Galaxy S II vs. iPhone 4

Motorola Atrix

Holding the Motorola Atrix is like holding a fast and powerful PC in the palm of your hand. This smartphone features a dual-core processor, video chat capabilities and advanced fingerprint security so you can access your phone without having to remember passwords or PIN locks. The Motorola Atrix is our TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award winner because of its fast speeds, customizable widgets and Webtop application that lets you view your phone’s display screen, send text messages or take calls while using your PC.
& Internet of Things - Brazil Rio de Janeiro 18 - 21 October 2011

Design

The design of this phone is solid, compact and offers something new to an Android smartphone. The Motorola Atrix offers qHD display, or quarter high definition display, which includes 960 x 540 resolution. This resolution is not the highest we have seen on a smartphone, but it is the highest resolution available on any Android device. The 960 x 540 pixel resolution makes colors vivid and images sharp on the phone’s 4-inch display screen. With such beautiful pixel resolution, we would like to see a 4.3-inch display screen to truly enhance the device and make it ideal for watching movies, viewing photos or browsing the web. Compared to several other popular smartphones, this cellular device is quite small. It is less than half an inch thick and is 4.63 inches long. It weighs 4.7 ounces, which is lightweight for a device with a 4-inch display screen. The touchscreen display and the virtual keyboard are responsive, and there is hardly any lag time after keys are pressed or while waiting for programs to open.

Multimedia

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Not only does the Motorola Atrix offer all your basic multimedia features such a music player, email and web capabilities, this cellular phone includes a variety of advanced features that may not be found in your average Android device. Video chat capabilities are one standout feature available on this cell phone. Using the Qik video chat application, you can have live video chats with anyone, anywhere. The Atrix contains a front facing web camera, along with a 5MP (megapixel) rear camera. We were disappointed this smartphone only has a 5MP camera. For a device with so many advanced features, we hoped to see this device exceed our expectations with its image capturing features. The Motorola Atrix offers Adobe Flash support so you can view more content on the web. The Adobe Flash makes it possible for you to watch movies, slideshows and other presentations on your hand-held PC. The music player is your basic Android music player and offers playable formats such as AAC, AAC+, MPEG-4 and MP3. This device can capture video at 720p HD, which still offers clear and crisp media; but for a phone with so many advanced and futuristic features, we would like to see full 1080p HD recording.

Call Features & Quality

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The main reason you need a cell phone is for communication. The Motorola Atrix offers all the features you need for making calls. Call transfer, call waiting and muting a phone conversation are features available on this cell phone. It also has a strong speakerphone, along with noise reduction capabilities. Caller ID is available on this device, which allows you to add a picture or ringer ID to any contact. The phone book not only stores contact information but also allows you to sync with your contacts' social networks. Speed dialing, voice dialing, and wait-and-pause dialing are also included. You can also set emergency dialing, along with auto answering.

Battery Life & Memory

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Another standout feature available on the Motorola Atrix is the 530 minutes of talk time battery life. Anytime you use any of the phone's displays counts as talk time. The Motorola Atrix's 530 minutes of talk time gives you ample time for talking on the phone, sending text messages or browsing the internet. Even if your cell phone is in constant use, this long battery life won’t need to be charged multiple times throughout the day. It has enough power it should last an entire day on a single battery charge. However, this smartphone’s battery life didn’t meet our full expectations because it only offers 350 hours of standby time. That's several days less than some other similar cell phones. There is enough memory available to store 15 full-length movies on this device. Up to 16GB is available on this device with a removable memory card that supports an additional 32GB. This amount of memory gives you plenty of space for storing your favorite movies or music along with hundreds of contacts, text messages and photos.

Additional Features

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The feature that sets the Motorola Atrix apart from other smartphones is its Webtop application. This feature allows you to send or receive text messages, place phone calls and browse the internet by connecting your smartphone to a PC. A docking station is available, and sold separately, that connects to your computer, and while your phone is docked, you can do it all, just on a larger screen. You can print from this application or use Microsoft QuickOffice to store presentations, documents or attachments on your phone and quickly access them from a PC. Like mentioned before, this smartphone offers a dual-core processor that rarely leaves you waiting for a program to open. This phone comes with the Android 2.2 operating system along with several security features such as secure data backup and fingerprint recognition technology. This eliminates the hassle of needing to remember multiple passwords or using PIN locks. This is one security precaution to keep your data safe on your cell phone.

Summary

The Motorola Atrix offers a significant amount of power in a small, hand-held device. The Webtop application, long battery life and outstanding screen resolution give this smartphone something different from several similar devices. And despite having only a 5MP camera, this cell phone’s dual-core processor and Android 2.2 operating system make this Android device difficult to beat.