Solid Phone that Delivers on Battery Life April 6, 2012

Reviewer:  Cos  (Naperville, IL United States) -

Due to service quality & customer servce issues I was having with Sprint, I sold my Motorola Photon 4G and moved to Verizon Wireless. So far so Good!

Motorola Razr Maxx
------------------
I was tired of poor to mediocre battery life that has become the norm for most Android phones, so I deciced to pay a little extra and get the Razr Maxx. As a business user who travels often, I have come to appreciate the "Extra Juice" they put into this device!

Pros:
-----
+ Build quality is rock solid - This is probably due in part that, like Apple, Motorola chose to lock the battery in the deivce. Weight and size feel great
+++ Gorilla Glass and Kevlar back are a nice combination!
+ Battery Life (Yes it's for real, and it is awsome!. This device holds its own and even surpasses the Iphone in batery life (both standby and talk time)
+ Much improved screen (Super AMOLED + has crystal clear text and solid blacks, overall great contrast level)
+ Learning to apprecaite the simple things (i.e. how screen goes dark when you put next to your ear and turns back on when you move it away)
+ OS is smooth and fast. I have never been a big fan of Motoblur, but it is zippy and works well. Menus are easy to navigate and customize.
+ Sound quality, both talking and speaker itself is very good. There was a noticable improvement from my Photon 4G from Sprint
+ Upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwitch (This will be happening very soon) Great that Google owns Motorola's wireless division, should make for quick OS updates
+ Signal Strength is very good both for voice and data
+ Speakerphone is excellent

While this phone has a lot of fetures that make it highly recommended, there are some things I think it can improve

Cons:
-----
- Appearence is fairly generic Android, not that necessarily is a bad thing
- Screen quality while great, is not in the same league as the Galaxy Nexus, both in resolution and color saturation. I would have liked a true HD display
- Not a big fan of the tray door that holds the Sim & Memory card. I had to reinstall the 16GB memory card when I recieved the phone because it did not find it at first
- Motoblur (or whatever they call it now) still is behind the curve compared to HTC Sense(In My Opinion)
- Camera is very good, but colors seem slightly muted.

Overall, I feel that Motorola has delivered a near perfect phone for both the business and personal user. I personally apprecaite the battery life which I definitly feel is worth the extra investment over the standard Razr.

The best Android phone out there March 15, 2012

Reviewer:  Jim C. 

After stressing over getting a Galaxy Nexus for a few months, the Verizon Buy 1 Get 1 Free promotion (plus an additional $30 upgrade credit), prompted me and my wife to get a pair of RAZR Maxx phones, and I have to say, I'm very happy I did.

Sure, it doesn't have Ice Cream Sandwich yet, and has a slightly smaller and lower resolution screen than the Nexus, but the Maxx makes up for it with an excellently built piece of hardware, and battery life that lasts, depending on my usage, over 2 days. Amazing! It takes the stress out of worrying about running out of battery, which makes using the phone a complete pleasure. I keep 4G on, let everything sync more often, don't worry that GPS is going to drain my battery, etc.

No more battery life worries March 5, 2012

Reviewer:  Tim  (Charlotte) -

Ever worry about your phone not making it through the day? No more! This phone is usually at 60-70% battery at the end of my day, where as both of my previous phones would be borderline dead. I'm done limiting use of my phone and turning on wifi to save battery during the day!

Besides the obvious awesome battery life perk it's a good looking phone that feels good in my hand and has plenty of processing power to spare. It took little while to get used to but I now have no problem palming it and typing on it is simple. The carbon fiber is a nice touch and the front of the phone is pleasing to look it, it is also quite light despite its size.

Over all I am very pleased with this phone, the build quality and form of the phone is top notch and I actually like motoblur.

