Being an early Atrix adopter, I'll never buy an Atrix again. It was clunky, buggy, had poor battery life, and froze inexplicably. And before you tell me that was a messed up unit, I'll have you know this was my second replacement.
I bought a Galaxy Nexus on launch, and will be holding on to it till Key Lime Pie hits on a new Nexus (I/O 2013?).... Other than the lack of MicroSD, the Nexus line really seems to be way ahead of the competition, thanks to the vastly improved software year in and out.
Motorola did a good job on the 2012 Atrix dock, but I don't need it, now that I'm planning to get the Nexus 7... which reminds me: When is Anandtech planning to review it?
In Moto's defense, the bulk of that issue probably lies with Nvidia and the very poor documentation for the Tegra 2... the Tegra 2 had lots of problems with android including, but not limited to, inefficient usage of battery and horrible governing that led to choppiness in the operating system. Nvidia really shot themselves in the foot with that one.
So you hate NV so much you can't even read his post? "My buddy has the Droid X2 with the tegra 2 and had no problems either. "
His buddy's experience is not unlike a LOT of other people. Tegra 2 did fine for what it was supposed to do. Cheaply get into phones so they could get a foothold and start to create a phone ecosystem for gaming. Tegra 3 expands on that. I expect the wayne or logan chips to put a serious dent in consoles (ok, logan/stark? but heck, logan is 2013 so good enough). Microsoft and Sony agree. Well, that phones in general will hurt them (not just NV based), so they're axing better hardware and going the cheapo crap route. Witness the game devs already whining about lack of overall power in next years consoles. This will only further kill their platforms as phones pass them by and in the case of Tegra actually get good gaming on your TV via the phone and an Xbox or Playstation controller. I think some other controllers work also, pc based if memory serves.
They laid the groundwork already with support for these. Apple should wise up and support gamepads and spend money on devs like NV does or they will see android/NV do to them what they did to RIM. Rim had enterprise and neglected fun stuff. Apple added fun and exchange at the same time making rim un-special. They chose to ignore it and still do. Apple currently has retina and that's about it. Put a game side by side on Apple and Tegra3 and you see why you want a tegra (tegrazone games - if you're a gamer at all). Once retina is ubiquitous (middle of next year?) what do you need one for? It will then be about the fact that a parent only needs to buy a kid a Tegra3 based phone and they need no xbox360/ps3 (or whatever is next).
Nvidia already has a great relationship with devs, routinely paying money to them for optimizations (thereby cheapening the cost for a dev's game) on PC games and now phones too. If Apple doesn't start spreading a bit of wealth Nvidia will have a good 50-100 "better looking" games under their belts and iphone will be 2nd rate. Siri is beaten by android already. Activations are 2.x to 1 android vs. apple, and now gaming looks to be getting much better on android via NV. Rim grew for a bit as others took share, but that ends as the pendulum swings quickly for a company ignoring their users interests. Apple is growing but not nearly as fast as android. Look at their quarterly report and articles around the web regarding this. The writing is on the wall. Aim your phone at consoles or die slowly :) By the time the next consoles come out we'll have another die shrink on SOCS, more cores and a pretty good console like experience. At least on android/NV, possibly others if their optimizations work on other android based phone also...not sure about that - I hope they do! goodbye consoles then...LOL. I pray daily for consoles to die. :)
NV says Stark will be 100x Tegra2. I don't believe any company regarding future stuff, but if they're 1/2 right it should punish any new console not much faster than the last revs (and stuck in console stone for another 6-10 years). On top of that phones are subsidized over the plan costs. Parents might see that as a FREE console...ROFL. Console's days are already numbered. Video killed the radio star....Phone killed the console star...LMAO. It's about time ;) FYI 191mil revenue came from NV's consumer products business in Q3, and 109mil in Q4 (floods /Tegra 2 declining sales noted for last quarters overall lacking). Then again, maybe recent rumors of Xbox Next being semi potent will come true (still stuck in stone no matter what).
Some of us just want a nice phone to work as a... PHONE... Tegras are still SLOWER than the iPhone and iPads when it comes to gaming. Its shocking, a year later and they are still playing catchup.
Its good to see Android phone tech getting better and better, more battery life, better CPU performance.
So far, this Atrix HD is upper/middle of the road and half the price of the HOX or SGS3.
Yep. Apparently, Tegra II sucked big time in all of the devices which featured that SoC, Tegra III, as I think, isn't much better, well except for the fact that Nvidia enabled NEON instructions allowing to decode full HD media. However, the Qualcomm SoC in the Atrix HD is a dual ARM Cortex-A15 a.k.a. Krait chipset, this SoC is really powerful, and it matches the latest quad Cortex A9s such as the Tegra III and the likes, even supersedes them in some tests, and the Adreno 320 is really good.
This may be the first time I actually approve of a Qualcomm chip!
Krait does not actually have A15 cores, though they are more sophisticated than A9 cores. As for the GPU, I expect the Atrix to employ the Adreno 220 GPU, not the 320. The 320 has yet to find its way into any consumer device and probably won't find its way until the end of this year. Still, being the owner of a Galaxy S3 with Krait, I have to say that the chip hasn't failed me yet and, though its GPU is inferior to those in the iPhone and the (international) Samsung S3, it seems to be more than sufficient.
