-
"Traded my iPhone 4 for an Atrix 4G and am quite happy!" on by GeneRiley
Pros: Fingerprint recognition rocks!
4-inch screen
Tons of apps
Excellent camera and 720p HD video recording
Complete app integration
Complete Google integration
Acts as a USB memory stick
Over the air updates
Voice to teCons: Battery life, It's good but not great
No Netflix!
Front-facing camera... useless?Summary: Yep, I traded my iPhone 4 for this phone! Why? Because most of my life is in Google so I figured I might as well give Android a try. So, speaking as someone who's owned both platforms for a while, here's a quick list of pros and cons:
P.S. If you will buy this Motorola Atrix 4G I suggest at: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KZP4BQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=***************&********=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&************=B004KZP4BQ
Atrix Pros:
1> Fingerprint recognition rocks! Imagine being able to unlock your phone with one hand! No code to remember, just key by swiping either of your two index fingers. Easy and secure.
2> Smooth edges and lighter in the pocket. My son showed me how his iPhone 4 has left a permanent imprint in his jeans front pocket. He's even got a spot where the sharp edge of the iPhone 4 case has actually cut a hole through his jeans. By contrast, my Atrix has rounded corners (like the iPhone 3 used to) and is much lighter so I barely feel it or see it sitting in my pocket.
3> The four inch screen is a full half inch larger than the iPhone 4. The extra half inch real estate really does make a difference, surprisingly.
4> Tons of apps - some are free on Android while the same ones on iPhone cost money. Case in point, Angry Birds is free on Android but is a paid app on iPhone. Amazon's own Android app store (which AT&T doesn't presently allow for Atrix but they promise a fix soon) also offers a daily paid Android app for free.
5> Excellent camera and 720p HD video recording. Plus, according to what I've been experiencing, I'm recording audio in stereo.
6> Complete app integration. When I add a new social app like Facebook to my phone and select to share something like a photo, the Android system immediately offers Facebook as an option to share/send to. With the iPhone, you're stuck with whatever sharing options are set in the OS. Sure, you could launch the iPhone Facebook app and share the photo that way but it's refreshing to see the wealth of choices immediately available to me when I'm already in the photo app and I just took a picture I want to share.
7> Complete Google integration. The first day I signed into my phone with my Google account, I instantly had all my Gmail contacts, mail and calendar items populated in my phone. Plus, Motorola automatically links in your other contacts - like Facebook, Twitter, Live.com, etc. once you add those accounts to your phone. So my contacts listings include a plethora of information about my friends - including their Facebook birthdays (which also show in my calendar!), their latest social postings and my last few personal interactions with them (texts, calls, emails, etc.). Another neat part of this integration is whenever a friend changes their profile picture, it automatically updates their picture in my phone's contacts.
8> Micro USB standard connection for charging and computer connectivity. It's really nice that I now have the same USB connection as my Kodak HD pocket camera and my daughter's phone. We keep a single cable in the car so we can charge any of these devices on the go.
9> Acts as a USB memory stick. This ability is built into Android. You plug it into a computer and you get several options for connectivity. One of them (USB) allows you to access the phone's entire memory (internal and micro SD) so you can easily transfer contents to/from the phone to any computer. I can't stress how nice it is to no longer be "married" to a single computer. I also can't stress how nice it is not to have to rely on iTunes to manage my phone's contents.
10> Over the air updates. I received my first firmware upgrade from Motorola about a week ago - it came directly to the phone! What a breath of fresh air to be able to upgrade my phone while it's just sitting on the coffee table. No cable required, no computer required. If you check the list of requirements for any iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, you'll find a computer is absolutely required! Not so for Android phones. These things *are* computers in their own right.
11> Google Maps with spoken turn-by-turn directions! This amazingly free app from Google is available only on Android phones. It uses accurate GPS and depicts your location on a map which is capable of various layers (satellite, traffic conditions, terrain, etc.). Zoom into a city using just the map layer (all other layers off) and you'll see 3D renderings of all the buildings. Panning and changing direction or perspective is butter-smooth! Get directions to a location and you'll be brought to the Google Navigation app - which speaks directions to you while showing you your location on a map (which can also be set to show various layers). I used this app to get me successfully to a remote spot in Spokane WA I'd never been to before. I prefer this app to my car's dedicated GPS device!