Un-killable battery and a great phone for price October 25, 2012

Reviewer:  Bonkers for Leilah 

I am in the military and I work in a high desert area. This means high winds, high dust, high heat, or high cold temperatures. All the bad things that start with "high". It blows...literally and figuratively. So, I decided to buy the Motorola Razr Maxx since motorola has done a pretty good job with cell phones since my old StarTac. Dating myself with that one right? I got the phone and it is a bit large, but in a good way. Solid construction, feels well-made; screen is big enough to do things on it and not feel too cramped. The Skype video quality with front facing camera is so crystal clear, people think I am on my home computer. This is also a shout-out to the actual 4G LTE speed of Verizon, as opposed to TMobile, who has been slacking a lot in every category. (I currently have T-Mobile still as well) But net works aside. The feature that really impresses me and makes me love this phone - the BATTERY! This thing is packing a battery that rivals some 10" tablet batteries, and it shows. I am one of those people who likes to drain the battery to empty then charge to full, battery "memory" and all that. It is nearly impossible for me after a full day of using the phone on 4G, watching a couple episodes of Dexter or Mad Men, texting way more than any person should have to, googling things (yes that is a verb now), streaming some video on youtube, and keeping GPS, Bluetooth, Sync and everything else running from 6am until 7pm. As I speak, the battery is now at 70% strength...still. Amazing. Honestly it is worth the cost of not having a super amoled screen or whatever Samsung Galaxy III has. Samsung Glaxy III battery dies in like 6-8 hours of use, and not heavy use either (plus Samsung is notoriously bad at releasing timely updates to software for their phones, i.e. Samsung Galaxy I, II, and S). So props to Motorola on the 3300 mAh battery. Honestly I thank you and so does my family because now I can stay in contact with them during my 20 hour days without wondering if my battery is going to die or trying to find a wall socket in the Mojave desert, which there don't seem to be any. Lots of wild donkeys though.....sort of odd, but true. Right on. Thats all I have to say. Phone kicks arse man. Good on you Motorola, good on you.

Phone breaks easily - Amazon does nothing to fix September 13, 2012

Reviewer:  Mary M. Zerance 

Purchased this phone. When it was only a few months old the screen shattered. Amazon refuses to replace/fix the phone and basically refuses to acknowledge the problem. Thus, I can't recommend this phone or Amazon Wireless because of their lack of customer service. Due to the fact that the phone is practically brand new and many people complain of screen problems, you would think they would do something to make it right. Extremely disappointed.

SMART phone August 7, 2012

Reviewer:  va-sawyer 

If you need a good phone that happens to also be smart then stay away from the RazrMaxx. I have major issues with the poor volume of the speaker. It is unusable in normal phone mode, and not much better in speakerphone mode. Working outside around running equipment? Forget hearing this phone ring. My previous phone was a Motorola i580 and I had no problems with it as a phone. I took this one back to Verizon trying to get something done about the poor speaker volume, and they showed me 2 display Razrs that were just as bad. Said "All the Razrs are like that". I have problems with dropped calls, and poor audio quality, lots of scratches and pops. Reminds me of an old phonograph playing a dust covered record.
As a handheld computer it is fine, but I need a good phone first,and CPU power is secondary to me.
It arrived with ICS, so I can't say if it was better with GB or not.
Bottom line..... It sucks as a phone!

Sent defective phone, wonderful when/IF it works. July 30, 2012

Reviewer:  FrustratedUser 

The razr maxx is wonderful, when it decides to work. The phone sent to me was defective and shuts itself off about 5 times a day for absolutely no reason. Also freezes to the point of a hard shutdown 2-3 times a day.

I have been in tech support for years, and did not foresee the non removable battery being as frustrating as it has been thus far.

This phone is a beautiful piece of hardware, but buy the Galaxy III. And spend the extra money to get it through your provider to avoid the headache I'm currently having.

All in all, droid by htc was far more impressive. Motorola could have done better. Hopefully amazon will do something about the very pretty, very useless brick I just bought from them.