Just to clarify, Qualcomm's MSM8960 (found in pretty much all the new phones these days) features two Krait cores and the Adreno 225 GPU. Krait cores are NOT A15 cores, however they can be considered A15-class, they're a generational step ahead of the MSM8660's Scorpion cores in the same way Cortex-A15 will be over Cortex-A9. The Adreno 225 is based on a prior generation GPU, with the Adreno 3xx GPUs en route soon, but it's wick has been turned up for better performance over its predecessors (the 220, 205 and 200).
Agreed...the Galaxy Nexus is simply fantastic. Just got the OTA update to Jelly Bean today, took a couple minutes and didn't have to reinstall or reconfigure anything, after the reboot I was back at my home screen just as before, only now with Jelly Bean. Completely painless and such a difference from dealing with ROMs, Titanium Backup, etc. like I used to do with my EVO. So much time wasted on that. The Nexus also has perfectly smooth performance and great battery life, and is a steal at $349.
Not only do you get a skinned out-of-date OS with a phone like the Atrix, but the bootloader will also be locked and encrypted, preventing you from ever self-upgrading with ROMs even if you wanted to. When you buy a phone like this you get complete ambiguity as to upgrade schedules with little to no options to do anything about it. That might be no big deal to a lot of people, but if you care about such things, get the Nexus.
Just because Jelly Bean is released doesn't mean Ice Cream Sandwich is magically a turd overnight. I'm perfectly willing and able to wait for a port. I certainly agree with many of your points about the Nexus' upgrades and understand why many people would prefer it, but I'm not at all willing to spend $350 on a phone... ever. And while flashing roms can be a pain in the ass, I enjoy the experience of tinkering with my devices and improving their functionality beyond even what Google themselves give us.
Yes, ICS is a great OS, there wasn't even much that it needed improvement on, and I won't knock the custom ROM thing if it's something you enjoy. For me personally I just got tired of spending so much time on it and didn't see much need for any of CyanogenMod's extra features. I also got tired of the OEM's modifications, like Sense's tweaked multitasking and TouchWiz's ugly interface. So the Nexus gives me what I was looking for.
You say you're not willing to spend $350 on a phone, but how much do you spend on cell service each month? $90-100 or more? The cost of the phone pales in comparison. I'm using the Nexus with $45/month Straight Talk prepaid. Compared to Verizon, AT&T, etc., that extra $150 spent on the phone is made up in about 3 months. After that it's actually cheaper than getting an expensive contract with a $200 phone.
The only difference is no roaming. I'm using Straight Talk with AT&T which typically has more coverage than T-Mobile...I'll gladly give up T-Mobile roaming for $50/month savings. There is no justification for the criminal robbery that is Verizon and AT&T's contract prices.
To be fair locked bootloaders do suck but where there's a will there's a way. People have been able to get around the droids bootloaders for a while now the real question is will this device gain enough traction where the developer community will want to go through the effort to do it? Now im no programmer but i assume that since this device is using a different platform then previous moto phones the sideloading that people used for the droid 3/4/bionic/razer will need to be re-engineered to get passed the bootloader. Anyone know if any other recent qualcomm packing phones came with locked bootloaders that have been cracked/circumvented already?
There are lots of phones out there with signed bootloaders that have never been fully cracked so that alternative kernels could be flashed. It's not the same thing nor as easy as getting it rooted. If you care about such things as the software on your phone, you simply shouldn't purchase from or support OEMs or carriers that lock it down like this.
I had no issues with my Atrix 4G. In fact it beats out my Nokia Lumia 900 and Iphone 4 in terms of battery life. It never "froze" on me or deemed slow. So, no I don't have any idea what you're talking about.
Never had a problem with my Atrix, fast, smooth, great battery life and that was on 2.2
The only thing Galaxy Nexus has is updated software, nothing else. Everything else about it is not really worth talking about.
Software is overrated anyway, there's nothing really you can do on 4.0/4.1 that you can't do on 2.2/2.2, well except half the apps/games are still incompatible with ICS/JB.
Only 8GB of internal storage plus the HTC One X isn't going to have a price adjustment so soon after launch (though there are plenty of places to find it cheaper than directly from AT&T).
It's just $99 because there's no way Moto was gonna be able to best the SGS3 hype machine or the two month lead the One X has. You're looking at the specs, like any enthusiast would, but specs are not necessarily the biggest factor in moving phones off carrier's shelves. Simple word of mouth, hype, and store employees bias would bury this phone if it were $200...
Nevermind that it seems to have fewer software modifications than Samsung or HTC's equivalent, or that Googorola will probably have tons of help in porting new OS versions for quicker updates. It does have a smaller battery than the competition tho, they should release the MAXX version already instead of waiting several months.
The $99 price point probably means we'll see it at $50 at some third party soon after launch if not as a pre-order tho, that's pretty incredible for a high end phone like this... And here I thought my $120 EVO LTE was a good deal.
As long as the phone sells well, it will be a $100 phone. Older Motorola phones have kept their $100 price point. This is mc first hires android model... Which severely devalues the older phones. Heck, I can get a new iPhone 4 for $100.
I'll try this atrix phone in the next few days... It looks like it will be the phone for me.
Moto has nothing better than this one and selling their top phone at 100$ is just tragic. The One X has no SD slot, the S3 doesn't have a very good screen,build quality or looks and if Moto couldn't sell this at 200$ they need new marketing folks. Granted the Atrix HD has a smallish battery and a huge bezel but since there is no great phone out there 200$ was ok.
