speedtest its still gets only 3 mbps like my Iphone... I honestly can't say this phone is better then the Iphone bc Apple has everything integrated such as video calling, and the music player so it runs a lot smoother, but the Atrix brings a lot to the table that I did not have on my Iphone... If its not better, I've felt it was just as good and would totally recommend it to anyone...

Wonderful Phone March 17, 2011

Reviewer:  S. Adusumilli  (Hell) -

I was excited to buy this as soon as I saw its specs. I waited for 2 weeks after the phone has been released to make sure I am making the right choice by buying this. Guess what! Atrix didn't disappoint me at all. When I showed this phone to my friend who has an iphone 4, he was like WOW for its incredible speed and screen transitions.

Pro's:
-------
Display: I would say not as good as Ip4 for would be closest competitor to it
Speed: No other phone can match this for sure.
Android OS: I am sure android OS is a definitely a plus to the phone. It is highly customizable.
Camera Quality: Good for rear and OK for front facing one.
4" Display size: Good for watching videos and reading docs for short time.

Con's:
--------
Battery: Even though they project the battery to be a long lasting thing...in reality it isn't (Atleast for me). I know android phones are power hungry but still cannot consider this a good battery as projected by motorola

MotoBlur: This is the first time I am using this and I am not very comfortable with this launcher.

Definitely, Atrix is a good choice to make if u ask me.

I see in many reviews, this phone is given a 2* and 1* for the service of AT&T over 4G speeds. I certainly agree that service is important with a phone but when a phone is being reviewed, it should be considered as a phone but not with the service. So I am sure it is worth atleast 3* in the worst case for the phone. To me its a 5* phone for the Android and Speed

Switched from IPhone 3G March 2, 2011

Reviewer:  John Lemas 

I purchased this phone on February 28 to replace my IPhone 3G. It took a few days to get used to it but it has been well worth it! I love the freedom to make the phone work the way YOU want it to. The ability to create your own home screen is fantastic. The call quality is great and the volume of the speaker is excellent. The Atrix is super fast, I mean incredibly fast, I was truly impressed with the speed of this phone. I still have a lot to learn about this phone and so far every day I have learned something new. I was able to transfer itunes music and my photos easily. The only problem I have had is when ATT transferred my contacts the addresses did not get transferred, I am still trying to figure out why that happened. If you are use to the Android platform this phone would be a natural transition, if you are use to the Iphone it will take some getting use to but the rewards are well worth it!

beats all else on ATT March 2, 2011

Reviewer:  Michael Flores "darkernights"  (San Antonio, TX) -

Overall this is a great phone. There are clear reviews online that explain really what this phone is about and the good things about it. I'm an android power user and have had the iPhone4, HTC Aria, Samsung Captivate, and Samsung Focus before this. This beats them all in terms of speed and usability. Mblur was ok but that is easily replaced with LauncherPro, which sped things up. The finger print scanner is pretty good as long as you make really good scans when registering your print. A couple things I noticed is the glass is a bit more reflective and prone to glare than the Focus or Captivate. That makes it hard to see outdoors in bright sunlight. Sometimes the touch screen becomes unresponsive, but it could be beause of my case. A really neat feature I discovered is that while using the touch screen, accidentally swiping over the capacitive buttons won't trigger them. This is good for playing touch intensive games such as fruit ninja. It was always a problem with my captivate accidentally swiping over the home button and exiting the game. This phone gets over 2500 in quadrant. It is considerably faster than the captivate at every level.

warranty worthless September 27, 2011

Reviewer:  joe 

After two months of careful use, the phone froze up and would not re-boot. I returned it for repair assuming they would make good but told me that even though there was internal damage for which I may not be responsible, they would not repair it because it was "physical damage" and was not covered under warranty. I couldn't believe it and sent it back in for another opinion and a phone call with customer service. They could have told me anything because I can't see inside the phone and understand what they are talking about -- "an internal shield was bent" -- and worst of all, they admitted that it might not have been my fault. No repair or replacement. They lost a customer for good and anyone else I can convince to go to Samsung Infuse which has better battery life, display, keyboard and durability.

