Motorola Razr Android smartphone

Touch and Swype

Beneath the Kevlar, Android 2.3.5 is running but it’s reasonable to assume an Ice Cream Sandwich update will hove into view in early 2012. Processing power comes courtesy of a 1.2GHz dual-core chip with 1GB of RAM. That’s a spec that suggests shit off a shovel performance, and the Razr doesn’t disappoint. The AnTuTu Android benchmarking score of 6008 is so high, the air around it is thin.

The Kevlar casing has a great look and feel

In real terms this power manifests itself in the effortless playback of 1080p video, the smoothness of graphically demanding games and a UI that slides around under the finger like warm baby oil off the back of a transgender pole dancer.

With luck we’ve now seen the last of Motorola’s Motoblur overlay so the Razr makes do with a light re-skinning of Android’s stock graphics, some bespoke widgets and media apps plus a central sign-in facility for Facebook, Twitter, Photobucket, Picasa, Yahoo, Windows Live and the like. All of which ties together your cloud-based media, social network and messaging services.

 

Browser and text reflow

Like a number of recent Motorola 'droids, the Razr comes with the excellent Swype (join the letters) keyboard. You also get something called Smart Actions which can automatically change settings or launch apps depending on the phone’s locale or the time of day. The MotoCast remote media-streaming app is worth having too.

According to Motorola, the Razr has 16GB of built-in storage. On my device 8GB was shown free for file storage and 4GB for apps storage. That’s more than enough space to keep me happy but it still leaves the best part of 4GB unaccounted for.

 

Homescreen and photo uploads

When it comes to cameras you get an 8Mp snapper on the back and a 1.3Mp webcam on the front. The main camera isn’t as good as the best from Sony Ericsson but it’s more than a match for any HTC 8Mp shooter or the camera on the new Nokia Lumia 800. Video can be shot at 1080p/30fps H.264 through the main camera and at 720p through the Skype-supporting webcam, which is as good as it gets.