What is it with moto and its love for thick bezel's? This phone is 2mm wider than a galaxy nexus and has a 0.15" smaller screen. Even the razr is 1mm wider than the galaxy nexus and it has a puny 4.3" screen... hello moto!
This functionality is available on all android devices that are capable of running Go Launcher EX. I've been using it on my 3VO for quite a while, it;s way better than sense in many ways. It has a multilevel dock and it doesn't matter if you use it's complimentary software (GoSMS, GoThis, GoThat) or stick with the stock software packages, it integrates really well with the phone.
I always thought of this as one of the greatest strengths of android, since even though you may have a manufacturer preloaded "desktop environment", you can always use the one you like on most of android devices out there. It's just like with desktop linux distributions now, where you can choose gnome2, gnome3, KDE, enlightenment, XFCE and many other DE's/window managers.
Just as with the desktop environments, these "mobile environments" are cross-compatible. They are even better at adapting to different software environments as they are just a bit more than a glorified window manager for a home screen. I don't see this kind of fragmentation any kinds of problems, since you can still access the same programs and use them as you would on either HTC sense, Touchwiz or Go Launcher. The only pieces of software that cause fragmentation are things that are truly unavailable on certain devices whilst being widely adopted on others, such as a manufacturer's built-in camera app or the whole OS, heck, gingerbread is still the most popular Android, even though Jelly Bean is just around the corner.
That's not even remotely close to fragmentation, which has become a vague bogeyman... That's akin to calling Firefox or Chrome on a PC fragmentation of Windows, lol. The launcher is just an app like any other, any user that's not aware they can change it by installing a new one from the Play store probably couldn't care less about OS versions.
it would be great if you could please do a color accuracy test on this screen. so far there hasn't been a recent Android device with actual good color reproduction. its a shame. it makes me feel like getting an iPad 7 if the rumors are true, but I really don't like the proprietary methods of Apple. but I am in real need of a device with accurate colors for my work.
According to some intial reviews the 'ClearBoost' screen on this is oversaturated and the colors come off as very fake. Hopefully there are different color profiles, and if so they will each be tested.
Over saturated colors seem to be the order of the day on mobile displays since it impresses people in store, same as TVs really. We just don't get much in the way of calibration tools. My EVO's SLCD2 display seems more over saturated and less accurate than my one year old tablet's IPS display, I can't even imagine how SAMOLED displays look when showing off skin tones and other things very sensitive to color accuracy.
Been looking at replacing my SGS1 Captivate for the past month of so... Its been an okay phone, battery always sucked, the speaker phone sucked, the Alarm sucked even more. I never cared for its shape in which the top and bottom look/feel alike. The power button didn't stuck out quite enough. But it was the first Galaxy phone 2 years ago at $225... within a few months, $100.
Luckily, there is an at&t store with actual live phones (only Apple is willing to provide all at&t locations with real phones, not dummy mock-ups) to feel and use. Only thing that sucks about ALL of todays phones is the quest for larger screens... How about some 4" screens?
Lumia900 = $100 / Pros: looks great, feels great, camera button. Cons: WP7 (dead end platform, again MS?) and the screen edge kind of cuts into your hand... you feel it. Also, all the tech is 2 years old.
SONY Ion = $100 / Bigger than it needs to be, nice metal back, pretty wall paper (typical SONY) - has a dedicated Camera shutter button! CONs: Can't open the cover for the USB/HDMI - stupid rubber thingies. No nails. Also, not hearing anything great about the phone... not even here. skip!
Pantechs = $1 phones, older tech... seems to be cheap / breaks easily.
Samsung GS3 = $200 / Like the actual HOME button. at&t has red now. Top end phone. CONs: Cheap glossy plastic back feels as cheap as it looks. Feeling the back, you'll barely notice which end is up. Still in consideration.
Samsung Galaxy Nexus = $200 / Feels better than the SGS3, same button arrangement... just removed from at&t. Its bottom end is bigger, so you know quickly which way is up.
HTC One X = $200 / Excellent shape and feel... has texture. Love the message light. CONSs: The power button is on the top. Okay, my personal issue. I'm used to it on the side.
Motorola ATRIX HD = $100 / Looks very nice - a but old-school looking. Can tell which end is up - front and back. No covers over HDMI/USB. Smallest screen of new phones (4.5") Cons: No actual phone buttons (how well does Launcher7 run on it?) - don't know if this is a good or bat thing yet.
I really wish they would make phones with physical main buttons. Like the Samsung Rugby.
Samsung GS3, Galaxy Nexus & HTC One X are all solid phones.
I personally will go for the SGS3 for the superior overall experience, put a case on it if you don't like the plastic. Pick Nexus for the fastest software update. Or One X for the beats I guess.
I got SGS2 and I love it, having it run "naked" this whole time. No screen protector, no case. I really like the phone shape and the texture(TMobile SGS2) of its back. Every time I pick up my gf's iPhone 4s, I say it out loud, "This iBrick is heavy." All iPhones I saw have cases, so that made all of they look/feel cheap.
Yep, they are all great phones. So we should choose based on preference.
I don't put phones in cases. They are made to look good, no? Beats means nothing to me... It's branded loudness for the most part. I've returned a dinky Sony phone because it was flimsy garbage (looked nice) and spent $230 for an unlocked Sony slider which I still use today as an alarm clock.
