Motorola Atrix 4G review: Enter the Atrix

Final Words

It seems Motorola is coming back strong into the mobile game. Once the leader in phone manufacturing, it has the pedigree and experience. But that was a long time ago, long before Android was even on the drawing board and things have changed since then.

Android seems to be the go-to smartphone OS these days. And Moto has been doing great at using the opportunity. And the Atrix is its best attempt yet.

Dual-core processing, ample amount of RAM, biggest resolution on a droid to date and the custom MOTOBLUR UI are all ingredients, which give the Atrix 4G a pass to the highest of high-end.

Let’s have a look at who else is at the top.

The Samsung I9100 Galaxy S II is Sammy’s top dog at the moment and it delivers some tremendous multimedia capabilities. It matches the Atrix 4G on hardware and even takes the stakes higher with a much better 8 MP camera and 1080p video recording, Android 2.3.1 Gingerbread and not to mention the bigger SuperAMOLED Plus display, which really knocks all other droid screens out of the park. It’s priced around €560 so it’s a tad pricier than the Moto flagman, which is around €440, but you’ll be getting a much more mature smartphone.

Next up is the LG Optimus 2X, which equals the Atrix 4G in sheer processing power and display size. In terms of imaging the Optimus 2X is the stronger contender with a far more advanced 8 MP shooter on the back and 1080p video recording. The UI customizations added by LG are quite good too. It’s already on the market and can be yours at around €400, which is a bargain.

The HTC Sensation is coming soon to the market too and should probably have an entry price of about €600. It features the latest 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, next generation Adreno 220 graphics, matching qHD (540x960) resolution on the S-LCD 4.3-inch display and the latest version 3.0 of HTC Sense. The 1080p video recording and latest Android version are covered too.

Sony Ericsson seem to finally have a true leader - the XPERIA Arc. It’s priced at €440 and offers a bigger (and better) display, a much better camera and home-brewed customizations to the latest Android version – 2.3.1. Plus it’s slim and refined. It does fall short of the Atrix 4G’s brute hardware force, though.

Finally, we decided to give one of our Hall-of-famers a respectful nod here. The Samsung I9000 Galaxy S is still a great performer, offers a much better SuperAMOLED display (resolution aside), a good camera, the latest Android Gingerbread and Samsung’s propriety TouchWiz 3.0 UI. And when you look at the price tag of around €360 there’s hardly anything left to say. The original Galaxy S is the perfect smart droid for those on a budget looking for the ultimate bang-for-buck.

Well this is it. The Motorola Atrix 4G walked our death course and lived to tell the story. We didn’t like a couple of things about this droid, but they’re the usual Motorola shortcomings - the crappy camera and the attitude that if you stuff enough of the latest hardware inside you don't have to worry about getting the software right.

But you know the old saying – put your money where your mouth is – the Atrix 4G does just that. It puts all its bets on the latest hardware and calls itself the most powerful smartphone in the world. Technically, this is kind of true, so enough said.