12> Voice to text and text to voice! Speaking commands to my phone and speaking out texts and social updates has become so second nature to me now that I hardly find it necessary to type any more. While I'm in the car, the excellent Vlingo app (free and came with the phone) speaks out text messages to me loud and clear and lets me reply just by speaking! I can update Facebook or text a friend safely now while driving. It's also nice to hear a text spoken to me while I'm busy washing the dishes so I can choose whether or not it's important enough to stop what I'm doing to reply to. Voice recognition is built into Android and is available wherever a text input is found in any app throughout the system.
13> HDMI-Out rules! I went on a small trip to visit friends who had moved a few hundred miles away and brought my HDMI cable with me. Unlike the iPhone 4, HDMI-Out is built into the device and the cable is included. It was an easy thing to connect my phone to my friend's living room TV. The phone becomes a remote control for the content on the TV. You can view photos, videos and play music from your phone. No frame rate issues, no skewing or any anomalies at all. The 720p HD videos I'd shot earlier that day were a joy to watch on his large screen. The quality was so good my friend remarked how surprised he was to see actual HD content rendering from such a small device.
14> Flash for web sites! I used the excellent Pulse app when I had my iPhone 4 and routinely found myself staring at a blank, white square when I happened to link to a news article which contained a flash video (as so many do). Now, on my Atrix 4G, I use the same Pulse app but can now see and play the same content I was missing all along. This is a huge benefit for me as I no longer have to make an Evernote with the URL so I can remember to view at home what I couldn't view on the road.
And now for the cons:
1> Battery life. It's good but not great. I start my day with a fully charged phone around 6:30am and by the time I'm back in bed (around 11pm), I typically find myself at 20% or lower at the end of my day. Everyone uses their phones differently and I'm a sometimes heavy user who doesn't always bother to stop background apps and keeps wifi and GPS on 24/7. Why? Well, I've noticed usage of these background apps is handled relatively well by Android 2.2. They're often at zero percent CPU so I figure why bother closing them? In this way, Android is better at multitasking than the iPhone - which, if you keep too many apps open on an iPhone, it can actually crash/lockup! I also keep GPS and wifi on all the time because I've noticed they don't actually get used/accessed unless I launch or switch to an app that uses these systems. When I launch the map, I want the GPS function. When I launch the camera, I also want GPS (for geotagging my photos). When I'm wandering into Starbucks, I want to easily access their network without first having to start wifi on my phone.
2> No Netflix! Although I hardly ever played a Netflix video on my iPhone 4, just knowing I can't do that with my Atrix 4G irks me. It's like someone has taken a tool from my tool belt. Even though I may hardly ever use that tool, I miss having it and know it's gone now. In lieu of an actual video streaming Netflix app, I've settled for a Netflix queue managing app. At least I can browse titles and move them into my streaming queue for viewing at home on my Blu-Ray player.
3> Front-facing camera... useless? Another tool I hardly used but now feel is missing is FaceTime on the iPhone 4. Sure, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've used FaceTime (since it requires another iOS device or a Mac to communicate with) but it was neat. I've tried Tango, Fring and Yahoo Messenger on the Atrix but they either don't make use of the front camera at all or the results are a bit jittery). I hope Skype comes through for us Atrix owners soon!
Overall:
Overall, I'm happy with my decision to trade my iPhone 4 for an Atrix 4G. Eventually, AT&T will release the 4G cap on this device. Eventually, there will be a decent front-facing camera app. Eventually, Netflix may allow streaming videos. Let's face it, there is no such thing as the perfect phone. But, when you weigh the pros and cons for this phone, you can easily see there are more benefits to owning an Atrix 4G than owning an iPhone 4. I'm quite happy with my trade and enjoy seeing commercials which tout my phone as being the most powerful phone AT&T presently offers. Of course, that's bound to change very soon but the point here is I don't think I'll ever be tempted by the "fruit" again.