There are different covers for the iPhone. Having a glass back is a problem as many people break them. I've been considering the iphone4, it's a very nice looking phone.
The SGS3 has a cheap feel... But has a nice shape. The hdmi on the MC is handy.
The Android phone makers are completely insane. 5 years (!!!) after iPhone release they still cannot comprehend one simple truth - plastic belongs in $1 stuff, not in $600-$800 phones (and that is what even $0 subsidized price really is). You just cannot make it look and feel expensive with plastic, even if you call the plastic "polycarbonate" or any other name. Steel, Aluminum alloys, Titanium, glass, noble woods, leather - your choice, but not plastic (and preferably not magnesium alloys either - they look and feel - as in "specific thermoconductivity" - too close to plastic). And there should not be any visible joints on the back - they look unsightly and produce creaks. And there should be immediate updates to new Android versions the same day Google releases it (you can make your testing-development on betas) for as long as hardware supports it (which is AT LEAST 3 years). It is not that expensive - component cost of $500 notebook is MUCH MUCH more (processors-LCD-battery etc) than the $600 phone.
The seams on the back vary... some have kick stands, some have removable backs - which look a bit better since you don't need a slot for the SD-CARD and SIM CARD...
The good thing with a non-removable back is a more water-proof phone... slightly.
I own this phone but am considering switching it out for the HTC One X during my 30 day grace period. I got caught up with the hype and started with a SGIII. The screen dimness was really unforgivable even at full brightness for use as a navigation unit for driving. I took my old Droid X2 (Verizon) and the SGIII into the AT&T store to compare screens. The X2, though hated on for the low quality screen, was just a beast in the brightness department on full torch. It ran pretty well with CM7, but had it's flaws, especially with Pandora. The Atrix HD looked a little brighter at full blast and they sucked me in with the $100 cheaper entry, the free vehicle dock, and $40 worth of free accessories. This made the Atrix HD effectively a $20 phone compared to the SGIII and HTC One X @ $200.
My complaints with the Atrix HD are primarily due to the battery, which drains incredibly quickly. The camera is also sub par. The display is definitely over-saturated, akin to cranking up digital vibrance on an nvidia video card if you are familiar with the effect.
All that said, does the One X have a vehicle dock with built in charging? Both my Motorola phones, the X2 and Atrix HD, have fantastic Moto brand vehicle docks with drop in charging. This is much preferred to connecting a cable every time I use it in my car.
Really? The worst I read about the phone is the battery life. But that with tweaks and using their SMARTACTIONS seems to help a lot.
I use a real camera for photos... so that means little to me. I was looking at the dock anyway... so that makes it a better deal, I guess the dock doesn't charge, eh?
Got the Atrix HD. The battery life has improved quite a bit in its first week. The first day was horrible... in which little usage sucked up battery life. 7 days, with typical Phone/data usage - I'm only using 50% battery within 24hrs.
I've been reading through this forum and have realised people make no sense. In the earlier comments people were slating the Atrix family without giving any actual reasons. The comment that iphones are better got to me. Until the iphone 5 the Atrix (even the 4g) wiped the floor both on paper and in life. I've had an atrix and had no problems that weren't my own doing (had a problem with rooting) and I now have an atrix 2 which also has no problems. Haven't yet seen it necessary to get the hd. I also don't like the look. Another thing that proves people aren't that bright is the constant comparisons to quad core phones. Phones with twice the power will be faster. Simple. They will over heat. They will drain their batteries. A good dual core though will prove better in day to day life. Until they improve the batteries or consumption. Tegra chips are great for gamers and I agree (with earlier comments) that phones will soon overtake consoles. Tegra chips are(in my experience) reliable and friendly on the consumption front. I would much prefer my old atrix 4g to an iphone 5!!
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TareX - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
Being an early Atrix adopter, I'll never buy an Atrix again. It was clunky, buggy, had poor battery life, and froze inexplicably. And before you tell me that was a messed up unit, I'll have you know this was my second replacement.I bought a Galaxy Nexus on launch, and will be holding on to it till Key Lime Pie hits on a new Nexus (I/O 2013?).... Other than the lack of MicroSD, the Nexus line really seems to be way ahead of the competition, thanks to the vastly improved software year in and out.
Motorola did a good job on the 2012 Atrix dock, but I don't need it, now that I'm planning to get the Nexus 7... which reminds me: When is Anandtech planning to review it?
kaspyyy - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
In Moto's defense, the bulk of that issue probably lies with Nvidia and the very poor documentation for the Tegra 2... the Tegra 2 had lots of problems with android including, but not limited to, inefficient usage of battery and horrible governing that led to choppiness in the operating system. Nvidia really shot themselves in the foot with that one.ammyt - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
I personally am waiting for the Quad Cortex-A15 chip from Samsung's Exynos, GOD it will be a beast!Thermogenic - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
How is that a defense of Motorola? He picked a poor chipset to use for their phones - it is still their fault.ol1bit - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
For the record, I blame Motorola, not Nvidia. The Asus Prime I have an tegra 3 kicks some serious butt.I love it!