Solid...and only to get better June 30, 2011

Reviewer:  PedroFarmer 

Experience: Blackberry 8700, iPhone, Blackberry Torch. My fourth installment of a smartphone in my life and easily the best. Android operating system is quite intuitive and after just one day of use I was able to get comfortable, which was quite a turnaround from Blackberry. Motoblur gets mixed reviews, but I have no issues with it. Syncs up my contacts via all social media and runs clean. The Google based features are a dream for me and much smoother to navigate than BB. Speeds are solid and I have yet to drop a call. Camera is good (not great) but if people truly want professional quality photography they should carry a professional grade camera. It's a phone. It's functional. Pictures are clear and camera is easy to use.

Hardware. Fast and reliable. Material. A bit slick and I could see how people would easily drop the phone. I am considering a case. Screen is huge and extra real estate makes the browser experience so nice. Who knew an extra 1/2" would make that kind of difference? Voice text is reliable. I can even whisper a command and it works. I have kids, so I love the fingerprint security. Works quite well and has back up security code option if it fails (it doesn't though). Anyone who uses android knows how easy it is to control widgets and navigate. So intuitive!

I rate a 4 because no phone is perfect. Add gingerbread update and this is a solid 4.75 stars. And at this time, you can snag the phone for a penny if you add a line or extend your contract. I know everyone loves to bag on AT&T, but I never drop calls and am happy to continue on the service. Could be where I live (Denver) but I have no issues on service. Motorola is well known for their reputation on quality sound and hardware and the phone does not disappoint.

This stuff is "hot"! June 12, 2011

Reviewer:  Ganj Beebani 

I have owned this phone for four months now, and I love it! It has many good features that make it stand out among other smartphones, such as decent battery life which lasts up to 15 hours (with the assistance of Juice Defender app), fast hardware with minimum glitches, an amazing fingerprint reader that makes unlocking the password protected phone speedy and effortless (and makes everyone around you envious for this feature), and very light weight compared to some of the other smartphones out there. This is my first Android phone, and second smart phone after owning a Blackberry Bold for two years, and I must say I am extremely pleased with this purchase.

However, I give it a four star rating because it has some problems that a buyer should be aware of. For example, this phone heats up... a lot! I noticed this to be a result of mainly three things: GPS, display, and long phone calls (>30 min). The heat buildup is on the bottom back side of the phone. I can circumvent the GPS heating by turning the screen off when using the navigation. This way, I can still follow the navigation voice commands without heating up the phone. As for the display, I try not to keep the screen on for extended periods of time and turn the screen off every 30 to 40 minutes. However, how am I supposed to prevent the phone from heating if I have an hour long conference call? There have been two incidents where the phone gets so hot it drops the call and I basically end up with a nonfunctional phone. I hope this will not be an ongoing problem.

There are some other problems with the phone that may not sound serious alone, but collectively makes the phone a lot less functional. For example, I still don't understand the philosophy behind Motoblur. It is neither functional nor attractive! It has very basic integration with social networking websites (compared to HTC Sense, where I could view a person's profile and pull up their pictures from facebook, Picasa, etc all from the same page). The interface is so bland it looks like it came from the 80's (but a grey scale version since there were too many neon lights back then). I had to purchase Launcher Pro for a better looking and more functional launcher (you can hide all the junk icons in the drawer!). Also, typing is very unintuitive. Even after you insert a space, punctuation marks are always inserted immediately after the last word (as if you did not insert a space). I guess this idea works well for commas, periods, question marks, etc. But every time I enter quotation marks or apostrophes, Motoblur automatically sticks it to the last word I typed and I have to go back and insert a space again! I must admit that I hated my Blackberry Bold, but the keyboard on it is the best. Also, I was happy to have a front-facing camera to use in chatting, but you can't use it with cross-platform apps, so you are restricted to use it only on Qik with other Android users. Finally, the back facing camera is not something to replace your point and shoot just yet. No zoom, no manual focus, and the gallery does not integrate with Picasa.

Overall, I love this phone. It is not perfect, but it keeps me happy.