Doesn't work right after one month. June 28, 2012

Reviewer:  Ezekiel7 

I've had this for about one month. Now, it suddenly and randomly chooses which basic functions it wants to use. Sometimes I can't text, sometimes I can't use the 3 or 4G. Sometimes I can't make a phone call. Sometimes the phone locks up entirely and I have to wait for the battery to die. This phone is complete garbage. With Verizon's insurance I have to pay $100 for a new one. That's right, $100 a month later. I didn't even have time to have much fun with it yet, I've barely added any apps or alter much of anything. THIS PHONE IS NOT WORTH YOUR MONEY! Don't let the hype fool you.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx. a way to go June 6, 2012

Reviewer:  MSS 

Normally I don't write product reviews because the manufacturers gets business and benefited out of it. But, with Motorola Droid Razr Maxx case it's different. I wanted someone buyers like me to get benefited with the phone based on my review. As you have known all the reviews about the phone I'm not adding anything new. Today's technology this is the cell phone to buy.

I don't like iphone because it does not have 4G connectivity, purchased and returned Samsung Galaxy Nexus (a close challenger to Droid RAZR MAXX) but satisfied with Motorola Droid Razr Maxx. It's all about technology. Also consider, what you buy today will not be the same next year with the cutting edge technology.

BUT, FOR TODAY, I OPT MOTOROLA DROID RAZR MAXX FOR ANDRIOD VERIZON WIRELESS MARKET. If you're not buying, you're the loser. Take care.

Fantastic Phone! May 5, 2012

Reviewer:  Mark Edgerton  (New Jersey) -

I have owned the Droid Razr Maxx for two weeks now. I have owned it long enough to know that I love it. I owned an iPhone 4 for more than a year. Prior to getting the phone, I had owned an old standard phone without Internet. When one of my co-workers first showed me the iPhone and what it could do, I could not believe it and I went out and purchased one the next day without even investigating other phones. When I first got it, I loved it. It was amazing, almost like having a computer in your pocket. I was in love with the phone. Then, over time, as I started using the phone more to go to various websites, I realized that many websites that I was going to had blank spots where there were supposed to be pictures, or the sites did not work at all. I just assumed that it was not possible to view these sites on a smart phone. I thought it was a limitation of the technology. Then when some of my students would show me their smart phones, I noticed that they were able to view the same websites that I was not. I wondered why that was, and what was in common between all those phones that could view those websites was that they were not iPhones. I came to realize that Apple does not allow flash player on their iPhones, or their iPads for that matter. This upset me quite a bit. I read Steve Jobs' explanation in a long letter that he posted online. It seems to me that he simply had a fight with Adobe, who makes the flash player, and therefore refuses to allow it on the phones or iPads. He says in the letter that flash player makes the phones crash and so on, but the moral to this story is that I did get an Android phone a couple of weeks ago and I can tell you that the phone has not crashed a single time. It is VERY nice to be able to browse the Internet unhindered and view pretty much whatever site you want to view, without blank pages or blank spots showing up on the page. Consumers should be told prior to purchasing the iPhone that they do not allow flash player and thus you will not be able to see a significant number of sites that you would be able to view on other phones. The Android experience has been much more like a true computer/internet experience. Some other frustrating things about the iPhone are that you cannot open, edit, or create Word files, again because it is an Apple phone and they will not permit you use the Microsoft product. On my Droid phone, I am able to open, create and edit Word and Excel files, then easily send them as attachments to emails. Most other phones also have a MUCH larger screen than the iPhone. The iPhone's screen is so small that it is quite difficult to maneuver around, and trying to type on the incredibly small keyboard is very haphazard and often results in typos. Then to add insult to injury, the auto correct feature on the iPhone is terrible, just awful really. I had many times sent texts out that the auto correct feature changed a word that I had typed correctly, corrected to the wrong word, and made me look stupid. So I would quickly re-type the word and send it again, thinking that I had corrected the mistake, only to find out that it did not correct it at all and it again corrected to the wrong word, again making me look stupid, and I would try again with the same result. No joke, the auto correct feature and the keyboard are SO BAD on the iPhone that this sometimes went on 5 times as I would fight the auto correct feature to get the right word to go out in my text, with 4 idiotic versions going out in a row. We would of course make a joke out of it, but it is just so stupid. It does not have to be like this and the Droid Razr Maxx that I purchased does not have this problem at all. In fact, it has never auto-corrected a word to the wrong word and better yet, it helps you to find the correct word by giving you about 10 options of possibilities that you can click on. This helps you to send out better texts that make you look smart, not stupid. In addition, the Android phone that I have allows you to print out directly from the phone to your printer at home wirelessly, without need to buy one of Apple's printers. I splurged for a Droid Razr Maxx due to the improved battery on top of everything else that I talked about. The Droid Razr Maxx has an incredible battery that can go at least one day without ever having to recharge. I also love using the FREE Google Maps Navigator as a GPS. It has turn by turn instructions with satellite view, current traffic updates, and estimated time of arrival, and all for free. This free application is better than the GPS in my car. The traffic is more up to date and the satellite view and estimated time of arrival are incredible. The ONLY negative I have found about the phone is that it is a bit large, which can make it slightly difficult for someone with small hands to use one hand to browse. But the large size is also what makes the browsing experience so much better. I could tell MANY other things about what the Droid phone can do that the iPhone can't but this would go on forever. I would highly recommend the Droid Razr Maxx if you have the money, otherwise the Droid Razr would be an excellent choice as well. The Droid Razr Maxx is ranked number 1 by Consumer Reports and the Droid Razr is ranked number 2. I am very happy that I purchased a Droid Razr Maxx.

