Motorola DROID RAZR HD Pro Reviews

If there was an award for "Most Improved Handset," we'd give it to the RAZR HD. With the launch of the Droid RAZR last year, Motorola set about trying to reconnect with its legacy of producing cutting-edge, high-end hardware. It was far from perfect, but it definitely put the company on the right track. The RAZR HD and MAXX HD pick up where their predecessors left off and address practically every concern you could have had about the original. Most notably the screen has gone from a 4.3-inch qHD panel to a 4.7-inch HD one, all without changing the physical dimensions of the device. The manufacturer has sacrificed some style in the name of functionality, but has somehow managed to make an already premium-feeling device feel even more like a luxury item. Truth is, outside of battery life, specs aren't what matters here. Sure, NFC and a speedy dual-core processor are nice, but as we've said before the RAZR line is all about the materials. This isn't about the 1GB of RAM or the 8-megapixel camera; it's about the sheath of Kevlar, the face of glass and the heart of aluminum. The entire device is even protected with a water-repellent coating to safeguard your investment.

For us, the primary let-down of the RAZR HD is the inefficient use of its 4.7-inches of screen real estate. If Motorola could only see clear to removing the on-screen Android buttons, moving them down to capacitive touch-enabled locations in the body of the phone, the RAZR HD would be a darn near perfect combination of beauty, brawn, rugged build quality and grace. That one gripe aside, we really like the RAZR HD and feel it's a good value at is current price point, for those looking to tap a 4G LTE network for a completely satisfying mobile computing, social networking and communications experience.

Motorola has managed to improve upon the original RAZR’s weak points with the RAZR HD and RAZR Maxx HD — a much better display, faster performance, and longer battery life — but at the same time, it lost the one thing that made the RAZR stand out from the crowd. The original model’s impressively thin design made it worthy of wearing the storied RAZR badge, but the updated version is just another slab smartphone among a sea of many others. Apart from solid battery life (which to be honest, may be enough of a differentiating factor in itself for many people), the RAZR HD doesn’t offer the best display, the fastest performance, or the best camera that you can get on a smartphone these days. Should you decide to spring for Motorola’s latest, it would behoove you to save your pennies for the RAZR Maxx HD version, as the difference in size and weight between it and the normal RAZR HD is negligible, but the improved battery life is most definitely noticeable. Motorola also offers twice the internal storage on the Maxx model, so you won’t have to fuss with the annoying microSD card slot nearly as much.

The Motorola Droid RAZR HD is, simply put, an excellently built and designed smartphone. It's a pleasure to use, and a solid choice for anyone looking for a good high-end device today. In fact, the only thing that I could see significantly improving the user experience would be to add more memory and more battery power... which is exactly what the RAZR MAXX HD does. Motorola has a clear hit on its hands here, and for a whole bunch of very good reasons.

If you’re a Verizon customer and you’re looking for a new phone, you don’t need to look any further: the Droid RAZR HD (or RAZR HD MAXX) should be the next phone you buy. It’s built well, it’s got a beautiful screen, and the battery (even in the non-”MAXX” version) will last literally all day long — and then some. It’s very well built and it’s Kevlar backing is always a crowd-pleaser. We give the Motorola Droid RAZR an 8.3 out of 10.

The Motorola DROID RAZR HD is a one of the most well-rounded packages on the market right now. The handset offers good performance and great battery life, tucked into a well-built, nice looking package. With Google pulling the strings at the company now, we are all but certain that the smartphone will extend the good software experience with timely OS updates too. Where we found the Motorola DROID RAZR HD to be lacking is processing power. It’s not that the smartphone is slow, but its competitors all come with notably more capable chipsets and it shows more often than you might think. The PenTile matrix of the display isn’t ideal either, but we reckon this one isn’t as bad. Most users will have a hard time telling the difference, while on the other hand everyone will see the great contrast and the nicely saturated colors. The 8MP camera is also far from the best shooters out there. The specs are all there, but the output came way behind the main rivals.

The Motorola Droid RAZR HD and Droid RAZR MAXX HD are significant improvements over their predecessors, though not without faults of their own. The modern design language may not appeal to all consumers, the sharp edge along the rim of the display is somewhat uncomfortable. Neither device is the thinnest or lightest in this category. The displays are good, but not perfect. The same can be said of signal performance, and call performance. Aside from some stutters here and there, both phones ran all the apps and services I loaded with no problem. The cameras do a good job and the user interface is flexible enough to meet the needs of most users. The real star of the Motorola Droid RAZR HD and Droid RAZR MAXX HD show, however, is battery life. These two smartphones have some of the best battery life I've ever seen from a mobile device. Power users who prioritize battery life shouldn't bother looking at any other phones. The RAZR HD and MAXX HD fit the power-user bill perfectly.