Updated on Jul 29, 2011
Updated on Sep 27, 2011Edit Broken Link:
If you will buy the Arix 4G I suggest at: http://beam.to/Arix4G
Updated on Apr 18, 2012New Update!
Check for best deal of the Motorola Atrix 4G, before you will buy it at -> Androidlikeit.blogspot.com/p/motorola-atrix-4g.html -
"Uninformed people need to learn a few things...." on by johnnydeathmatch
Pros: NO HUGE KEYBOARD TO CARRY AROUND, GENIUS. You can use ANY bluetooth/USB keyboard you like. It comes with an HDMI cable! Hook it up to a TV/monitor along with a Bluetooth keyboard, and use the screen as a touchpad. Very nice media player interface.
Cons: 1080p video hasn't been enabled yet. Really? You're gonna complain that a PHONE can't play 1080p videos? I'm sure this will be resolved anyway very quickly. 5MP camera with dual LED flash: It's a phone! I want at least 20MP! C'mon!!!!
Summary: LOAD WHATEVER APPS YOU WANT! The cnet writer here, as well as the other reviewers all state that you can't install third party apps. Way to confuse everyone with false information, CNET! Quote: "...against the nature of android market," well, actually, the Android Market comes with the phone so you can install all the apps you want from the Android Market. Sideloading, which is a different subject, is not enabled, but anyone who has enough intelligence to use Android and wants to sideload apps can figure that out. Google it, there are lots of articles (there's a great one on Lifehacker) and tools (such as the Sideloading Wonder Machine and Appbrain) to make that easy to do. I own a Captivate currently, which had the same limitation. That lasted from the time I left the store until the time I got home. Took two minutes to fix. Also, AT&T has stated that they will be allowing sideloading soon, so by the time this phone comes out it may not even be an issue. For everyone knocking the Atrix for not supporting sideloading, can you please give me an example of an app that you would like to sideload? Didn't think so. If you aren't smart enough to figure out how to enable sideloading, then there isn't anything that you would want to sideload anyways.
As I've pointed out, the reviewer is a special person for writing that. Third party apps are supported. They were trying to refer to sideloading, but the writer doesn't seem to understand the difference.
Weak HSPA+ on AT&T? What the hell does that mean? My Captivate doesn't even have HSPA+ (just HSDPA) and I consistently hit 2Mb to 4Mb downloads and 1Mb to 1.5Mb uploads. It's plenty fast for me to do downloads, browse the internet, and stream video in high def. The other reviewer hopes Verizon will be better, well Verizon's "unlimited" data plan is capped at 5GB. T-Mobile kicks you down to Edge after 5GB. Sprint charges an extra $10 a month for 4G network access. So none of the other carriers are any better. If you want to stream video and actually use your unlimited data connection without being limited, the only way to go is AT&T (grandfathered) or Sprint (extra $10/mo.)
The reviewer also knocks AT&T's Android lineup, apparently unaware of phones like the Samsung Captivate, Dell Streak, and even the SE Xperia X10. Maybe you should do a little research before you write an article, so that you can be slightly more informed than your readers. Or continue in ignorance.
This phone won best device at CES by just about every news outlet and blog covering the event. That's right, best out of EVERYTHING at CES.
Add to all the power and the great feature set everything that may become possible once the hackers at XDA get ahold of it. Imagine a full Linux distro (or at least more applications), or Chrome OS instead of the webtop that it comes with! Or Windows 8 when it comes out (ARM compatible)!
And talk about future-proof (which is really an oxymoron; future-less-obsolete would be more accurate). This is about as future-proof as you can get in a phone. Dual core CPU and nVidia GPU, just try to beat that next year. TI just announced the OMAP5 SOC which will be quad core at 2GHz (which is the next logical progression) and it won't hit the market until the second half of 2012... which is a year and a half away. Not to mention that TI hasn't even shipped the OMAP4 in any devices yet, so the Atrix is as good as it gets, for quite a while.