My buddy has the Droid X2 with the tegra 2 and had no problems either.
dagamer34 - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
One would assume that nVidia learned something going from Tegra 2 to Tegra 3, so that's not really a fair comparison.TheJian - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
So you hate NV so much you can't even read his post?"My buddy has the Droid X2 with the tegra 2 and had no problems either. "
His buddy's experience is not unlike a LOT of other people. Tegra 2 did fine for what it was supposed to do. Cheaply get into phones so they could get a foothold and start to create a phone ecosystem for gaming. Tegra 3 expands on that. I expect the wayne or logan chips to put a serious dent in consoles (ok, logan/stark? but heck, logan is 2013 so good enough). Microsoft and Sony agree. Well, that phones in general will hurt them (not just NV based), so they're axing better hardware and going the cheapo crap route. Witness the game devs already whining about lack of overall power in next years consoles. This will only further kill their platforms as phones pass them by and in the case of Tegra actually get good gaming on your TV via the phone and an Xbox or Playstation controller. I think some other controllers work also, pc based if memory serves.
They laid the groundwork already with support for these. Apple should wise up and support gamepads and spend money on devs like NV does or they will see android/NV do to them what they did to RIM. Rim had enterprise and neglected fun stuff. Apple added fun and exchange at the same time making rim un-special. They chose to ignore it and still do. Apple currently has retina and that's about it. Put a game side by side on Apple and Tegra3 and you see why you want a tegra (tegrazone games - if you're a gamer at all). Once retina is ubiquitous (middle of next year?) what do you need one for? It will then be about the fact that a parent only needs to buy a kid a Tegra3 based phone and they need no xbox360/ps3 (or whatever is next).
Nvidia already has a great relationship with devs, routinely paying money to them for optimizations (thereby cheapening the cost for a dev's game) on PC games and now phones too. If Apple doesn't start spreading a bit of wealth Nvidia will have a good 50-100 "better looking" games under their belts and iphone will be 2nd rate. Siri is beaten by android already. Activations are 2.x to 1 android vs. apple, and now gaming looks to be getting much better on android via NV. Rim grew for a bit as others took share, but that ends as the pendulum swings quickly for a company ignoring their users interests. Apple is growing but not nearly as fast as android. Look at their quarterly report and articles around the web regarding this. The writing is on the wall. Aim your phone at consoles or die slowly :) By the time the next consoles come out we'll have another die shrink on SOCS, more cores and a pretty good console like experience. At least on android/NV, possibly others if their optimizations work on other android based phone also...not sure about that - I hope they do! goodbye consoles then...LOL. I pray daily for consoles to die. :)
NV says Stark will be 100x Tegra2. I don't believe any company regarding future stuff, but if they're 1/2 right it should punish any new console not much faster than the last revs (and stuck in console stone for another 6-10 years). On top of that phones are subsidized over the plan costs. Parents might see that as a FREE console...ROFL. Console's days are already numbered. Video killed the radio star....Phone killed the console star...LMAO. It's about time ;) FYI 191mil revenue came from NV's consumer products business in Q3, and 109mil in Q4 (floods /Tegra 2 declining sales noted for last quarters overall lacking). Then again, maybe recent rumors of Xbox Next being semi potent will come true (still stuck in stone no matter what).
Spunjji - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
I'm ashamed to say I read all of that comment. The only things more staggeringly vast than its length were the gaps in your logic.Belard - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
Some of us just want a nice phone to work as a... PHONE... Tegras are still SLOWER than the iPhone and iPads when it comes to gaming. Its shocking, a year later and they are still playing catchup.Its good to see Android phone tech getting better and better, more battery life, better CPU performance.
So far, this Atrix HD is upper/middle of the road and half the price of the HOX or SGS3.
Miggleness - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
I hear you. I just sent my Atrix back to the service center for the third time in 8 months.ammyt - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
Yep. Apparently, Tegra II sucked big time in all of the devices which featured that SoC, Tegra III, as I think, isn't much better, well except for the fact that Nvidia enabled NEON instructions allowing to decode full HD media. However, the Qualcomm SoC in the Atrix HD is a dual ARM Cortex-A15 a.k.a. Krait chipset, this SoC is really powerful, and it matches the latest quad Cortex A9s such as the Tegra III and the likes, even supersedes them in some tests, and the Adreno 320 is really good.This may be the first time I actually approve of a Qualcomm chip!
Greg512 - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
Krait does not actually have A15 cores, though they are more sophisticated than A9 cores. As for the GPU, I expect the Atrix to employ the Adreno 220 GPU, not the 320. The 320 has yet to find its way into any consumer device and probably won't find its way until the end of this year. Still, being the owner of a Galaxy S3 with Krait, I have to say that the chip hasn't failed me yet and, though its GPU is inferior to those in the iPhone and the (international) Samsung S3, it seems to be more than sufficient.JasonInofuentes - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
Just to clarify, Qualcomm's MSM8960 (found in pretty much all the new phones these days) features two Krait cores and the Adreno 225 GPU. Krait cores are NOT A15 cores, however they can be considered A15-class, they're a generational step ahead of the MSM8660's Scorpion cores in the same way Cortex-A15 will be over Cortex-A9. The Adreno 225 is based on a prior generation GPU, with the Adreno 3xx GPUs en route soon, but it's wick has been turned up for better performance over its predecessors (the 220, 205 and 200).rarson - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
"Krait" is a core, not a chipset. The SoC's name is "Snapdragon S4."antef - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
Agreed...the Galaxy Nexus is simply fantastic. Just got the OTA update to Jelly Bean today, took a couple minutes and didn't have to reinstall or reconfigure anything, after the reboot I was back at my home screen just as before, only now with Jelly Bean. Completely painless and such a difference from dealing with ROMs, Titanium Backup, etc. like I used to do with my EVO. So much time wasted on that. The Nexus also has perfectly smooth performance and great battery life, and is a steal at $349.Not only do you get a skinned out-of-date OS with a phone like the Atrix, but the bootloader will also be locked and encrypted, preventing you from ever self-upgrading with ROMs even if you wanted to. When you buy a phone like this you get complete ambiguity as to upgrade schedules with little to no options to do anything about it. That might be no big deal to a lot of people, but if you care about such things, get the Nexus.