When I can use it ..... July 20, 2012

Reviewer:  Headache 2 "Willy"  (Texas) -

There are so many negatives it is easier to tell you to look at the support page at [...] . The worst part is the gorilla glass issues. Neither verizon or motorola are willing to acknowledge the issues with the glass breaking (google it). This can happen for no reasonable reason as you will find and the repair is expensive. No verizon and motorola do not cover it even when it happens in less than 24 hours after receiving the phone. If you never take your cell phone with you when you leave the house this might be the phone for you.

Much better than my old phone but has glitches April 6, 2012

Reviewer:  qualiall 

Ok, I gave this three stars before, but now I am giving it 1. Why? Because it STINKS that's why. I replaced on phone with bad video and overheating issues. The replacement did not help at all. It still overheats and the BATTERY is a complete joke. I drove for an hour long trip with google maps guiding me while Jango played along the way. The phone was plugged into the charger the whole time---and guess what? Those two apps drained the battery faster than it charged. On the return trip, it turned off due to lack of power as soon as I unplugged it. If I had gone even 15 minutes longer, the phone would have shut down while plugged in and would have got me lost. Also it's been randomly shutting down on me for no apparent reason. If you're going to spend $700 on a phone (which is what I paid) look at other phones first. UGH! Im not doing anything abnormal with my phone, right? Music and maps. This is enough to kill it? PSSH!!

Major Problems with Razr Max Phone August 2, 2012

Reviewer:  westford111 

This review is from: Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX 4G Android Phone, Black 32GB
To whom it may concern:

On June 28, 2012, I purchased a new Razr Maxx. The selleer did not indicate that the RazR was due for an operating system upgrade. A few weeks after the purchase (about 14 days later), I woke up and the device required an update. The update installed and my phone was essentially useless for the rest of the day - no texting and no e-mail. The next day I contacted the seller (the largest US wireless phone company with the best reception network) and they said that the update was the software providers fault (the largest internet search company) and they would not refund my money (for a phone that was basically dead). The RazRMaxx completely failed after two weeks.

The seller did offer to fix the phone, so I spent several hours on the phone until eventually they got it to work. A few days later, I was out of town on a job and coordinating numerous contractors. This new phone, which I paid $ 299.00 for plus the package for the holster, etc., plus used my 2-year upgrade (about $ 400 total) died completely. I took it to three of the seller's stores in the Philadelphia/Wilmington area and they all worked on the phone and could not restore it to working order - they couldn't even get it to turn on. I called my home store in Annapolis and they said "oh we can fix it" even though three other stores had failed to do so. N

In my opinion, the RazR phone shouldn't be purchased by anyone until they work out the defective software. It was known to be defective at the time of the sale, and the arrangements that the manufacturer of the RazR have with the various sellers makes it impossible to get a refund for a defective product.

I will also be contacting a variety of consumer protection agencies to assist with this, including the Federal Trade Commission, state agencies, and all of the appropriate elected representatives. If you consider buying a RazR phone, you do so at your own peril. Buyer Beware!!!

