Every year as we approach the holiday season, handset makers and carriers want to cash in on big spending. September is a good time to start, as the kids are heading back to school or off to college. Verizon recently released the Samsung Galaxy SIII, which set the bar high for many upcoming phones. Since Google purchased Motorola Mobility, the two have coordinated to make a few enticing Android phones. I won't do a complete overview of each phone, but the summary should be enough to decide whether the phone is for you or not.
Motorola recently launched three RAZR models: the M, HD, and HD MAXX.
- RAZR M: the cheaper of the three phones (listed at $99, a steal compared to most smartphones), but you get what you pay for. The M has lesser specs than the other two models, but for that price, a lot of people will be willing to skimp on some hardware to save the money. the M has a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, but only 8GB of storage. However, you can always buy a micro-SD card for relatively cheap money, so that's not too bad. The M has a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED display, with 960x540 resolution. While the resolution is not great, it's still decent with such a large screen. The 8MP camera is up to any other phone's standard, but the secondary VGA camera is obviously a downgrade in quality. The M has 1080p video recording, which seems to be the norm nowadays, but is still very good of course. It is not listed as having LTE, but we should assume that it will, as not having Verizon's 4G LTE is wasting time and money. It's got a solid battery size at 2000 mAh, but you'll find that it won't last through the day if fully charged in the morning. It's also a slim 8.3mm, but one would think it would be even thinner with the lacking of top-quality internals and a smaller battery than the other RAZR models.
- RAZR HD: it has the same processor and RAM as the M, but a much better display wielding a 4.7 inch Super AMOLED HD with 1,280x720 resolution. It also has an 8MP camera, but a better secondary at 1.3MP compared to the M's VGA. It does come with CDMA/LTE and global capability, although that has a fee for the startup. It weighs 20g more than the M, but has a 2,530 mAh battery, which, combined with the larger screen size, makes total sense. A surprise about the HD though, is that it is only .1mm thicker than the M...seems like a valuable tradeoff to me.
- RAZR HD MAXX: it is basically the same phone as the HD, but, similar to the difference between the Droid RAZR and the Droid RAZR MAXX, the HD MAXX has a much heftier battery. Same as the RAZR MAXX, the HD MAXX utilizes a 3,300 mAh, for longer usage. While the bigger battery can be helpful so the user doesn't have to recharge as often, it also makes the phone .9mm thicker than the standard HD and 11g heavier. That may not seem like alot, but .9mm is a sizeable amount when comparing to around 9mm total.
Of these Google/Moto phones, I would say the HD MAXX is the best value. Personally though, I would opt for the HD, as it has everything I need and has the slim body and weight I want.
Nokia has also released a solid phone, although I personally prefer both Android and iOS over Windows Phone.
The
Lumia 920: it is one of the initial WP8 phones, but Nokia has fallen off the map quite a bit lately, so we'll have to wait for a review to see how good it really is. It comes with a 4.5 inch HD+ display, a dual core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, and an 8MP rear-facing camera that can record 1080p video. The screen comes with a WXGA 1,280x768 resolotuion, which is very good in comparison to other current smartphones. The battery is a somewhat low 2,000 mAh, but there will be some excellent portable power sources coming to market relatively soon. So until then, keep a charger with you.
There is also rumor of a 5-inch
HTC handset TBA soon, which we will evaluate upon it's official press release.
Until then, it looks like you should go with the trusted Galaxy SIII, the RAZR HD, or wait for another phone to come out soon (iPhone 5 perhaps?).
source: Engadget.com
