Durable and refined smartphone October 29, 2012

Reviewer:  Hakeem Al-Kazak "Life Fanatic"  (Mesa, AZ USA) -

Well last week I picked up a white one from my local Verizon store (the price they gave it to me was the same as Amazon's offer luckily) and immediately I loved the feel and design of the phone. The continued use of the kevlar backing is a nice unique touch, although I'm still unsure how much true durability it adds in the longer run, we will see!

The display is incredibly vibrant. Obviously with AMOLED technology you aren't going to have perfect clarity like some other displays, however, this is the best AMOLED display I have seen. I have read complaints that you can notice jagged edges and sometimes images aren't very sharp or clear, however, I have yet to find such issues or any real complaint in general.

I am incredibly happy with the size and feel of the phone. I have read some articles saying "why keep the RAZR name since it isn't RAZR-thin anymore" however, I am not sure where they got that idea from. Sure it still not as thin as the original RAZRs when opened, but it is still one of the thinest smartphones out there. Remember, the Droid RAZR HD is .2 MM thinner than the Galaxy S3. At the same time, the Galaxy S3's height and width are larger than this phone as well. Of course these numbers are quite miniscule, and for pratical comparisons, they are pretty much the same size. You will notice that the Galaxy S3 is a tad lighter, however. I personally like the "full" feeling while holding the RAZR HD.

Although the MAXX HD version is certainly the variant for the additional battery life, the 2530mAh battery that comes with the regular Droid RAZR HD is still quite good. I have gone almost a day and a half of moderate use without charging. However, with moderately high use, I can still start my work day at 7 AM and end up with around 50% battery at 5 PM. Of course as always, the battery life entirely depends on what you use, what you let running and then how much you use the phone. I have seen many reviews claiming that the battery life is utter trash, but look if you manage your phone properly as you should, the 2530mAh should prove to be strong enough.

The camera is pretty standard stuff. Seems like most other smartphones have an 8 megapixel back camera. The front one isn't technically as good as Galaxy S3's for example, however, the difference is quite minimal.

My biggest gripe and perhaps only real issue with the phone are the on-screen menu buttons. While people advocating this phone will claim that these buttons hide when you use many fullscreen apps, I have found this to be quite untrue so far. When watching Youtube videos in fullscreen it does indeed hide them, and the phone does it actually pretty conveniently. However, so far I haven't really had much success in getting them to hide with pretty much every game and app out there. I should note though, I would much rather have them on the screen than deal with Galaxy S3's on-phone two buttons. My wife owns the S3 and when I have used it sideways for fullscreen applications I have always managed to hit the return button each time with just a little piece of my skin and I don't have fat fingers! My wife and a couple of my friends have noted this annoyance as well for themselves. Regardless, even with the on-screen menu buttons, it is still a formidably large screen. Not as large as the S3 which is "natrually" 4.8 compared to 4.7, but still large enough to be enjoyable of course.

Oh, and it is a little annoying that it didn't come with Jelly Bean automatically. While this isn't a big issue now since everyone should be getting a Jelly Bean update soon, it would certainly be a bigger thumbs down the longer it takes.. However, I guess once Jelly Bean does become available, for new buyers won't be a problem either way.

So despite the on-screen menu buttons, I still give this phone a perfect 5/5. However, I've talked to many that refuse to touch this phone solely because of those buttons. However, if you can get past that, I would definitely recommend this over the Galaxy S3. Both are certainly great phones, but the Droid RAZR HD feels more refined and professional. At least go try it out at your local Verizon store!

And about color.. Well white and black are the only ones available (so far) and both looked fine. However, I'm sure there are more black ones out there, so I had to look different so naturally I chose the white one. I wouldn't necessarily say one looks better than the other so that shouldn't be an issue :0

This Phone Rocks! November 6, 2012

Reviewer:  Michele E. Fore  (NOBLESVILLE, IN, US) -

I traded in the Droid 3 for this and I absolutely love it. Barely any lagging on games. I love the screen on this phone, it's vibrant and beautiful. My husband still has the Droid 3 and the difference is amazing. I wish it had been bumped to 2 gigs of Ram but this phone is fast! I chose the white just because there are so many black phones out there. I decided to go with HD instead of the Maxx HD because of the price difference and the trade in program through Motorola. The battery on this is great. Much better than the Droid 3. With normal use I usually have 1/4 to 1/2 battery remaining at midnight.