Serious design flaw with the LCD screen October 17, 2012

Reviewer:  Not my real name  (Folsom, CA) -

BEWARE -- BEWARE -- BEWARE! As others have noted there is a serious design flaw on this phone. Bought this phone in June, for my daughter who is now away at college, and from what I have read we are lucky that it has lasted this long. A few days ago we got a message from her that her phone had what looked like a crack in the screen. The gorilla glass was just fine, it was the actual LCD screen under the glass that had cracked. She was finally able to get a ride to the Verizon store to have it checked out and the rep at the store said that it was a "pressure crack" and they were not going to replace it without us going through the insurance on the phone and paying the $100 deductable. After doing a simple google search on "cracked droid razr", I discovered that there are a LOT of people that are having the same problem. Descriptions of people who had set their phones down and 5 minutes later picked it up to discover the crack, to pulling it out of a jacket pocket to find it cracked, all without any specific reason for the cracks appearing. There are discussion threads on both the Verizon and Motorolla websites about this and there is even a website and youtube video dedicated to these cracks.

I was able to get the phone replaced under warranty, after a bit of discussion with Verizon, so at least we will have a working phone to use and did avoid the $100 deductible. But I don't have much faith that this phone will last very long without this happening again. When I was discussing this with the Verizon rep, I still was not able to get them to admit that there are problems with this phone. That said I am still at a loss to figure out how they can claim "pressure crack" or even get them to explain how somone could put enough pressure on a piece of tempered glass to crack the LCD screen under the glass, but not actually break the glass too....

I had Verizon put a note in my account that says they will replace this phone with a different phone if this happens again.

If you do chose to go with this phone understand you have been warned.......

Has potential, but needs work July 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Michael Keen 

My mom got this phone at the beginning of June at the recommendation of a Verizon employee. She was loving it until yesterday, after it got extremely hot on the back and shut down and would not turn back on, which was really bad for my mom because she runs an organization and people are always calling her to make a donation, ask questions about it (the organization), etc. so she was really frustrated with it and called Verizon customer service which was no help at all. It started working again last night but I suspect there is more to come. Until Motorola addresses these hardware issues and gets down to fixing them (which will probably be never), I suggest steering towards a more reliable choice like the iPhone. This phone has power, but it can't be used if it doesn't work correctly.

UPDATE: 8/21/12

I was right, there was more to come. This afternoon I found out that my mom had problems with the phone not charging this morning, and it was completely dead. We're still working with Verizon to see if the phone can be replaced under warranty. Right now, we are very dissatisfied with Motorola and Verizon. Bottom line: Motorola produces trash. If you want a good chance of a no-hassle two contract term, I seriously suggest going with an iPhone 4S or, if you can wait, the iPhone 5. If you want to take a risk, you've been warned.

Best Phone Out There February 22, 2012

Reviewer:  Zone Five 

Awesome battery. No more issues with 4G phone dying during the day. I never worry anymore and no longer need juice defender.

Phone is always connected to servers, unlike Bionic which has disconnect issues.

Gorgeous screen, I keep it at 100% brightness always.

Phone is extremely fast in responsiveness. Zero lag.

BUY IT. Never thought I'd ever be this happy with a phone after having LG, HTC, and other Motorola 4G phones.

No Power August 24, 2012

Reviewer:  flowrpowr 

I bought this phone back in March 2012. Within 1 week the phone went dead and would NOT receive a charge from any source, not an ac charger for home, dc charger for car, usb from computer, NOTHING worked! I took it back to the store where I bought it from and they replaced it with a brand new phone. I then purchased the add on battery pack, just to be on the safe side. Now it's happening again! The customer service rep was a condescending and rude. But they are supposedly sending me ANOTHER replacement. But since it's Friday, I have to wait until Monday to receive it....UNLESS... I want to pay $19.95 for a Saturday delivery. I wonder if they are going to refund me for the week I couldn't use it?
This phone is very nice with all the features and it's apps and so forth. But if you can't turn it on, no amount of features and apps make it worth the high price of it. Very disappointed!

