Well that didn’t take long. Following Motorola’s announcement of its return to the RAZR brand this evening, UK retailer Clove has given the UK version of the Android-powered Motorola RAZR a launch date of November 1st. That’s surprisingly soon for a Moto launch.
The retailer has also given the phone a price, with the unlocked and SIM-free model going for £454 all in.
Which all sounds pretty decent, although it’s quite baffling that Motorola would announce a brand new phone running Android 2.3 literally hours before Google and Samsung’s expected launch of Android 4.0 alongside the Nexus Prime.
Surely Google could’ve done Motorola a few favours to avoid the potentially enormous embarrassment of its new high-end phone being rendered obsolete within 24 hours?
Motorola’s latest flagship dual-core Android monster is a massive, original powerhouse, that’s a big improvement on previous MOTOBLUR mobiles – but still isn’t a total winner.
A slim and glamorous phone from Sony Ericsson, with the sharpest display around. It’s no powerhouse and the screen’s not the biggest out there, but we don’t mind. Because it’s cute.
LG’s first glasses-free 3D phone is a heavy, fat monster, with a clever 3D effect that works rather well. As a smartphone, though, it’s heavy and underwhelming.
A very shiny thing from Sony Ericsson, with a 3.7″ screen and Android 2.3.3 inside. But is it exciting enough to win fans in today’s spec-obsessed market? Can man live on one core alone?
INQ’s Android phone is an interesting “boutique” piece of hardware, packed with unique interface customisations that go far beyond the headline Facebook integration. We like it a lot.
Mark G
/ October 18, 2011Why would it be obsolete? I mean there are Android phones for all budgets and tastes…
Mike
/ October 18, 2011Motorola don’t need the help of Google to be an embarrassment.
Will the Razr have an unlocked bootloader in Europe?
Moto can’t put the blame on Verizon here……..
AndroidGenus.John
/ October 18, 2011That’s a daft comment. It will take months and potentially years of development and prototyping to get a device of this standard to the market. And within that time frame, Android 4.0 is simply not available to Motorola as they are not partnered with Google for the Nexus programme. And let us not forget that Motorola Mobility have not yet been bought by Google as that deal is still going through. So I would not have expected the RAZR to be carrying ICS from launch, but would expect that on or around the time of launch there will be an announcement regarding the time frame of an upgrade.
MarkG
/ October 18, 2011Whats really good about the Motorola Mobility deal, is that it will keep the other OHA partners in line, if Motorola start delivering cool stuff, and promising OS updates for the life of the phone, the others will have to follow suit.
Andy
/ October 18, 2011Made with Kevlar, seriously? Excellent I suppose if someone tries to shoot or stab me! I feel safer just thinking about it …..
hecatae
/ October 19, 2011xda developers are already up in arms that the US version will have a locked bootloader, https://twitter.com/#!/Motorola/status/126342384979156992
but if you read the tweet from Motorola, it states locked bootloader as requested by carrier network.
so the sim free european RAZR may not have a locked bootloader, already asked Clove on their blog and waiting for a reply
Mr Anonymous
/ October 19, 2011I think this phone looks superb! I just saw it and i’m VERY tempted. This phone looks gorgeous with a brilliant spec!
■1.2 GHz dual-core processor
■Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) – Upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0)
■Weight 126g
■7.1mm thick
■4.3″ qHD Super-AMOLED Advanced display
■Gorilla Glass screen
■Kevlar fibre back cover
■8MP Camera with 1080p HD video capture and image stabilization technology for crisp and clear videos
■1.3MP HD front facing camera
■Autofocus and LED flash
■1GB Ram
■16GB Internal Storage (capacity upto 32GB)
■MicroSDHC memory card slot
■1780mAh battery
■Side lock switch
■MotoCast – Wireless streaming of media from a pc to your phone
■Webtop
■Smart Actions for efficient task completion.
■MicroSIM
It’s more than worthy and equal to being placed alongside HTC Sensation, Samsung Galaxy S2 and Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Plus Motorola have confirmed it will get the update to ICS early next year.
I couldn’t decide between HTC Sensation XE vs Samsung Galaxy Nexus but i think i can confirm this will be my next phone. It’s out in 2 weeks, so happy days!