Motorola Razr i XT890 review

motorola razr i xt 890 front

pleasing metallic design

Verdict: if you’re looking for a mid-ranged performance phone at a mid-ranged price then this is it. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by its not so mid ranged battery life. Buy.

 

This Motorola Razr M’s cousin: XT890 “i”. It bears the exact same dimensions and specifications with 2 differences- radio and SoC processor. The Razr i is powered by Intel’s mobile Atom single core processor running at 2 Ghz which Intel claims is more efficient than all other multi core processors you see today.
The Intel Atom is something else. It runs on the x86 architecture, as in what you normally find on PC computers, as opposed to ARM. And while it runs at 2 Ghz, its speed and performance is not as straight forward as it may seem.

Read on to find out how the Razr i fares under our own testing.

Specs and info

 

Intel Atom Z2460 2 Ghz dual threaded single core cpu

edge-to-edge 4.3inch Super AMOLED screen

2000 mAh battery

8 megapixel camera

Jelly Bean 4.1

1GB RAM

3G HSPA-only

Price: $450

 

Design and build quality

 

motorola razr i xt 890 back kevlar

the kevlar back won’t catch any bullets… but it’ll turn heads.

 

motorola razr i xt 890 front top logo

the Motorola logo has holes drilled into it to allow for sound from the ear piece

 

motorola razr i xt 890 left side buttons

metallic screws are visible, is part of the design language

 

motorola razr i xt 890 bottom

 

motorla razr i xt 890 sim microsd slot

   

+++++ kevlar back plate never fails to provide a premium feel; impress

+++++ aluminium makes up for 90% of the chassis

+++++ very thin bezels- phone dimensions are almost exactly the same as the iPhone 5 but the screen is bigger @ 4.3 inch, and the battery is also bigger @ 2000 mAh

+++++ hardware camera shutter button

+++ slim profile with a good weighty feel in hand

 

Display

 

++ Super AMOLED- proper blacks, vibrant colours

+ 960×540 resolution is quite acceptable

+ video playback is surprisingly comfortable as it fills the entire screen and subsequently most of the phone’s surface

 

Camera

motorla razr i xt 890 hardware camera shutter here’s that shutter button 

 

++++++ camera launches faster than you can say “fast”

+ day time photography is not bad

—- low light and night time photos are full of noise, alleviated slightly with the built-in flash

 

Photo samples (click to enlarge)

 

motorola razr i xt 890 photo sample daylight

 

motorola razr i xt 890 photo sample macro

 

motorola razr i xt 890 photo sample indoor daylight

 

motorola razr xt 890 photo sample lowlight

 

motorola razr i xt 890 indoor lowlight flash

 

motorola razr i xt 890 photo sample indoor lowlight

 

motorola razr i xt 890 photo sample lowlight outdoor

 

Software and features

 

motorola razr i xt 890 homescreen

  motorola’s own beautiful Circles widget

motorola razr xt 890 quick settings

  the epitome of practicality. Way before Blinkfeed happened.

motorola razr i xt 890 homescreen page setting

 

++++++ kudos to Motorola for thinking things through. the Home screen is very practical- swipe right for quick settings. the skin is not very light so this is as close as a pure-Google experience you’ll get out of something that’s not Google branded.

++++ SmartActions is back. you can use this to help you adjust certain settings according to time, location and various other triggers. Most useful for turning off features that drain battery.

  motorola razr i xt 890 smartactions splash

  some dude smiling at his phone.

motorola razr i xt 890 SmartActions help

  motorola razr i xt 890 Smartactions suggestions

 

motorola razr i xt 890 smartactions triggers

SmartActions is quite an accomplishment

motorola razr i xt 890 smartactions actions

 

 

Performance and battery life

 

 

motorla razr i xt 890 browser benchmark sunspider

  Sunspider result is absolutely amazing. Reference: iPhone5 scores 914

 

++++++ ridiculously good battery life under normal usage; idle battery life rivals the Galaxy Note 2

++++++ ridiculously fast web browser

++ the 2Ghz cpu speeds along nicely when you’re not trying to do too many things at once

—– not a strong multitasker. despite Intel’s effort to dispel the multicore myth by claiming a dual threaded singlecore is more efficient, the Motorola Razr i proves this to not be entirely true.

– minor UI lag when loading is heavy. suggest changing the transition animation speed to 1.5x

– GPS is not quite precise enough, better than AGPS

 

battery life scenarios:

 

Screenshot_2013-01-16-13-00-21

 

Screenshot_2013-01-08-20-49-08

 

Screenshot_2013-01-08-20-49-01

And finally: the best case scenario:

Screenshot_2013-03-11-00-20-07

motorola razr i xt 890 best case battery life

1 day and 20 hours. that’s 24+20 frigging HOURS.

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