Love it so far November 21, 2012

Reviewer:  Jake M 

I have had the Razr HD for about a week now and so far it is great. Looks and feels great and the craftsmanship is excellent. I use it heavily throughout the day for calls, texts, email, nav, etc and usually have at least half battery by the time I am off work. My Droid X was always dead before lunch. The battery is not quite as good as advertised but far better than any other phone I have ever owned. The screen is incredible and despite some negative reviews the camera takes really good pictures (the flash, however is not so great.)

I highly recommend this phone.

love this phone February 12, 2013

Reviewer:  aj 

I've had this phone for just over 10 days now and I love it. Only reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is 1) I haven't had it very long and 2) it takes up a lot of data.
I had to adjust my settings on my email and updates to run on wi-fi only.
It's very fast while on the internet. Camera takes good pictures. Screen is fantastic, and large. Can't complain about the battery either. Overall, very, very happy with the phone.
Plus I only paid a penny for it :-)

Great phone April 8, 2013

Reviewer:  Richard J Cantin 

I have not been disappointed with this phone. It was easy to move from my Thunderbolt. The performance is snappy and the battery life is awesome. I can get almost 2-1/2 days on a full charge compared to the same usage on my old phone which was hard to squeeze a full day (12 hours) out of. Getting used to the new O/S wasn't bad. The shipping was quick and I had no problems activating it.

Annoyed with the estimated delivery date January 31, 2013

Reviewer:  Newbie 

In a nutshell, the main page says the phone is currently backordered and will take 1 to 2 weeks to be shipped out, after that the usual 2 days until delivery.

Once I completed the sale, I received a confirmation email stating that the phone is estimated to get to me by March 18. It is Jan 31.

The estimated delivery date just went from HALF a month to a full MONTH AND A HALF.

This eliminates it from getting here in time for a birthday. For the price ($20) I don't mind waiting at all - however I am miffed that I could not be told the real estimated deliveryt date until AFTER confirmation. I purchased it with the understanding it would be shipped within 2 weeks, not 6.5 weeks.

Trouble's January 23, 2013

Reviewer:  Missy 

We ordered this Droid Razor HD phone on October 14, 2011. We have had all kinds of problems to say the least! 1. The phone took 1-2 minutes to connect to Verizon network. 2. After it finally got connected, we could only get a maximum of 3 bars and the 3 bar were really rare to get, the normal number of bars it would recieve, was 2 bars. We took this phone on vacation as we taveled Kentucky, Tennesse, Alabama, New Mexico, Etc, all the way across the US to Las Vegas, Nevada. With the same results listed.
Most of the time we could not even make a call and if we were lucky and got to make a call, the call quality was terrible, in addition most of the thes calls ended up getting dropped. Remember this was the same all across the United States as we were traveling.
After 8 calls to Verizon, Verizon finally sent a replaced phone, the replacement phone was no better than the first and it had all of the same problems the orginal one had!
So back on the phone with Verizon. After going threw everything again and again, Verizon sent the 3rd phone. Needless to say it performed no better than the first or the secound phone! After more phone calls, they decided to try a new micro card in the phone. So we waited 6 more days, got the chip, installed it - no diffence what so ever.
After having to make several more phone calls to Verizon on January 21, 2013 and taking with a two supperviser and the 2 technical department personal.
I finally had it and told them they could cancell our contract or let me pick a completely different phone. They finally agreed that their is a problem with this phone.
We have spent over 3 months trying to get 3 different Droid Razor HD phones to work. Today is January 23, 2013 and we ae waiting for our replacement phone of a Galaxy SIII.