The article doesn't even bother to mention that the WiFi radio in this phone is cable of both 2.4GHz and 5GHz connections. The article also knocks the screen for not looking sharp enough, despite a pixel density of 275PPI, the highest of any Android phone available in the US. The human retina's effective dpi is 250 anyway. Really, to be able to distinguish the pixels in this display, you'd have to hold the phone at the same distance from your face as the end of your nose. So, once again, the reviewer here shows their lack of research, intelligence, effort, and/or regard for their job and journalistic responsibility of informing the reader of factual information.
Also, I'd like to thank the reviewer for testing the phone in New York City. That's a great way to get real information on the quality of the microphone and data speed, in an overcrowded city that always has bad service. Way to have a balanced review! Upload speeds of 0.18Mb? I've never seen speeds that slow on AT&T's 3G service (at least with one or more bars), let alone 4G. At least I have no idea what kind of speed to expect under real world (not NYC) usage. Knocking the battery for only lasting a day while being used constantly for testing is just weird. Heavily using any other smartphone I've ever seen results in a dead battery in a few short hours.
Updated on Feb 9, 2011 -
"Come on, guys." on by drewnusser
Pros: Great screen, dual core cpu, has great optional accessories. Also, you gotta love Android.
Cons: AT&T isn't great everywhere, but this doesn't mean that the phone isn't amazing. It's also on Android 2.2, but they promised an upgrade later this year.
Summary: Okay, I'm sick of people giving this bad ratings because of the network it's on, or the price of the OPTIONAL accessories. Really, if you hate AT&T's network so much, why not jump on and give all of their phones an awful ratings.
Also, I agree that the accessories are priced way too high, but that doesn't mean that the phone is any less impressive. We're reviewing the PHONE here, and uneducated people who haven't even seen the phone are missing the point of the PHONE review are giving this thing a bad name.
Here are the facts:
It has 1 gb of RAM - the most of the smartphones.
It has a dual-core 1GHz processor - most powerful of any smartphone.
It's screen has a higher resolution than any other phone other than the iPhone 4.
It has amazing (although overpriced) OPTIONAL accessories that no other phone offers.
It has a 1930 mAh battery, way better than anything else available.
It has a front-facing camera, which does not require wi-fi to work.
Am I leaving anything out? Probably. Either way, there are very few PHONES that even come close to this one.
To sum it up, we are supposed to be reviewing the Motorola Atrix here - not AT&T. Don't blast the most powerful smartphone on the planet because you have issues with what AT&T has done with it. And if you still want to after reading this, be sure to go and trash talk all the other phones that AT&T offers. -
"Who uses third party apps?" on by LostAngelinTX
Pros: Specs are awesome. Android 2.3 is planned by the end of the year.
Cons: All the docks.
Summary: If you want a netbook or laptop, buy one. This is a smart phone. Also, if the app you want isn't in the marketplace, chances are you don't /won't use it anyway. Now if ATT was to block the app from being loaded from the marketplace(I haven't heard of them doing this, but anything is possible), then the solution is so simple a caveman could do it.
Also is rumored to have used Gorilla Glass on the display. If this is true and the gg lives up to its reputation, then no need for screen covers. I would still get the Otterbox case though.
1. Power off the device.
2. Remove the sim
3. Power on the device (without the sim)
4. Connect via wifi
5. Install app
6. Power off phone
7. Re-insert sim
8. Power on phone.
9. Enjoy!
Updated on Feb 17, 2011 -
"wheres the 4G" on by afghanmoose
Pros: battery life is better
screen quality is better
lighter feeling
snappy OS
swype with microphoneCons: most apps and Android OS not optimized for Dual core yet
apps crash , probably because not configured with Dual core or speed
Needs a dedicated "Facetime" tweek for all android devices with forward facing camerasSummary: Bottom line is, Motorola should listen to its users
Write a Review
Online Stores
| Store | Promotions | In Stock | Price | Total Cost | Initial Sort Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Yes | Yes | Tax: TBD Ship: TBD | $305.00 Shop Now | |
| See all prices | |||||
Compare to other cell phones
Compare Selected
Check coverage in your area 
%20-%20Cell%20Phones%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/motorola-atrix-4g-at/4852-6454_7-34468396.html&x_breadcrumb=8900:3488:3504:6454&x_arw_bkts=MAD:high_wireless_switcher){kind=small}