The Droid Razr HD is a very good phone. The screen and overall design is very handsome. Its dual-core processor is capable, and it only sips battery power. It's a long lasting, reliable device that still has more than enough power to get the job done. Being exclusive to Verizon is no handicap either, since the company's 4G LTE service is far-reaching and fast. There's nothing wrong with the device, except for a mediocre camera. It's just that competition is so stiff. At this price you could have one of our other favorite phones, the iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3. The choice essentially comes down to personal preference. While we prefer the aluminum and Kevlar construction of the Droid Razr HD to the more plastic feeling construction of the Galaxy S3 and Optimus G, there is something to be said for quad-core power. And while many weren't crazy about what iOS 6 brought to the table (and took away. We're looking at you, Apple maps), it can't be denied that the iPhone 5 is one of the best phones out there. Ultimately, it's a very fine phone, but struggles to stand out amongst the competition. Remember how we mentioned that Motorola pays George Lucas to use the name Droid? To put our verdict in Star Wars terms, the Droid Razr HD is far more of a helpful R2-D2 than fussy C-3PO, but it's not quite capable of assassinating the competition like IG-88.

If you are looking at purchasing a high-end Android smartphone from Verizon, your choices are currently the Samsung Galaxy S III or the Motorola DROID RAZR HD (and RAZR MAXX HD), as they offer large 720p HD displays, and are using the 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor for fast performance. The Galaxy S III may look more stylish and “flashy”, though its plastic construction does have a cheap feeling to it and doesn’t hold up well to abuse. Meanwhile, the DROID RAZR HD is more utilitarian in its appearance, but it is built like a tank with Gorilla Glass on the front, Kevlar backing on the rear, and nano coating inside and out to protect it from the occasional splash of water. Overall, the DROID RAZR HD is a nice update from last year’s model, and comes in at $199.99 with a 2 year contract, which happens to be the same price as the 16GB version of the Galaxy S III. It appears that Verizon has positioned the price of the DROID RAZR HD in the middle-of-the-road between the DROID RAZR M for $99.99 and the DROID RAZR MAXX HD for $299.99, which offers a larger battery and twice the storage memory. As we get closer to the Holiday season, it will be interesting to see how well the Motorola DROID RAZR HD stands up to other devices that will be coming out, and hopefully it will receive its update to Android Jelly Bean before the Turkey is on the table.

The Droid Razr HD is a worthy addition to the Razr family and builds on all of the good aspects of last year’s Droid Razr while bringing a few extra goodies to the table. The compact, sleek design is as strong as it is good-looking, and though it has a large screen, it’s sized with regular sized hands in mind. Keeping a big screen phone from feeling too big is a challenge, and Motorola rose to it with aplomb. Combine that with good performance and battery life and you have a highly desirable smartphone.

The Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr HD represents a happy medium between the smaller Razr M and the more-expensive Razr Maxx HD.

On the surface, the $199.99 Motorola Droid Razr HD is a worthy upgrade of its popular Droid Razr. The phone features a bigger 4.7-inch display that boasts a sharper 720p resolution. It also runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich powered by a modern and powerful dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor. Unfortunately the Razr HD is essentially the middle child of the Motorola smartphone family. It's shoehorned between the cheaper Droid Razr M that is also speedy and has a sizable 4.3-inch (960x540) display, and the $299 Droid Razr Maxx HD that boasts everything the Razr HD offers plus an ultra-high-capacity battery. If money were no option, it's the ultimate Android in Verizon's lineup. Apple fans can also scoop up the iPhone 5 (16GB) for $199, and the Samsung Galaxy S3 has an excellent camera and premium Android features, though clad in cheap plastic. Of course it’s hard to beat the Droid Razr HD’s premium metallic looks and stylishly thin design. Just be aware that its camera delivers lackluster image quality.

Here we’re working with another winner, with Motorola making full use of their new partnership (ownership) with Google in many fine ways. You can see that this device (as well as the RAZR M, for example) are not the same DROID devices we saw a couple years ago. Here we’ve got a fine example of an Android-running smartphone, to say the least. The hardware is top-notch, the camera takes rather nice photos, and the processor is powerful enough to take on the highest-quality games and apps the Google Play app store has to offer.