Roland00Address - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
From my understanding 4.1 won't accept flash officially and it will crash if you load the app from a device that was 4.0.TareX - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
From what I understood, you can install any other browser with flash support and run flash as you normally would on that browser.leexgx - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
it mite crash on 4.1 they are just no longer developing it any moreantef - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
I haven't used Flash on Android for a long time. I think they were right to stop developing it.TareX - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
It's the only way to stream live sports without paying...rarson - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
No MicroSD... no thanks.Just because Jelly Bean is released doesn't mean Ice Cream Sandwich is magically a turd overnight. I'm perfectly willing and able to wait for a port. I certainly agree with many of your points about the Nexus' upgrades and understand why many people would prefer it, but I'm not at all willing to spend $350 on a phone... ever. And while flashing roms can be a pain in the ass, I enjoy the experience of tinkering with my devices and improving their functionality beyond even what Google themselves give us.
dagamer34 - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
This would probably be a great phone, but the locked bootloader scares me away.antef - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
Yes, ICS is a great OS, there wasn't even much that it needed improvement on, and I won't knock the custom ROM thing if it's something you enjoy. For me personally I just got tired of spending so much time on it and didn't see much need for any of CyanogenMod's extra features. I also got tired of the OEM's modifications, like Sense's tweaked multitasking and TouchWiz's ugly interface. So the Nexus gives me what I was looking for.You say you're not willing to spend $350 on a phone, but how much do you spend on cell service each month? $90-100 or more? The cost of the phone pales in comparison. I'm using the Nexus with $45/month Straight Talk prepaid. Compared to Verizon, AT&T, etc., that extra $150 spent on the phone is made up in about 3 months. After that it's actually cheaper than getting an expensive contract with a $200 phone.
MadMan007 - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
There is a coverage difference between MVNO and carrier prepaid plans and contract plans.antef - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
The only difference is no roaming. I'm using Straight Talk with AT&T which typically has more coverage than T-Mobile...I'll gladly give up T-Mobile roaming for $50/month savings. There is no justification for the criminal robbery that is Verizon and AT&T's contract prices.siberus - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
To be fair locked bootloaders do suck but where there's a will there's a way. People have been able to get around the droids bootloaders for a while now the real question is will this device gain enough traction where the developer community will want to go through the effort to do it? Now im no programmer but i assume that since this device is using a different platform then previous moto phones the sideloading that people used for the droid 3/4/bionic/razer will need to be re-engineered to get passed the bootloader. Anyone know if any other recent qualcomm packing phones came with locked bootloaders that have been cracked/circumvented already?antef - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
There are lots of phones out there with signed bootloaders that have never been fully cracked so that alternative kernels could be flashed. It's not the same thing nor as easy as getting it rooted. If you care about such things as the software on your phone, you simply shouldn't purchase from or support OEMs or carriers that lock it down like this.Zstream - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
I had no issues with my Atrix 4G. In fact it beats out my Nokia Lumia 900 and Iphone 4 in terms of battery life. It never "froze" on me or deemed slow. So, no I don't have any idea what you're talking about.KingKuba - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
Never had a problem with my Atrix, fast, smooth, great battery life and that was on 2.2The only thing Galaxy Nexus has is updated software, nothing else. Everything else about it is not really worth talking about.
Software is overrated anyway, there's nothing really you can do on 4.0/4.1 that you can't do on 2.2/2.2, well except half the apps/games are still incompatible with ICS/JB.
jjj - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
If this is 99$ what the hell are they selling at 200$?Maybe they have a quad Krait ready soon.haukionkannel - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
It is 99$ with two years contract... So in free market 400-500$...dagamer34 - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
Only 8GB of internal storage plus the HTC One X isn't going to have a price adjustment so soon after launch (though there are plenty of places to find it cheaper than directly from AT&T).Impulses - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
It's just $99 because there's no way Moto was gonna be able to best the SGS3 hype machine or the two month lead the One X has. You're looking at the specs, like any enthusiast would, but specs are not necessarily the biggest factor in moving phones off carrier's shelves. Simple word of mouth, hype, and store employees bias would bury this phone if it were $200...Nevermind that it seems to have fewer software modifications than Samsung or HTC's equivalent, or that Googorola will probably have tons of help in porting new OS versions for quicker updates. It does have a smaller battery than the competition tho, they should release the MAXX version already instead of waiting several months.
