Motorola BACKFLIP review: Back and forth

GPS navigation doesn’t do voice-guidance

The Motorola BACKFLIP comes with a built-in GPS receiver. It took a couple of minutes to get lock but it did even without A-GPS help. Positioning was quite accurate too.

Google Maps is a standard part of the Android package and of course makes an appearance on the Motorola BACKFLIP as well. Its voice-guided navigation version, the Google Maps Navigation is available only in the US, but even without Navigation, there is some kind of guidance: your route and current location appear on the screen so you'll reach your destination eventually.

The BACKFLIP didn’t have the MOTONAV software that is sometimes preinstalled on Motorola phones. It’s a paid app anyway!

Google Maps • Gmaps can plan routes but won’t guide you around the bends

The Street View mode is supported in Google Maps and it’s probably the most fun part of Google Maps - it gives you a 360-degree view of the surroundings where it’s available.

When the digital compass is turned on it feels like you’re taking a virtual tour of the location.

Unfortunately, the compass is one of the least sensitive ones we’ve seen – it takes a while to register rotation and then overshoots because it continues to “turn” even though you’ve stopped.

Using Street View

The Android Market offers a lot of alternative SatNav apps for those outside the US, some of them free.

Android Market has what you need

The Android Market on the Motorola BACKFLIP is the older version that came with earlier OS editions. The difference is merely cosmetic, so you’re not losing out much in terms of usability, but keep in mind that some apps require Android 1.6 or higher to run – those are out of reach for the BACKFLIP at this point.

The structure of the Android Market is quite simple – featured apps on top and below them, four sections (Applications, Games, Search and My downloads).

The Android Market in action

The Applications and Games sections are divided into subsections (e.g. News & Weather or Brain & Puzzle, etc.), Search is self explanatory and My downloads keeps track of all the apps you’ve downloaded so far.

Searching is very easy – just tap the search button, type what you’re looking for (e.g. “navigation”). From then on, it’s pretty easy to choose – each app has a rating, a short description by the author, user comments and screen shots.

Finding the app you need is as easy as pie

Applications vary from pretty silly (including one that simulates a doorbell) to real must-have's (including file managers, navigation software and more), but that’s true for every other app store.