This post was published 14 years, 9 months ago. Due to the rapidly evolving world of technology, some material it contains may no longer be applicable.
Motorola is determined to make the world know that the Motorola Atrix is more than just another smartphone. They first showed off this beauty during CES 2011 a few days back and it seemed to get lots of attention. The Atrix is in fact a rather major step forward for smartphones.
Now while it does not have the quite the same level of awe-factor and jaw-dropping improvements over previous-gen smartphones, that made us drool in excitement on the Nexus one release 12 months ago, it still has some cool stuff worth checking out.
For instance, Motorola supplies (as an optional extra) a video docking solution for the Atrix. It’s independently powered, so acts as a charger, and features a HDMI port on the rear, so you never have to fiddle around with leads after the initial setup. This also means there is no need to ruin the sleek looks by adding a HDMI port directly onto the device. The handset recognizes the dock straight away and pairs immediately, switching to full screen mode. And as it is capable of outputting 1080p video, you can watch whatever you like streamed seamlessly.
However, this is not the accessory that is getting me most excited. Nope, the thing that’s really exciting about this phone and stands the Atrix out from anything else currently on the market is the Motorola Laptop Dock. Looking like a super slim netbook, the Laptop Dock consists of just a battery (with 8 hours lifetime), a tactile chiclet keyboard with a trackpad, and an 11.6-inch screen.
There is no processor or any kind of computing chipset inside, it’s completely dormant until the Atrix is coupled. Just plug the smartphone into the back and the laptop springs to life, with a bright, colour-rich display and full functionality.
This is because of Motorola’s new software engine, WebTop, which allows you to run applications and cloud-based programmes inside browser windows. And as these windows are driven by the latest version of Firefox, they are compatible with nigh-on any utility that can be used on the ‘net, including Flash 10.1 – you can even use Firefox add-ons and themes!
I imagine this will be a similar experience to Jolicloud web apps or Mozilla Prism, but I can’t say for sure as I was unable to attend CES myself because it’s held out in the States and so I have not been able to use the device yet personally.
The Atrix is capable of running multiple windows at the same time and when it’s hooked-up with the Laptop Dock (or other docking solution) it creates a separate window for all of its Android features.
Indeed, this exhibits yet another feature of WebTop as, thanks to the fact that the Atrix is an advanced smartphone too, you can use it to make calls by simply clicking on a phone number within a web page, or store them in its contacts list. And when in its laptop housing, the handset automatically defaults to speakerphone.
In addition, as it runs on Android 2.2, you can also run any compatible third-party application within a window. For example, playing Angry Birds through the AV dock on a 42-inch TV. But it is also important for far more than just gaming, as word processing and other office-based software runs a treat.
The Atrix 4G is not to shabby spec-wise either. It sports a dual core processor with 1GHz per core, 1GB ram, front and rear camera’s, 4G (US ONLY) and 16GB internal memory AND a microSD card slot (EAT THAT NEXUS S!). OK, admittedly this is nothing unique as many other phones are due to have even faster processors e.g. 1.5GHz per core but it’s still a nice speed boost over what you will get with the current 1GHz single core processors like on the Nexus S especially as it’s teamed with an impressive 1GB of ram.
But to be honest that’s not the most exciting part of the specs. Oh no because this phone steals the trophy of the highest resolution Android screen (as the Nexus One did last Jan). Yes, that’s right, this baby has an AMAZING 4-inch qHD display sporting 24-bit colour and with a resolution of 960 x 540 hopefully this will lead to competition later in the year featuring screens that will take the resolution crown away from the iPhone 4! No word yet as to whether this will be AMOLED or SLCD though (I have my fingers crossed for a sexy AMOLED!).
The downside to this however is that the phone is a bit larger than is practical for a phone in my opinion. I hope to see some more android phones throughout the year featuring 3.7 inch screens as I feel making phones as big as the Atrix, Galaxy S and Desire HD is bit like going backwards. They may not fit properly in a pocket when sitting down and are awkward to hold and use (remind you of anything? – yes, the very first mobile phones!).
Other than that my only real gripes are the fact that it comes pre-loaded with Froyo not Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich or Honeycomb; the fact it’s not a Google experience phone (not pure stock Android like a Nexus) so updates will likely be delayed and finally, the lack of a trackball or trackpad. Many of the current phones seem not to be including them which I feel is a shame – I love my Nexus one’s trackball! Not only for the extra navigational options and gaming uses but also because I love the whole LED notification thing – I think it’s rather ace and so I hope this will not be the end of the trackball/trackpad on Android phones.
Naturally, it is the 3G option that we’re most interested in on this side of the pond, as we’ll be getting the Motorola Atrix (without the 4G suffix) via Orange in Q2 (around April/May). It is believed, though, that all other specifications will remain for the UK market, after all, how will it run as a portable computer if the processing power is reduced?
Pricing details are yet to be announced, but it has been speculated that the US version is likely to be $270 (on a contract) for the handset, and around $60-80 for the Laptop Dock.
To summarise then: I believe that this phone is a great bar-raiser for Android smartphones (it does a better job in that regard than the Nexus s which was intended to do just that) but I think that I wont be ditching my Nexus One just yet. For sure, the Atrix has some compelling features but it’s not stock Android so the speed benefits of the hardware will be minimal at this stage and updates will likely be slow, the front-facing camera has yet to really be useful everyday unless you’re the vain type who likes to regularly look at themselves, and the form factor is too impractical. I see this as important step, but for now it is a niche product.
If you don’t own a recent Android phone and the idea of potentially slower updates doesn’t bother you then this could be a great purchase. It’s good-looking, well-built and has an amazing laptop dock that I hope catches on to other manufactures, maybe even one where you can put the phone into the back of a similar dock that’s like a tablet and switches to the Honeycomb tablet interface of Android upon docking? To me it’s a bar raiser and an innovative exploration into a new form factor. I’m very glad it exists and hope it does well, but I don’t believe it’s a complete next-gen package just get.
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