Impulses - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
The $99 price point probably means we'll see it at $50 at some third party soon after launch if not as a pre-order tho, that's pretty incredible for a high end phone like this... And here I thought my $120 EVO LTE was a good deal.Belard - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
As long as the phone sells well, it will be a $100 phone. Older Motorola phones have kept their $100 price point. This is mc first hires android model... Which severely devalues the older phones. Heck, I can get a new iPhone 4 for $100.I'll try this atrix phone in the next few days... It looks like it will be the phone for me.
jjj - Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - link
Moto has nothing better than this one and selling their top phone at 100$ is just tragic. The One X has no SD slot, the S3 doesn't have a very good screen,build quality or looks and if Moto couldn't sell this at 200$ they need new marketing folks.Granted the Atrix HD has a smallish battery and a huge bezel but since there is no great phone out there 200$ was ok.
shabby - Saturday, July 14, 2012 - link
What is it with moto and its love for thick bezel's? This phone is 2mm wider than a galaxy nexus and has a 0.15" smaller screen. Even the razr is 1mm wider than the galaxy nexus and it has a puny 4.3" screen... hello moto!nevertell - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
This functionality is available on all android devices that are capable of running Go Launcher EX. I've been using it on my 3VO for quite a while, it;s way better than sense in many ways. It has a multilevel dock and it doesn't matter if you use it's complimentary software (GoSMS, GoThis, GoThat) or stick with the stock software packages, it integrates really well with the phone.I always thought of this as one of the greatest strengths of android, since even though you may have a manufacturer preloaded "desktop environment", you can always use the one you like on most of android devices out there. It's just like with desktop linux distributions now, where you can choose gnome2, gnome3, KDE, enlightenment, XFCE and many other DE's/window managers.
jeffbui - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
Fragmentation. To a casual user (95%+ of the population) this is unknown and unavailable.nevertell - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
Just as with the desktop environments, these "mobile environments" are cross-compatible. They are even better at adapting to different software environments as they are just a bit more than a glorified window manager for a home screen.I don't see this kind of fragmentation any kinds of problems, since you can still access the same programs and use them as you would on either HTC sense, Touchwiz or Go Launcher. The only pieces of software that cause fragmentation are things that are truly unavailable on certain devices whilst being widely adopted on others, such as a manufacturer's built-in camera app or the whole OS, heck, gingerbread is still the most popular Android, even though Jelly Bean is just around the corner.
Impulses - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
That's not even remotely close to fragmentation, which has become a vague bogeyman... That's akin to calling Firefox or Chrome on a PC fragmentation of Windows, lol. The launcher is just an app like any other, any user that's not aware they can change it by installing a new one from the Play store probably couldn't care less about OS versions.Spunjji - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
+1azntwboy - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
it would be great if you could please do a color accuracy test on this screen. so far there hasn't been a recent Android device with actual good color reproduction. its a shame. it makes me feel like getting an iPad 7 if the rumors are true, but I really don't like the proprietary methods of Apple. but I am in real need of a device with accurate colors for my work.MadMan007 - Sunday, July 15, 2012 - link
According to some intial reviews the 'ClearBoost' screen on this is oversaturated and the colors come off as very fake. Hopefully there are different color profiles, and if so they will each be tested.Impulses - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
Over saturated colors seem to be the order of the day on mobile displays since it impresses people in store, same as TVs really. We just don't get much in the way of calibration tools. My EVO's SLCD2 display seems more over saturated and less accurate than my one year old tablet's IPS display, I can't even imagine how SAMOLED displays look when showing off skin tones and other things very sensitive to color accuracy.Belard - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
Been looking at replacing my SGS1 Captivate for the past month of so... Its been an okay phone, battery always sucked, the speaker phone sucked, the Alarm sucked even more. I never cared for its shape in which the top and bottom look/feel alike. The power button didn't stuck out quite enough. But it was the first Galaxy phone 2 years ago at $225... within a few months, $100.Luckily, there is an at&t store with actual live phones (only Apple is willing to provide all at&t locations with real phones, not dummy mock-ups) to feel and use. Only thing that sucks about ALL of todays phones is the quest for larger screens... How about some 4" screens?
Lumia900 = $100 / Pros: looks great, feels great, camera button. Cons: WP7 (dead end platform, again MS?) and the screen edge kind of cuts into your hand... you feel it. Also, all the tech is 2 years old.
SONY Ion = $100 / Bigger than it needs to be, nice metal back, pretty wall paper (typical SONY) - has a dedicated Camera shutter button! CONs: Can't open the cover for the USB/HDMI - stupid rubber thingies. No nails. Also, not hearing anything great about the phone... not even here. skip!
Pantechs = $1 phones, older tech... seems to be cheap / breaks easily.
Samsung GS3 = $200 / Like the actual HOME button. at&t has red now. Top end phone. CONs: Cheap glossy plastic back feels as cheap as it looks. Feeling the back, you'll barely notice which end is up. Still in consideration.
Samsung Galaxy Nexus = $200 / Feels better than the SGS3, same button arrangement... just removed from at&t. Its bottom end is bigger, so you know quickly which way is up.
HTC One X = $200 / Excellent shape and feel... has texture. Love the message light. CONSs: The power button is on the top. Okay, my personal issue. I'm used to it on the side.
Motorola ATRIX HD = $100 / Looks very nice - a but old-school looking. Can tell which end is up - front and back. No covers over HDMI/USB. Smallest screen of new phones (4.5") Cons: No actual phone buttons (how well does Launcher7 run on it?) - don't know if this is a good or bat thing yet.
I really wish they would make phones with physical main buttons. Like the Samsung Rugby.
amdwilliam1985 - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
Samsung GS3, Galaxy Nexus & HTC One X are all solid phones.I personally will go for the SGS3 for the superior overall experience, put a case on it if you don't like the plastic. Pick Nexus for the fastest software update. Or One X for the beats I guess.
