More annoyingly Motorola has lumbered the Backflip with Android 1.5 which was long in the tooth when the phone was launched in Europe earlier in the year and is even more so now UK availability is finally here. Sadly, no upgrade is planned for handsets outside the USA, and the Motoblur social integration suite, while handy, is no recompense for an out-of-date OS that lacks Google's free turn-by-turn navigation.
An attractive idea, but let down by its early Android OS
The 3.1in 480 x 320 capacitive touch screen is identical to that fitted to the Motorola Dext and, while responsive, is neither particularly bright nor colourful and doesn't support multi-touch. Its performance in direct sunlight is also nothing to write home about.
As Android 1.5 only supports 65k colours, the screen's support for 256k is redundant. Fold the keyboard down and the screen swaps from portrait to landscape but an accelerometer means you can also use the screen in landscape with the keyboard folded.
Wireless connectivity comes courtesy of 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. The microSD card slot is good for cards up to 32GB and lurks under the metal battery cover. Motorola only supplies a 2GB card with the device though.
When it comes to verbal communication the Backflip benefits from having the Milestone's dual microphone noise reduction system which cancels out extraneous sounds and certainly improves call quality. How long you will get from a charge of the 1400mAh battery depends on how often you tap into the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Subjected to average use I was looking for a power socket at the end of every 24 hour period which is par for the course but no better.
Verdict
Motorola's new form factor is less than a revolution but still a rather clever design that makes for a versatile handset. It's just a pity that, for territories outside the US, it seems destined to run an antediluvian version of Android. ®
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Motorola Backflip Android smartphone
COMMENTS
Oh, Motorola
At this point, providing Android 1.5 is similar to selling a modern PC with Windows 98. It's Android without the ability to run the latest Maps, Gmail, Voice Actions, or any non-Google app with requirements beyond the very least sophisticated.
Separately from this, providing the upgrade to 2.1 for US customers but not anyone else is just disgusting. Don't get treated as a second class customer, don't put up with mutton being sold as lamb, don't buy it.
Nice phone, shame about the OS sums it up nicely
Yet another really nice phone from Motorola. There was a time when saying that would have raised a hollow laugh, but it's true, their hardware designers really are on form these days. That was why I bought a DEXT. But really, no software upgrades mean I've bought my last Motorola. I'm not going to get stung like that again. I'd rather have a nasty phone with an up-to-date OS than a well-designed and robust phone that won't run the apps I want to have.
Advice from someone who already owns a Motorola Android phone: don't buy this one. Sorry, I'd love to recommend what is almost certainly a good phone, but can't recommend a company that leaves its customers out in the cold like that.
Motorola made an update commitment
I bought a Backflip some 6 months ago. At that time and even now (!!) Motorola promised an update to Android 2.x for Q3 on its Western European web page for the Backflip. That was the reason I bought a phone with a very outdated Android 1.5 . In my view that update promise is a firm commitment.
The reception and transmission quality is not very good. With my old RAZR I could have a telephone conversation on places where the Backflip looses the connection.
Funny, this just killed the Moto Defy for me...
Was really thinking about NOT buying an iPhone upgrade, but buying the Defy when it comes out in a few weeks, as I sail and a waterproof phone would be a good thing...
But this treating non-US customers differentially is just shite, really. Totally unacceptable, regardless of reasoning (probably due to reseller/channel/carrier issues, I would guess). But in the end - I DON'T CARE - I will NOT be treated as a second-class citizen just due to the side of the Atlantic I live on. HP does it with their laptops, others do it - but Samsung seems to do it less, and Apple also seems to be pretty good at treating it's customers as global customers.
I'll get a waterproof case for my iPhone, thanks for playing Moto...
Nice design, poor performance/quality
I bought this phone right after it came out because it was the first Android phone available for AT&T (I really didn't want to get an iPhone). Initially I thought it was great (my previous phone was a Blackberry Pearl from work). However, since this was my first Android experience, I didn't have much to compare it to.
I like the keyboard flip out design. I have always been a much bigger fan of physical keyboards than virtual keyboards, and it seems like more and more Android phones are moving to virtual-only handsets. However, that's about the only thing that really stands out. It has poor video quality, a lackluster processor, and measly storage included. Oh, and it's still stuck on Android 1.5 (and based upon the Motorola timeline, no one knows when 2.1 will *actually* be released in the USA). I personally think they are still releasing it in the USA to avoid a class action lawsuit for falsely advertising that it was upgradeable to Android 2.0. This makes me question how the performance will be. The phone has been rooted recently, and the people that have done it have said good things, but I don't think I want to take the risk (I have to use the phone for work).
Personally, I'm looking at something in the Samsung Galaxy S series, such as the Captivate. My wife recently bought one and it's pretty nice. It has a lot nicer screen, it's much faster, and it already has Android 2.1.