Bad Battery July 30, 2012

Reviewer:  Ronnie Garry 

I was not that impressed with the droid razr maxx. I have had plenty of android phones and this one really doesn't separate itself from the rest. So, I am returning the phone to Amazon and exchanging for the GS3. Can't wait but expectations are not high on this phone. But the real reason I am writing this review is this. While preparing the phone for return and speaking with a verizon rep, the phone froze. Held the power button down, nothing. Let the phone set for a while, nothing! Never dropped it, bought a protective case as soon as i got the phone. Very dissappointed. But whats worse is that if the battery was the issue, you know how many loops you would have to go through because this phone does not have removable battery! Can't say for sure what the issues is but I have no power to the phone. But anyway, I am receiving the GS3 and we'll see if this will be better. By the way, I had the phone since July 5,2012. Couldn't even get out of July before something messed up. This review isn't to steer anyone away from the phone, but keep in mind that if you have any power, software, battery issues, you can't resolve those issues anymore by removing the battery. I will not buy another phone with the option of removing the batter.

The all day, all night, all morning, five hour plane ride, then another half hour in the car July 24, 2012

Reviewer:  fatjohnygat 

I am still waiting for my charger from amazon, but in the mean time I only need to charge it overnight. Some prerequisite about my scenario: I am a 14 year old guy additcted to his phone :) and previously I had an lg lucid because it was cheap. I got what I payed for and after 15 factory resets, two phones and three dicferent ROM builds along with a battery that lasted three hours of use or a day of non-use on standby. Out of options and thouroughly frustrated, i got this razr maxx with a cracked screen for a hundred bucks and could not be happier. The cracks do not show when the beautiful AMOLED is lit up the blacks are so black and the colors so vibrant, i perfer it over the display on my brother's new ipad (3). The frame is very wide if you have small hands this phone is not for you. But it is lighter than every phone i ever used, including the crappy prepaid ones and clamshells.

Yesterday when I got it i was texting my friends and downloading old apps from 9 - 4, and it still had 20% left for some pandora in the car for an hour and a few phone calls. I even used it to call a friend in the shower, not only was the call quality fantastic it survived the shower for almost ten minutes and i am here now with it to write this review off of it. ICS is fluid and feature-packed and a major upgrade from GB, i can wait until early Q4 for the JB update.

It has survived a few drops so far and we are going to san diego in a few days I will update the review after I take it in the ocean a little to take advantage of the awesome cammera. I hope it survives I wont push it but this thing will go a couple feet under, based off of googling the topic it seems pretty safe.

I just found the tab button on the keyboard, which is very responsive with no texting lag unlike any other phone I ever used. I heard that you can also hook a keyboard up to it via a micro usb adapter, while I have yet to try this myself. I can not stress how good and natural this thing feels in my hand, and i can not think of anything wrong with it except for no word on the jelly bean update, i highly recommend getting it solved the battery problem on every single smartphone except this one. Good job moto, you did what the galaxy s3 just missed and the iphone never came close to- the perfect smartphone. Until any phone with a comparable built-in stock battery comes out I am sticking with this thing I love never having to worry about the battery.

UPDATE: I took this thing with me on the plane to Cali and I forgot to charge it that night. it was chugging along the whole five hour plane ride when it was at 20% to begin with, listening to music half the time and playing games the rest of the time. Alas, it died five minutes before we got to the hotel. I decided not to bring it in the water even though i still showered with it several times and saw videos on youtube of it tolerating much worse than what I planned to do with it. If any problams arise then I will update.

Don't buy or install ICS--->terrible battery life July 3, 2012

Reviewer:  Michael Meador 

RAZR MAXX was a great phone with battery life of 2 days before charging at 40%.
Upgraded? to Ice Cream Sandwich and battery is down 80% after 5hr lite use.
Motorola tech svcs suggested it was some apps using most power. Stopped
everything I could that was running and changed display settings with very
little change. Suggest everyone wait for Motorola updated ICS before buying
or root and install Gingerbread ver.(voids warrenty) or find a RAZR MAXX that
hasn't been upgraded? to ICS.