If you must tweak that doc on the road, the Razr Maxx features the Quickoffice app, which lets you create and edit office documents; Citrix's GoToMeeting video conference application; and the portable PC experience that Webtop provides (more on that below).
MotoCast, Webtop, and Smart Actions
Pushing the smartphone productivity envelope further is the MotoCast app. It lets you share your documents and media files with your home or work computer. MotoCast also links with the Gallery app to serve up photos, and the Music app to access music files.
Many Motorola Android phones feature the company's Webtop app, and the Droid Razr Maxx continues the tradition. It morphs the handset into a quasi mobile PC with Netbook-level functionality. Just attach it to compatible accessories like the Lapdock 100 (10-inch screen), the Lapdock 500 Pro (14-inch screen), or an HD Station, and the Webtop platform fires up automatically. These Lapdocks sport a keyboard and touch pad, but you'll have to contribute your own input devices if using something like the HD Station.
The Webtop platform at its core is a Linux-based operating system offering a Netbook-like experience for creating documents and surfing the Web via a full Firefox Web browser. The UI is pretty sparse, made up of a dock or software launch pad with a few applications. The phone's screen is mirrored on the larger display as well, so you can still access your phone's contents and functions in this configuration. To read more about the Webtop solution, check out our review of the Atrix's laptop dock.
Another interesting software spin on Android is Motorola's Smart Actions app designed to make the company's handsets easier for novices to operate. It's basically an automation tool for phone behavior that follows rules you define. For example, you can have the phone automatically turn off Bluetooth and GPS when your home Wi-Fi network is detected. Conversely, the Razr Maxx's brightness can be commanded to dial way down when battery levels are critical.
Other neat tricks are possible, such as having the ringer automatically silence itself in the office or launch the music player when you plug in your headphones. Still, I'm not sure how useful this is since I feel humans should control their technology, not the other way around. When smartphones really become self aware and double as personal companions, perhaps they'll be able to predict my whims, but for now I'd rather choose what I want to do when I want to do it.
Multimedia
A jack of all trades, the Motorola Droid Maxx serves up a wealth of multimedia skills to pass the time. Besides third-party apps like Slacker Radio, the Maxx has the same robust Music app that is much more capable than the stock Android software. Similar to the Droid Bionic, the app has Internet radio functions, a Music Store courtesy of Verizon Wireless, and my personal favorite, support for podcast subscription and playback. Don't forget, you can also use the app to stream music from your home server via MotoCast. Thankfully, the Droid Razr Maxx has 16GB of internal memory, plus a preloaded 16GB microSD card, and can support cards up to 32GB. Files it can handle are AAC, AAC+ AAC+ enhanced, AMR NB, AMR WB, MIDI, MP3, WAV, WMA v10, and WMA v9 formats.
Netflix pairs nicely with the Maxx's stunning HD AMOLED screen. Watching "Tron Legacy," even over an LTE connection, was mind blowing and I quickly forgot that the movie has no logical plot. Colors were rich and deep, and blacks were endless. Another treat is the phone's Micro-HDMI port, which you can hook up to a large-screen HDTV to make your experience even more enjoyable. This is possible via DLNA as well. Video formats supported are H.263, H.264, MPEG4, or WMV v9; load your own or download them directly from the Android Market.
Just like the Droid Razr, the Droid Razr Maxx offers a nimble 8-megapixel camera that loads up in a swift 1.1 seconds from the lock screen. There's virtually no shutter lag in between shots to speak of, either. You can adjust the resolution, the shutter tone, the color effects, shot modes, and the exposure. Other settings include geotagging, a self-timer, several scenes modes like Macro and Night Portrait, panorama mode, and flash.
For all the Droid Razr Maxx's speed, picture quality was solid, with clear images and detail. Color accuracy is the phone's weakness, though. Still-life shots looked washed out and muted. In low light, most photos contained image noise, too. The LED flash didn't help this problem, but it didn't blow out subjects in the foreground, either. Able to capture full 1080p HD video with many extra audio functions like Stereo, Wind Reduction, Concert, Balanced, and Front Facing to choose from, capturing movies is the Maxx's forte. My video clips were clear and well exposed even in low light, and the auto stabilization tamed any hand shake.
Performance
I tested the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx on Verizon's CDMA/LTE network in New York. Confirming that there's a reason Verizon is proud of its cellular infrastructure, in my tests the Razr Maxx demonstrated excellent call quality. The phone's earpiece had plenty of volume and I heard no static, buzz, or other digital artifacts during the voice calls I placed. Callers on the other end also said the line was clean and free of any distortion and had difficulty telling I was speaking to them from a mobile phone. Similarly, callers couldn't tell I had switched to the Razr Maxx's speaker phone. I on the other hand noticed that the handset's speaker was soft and lacked serious oomph. That said, the speaker didn't distort at high volumes.
During the short evaluation period, data speeds, even within the CNET offices, were impressive, with fast download speeds averaging just shy of 9Mbps. Uploads, however, in the same location hovered around 0.6Mbps. This performance is lower than the typical speeds we see from Verizon LTE handsets. I plan to update this review with additional test results soon.
Of course the Droid Razr Maxx's claim to fame is its high-performance 3,300mAh battery. The phone is rated by Motorola to offer 21.5 hours of talk time and close to 16 days in standby mode. With numbers like these, it'll take time to run our battery tests on the Maxx, but in anecdotal use during my brief initial test period, the phone never dropped below 80 percent charge--quite remarkable. Later, while testing in the CNET Labs, the Razr Maxx played "The Godfather," with the screen brightness at 50 percent and audio at half volume, on a continuous loop for 19 hours and 47 minutes straight. That's enough juice for more than three back to back, coast to coast flights. In subsequent tests, we squeezed 20 hours of continuous call time. Though it's less than the promised 21.5 hours of talk time, it's still stellar.
Motorola Droid Razr Maxx call quality sample
Listen now:
Conclusion
In many ways, the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx is the smartphone the Droid Razr should have been. Adding a powerful battery yet keeping a slim and trim size makes this excellent Android handset extremely tempting. I really wish the phone came running Android's latest and greatest Ice Cream Sandwich instead of the mere promise of future upgrades. Additionally, its sky-high $299.99 price tag will give all but the most addicted gadget hounds reason to think twice. Still, with fast 4G LTE data speeds, an amazing HD AMOLED screen, and a battery built to make the Energizer Bunny green with envy, the Maxx may be more than enough mobile tech for your needs.
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