I got SGS2 and I love it, having it run "naked" this whole time. No screen protector, no case. I really like the phone shape and the texture(TMobile SGS2) of its back.
Every time I pick up my gf's iPhone 4s, I say it out loud, "This iBrick is heavy." All iPhones I saw have cases, so that made all of they look/feel cheap.
Belard - Monday, July 16, 2012 - link
Yep, they are all great phones. So we should choose based on preference.I don't put phones in cases. They are made to look good, no? Beats means nothing to me... It's branded loudness for the most part. I've returned a dinky Sony phone because it was flimsy garbage (looked nice) and spent $230 for an unlocked Sony slider which I still use today as an alarm clock.
There are different covers for the iPhone. Having a glass back is a problem as many people break them. I've been considering the iphone4, it's a very nice looking phone.
The SGS3 has a cheap feel... But has a nice shape. The hdmi on the MC is handy.
Arbie - Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - link
... which if any of them support SD or microSD?? I'm not going to buy a phone or tablet without it,
Arbie
Belard - Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - link
The Atrix HD has a microSD slot on the side (you can see the cover on the left side in the pictures above) - supports up to 32GB.Really can't wait to see the full review of this phone... waiting, waiting, waiting.
Burticus - Wednesday, July 18, 2012 - link
How is it? I crave a smartphone that I can leave the house with without taking a charger with me.peevee - Monday, July 30, 2012 - link
The Android phone makers are completely insane. 5 years (!!!) after iPhone release they still cannot comprehend one simple truth - plastic belongs in $1 stuff, not in $600-$800 phones (and that is what even $0 subsidized price really is). You just cannot make it look and feel expensive with plastic, even if you call the plastic "polycarbonate" or any other name. Steel, Aluminum alloys, Titanium, glass, noble woods, leather - your choice, but not plastic (and preferably not magnesium alloys either - they look and feel - as in "specific thermoconductivity" - too close to plastic).And there should not be any visible joints on the back - they look unsightly and produce creaks.
And there should be immediate updates to new Android versions the same day Google releases it (you can make your testing-development on betas) for as long as hardware supports it (which is AT LEAST 3 years).
It is not that expensive - component cost of $500 notebook is MUCH MUCH more (processors-LCD-battery etc) than the $600 phone.
Belard - Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - link
The seams on the back vary... some have kick stands, some have removable backs - which look a bit better since you don't need a slot for the SD-CARD and SIM CARD...The good thing with a non-removable back is a more water-proof phone... slightly.
Demi9OD - Monday, August 6, 2012 - link
I own this phone but am considering switching it out for the HTC One X during my 30 day grace period. I got caught up with the hype and started with a SGIII. The screen dimness was really unforgivable even at full brightness for use as a navigation unit for driving. I took my old Droid X2 (Verizon) and the SGIII into the AT&T store to compare screens. The X2, though hated on for the low quality screen, was just a beast in the brightness department on full torch. It ran pretty well with CM7, but had it's flaws, especially with Pandora. The Atrix HD looked a little brighter at full blast and they sucked me in with the $100 cheaper entry, the free vehicle dock, and $40 worth of free accessories. This made the Atrix HD effectively a $20 phone compared to the SGIII and HTC One X @ $200.My complaints with the Atrix HD are primarily due to the battery, which drains incredibly quickly. The camera is also sub par. The display is definitely over-saturated, akin to cranking up digital vibrance on an nvidia video card if you are familiar with the effect.
All that said, does the One X have a vehicle dock with built in charging? Both my Motorola phones, the X2 and Atrix HD, have fantastic Moto brand vehicle docks with drop in charging. This is much preferred to connecting a cable every time I use it in my car.
Belard - Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - link
Really? The worst I read about the phone is the battery life. But that with tweaks and using their SMARTACTIONS seems to help a lot.I use a real camera for photos... so that means little to me. I was looking at the dock anyway... so that makes it a better deal, I guess the dock doesn't charge, eh?
Demi9OD - Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - link
Battery life has improved over a couple of cycles. The vehicle dock charges and is really nice. Sticking with the Atrix HD.Belard - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
Got the Atrix HD. The battery life has improved quite a bit in its first week. The first day was horrible... in which little usage sucked up battery life. 7 days, with typical Phone/data usage - I'm only using 50% battery within 24hrs.GPS is smokin... love it
Nolimitsdesigns - Saturday, February 9, 2013 - link
I've been reading through this forum and have realised people make no sense.In the earlier comments people were slating the Atrix family without giving any actual reasons. The comment that iphones are better got to me. Until the iphone 5 the Atrix (even the 4g) wiped the floor both on paper and in life.
I've had an atrix and had no problems that weren't my own doing (had a problem with rooting) and I now have an atrix 2 which also has no problems. Haven't yet seen it necessary to get the hd. I also don't like the look.
Another thing that proves people aren't that bright is the constant comparisons to quad core phones. Phones with twice the power will be faster. Simple. They will over heat. They will drain their batteries. A good dual core though will prove better in day to day life. Until they improve the batteries or consumption.
Tegra chips are great for gamers and I agree (with earlier comments) that phones will soon overtake consoles. Tegra chips are(in my experience) reliable and friendly on the consumption front. I would much prefer my old atrix 4g to an iphone 5!!